New allotment plans!!

The plot before any serious work started

This plot of land that you're looking at is, as of today, my very own allotment! I thought I would never see the day, but it has happened. Thanks to my very nice allotment neighbour, Emma, for sharing part of her plot with me. It is in fact her plot, but she has very kindly agreed to let me use one half: the strip between the two trees in the photo.

The site was only opened last November, so all the plots are completely new (although some of the people have clearly been digging and working on it all winter, theirs doesn't look as dismal as mine! :-). It is very exciting. The site isn't huge, but I've already met some of the other neighbours.

As you can see, there is a lot of work to do! The soil is pretty much full of bramble roots, and some nettles. The nettles don't worry me (they can go in the compost bin, I believe), but the brambles are another story. The soil, no surprise, is heavy clay, although not as bad as I feared (the stuff in our garden under the ivy that we cleared was much worse...).

I started digging the roots and assorted bits of glass and rubbish today - you can just about notice that the soil around the fork handle looks a bit different, but it is going slow (also no surprise). My plan to avoid getting depressed by this, is to break up the space into smaller areas and tackle each one at a time. I think I will start from the front (bottom of the picture. That line you see is the edge of the general path that runs down the middle of the whole site): next weekend I'll mark a rectangle with twine and 4 sticks, and concentrate on digging that space first. I don't plan to make proper raised beds in all of the plot, but I need to see order and I know that marking out sections of ground will help me focus on the work. I don't have much time if I want to eat the fruits of my digging this summer (March is prime planting time for things like potatoes; beans can wait), so I know part of the plot is going to be put on hold while I concentrate on sowing something. I can always cover it in black plastic or cardboard while it's waiting its turn - this is supposed to get rid of the weeds as well (they can't grow in the darkness).

Another thing that needs to be done, and I want to do it as soon as possible, is make a path down the long sides. The right hand side is the boundary with the next plot, and the path needs to be wheelbarrow-width (I think it's 60cm) and covered with a weed membrane. Today I bought the weed membrane, and I'm going to investigate where to get wood chippings to put on top; I like the finished look, and it should be relatively easy to lay down and cheap. On the left hand side is Emma's side of the plot, and I want to make a path of the same style (although it doesn't need to be a specific width). This structure will leave me with a long strip, with an apple tree towards the back. I like the idea of planks of wood laid across the plot: super easy to put down and rearrange, takes less space than a proper path, and I don't need to stand on the soil while working and compact it. Behind the tree I am going to put my old plastic compost bin, and plant some comfrey - and possibly some foxgloves, partly because I have spare plants, because there thrive in the shade of the trees (unlike veg), and the flowers will look good and attract pollinators!