Page 60 - ALG Issue 3 2014

Southern
Wales
Me and my allotment plot...
I have had my 3 rod allotment for 6 years, but soon I plan to expand a further five rods. I have a 6 foot x 4 foot shed that I put up myself with a base of solid beams laid on blocks that sit on sand – this allows the air to circulate underneath to stop the wood of the shed rotting. I also have a large fruit cage on my plot that I erected myself, with 4 x 4
pallets, which I fill with weeds and all the old vegetation from the plot.
I am 44 years old but I still have a lot to learn so I attend the allotment meetings and AGM. I get my seeds from seed magazines or the local nurseries, and I grow broad beans, cabbages, Brussels sprouts, runner beans, carrots, beetroot,
posts and netting. I keep my fruit and vegetables in this; it allows bees through to pollinate but stops the butterflies, which in turn stops the caterpillars eating and destroying my vegetables. At the moment I only have a gooseberry bush in the cage, but in the past my brassicas have done very well in it.
I am 44 years old but I still have a lot to learn, so I attend allotment meetimngs
spinach, parsnips, potatoes, peas, cauliflower, leek, onion, shallots, French beans, tomatoes, butternut squash, courgettes, sweetcorn and rhubarb. At the start I dug bags and bags of horse manure, which I collected from the local stables, into the soil on my plot, and I bought
weekend
I cut
the grass
around the edge of my
allotment to keep it all looking neat.
I have put a bench on my plot, which allows me to relax with a good book after a day’s digging. I have also purchased some DVDs from the magazines, which provide me with helpful hints. I have read my allotment book, and I keep it nearby to refer to if I need it, which is really helpful.
I am a member of the National Vegetable Society also – I read the magazine and enter the competitions that are in there; the tips are really useful too. I have made jams and chutneys, which I eat and store through winter.
Mr G Hartley
I regularly stain the shed and cage because it is in a position where the sun really dries it out, so a couple of coats
of wood stain every now and then really makes a difference. I keep my tools in the shed – spade, fork, hoe and rake, all of which I oil in order to keep them in good working order; I also use it to store manure, a radio, some string, fertiliser, canes and nets. I have a compost bin made from old
a tiller that I find handy to use; it breaks up the mud to make a fine sowing bed. I also have a wheelbarrow, which helps to carry the weeds to the compost heap. I enjoy getting up early to dig it over and watch the robin and blackbird gathering the weeds and grubs. I put a nest box on my shed and a pair of blue tits use it, so each year I clean it out for them to come back to. Usually, in the morning, I see
the woodpecker on the allotment. At the
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