Champion Beetroot

Well the year wasn't quite a washout after all...

After my original comments about being a novice and "seeing how things go" its been brought to my attention that I've been selling myself short. In actual fact I'm very green fingered (emerald I like to think) and have got quite an aptitude for this veg growing lark! Champion standard veg growing if we're being precise....!!

As you may know following the disaster of the floods it was only my lone beetroot crop that survived (two varieties Boltardy and Forno). Well not to be outdone I submitted a photo of the Boltardy to a national (ahem) veg growing show.

AND THEY ONLY WENT AND WON!!

That's right first time attempt, one crop shot and winner straight out. Well you can't say fairer than that can you? 100% perfect record. I might as well retire now. Lewis Hamilton eat your heart out!

I'm pleased to say you can see my handiwork in this months edition of GYO magazine. For those who don't have a copy my winning photo will be/is posted below.

So for all the would be champion growers seeking advice from the pro here is my (patent pending) secret method:

1. Buy cheap value seeds from B&Q. Lose them in the garage and find them by chance the next year.
2. Sow roughly into a field you've just dug over.
3. Leave them be. Weed very occasionally.
4. Apply copious amounts of water in mid July. 3 feet deep should do the trick.
5. Come back in two months time and discover they are still there under all those weeds.
6. Harvest and keep in a bucket for evermore.

So I'm now deciding whether to grow these again next year and defend my crown. I'd previously decided I wouldn't grow them because I'm not keen on eating them but given my skills maybe it would be a waste. It does make me think though about last year. If there hadn't been a flood just imagine what the rest of the veg would have been like....?!

[By the way even if Helen did plant the seeds I dug the ground, weeded and harvested them. I'm sure she planted the Forno variety though.... honest]

Winter blues

Well its been nearly two and a half months since I last posted. To be honest there's only been slightly more activity on the plot as there has been on here!

The plot has started to be transformed from a giant strip of dirt to a bed and path system. I've so far created five beds and sown grass seed on all the paths between. Its been very successful if I do say so myself! The grass is now established and mud is thing of the past. I've cleared out a lot of the weeds and hopefully tight mowing next year will kill off any of the more persistant types. The back of the plot still need converting to beds but once the weather either freezes or dries I'll get going. I might even try some early crops in January.

Also I've built the compost bin I mentioned so long ago. The contents have already rotted down significantly but hopefully by spring there'll be some useable goodness.

Photos to follow when I next go down...

I am the resurrection

Well not me but hopefully it will be true for the plot....

After two months of considering if it is worth revisiting plot62 I've decided it is and will give veg growing another go in 2008. Its been a tough decision because I had a lot of effort wasted and the thought of a flood happening again is very disheartening. However, sowing, planting and watching plants grow was good fun and I rather quite like it so here we go - last chance saloon!

I actually visited the plot a month ago to see what damage the flood had really done and it was quite devastated. Everything had gone, including the sweetcorn I thought would survive, but with one exception - beetroot. Incredibly this plant survived being drowned for over eight days.

Anyway I'll harvest this crop then start from scratch. I've plans to arrange the plot much better than the design it evolved into and probably reduce the plot size. I'm going to make specific beds rather than one huge strip and have grass paths between for ease of use and weed suppressant. Unfortunately I've got a big job ahead digging up the horsetail weed that been rampant in some sections. It seems to have a significant resistance to my weedkiller product so hard work it is. As a list to get me started here are some of the lessons learned from this year:

• Don't use a rotovator. Dig by hand and remove the weed roots as you go.
• Buy proper seed potatoes from a reputable supplier.
• Don't bother with onions, beetroot or swede because I don't particularly want to eat them!
• Plant early and before packets and books suggest.
• Six courgette plants is quite a lot!
• Sixteen giant pumpkin plants is bordering on ridiculous!
• Sieve the soil where I want to grow carrots and parsnips to prevent forking.
• Grow far more peas, beans and salad and from much earlier in the year.
• Maybe try some fruit like strawberries.
• Build and use a compost bin or two!

As for the rest of my growing exploits the good news is I had a second great year with my greenhouse. I've had hundreds of cherry tomatoes and plenty of cucumbers. Sadly the season has ended now and we're back to buying from the supermarket. Still it was superb and come March I'll be sowing gardeners delight and marketmore once again!

Thanks for reading and I'll post back again once the resurrected plot starts to come together...

