How it all started.

It's been just over a year now since we were given the plots to rent, I say we because mine was one of 20 new ones added to an existing site with 16 plots already on it. So this time last year I was busy trying to turn a sixteenth of an acre of the farmers field you can see above, into something resembling an allotment.

The soil turned out to be quite light and sandy,good for digging, but in places had been compacted with farm machinery.Consequently, there were large patches where the spade just bounced back and sent, not so good, vibrations up my arms.

It soon became clear that a shed was needed, if only to store tools, but also to house a much needed bucket, if you know what I mean. So one was purchased, shed not bucket, and brought to the site in flat pack. We, as in my son in law and myself, must have picked the coldest and windiest day of that year to erect it, but after doing a good impression of hang gliding whilst trying to put the sides up, and suffering first stage frost bite, we succeeded. My wife also insists that she helped,I have to add, if only in keeping our spirits up by laughing at our antics from the warmth of the van.

Then on to the fencing. I don't know what it is about mankind's relationship to land, but we are never happy until we have created boundaries, and the new site was no exception. It wasn't long before the first plot was fenced in, with posts that that would have kept a herd of stampeding buffalo out,and others quickly followed including ours. This time my wife really did help by standing on the end of the wire, and stop it following me like a faithful puppy as I rolled it out.

To be continued.