Sam's Allotment 2015!

Afternoon all,

I've been using this forum for reference and questions over the last couple of years and thought I'd keep a diary on here of my allotment adventures to seek advice and hopefully inspire those that take over wrecks!

We are based in Cardiff and had been on the allotment waiting list for our preferred site (walking distance) for 6 years and applied even before we moved to the area. In mid December my wife had a call from the allotment secretary offering us half a plot and we snapped the ladies arm off.... below are a few pictures from the last 3 months and I'll keep this updated with how we/the allotment progresses. The text was written as I posted the photos on my Instagram page but I hope you enjoy

This is allotment 2b the day we were handed the keys in December 2014. Please excuse the spam as I catch up to date and going forward, hopefully what we manage to do with it will be enjoyable to read and view.



A battered old fruit cage ready to be ripped down and tidied up. Going to make a snazzy wooden full height cage!



Day 1 on the allotment weeding the life out of it!


When we had some building work in January I kept some rafters to turn into a homemade shed base and damp proofed it for longevity



Fruit area with loganberries blackcurrant goosberries and autumn and summer raspberries were heavily pruned and mulched in January. New timber fruit cage will be made soon. Shed base in position with compost bins made out of old house timber majorly revamped. Just need to straighten them now!




My wife tacking on the roof of our new shed and doing it a strictly non H & S way. This butt was full of water too. Hero.



Here i am today after laying compost in our legumes area ready to dig in. If you compare this to the first post i made today youll see some comprehensive changes! Right. All up to date so spam has finished.



Thanks Kings seeds! Today will be spent at the allotment laying the patio and putting up the supports for loganberries and raspberries. Blue skies in S . Wales!




Fantastic day up the allotment today interspersed with some family time and going to my 11 month old daughters sing and sign language group for the first time. I managed to felt the roof and fit all the ancillaries, make and lay a patio under the overhang for a bench and started to get up the structure for the fruit training. Still more to do here including the wiring but its a start. Will get the full cage up shortly. Roll on the weekend for broad beam sowing and climbing bean frame. Happy Sam



Lowri and I moved the kitchen table into the lounge and spent the evening in front of the TV sowing all manner of flowers and veg. Now in a warm south facing room starting their germination journey!



Had a large delivery of timber to the allotment today to build the fruit cage this weekend. Had a twenty minute potter before heading back to work and put in this potting bench i found on Gumtree for £20 and put up an area for tools! Will post that in another picture. 20 minutes at the allotment is like nectar for the soul.



Just time to put up these boards and hang a few tools. More to come this weekend!



So its 6.15am and ive been looking forward to today all week. If you have a young family you'll know regularly getting to the allotment isnt easy so whilst the house is silent I'm off for a good few hours to hopefully get some fruit training up and start the cage.



It certainly does! Raspberry supports in. Now to build the rest of the structure that you see around the outside. Surely its ok to hammer now?!




I met our neighbour for the first time today. He gave me a little tutorial on how to make these. I like him already!




A super productive morning as shown here. Structure up and going to make the gate at home later as my drill ran out of charge! Fruit supports in and just need to wire up the loganberries and summer raspberries! Phew



The children are in bed and my wife's gone food shopping for our daughters first birthday tomorrow. I should really be preparing food and cleaning the house in preparation for the party but the lure of gate building was just too much! All done in an hour ready for fitting this week with latch. Hope youve had great and productive Saturday's too!?



I work from home on Tuesdays due to my companies work life balance policy and look after my two little ones in the morning whilst my wife works at home too. To leave her in peace we always leave the house normally on long dog walks and I drop my son at nursery for the afternoon. As the allotment's 100 yards from the nursery its too easy to pop in and see whats going on! Today I took the gate down and fitted it into the cage. Unfortunately I forgot about the lower met post so had to move a bracket up and will fit a baby bracket at the weekend. It's so relaxing there, even for fifteen minutes! You can see the little patio I built and a couple of clematis climbing the overhang

 

Please tell me the above images work and it's just my PC?!

 

I can see them too Sam.....you've worked really hard and it's all looking fab. Well done!

 

They are all there @SamTheOldGoat They all look amazing. Very well done & happy growing!

 

Things are looking very good Sam.I see you have got your priorities right kettle and stove are a must,saying that though for me is not so as I have not got one BUT my two neighbour's have so problem solved ,there's nothing like a good brew and a chat .One of the best things that I ever did was to get a plot 42 years ago,have made a lot of friends over the years and have been given a lot of advice,now it's my turn to chat with newbies and give them what ever advice I think I can help them with,

 

Excellent!!
and I love your work ethics...well done you two

 

Loving the lack of health and safety. It's how it should be :D No fun otherwise..

 

I love this, you've worked so hard. Looking forward to seeing how this develops.

 

Thanks so much, glad that you like the pics above

A few more from Monday to today:

Was at the allotment at 6:30am and spent 9 hours there today. Cage fully built and all fruits have staking and are tied in on 3mm wire. Then fitted the netting at the sides and roof and put on gravel boards for rigidity and aesthetics! Now just to lay weed membrane and apply a layer of wood chippings when the council tree surgeons drop a load off. Time to sow the land. Phew!!



I had daddy morning care this morning so after dropping my son at nursery obviously my daughter and I went to the allotment and planted these six strawberries in no mans land in front of the patio next to a couple of clematis.

 

Looking great, really great. And the bit you call spam makes it all the better as far as I am concerned. Love a bit of before and after me.

 

Cheers Paul! Glad you enjoyed the 'catch up'. It's been a busy few months but I have been well aware I need to put the effort in to enjoy an 'easier life' when everything kicks off. I think membrane in the fruit cage (obviously allowing space around the plants for mulch) will really help here and this will mean I can have relaxing evenings sat on the patio rather than breaking my back :D

 

Excellent posts; amazing transformation and bravo to the pair of you for all the hard work and commitment you are putting into it

 

Thanks M, glad you like it! My wife has yet to get her hands really dirty but I'm hoping that when everything kicks off she'll be able to weed after dropping our son at nursery