Harvest for the world

My allotment

I wasn't meant to be growing very much this season. All I wanted to do was just clear the area , mark it out and give the soil a good turn over. I learned:

• you don't 'just' do anything in an allotment
• mother nature has a mind of her own
• when it rains it always pours
• kissing butt is a good thing
• family and friends are worth their weight in gold
• I love worms
• my fellow brothers (and sisters) in arms have invaluable knowledge that will take me years to gather
• foxes definitely eat veg - my veg!
• investing in a good fork, spade and hoe is key to a half way decent plot
• good wellies (I'm saving up for a pair of Hunters, I'm told they are the bees knees) and thick thick socks will save my bacon
• your neighbours crap filled skip is actually a treasure trove in disguise
• if you dig up the bramble - they will grow back!!


• giving is far better than receiving
  

This year I have been blessed with a bumper crop of all sorts of veg. Some of which I'm sure I didn't plant. Much of which was given to me in seed or plant form by fellow plotters taking pity on me. For the most part, what I was doing was slightly out of sync (digging at the wrong time of year, and even planting out late for example), but I was gently encouraged (and laughed at heartily) to keep going. I have been rescued on a few occasions when I got stuck in the mud, much to the amusement of others!

So far, visitors to my humble abode have been sent home with a little bit more than they bargained for - a few beetroot here and a bag of potatoes there. The young man is trying to get everyone to take all the cabbage since he hates the stuff.

There were many times when I wanted to give up, the battle for the plot between me and the brambles seemingly a very one sided thing. However, mother nature, friends and sheer bloody mindedness has seen me through my first season - and funnily enough, I'm going to do it all over again next year - minus the mini forest though.

I'm not going to be a hypocrite and say I've loved every minute of it - but I'm loving it now, when I see what's come out of the soil and that's what counts. I've no doubt a few months from now, I'll be muttering under my breadth, tripping over my own wellies and cursing the fact that the toilets are way way down the other end of the allotments, but hey, now I know it really will be worth it in the end.

My plot and some of the goodies it gave me

Did you notice - no onions - the battle recommences!!

My plot in the beginning ...........

Did someone say knitting........