Sunday 31 August 2014

Decking, Fencing and Sheds...

This week saw the heavweight work begin, making sure the infrastructure of the allotment is repaired, renewed and constructed.
 
Old decking with missing boards...                                               New boards in place and painted
The decking at the end of the plot was looking in a sorry state with several boards missing and weeds growing through the remainder. Spraying the weeds soon killed them off, then they were cleared out and weed supressant matting layed beneath the whole decking area.
New boards were installed to fill the gaps and a couple of coats of 'Somerset Green' paint made everything look much better, ready for the major construction to begin.
 
The shed arrives in kit form...                                      First stage of construction..
The new shed arrives and is soon laid out on pallets ready for construction. One end is painted in advance, due to its proximity to the existing fence and the initial stage of instalation begins.
The base is screwed to the decking and sides erected, before adding the end sections and roof panels.

The roof panels are in place...                                                                Roof felt and doors on...
Once the main woodwork is complete, the roofing felt is added; I used both felt adhesive and felt tacks just to be on the safe side. Finally the doors are hung, with the bolts, locks and braces all added to make everything secure.


Construction complete, 41b sign added...                                  Finished and ready to move in



A coat of paint all round and homemade 41b sign transforms the shed from bare wood to a 'Rich Berry' heaven.

Saturday 16 August 2014

Reynard, Rhubarb and Re-growth...


With the sun so hot and the first phase of clearing the plot completed, I decided to take a few days off and let the ground breath a little now that it has been weeded, cut and hoed, revealing the soil to the elements for the first time this year...

Arriving at the plot on Friday evening we found a small gift awaiting us, along with the footprints of its donor...

Prints and poop from our bushy tailed friend
Bushell Mills resident foxes had been to see what all the excitement was about on plot 41b, digging a few small holes, leaving hundreds of prints and a small pile of poop on the carpet around the raspberries...

We are slowly compiling the list of wildlife that has visited our plot, with Mr Fox being No.5 on the list of surface visitors, unlucky 13 on the list that includes our ariel friends and somewhere much lower if we were to try and include all the mini beasts that inhabit the site as a soil level.

Just 48 houirs later, we made an early morning trip to see what impact a days heavy rain has had on the allotment. Our neighbouring allotmenteers, Mike and Becky, informed us that after long periods of rain the corner of the site where our plots are located is prone to localised flooding.
However, upon arrival we found nothing untoward as regards standing water or soggy soils, but the night rains combined with warm sunny days had created a lush lawn of regrowth across the plot.

A green and not so pleasant plot, with small areas of rapid weed and grass re-growth

The upside of the lovely warm days is that the crops curreently in the ground are thriving just as well as the weeds. The raspberries are shooting up, producing tall canes for fruitng next year whilst the butternut squash loves being in the ground, sucking up the rain water and producing lots of new shoots, flowers and fruit.

Without a doubt though, the star of the site is the rhubarb that we freed from the tangle of bdindweed and long grass that surrounded it upon our arrival.
We picked about half of the stalks that are ready, splitting the fruit into two batches. One half was simply simmered with a little sugar, honey and the juice/rind of an orange. Delicious both hot and cold with custard, ice cream or natural yoghurt...

The first crop of rhubarb                                                                            Delicious rhubarb crumble tart
The remaining fruit was chopped into half inch lengths, sprinkled of a sweet dough base and covered with a basic crumble mix of flour, sugar and cinnamon. Once the oven is nice and hot, the whole dish is covered in a custard mix of eggs, milk and vanilla. Once cooked the top is a mix of toasted crunchy crumble and crispy creme brulee.
Admittedly it didn't last long,but was delicious warm with custard, cold with ice cream and delicous on its own with a cuppa...







Saturday 2 August 2014

Hip Hip Hoe-ray

With the weather forecast predicting an end to the fantastic heatwave we have been having, I was determined to get the plot cleared before the rain arrived...

Finishing work early on Friday, I managed to get another hour at the allotment and clear another few meters of grass and weeds...
Almost finished...

Sunday morning saw me at the allotment earlier than ever, ready to tackle the worst part of the entire plot.
The top section was full of lumps, bumps and holes from the previous pwners potato crop. Luckily for me, the weather was much cooler, allowing me to get stuck in and finish the last of the ground clearance.

An hour was all it took to hoe out the final weeds, last clumps of grass and remaining crops. By nine o'clock the entire plot was cleared to bare soil, ready for raking over and deep digging...

Phase One Completed