All the hard work is beginning to take fruit

The first lot of fruit has now been planted. 

It's all in the preparation

Trenches dug, manured and raked over, ready for planting the raspberries, blackcurrant, redcurrant and blackberry which are due to be delivered next week.

In my element

Nutrient deficiencies cause symptoms such as leaf yellowing or browning, sometimes in distinctive patterns. This may be accompanied by stunted growth and poor flowering or fruiting.

Free to good home - Two sheds

I received a phone call earlier in the week, would I like to dismantle and collect two free 7'x5' sheds. Too right I would. So yesterday I drove down to collect them. The taller of the two needs a bit more work than the smaller one, pictured, but nothing I can't handle. Dismantling them in the rain was fairly easy, if a little time consuming but getting both home was a bit of an adventure. Now all I have to do is level out where they are going, repair and re-erect them.

End of summer

The outside of the compost heap has been covered to keep of the worst of the weather and provide insulation. Digging over the plot to remove as much Couch Grass and Horsetail now begins in earnest so I can get a decent area cleared for some soft fruit which will arrive in November.

Construction time....Compost Bin

It's taken many more hours than I would have liked but the area for the compost bin has now been finally cleared of ALL weeds. I had hoped to spend most of the past week down at the plot but heavy rain and showers put paid to that. The bin itself only took a couple of hours to assemble this morning. Now I can make a start on the rest of the plot.

Work in progress

Despite spending an hour or so a day weeding, you can hardly see what I've done. However, I know that all the work spent thoroughly clearing all the Marestail and Couch Grass roots now will mean that I'll have a lot less work to do in the future.

 Looking West

 Rhubarb and Roses

 Gooseberry Bush

Apples

And now the work begins...

Several pallets and three great window frames 'rescued' this week along with a 55 gallon oil drum. Grass cutting and weed clearing started but taking it easy as I know if I push too hard I'll end up injuring myself and then not be able to do much. Slow and steady wins the race.

I've got it covered

After this weekend's weed-killing and covering in weed suppressant membrane, I went up to check that it was all still in one piece....success!

Preparing the plot

Spent an hour last night uncovering a couple of patches that had been covered with plastic sheeting and moving stones off the plot in preparation for today's spraying of glyphosate weedkiller. I don't normally agree with using weedkiller but there's a lot of horsetail that needs eradicating.

The Plot

The missus and I wandered, as casually as we could, down to the allotments to find out what plot we'd been allocated. It was the one with a couple of fruit trees at the end....number 10A. There are also a couple of gooseberry bushes, some currants, an old crown of rhubarb and couple of last years onions. That's it. Going to need quite a bit of weeding but it's not too bad and I don't have to pay rent for the first year. Result.

  The plot looking East towards Ilkley Moor

The plot looking West

A close up of the fruit trees, currants and gooseberry bushes

The Waiting List

Well, it's been a long, long wait but today I finally became No.1 on the list!!
The Allotments Committee Secretary telephoned this morning and left a message for me to phone him back so we could arrange a time for us to inspect a plot to see if it was suitable. We have arranged to meet on Saturday afternoon at 4pm...but I couldn't wait so I took the dog for a walk after tea to the allotments to try and second guess which plot could be the one. Following all the hard work the Allotments Committee have undertaken since wrestling control from Bradford MDC a year or so ago, the plots have changed beyond all recognition. A lot have been made into half plots, separated laterally, as the access runs down the middle of the site. There appeared to be a couple that didn't show signs of recent cultivation; a half plot with a couple of small fruit trees and gooseberry bushes down the far end and a dismantled shed at the front and a larger plot with a large polytunnel dominating half of it. I don't really mind which one I get but the polytunnel would be a great cost saver. I suppose I'll just have to wait and see what tomorrow brings.