Suddenly one morning you wake up, pull back the curtains and can not believe what you see. Instead of winter dread there is instead stunningly clear blue sky and grass so green it dazzles the eye the same way the petals of celandine seem to reflect pure sunshine. Somehow despite my best efforts it always comes as a surprise (rather like Christmas always came as a surprise to Royal Mail (a story for another time)). and despite it being early days mild panic sets in. Am I ready? But first I would like to take you back to last year.
On the 11th October 2012 I signed the tenancy agreement on a second plot at the Ranmore Allotments (plot 75). Now this is no big deal as they are all 5 rods so another just gives me the same as a standard plot elsewhere. Its just that at the last AGM of the the Dorking Allotment Holders Association, or DAHA for short, one crusty old allotmenteer happened to say 'half a plot, not worth the bother' and I happened to agree with him. The only trouble now seemed to be just how was I going to turn 150 square yards of waist high weeds into growing space ready for the spring in the appalling wet Autumn of that year. I had already decided that this new plot was to be the fruit in 'fruit and veg' and I even had a plan. This might seem obvious but plot 59 was conceived without one, the lack of which became obvious as that first growing season progressed. It now follows a traditional pattern and is so much easier.
Fruit can be in the ground for 10 years or more so each bed needed double digging not only to ensure fertility but also to remove all weeds, as far as that is possible! Once the beds were marked out at 1.2m wide running north/south with access all round of at least 70cm (some beds were doubled with a 40cm path between) the surface was scalped and the turfs stacked upside down to compost for future use. Now the slow laborious task of digging began to remove the roots of perennial weeds (bags of them) which was made even harder in the rain. That's when I realised I'm not getting any younger, or my back did, and that old saying ' what a gardener needs is an iron back with a hinge in it' came to mind. The solution came by fitting a long handle to my digging spade, which must seem obvious to anyone living outside of the UK, but here in old blighty they are just not seen. Less bending and more leverage spurred me on to finish all the digging by March.
Frames were erected for the raspberries (Autumn Bliss) and blackberries (Merton Thornless) and bare rooted currant (Versailles/Red Lake/Wellington/Ben Conon) and gooseberry (Invicta/Careless/Hinnomaki Red) bushes. Rhubarb crowns (not technically a fruit but used as one) of unknown variety because they came from other plots, went in at the very end, and pumpkin bed along the fence line got ready. This was as acknowledgement to the previous occupant, Alister, who is Dorkin's 'Pumpkin Guru' and organiser of the the towns annual pumpkin show. Worth a story of his own! There will also be strawberries but as they are best planted in the autumn they can wait.
What will need dealing with are the paths which I did not dig and still contain all the nasties that are a problem on any allotment site, sow thistle, dandelion, lesser columbine and couch grass to name but a few. I reckon to dig those over during the summer but as they also contain bluebells and cuckoos pint I will try to be selective, finally, is what to do about the rabbits. They mostly stay the other side of the fence, in the community orchard (part of Transition Dorking) but during the double part of my digging I kept finding their burrows and on one occasion the fork almost disappeared into a chamber that must have been used for nesting. The bucket loads of stone that went into the holes may hinder them but I doubt will stop them and as much as I'm partial to a rabbit pie I would sooner they were not getting fat eating what I've planted.
Well, am I ready? Yes I am. Seedlings are emerging before my eyes and some have been planted out already with more sowings to ensure succession. Everything is looking good with fewer pests due to the cold winter and the prospect of a bumper year to make up for last years failures.
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| plot 75 |
Fruit can be in the ground for 10 years or more so each bed needed double digging not only to ensure fertility but also to remove all weeds, as far as that is possible! Once the beds were marked out at 1.2m wide running north/south with access all round of at least 70cm (some beds were doubled with a 40cm path between) the surface was scalped and the turfs stacked upside down to compost for future use. Now the slow laborious task of digging began to remove the roots of perennial weeds (bags of them) which was made even harder in the rain. That's when I realised I'm not getting any younger, or my back did, and that old saying ' what a gardener needs is an iron back with a hinge in it' came to mind. The solution came by fitting a long handle to my digging spade, which must seem obvious to anyone living outside of the UK, but here in old blighty they are just not seen. Less bending and more leverage spurred me on to finish all the digging by March.
Frames were erected for the raspberries (Autumn Bliss) and blackberries (Merton Thornless) and bare rooted currant (Versailles/Red Lake/Wellington/Ben Conon) and gooseberry (Invicta/Careless/Hinnomaki Red) bushes. Rhubarb crowns (not technically a fruit but used as one) of unknown variety because they came from other plots, went in at the very end, and pumpkin bed along the fence line got ready. This was as acknowledgement to the previous occupant, Alister, who is Dorkin's 'Pumpkin Guru' and organiser of the the towns annual pumpkin show. Worth a story of his own! There will also be strawberries but as they are best planted in the autumn they can wait.
What will need dealing with are the paths which I did not dig and still contain all the nasties that are a problem on any allotment site, sow thistle, dandelion, lesser columbine and couch grass to name but a few. I reckon to dig those over during the summer but as they also contain bluebells and cuckoos pint I will try to be selective, finally, is what to do about the rabbits. They mostly stay the other side of the fence, in the community orchard (part of Transition Dorking) but during the double part of my digging I kept finding their burrows and on one occasion the fork almost disappeared into a chamber that must have been used for nesting. The bucket loads of stone that went into the holes may hinder them but I doubt will stop them and as much as I'm partial to a rabbit pie I would sooner they were not getting fat eating what I've planted.Well, am I ready? Yes I am. Seedlings are emerging before my eyes and some have been planted out already with more sowings to ensure succession. Everything is looking good with fewer pests due to the cold winter and the prospect of a bumper year to make up for last years failures.
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