Allotment day

 

As usual I will start by saying Juno and I were out not long after 6am for our 2 mile walk before breakfast and what a day greeted us. Bright sunshine and the promise of more to come through the day and for the next week. After the deluge yesterday, it is most welcome. 

Alison was down in Verwood with her mum for the morning and planned a day in the garden which meant I was off in the motorhome for a visit to the allotments. In fact the first stop was Verwood library to return a few books and take one out. 

Once at West Moors I took two of the plastic patio chairs we've had a for years down to the plot, matching the two in Wimborne. The planting of recent days has yet to push forth from the warming soil but I did get some more weeding down and discovered a tear in the fabric which keeps the tool box dry. This is a large rectangular box provided on site and intended to be somewhere to store materials but it would explain why one corner has been wet and so it is another little job to do at some point in the next few weeks.

I popped into Stewarts Garden Centre on the way to Wimborne to buy some peanuts and sunflower hearts for the feeders and then parked at the allotment. I'd had a run earlier, just 5km, but it meant I was starting to feel hungry so I walked into town to get myself a vegan pasty to go with my flask of coffee and heated it up in the motorhome oven. Very welcome and a nice way to start my couple of hours work on the bigger of our plots.

I'd planted leeks last year and they had been dwarfed by other plants but there they were in three different places. It may be they come to nothing but I took the opportunity to transplant them to a new bed where maybe they will start to thrive and give us a good crop later in the year. I also dug a trench in which to plant runner beans in May, the idea being to get lots of organic matter into the trench to feed the hungry roots and to help retain the moisture they need in July and August when periods of dry weather can mean the beans don't get going as well as they might.

There is a patch next to the compost heap where nettles do well and so, before they get going this year, I have started digging it over and am going to cultivate it instead. The larger bed next to it has been planted with the first of the potatoes, the earlies, with plenty more to come over the next couple of months, up to the end of April really I guess. 

There was more weeding to be done of course but it is generally looking pretty good. 

I picked Maria up from school and she is now off at dance again but we have Joseph staying over. We have been looking at the moon through my binoculars, the moon being almost full and the skies being clear, perfect for another long dog walk to tire Juno out for the night.