The plot is dead

Sadly at 8:00 pm on Saturday 28th July I declared my plot officially dead for 2007. We went to visit it to see if the flood waters had drained away and see what impact the flood had caused. The good news was that the majority of water had gone - enough to allow us to drive right up to the entrance.

What greeted us was a stinking half rotten mess, the whole site all the same. The water had mostly disappeared with all that could drain away gone. The back of the plot was still under water and that will take several days to evaporate. The edges were ok to stand on but anywhere that had been dug was like a bog. Not knowing I strode out onto the soil only to find the mud over the top of my boots! It was so soggy and so saturated. The soil has clearly been starved of oxygen drowing all the plants. Practically all of them had died and were going black and mushy. The pumpkins had faded white and shrunk to half size. The courgettes were mush and the broad beans were jet black. Nothing had survived except the sweetcorn. This appeared to be still alive and had grown since the flood started. The heads had started to appear and maybe these will still make it through. I think its very stunted and is currently at 2' not the 6' it should be but at least its alive.

So thats it for 2007. Its now too late to plant again so I'll leave it to naturally decay and then dig it in. I'll be preparing the ground in Autumn for next year and hopefully will have more luck. I'll tidy up the debris and keep it weeded and who knows mabe corn will come good after all. Here are a selection of the pictures from Saturday and keep the blog updated from time to time especially if the corn makes it through!

Flooded plot

Well maybe its not so bad. Today I got down to the plot on a fantastic evening. The sun was shining and it was a very nice evening. I stopped my bike at the start of the flood water and waded through towards my plot. Suprisingly the water never got above my knees and looking at the debris I'd say it never got higher than waist deep. A lot of water has already gone and is steadily flowing out of the site. However, the fields upstream are replacing the water so its going to take a few days before it recovers. Here are a few photos:

The entrance to the allotments

Plot 62! The wood for compost bins and my water barrels have been contained by the mesh fence. The water is just over a foot deep.

What could have been a whopper - now a bit soggy and mushy :(

Reverse view of the plot. The tips opf plants are parsnips and potatoes.

Beetroot and carrots well submerged.

The scrapheap barrow is still here :)

View of other plots in the middle of the site

All isn't lost! I harvested a rucksack full of goodies including potatoes, carrots, a parsnip, a beetroot and two onions. Its all in really condition and hasn't started to rot. There's no denying its home grown - knobbly potatoes and wonky roots!

Abingdon floods

If you haven't heard Abingdon was flooded on the weekend 21st and 22nd July. I've added some pictures so you can see just what has happened.

Regarding the plot it could be bad news. Its very close to the River Ock which has been the worst offender with flooding. Before all the worst of the effects as seen below I visited the site and it was flooded. My best guess is the site is under 4'+ so if it doesn't drain soon everything will be gone. Its a shame but only veg after all. Fortunately our house is high and dry so the cucumbers and tomatoes are going strong!

Here are pictures taken on Sunday 22nd. The water appeared from 5am onwards and peaked at 2pm (ish). The Thames is likely to get worse over the next few hours.



View of Tesco. Probably very flooded. Plot 62 is behind here :(

View of Mill road. We can't get out of the estate by car!

Reverse view from Drayton road.

Houses and cars on the estate. I feel very sorry for these people.

Drayton road towards double roundabout and town centre. This is how we get to A34. Police have closed this road.

River Thames where River Ock joins from left. Thames is very nearly breaking the bank.

View of Ock street towards Abingdon town centre.

Peas and beans

Here is picture of the latest addition to the plot - my climbing beans and mangetout. This photo was taken a few weeks ago now and since then broad beans have been added to the foot of the photo. It didn't say on the packet how high these plants would grow so after consulting my book I bought 8' and 6' poles for the beans and peas respectively. Only later have I found out I have slightly bigger than dwarf varieties so there's no chance they'll use all of the pole! Never mind at least they are in. I was concerned that pigeons and other birds might eat them so I netted it all as best I could. However, they were probably the least of my worries as slugs and snails got almost the lot in the first few days. I've since pelleted and all has recovered nicely. The peas are definitely flowering now so hopefully not too long until they become ready.

The first real harvest

Here is the harvest I took from the plot last night. Every time I'm there I can't get over how big the courgettes have grown. These two were no bigger than sausages only four days before they were cut! Its incredible. I was hoping for whopper pumpkins but now I'm in two minds to let one of these grow to be a whopper courgette...or does that make it a marrow? Are they the same thing, I really don't know?!

