Hello 2014!

Happy New Year from The Dig Issue!

This is my 9th year of allotment gardening and this blog has served as a great reminder of what has, and hasn't, been achieved in that time. I'm still no expert gardener, I haven't won the war against weeds (or slugs!), I've never managed to grow a cauliflower and I've never owned an Alan Titchmarsh calendar. I am an eager and experienced, catastrophic gardener!

I started 2013 on a positive note but soon realised that I actually needed a year off to get the beds, weeds, paths and grass sorted. The strawberry bed had sunk too low after having new beds assembled on the plot and I needed to establish a proper home for the fruit trees. Plus the plot was overrun with rotting wood and grass so I decided that everything just needed an extra spring clean. I got fruits and beans last year but that was it.

This year I have started early and decided to get the allotment ready for spring way before spring arrives. By a happy coincidence of events, the good folks at evergreenwales.com have been back on the scene and helped me by putting the extra set of beds on the other side of the allotment. They have even built me new compost bins! The rotten wood has been cleared and I'm thrilled with the results. New beds just waiting for planting! I need to turn over the beds that were built in 2012 but usually that's a pretty easy job. I'm going to put down a new chippings path and then I only have the grass on the paths either side to worry about. (Hopefully!!)

Karl is coming over in the next couple of weeks to grab a rhubarb crown (hopefully before they sprout!) and I'll start to level out the other beds at the same time. I think the strawberries need to move now, it's been about 3 years now so they need a new home. Time to work out a new planting plan!

Pictures below show the newly cleared areas. I might even try and grow in some pots near the front seeing as there is some extra space there.