After only about nine months on the waiting list today we took possession of our first ever allotment at a site in the nearby village of Upton St Leonards. Excited? Us? Just a little!
Getting a plot of any kind was always going to be a great day but we think we lucked out more than a little with the one we've ended up on. Not only is it bigger than we were expecting (10.5m x 16m, so that'd be 168 square meters if my maths are correct) but it's been well tended till very recently by an elderly gentleman who's had it for years. It also comes complete with some lovely features including a surrounding fence with gate, a very handy moveable netted frame for covering the brasicas and best of all as you'll see there's a fantastic netted tunnel down one side which all being well we can fill with soft fruit bushes.
All that means no massive clean up operation is needed and if we wanted to we could pretty much hit the ground running. As it is we'll probably divide it up into beds with some paths between them and perhaps put a flower border or something around the edge to encourage nice pest munching insects etc but essentially we're almost ready to go from the off!
Take a look for yourselves...
First up, the view from the top of the site. Not a bad view is it... ;)
Our plot is the first on the left, here is is in all it's glory...
As you can see, the ground it pretty clear bar a light covering of small weeds that should be easy to clear, the water butts will come in handy too!
There's the netted frame that we've inherited, plus another water butt just for good measure.
And finally, here's the netted walk-in tunnel that's probably the highlight (for me anyway), we didn't expect anything like this to be ready built on the plot and it saves us making one so that's got to be good. As you can see on the left there's also what looks like an old storage box too (locked...) and a bit further down are some general bits and bobs including a few lovely discarded windows complete with frames, perfect for making into a cold frame, another unexpected bonus.
All in all we feel very lucky, considering the horror stories you hear about people being faced with mountains of brambles etc when they take on a plot I think it's fair to say we struck gold with ours.
If the weather's ok next weekend we'll spend some time going over it all sorting stuff out and marking out the beds etc, for now we're just going to bask in the excitement.
WooHoo! :)
7 comments:
Bloody hell, you really have struck gold! That looks absolutely fantastic! I've never even thought about getting into any kind of fruit, due to the lack of space. Happy to say i am very jealous, but also excited for ya. I think i'm destined never to have one now they have become more 'fashionable!' Should have got one years ago...enjoy
That's absolutely fantastic and worth the wait eh! I'm really pleased for you and look forward to reading your posts on all that lovely produce you'll get this year.
Bet you're pleased to have very little to clear with all that rain we've been having...
OH MY GOD!!!! I am jealous BIG TIME!!!!!! Well done you and BIG congratulations at getting such a fantastic plot. It seems ages coming but you really have got a brilliant space there, looking forward to seeing what you do with it. :)
Well done!! That's fantastic!
Your site must be different from ours as we are not allowed any stuctures! And we are not allowed to plant anything other than annuals e.g. fruit bushes, if that's the right word, nothing that will grow for more than a year.
Congrats! It looks great :) And definitely struck gold! No bramble to clear, no structures to build, wicked! Patience brings roses!
Hiya,
I'll bet your itching for spring to hurry up so you can get started with the planting!
I look forward to seeing your progress, good luck!
Oh, those hills! That could ONLY be Gloucestershire!
You've done well to get a plot that's been actively tended, especially if the previous "tenant" was an elderly chap ... they really know how to look after a plot.
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