I've also got a very nice bunch of globe radish, which I ate for my lunch the day after, and also a few potatoes. The haulmes were looking poor on a few so I dug them to see how they were. I'm a bit disappointed with the volume - three from one plant four from another - and was expecting a lot lot more. Still I guess it is early days and they should be left a few more weeks yet.

More posts to come and now I've found my camera more pics. The weather is so bad today. Torrential rain for hours and I'm hoping the plot doesn't flood.

July update

Its been over three weeks since my last post so about time I had an update. I've been very busy planting, weeding and even cropping! The weather has been very wet but also warm so quite good conditions for growing. The weeds have certainly shot up!

First harvest came about two weeks ago (early July) with the courgettes. Since then there has been no stopping and I've cut nearly 10 fruits from six plants. They grow so fast the in less than a week they've grown from nothing to small marrow! I've already started to give them away to lucky friends and colleagues. Don't worry if you've not had any I guarantee you'll get one soon!

Other crops I've had are radishes. These have now swelled nicely and are a real treat on the plot. I've since planted some more to try and get a succession. My pumpkins are really growing. There are a couple bigger than grapefruits and plenty the size of tennis balls so hopefully these will develop into the whoppers I'm after. The plants themselves have totally swamped the lower part of the plot growing right to either edge over the grass paths! On the down side my potatoes are looking a bit limp. I'm worried they might have blight but its only on a couple so could be slugs. I'm going to see how this goes over the next few days and weeks but its only 3 weeks until they should be ready.

Other changes are new plants including climbing beans, mangetout and broad beans. The first two were savaged by slugs no sooner than they went in. Slug pellets and netting for pigeons have gone one since and everything is now recovering. The broad beans were pelleted when planted and these are now establishing themselves nicely. Fortunately I've found some organic pellets which not only make me feel happier about not using chemicals they don't mush the slug like other pellets can. They simply disappear never to be seen again... spooky!

I feel like I'm slowly winning the battle with the horsetail. Emphasis on the slowly. It really is the worst weed you can get. It is so strong and resilient and grows so deep. I'm trying to keep on top of it but nearly everytime I pull it out there's the fateful 'snap' and you just know the bit that stayed in will be back. It seems completely resistant to glyphosate weedkiller which dispatches everything else so well. I don't think there is anything I can do other than keep weeding!

Finally in other news my plot has been put forward in the Abingdon in Bloom competition. Several of the best plots from the site go forward every year and are judged by the local council (I think). I've heard the inspection is due around late July, early August so another goo reason to keep on top of the weeding and mowing. Fingers crossed!!

Greenhouse greenery

Ok so its not strictly plot62 as the greenhouse is in my back garden but heres some progress of

my other growing exploits. The tomatoes are now at their maximum size and I've pinched out the growing tips to concentrate the plants efforts on the fruit. I must have 5 or 6 trusses on each plant and nine plants in total to keep me going! I love growing tomatoes they are definitly my favourite. I love the fact that you get such a huge plant from such a tiny seed and the smell of the leaves is fantastic. Its never a chore picking out the growing shoots and I copuld grow enough to fill a polytunnel! Anyway hopefully if the weather warms we'll get some of the toms starting to ripen. They still look quite a way off but I'm feeding them with special feed far more frequently this year and I'm sure its helping to build a bigger crop.

The cucumbers have finally kicking into gear. They spent ages doing nothing but at last the mini cucumbers have started to develop. Like the tomatoes I pinched out every growing tip and I think that encorgaes the plant to form fruits. The closest to ready is about half size so maybe next week I'll get a small one soon. They appear to be loving the trellis I installed this year. Its certainly worth the effort as it reduces the starin on the greenhouse frame - another good bit of recycling!

Finally, although I don't have any pictures, a quick mention to the sunflowers. These were sown very early in the greenhouse and planted out a couple of months ago. A few sucumbed to the slugs and snails but the lucky ones are now true giants. I'd say the tallest is coming on for 8 feet high and definitly peeping over the neighbour fence! I'll get some pics when the flowers finally bloom.

Weeeeeeeeeds

Its been a while since my last post so its about time for an update. Well lots has been going on so I'll post a few entries with more specifics. In general though we've had LOADS of rain. It seems never ending and the current five day forecast is nothing but! I've certainly not had to fill the water butts so it just goes to show theres a postive in every negative!

