Page 52 - ALG Issue 1 2016 No social share

North West
Well worth the wait!
I had virtually given up on being offered a plot in my home town of Southport as I had been on the waiting list for close on four years.
Then, one rainy day in March 2015, the phone rang and the Chairman of Moss Lane Allotment Association said four plots had become available and I was at the top of the waiting list.
I was given a tour of the site the following weekend and had rst choice of the available plots. It’s fair to say all four of the plots had not been worked recently and were overgrown to say the least.
I chose my plot, paid my annual rent and was given the key to the main gate...I couldn’t wait to get started. The following weekend I loaded up
the car and headed off
to tackle the jungle I had
inherited.
Over the next couple
of weeks, I managed
to clear the debris...
old bricks, stones,
brambles, weeds etc
and realised very quickly that the lovely black soil would be great to grow my fruit and veg. I’d quickly worked out the layout with the help of Ray, a friend who had given up his allotment on another site the previous year due to it being too far from where he lived. He gave me some valuable help with putting ags down for pathways and building a compost bin.
I bought myself a shed and greenhouse off eBay and I was off and running. Everything else I needed I had to beg, acquire or borrow. I soon found that fellow allotment holders were only too keen to donate seed potatoes, onion sets, tomato plants, peas and most important of all, help and advice.
As I was playing catch up at the beginning of the year, due to clearing the plot, I wanted to make the most of the months I had left. I got some potatoes and
onions off and running before following on with some tomatoes and cucumbers in the greenhouse and other varieties of vegetables outside, including beetroot, cabbage, swede and cauli ower,
most of which I raised myself from seed.
I also planted some rhubarb, strawberries
and fruit bushes, which I am hoping will produce plenty of fresh fruit next year.
I have been amazed at the amount of veg I have harvested in my rst year, some of which I have donated to family, friends and my hardworking mate Ray. Yes, I have had my cabbages decimated by root y and
my young peas attacked by mice, but you simply cannot beat eating fresh veg that, only an hour earlier, was growing in the soil.
I can honestly say that I have enjoyed every second of the, sometimes, hard graft I have put into growing my own fruit and veg. It’s true that working the land is a great way to exercise and to de-clutter the mind. After a day in the of ce there is no better way to relax than to do some weeding, harvest some delicious new potatoes or pinch out some side shoots on your tomato plants.
A special mention must go to my very understanding wife, who has woken up on many a Saturday and Sunday morning to nd I have disappeared off to the allotment for a few hours, way before anyone else has lifted their head off the pillow!
It’s such a shame that the waiting lists,
in some areas of the country, are so long. If my rst year is anything to go by, it’s a great way to exercise and feed your family fresh nutritious food.
To top it all off, I received noti cation from my Association that I am to be awarded with the accolade of best newcomer’s allotment 2015...how good is that?
John Ashurst
52
I was playing catch up at the beginning of the year, due to clearing the plot