Allotment Diary 2011 Me: 60 hrs He: 55hrs

I have had such a busy week working in the gardens.  Hedge trimming, lawn mowing, weeding.  It doesn't sound much, but my hedges are hard work and had gone a bit wild very quickly lately with all rain we had.  I also had to prune my willow arch - for the second time in as many months - it too had grow - three feet of luscious willow branches on the top - it looked like a very big hair do!

The garden room came to an abrupt halt again this week, and although we were promised the floor would be laid today - it has been delayed until Monday - which I hope they stick too as the furniture is now arriving on Tuesday morning and we have nowhere to put it in our tiny bungalow!

On the plus side, Richard spent half a day yesterday and a few hours today getting rid of all the builders rubble and rubbish, and he spread out the excess soil from the footings, which I was really thrilled about.

 

The lawn is recovering where it had all the bricks and blocks on - and looked dead.  But a bit of tlc and plenty of watering has renewed it.

Seeing this area, it is hard to picture that there used to be a big pond here.  The space is bigger than it looks in this photo.  I think I will seed it and 'live with it' next year before doing any hard landscaping with it.  My first instinct before it was all cleared and levelled, was to have a paved patio on which to put my table and chair - it would be nice to eat breakfast outside.  But the soil will sink over winter because of the pond 'hole' apparently so it's best left for now.

We moved a lot of slabs and laid them behind my studio this morning, then decided to go up the allotment - I must be mad!

 

I can't believe how tall the grass has grown in one week

 

And those dreadful weeds have grown from nothing

 

To this is just a week too.  I had so much to do!

 

Whilst Mr Lottie did what he does best, I set to with the lawnmower to cut the grass down.  

The row of 2nd earliers need digging up!

 

I cut down and pulled up all the weeds and mulched between the rows

 

With grass cuttings to prevent any more growing - or slowing them down!

 

This is how long my plot is - I don't often pause to look at the length of it!

 

It's nice to get the lawns and paths back under control, it makes a huge difference

 

Well YOU know I weeded all around these last week - but here they grow again

 

And here they grow again too.  I picked 10 mixed courgettes, and made a lovely lunch with some of them.

 

The pumpkin is going rampant on my compost heap

 

It's looking good

Three and a half hours later we made our weary way home.   I laid four paving slabs - but gave up because I could hardly stand let alone do any more.

A lovely hot shower soon rejuvenates one - but here I sit exhausted but happy at our achievements today.

Lunch was stir fry of fresh picked courgettes, onion, cauliflower, shredded cabbage, new potatoes, tomatoes,  seasonings, and cubed fresh tuna - yummy.