Well it gets better than that as the rain water is certainly having a postive effect on the plants and almost everything is now growing at a fair rate. The photo above was taken about a week ago when you could still see space between the pumpkins. They grow so fast I'm sure you could watch them growing if you had the patience. Also although you can't see in this picture the first fruits are now starting to form. They look like mini gooseberries sitting behind a huge flower! The courgettes are coming on too. I think it will be another week then we can start cropping - yahooo!! My neighbours have all been picking courgettes so it can't be long now. The best fruits are currently the size of a sausage and although its tempting I'm waiting for a proper two-person size portion for the first crop.

As you can see the plot is covered in weeds. Confession time - I think the rotovator did have a bigger impact than I first thought. The weeds, in particular horsetail, are all over the plot and growing round every crop. Its so bad I spent three hours weeding and it still looked untouched in places. Its got to the point where I've had to get the weedkiller out to do the job. I was hoping to stay 100% chemical free but I've got to kill the root of this weed and I can't see any other way. Still glyphosate isn't so bad and if thats all I resort to I can live with it!

More posts to come but thats it for general catch up. Oh yes we're now over two months old. It still amazes me how far we've come in such a short time....

Catch cropping

I've had the plot for 7 weeks now and despite lots of steady progress I'm still nowhere close to reaping the fruits of my labours. With that in mind last night I planted some quick growing "catch crops" of radish and little gem lettuce. The hope is that both will be ready in only six weeks, maybe less. I've planted them in the rows between onions and gave them a bit of compost to help them along. I'll try sowing a row every couple of weeks from now on to ensure a continuous supply throughout summer.

I also used my hose pipe for the second time ever to fill my three water butts. It worked really well and 2400 pumps later (yes I was counting!) they were all done. Just as I'd completed them Helen arrived which meant I could use the pipe to water all the squash and pumpkins near the entrance of the plot. It pumps so much water its amazing and as I've always been the one cranking the handle I've never seen the far end. All plants got at least a buckets-worth each which should really help them along.

Sadly as I was leaving I noticed one of the water butt taps had a small leak. I decided to stop it by tweaking the tap and after I'd "fixed" it it had a big leak....oops :) So emergency measures called into place and the butt got emptied straight away to saving losing the water to the weeds. By the end of it I must have watered nearly all the plot. Its hard work but so satisfying and all from natural well resources. Great stuff

Water water everywhere

Watering the alloment was always going to be a big job. Fortunately at the Westend site we have access to wells dug all over the site. All these are fully brick built and have semi rotary hand pumps for getting the water. The nearest deep well to my site is approximately 50m away which is quite a distance and certainly very difficult to carry much water to and from. With the depth of the plot an extra 30m it all adds up. Early on my neighbour discovered an unused well very close to our plots but after further inspection its too shallow and not worth the effort to restore it.

There was only one option left - water butts. I was really lucky to find a local independent garden centre selling water butts for £10 each. Normally you can expect to pay at least twice that from DIY stores. The slight downside is that they are ex olive barrels so have a certain aroma shall we say! despite this they were quite clean so didn't atke much effort with the hose pipe to become fit for use. I got three in the end with a total capacity of 660 litres. The plinth they stand on was made from salvaged concrete at the allotment site. A big thanks to Dave for helping me carry these lumps because there was no way I could move them on my own.

So the final bit of getting the water from the pump to the barrels because we couldn't bucket it. I bought a 1" pipe from ebay for £60 which has been my most expensive item by a long way. Its probably meant any savings we were going to make are well and truly gone but I like to see it as an investment instead.....ahem!! Its 60m long so has plenty of slack and by using a foam insulation sleeve and jubilee clip it clamp securely to the well pipe.

All in all the sytem works really well. Theres no water loss and it takes somewhere in the region of 800 pumps to fill a single barrel. Three barrels later and thats a decent workout! All the barrels have taps fitted but I've found its much quicker to stick a bucket in the top so they've had little use. Who knows maybe I'll get round to fitting a gravity fed dripper to water the pumpkins and squash but for now I'll use the manual method. All I need now is an eaiser way of cranking the pump!!

Too hot to handle

Well the big plans for the wekend went right out of the window due to the weather. It was far too hot to be down on the unshaded allotment so the compost bins will have to wait! Having said that I did get chance for a couple of hours split over Saturday and Sunday when I managed to dig a new triple row for leeks and then transplant them in. Fingers crossed for a bumper crop.

Other than that I did a bit of watering and hoeing to clear the weeds that have been growing in abundance. The pumpkins are really coming along now as are the onions both shown below (please look past the weeds!). The potatoes are slowly doing their thing but they always look a poor relation to my neighbours plots who got theirs in a few weeks earlier.

Sunshine, sunshine, sunshine...

Well after the rain comes the sun and the last few days has seen nothing else. Its done wonders for some of the plants with the pumpkin and courgette now at 6-7 leaf stage. Its also meant the weeds are growing as well so a fair amount of regular hoeing is needed to keep them at bay. At the edges of the plot the weeds that didn't get rotovated reached nearly 2' high in places but they were all literally cut down to size with the mower last night! Its looking really good (if I do say so myself) and its amazing how a bit of cut grass smartens things up. Another thing I've noticed is the lack of damaged done by pests. The plot appears to be covered in slugs and snails hiding under everything possible yet no visible damage on the plants? Maybe this is tempting fate or maybe I'm growing plants these pests don't like but either way I can't believe it. Maybe I'm not such a bad gardener after all!!

Hopefully this weekend should see some real progress once more. I've plans to build compost bins and dig the last bits of the plot for some late planted crops so watch this space. More pictures to come too...

Rain and rain and rain and...

Well the rain that was forecast has certainly arrived - no argument about that! It basically hasn't stopped since Saturday evening and today is Thursday. Heavy persistent rain which should do the ground no end of good but has damaged some of my seedlings. The picture below of the sweetcorn was actually taken on Monday after it had been battered for two days. Some of the shoots have collapsed but I'm hoping they will recover. The rain also brought the cold and its been noticeable how the plants haven't grown at the pace they were. Still on the plus side the plot had its second official vistors who tramped around and were very enthusuatic - even despite the downpour! Maybe next time the weather will be good and the plants much higher and who knows maybe even a harvest to be had?!

Sweetcorn and squash

Friday the 25th saw the last of the big planting completed. I've been gradually digging more of the front part of the plot and on Friday I got to plant it! I'd had butternut squash and sweetcorn growing in cells in the greenhouse for a few weeks so it was time to transplant them Rain was on the way for the weekend so I thought that would water them in nicely. I decided against the "three sisters" style of growing where the squash and swetcorn grow togther to make sure I understand these crops individually for the first year. The sweetcorn were planted in two blocks so I can get between them for watering. All in all I got 16 squash and 55 sweetcorn so hopefully we'll get a decent crop.

Up, up and away

Guess what? We've started growing!! The first signs of growth were spotted on the spuds on Monday and a more thorough check yesterday proved we've got loads of growth all round. Nearly 50% of the potatoes have broken through and some of the onions, both red and white, have new shoots. Its so exciting and pictures show the biggest potato and onion sprouts! Also plot62 is exactly one month old. I can't believe it - it feels much longer. Its so great to look back through and see how far we've come in such a short time....

Pumpkin patch

The pumpkin seeds germinated just over a week ago and they grow so fast this weekend was about time to plant them on. I've been digging the front of the plot for a few days to get it ready and with the help of my friend Dave we got 16 plants in. I'm thinking now they might a bit close only 2' apart but we'll see how they do. Each was helped along with a pile of rotted manure under the roots and a heathy watering in. The plan is to try and grow a couple of whoppers and then some smaller ones for eating. I've planted them near where the water butts will go so watering will be easier! Also I have plans for a secret growing concoction but more info on this another time....

Roots, roots and roots!

All secure and good to go it was time to transplant my carrots and parnsips that have been growing in the greenhouse for so long. I got them started weeks ago before I'd secured the plot so they were more than ready to be moved on. I'd tried out the paper pot method after understanding these root crops don't like being disturbed once set. The idea is that you transplant the whole lot and the paper degrades quickly once buried leaving the perfect root to fill out.

Rather than plant direct I decided to fork over the rows I would plant. This is the first time I'd dug this area of soil since the rotovator and was really pleased to see so few roots. I know its early days but it really looks like the roots that were there have now perished rather than growing again. Great news.

I laid twine to mark the rows - string in a tin very handy indeed! - and used a dibber to sort the holes. Before long I'd planted two rows each of carrot, parsnip, white onion and red onion plus a single row of beetroot. Sadly the onion sets were very poor because I'd had them so long. Still this is a learning year and I'm sure something will come.

So thats it. The first quarter of my crops sown and growing. I went for a carrotfly resistant seed so I'm not going to bother with the barrier method. Time will tell if this is the right decsion. So feet up now and more rain is coming to water it in (again)! Also rumour of new neighbours in plot 61 so we'll have to see if anything develops there.....

Rabbit proof fence

Saturday the 12th was a big day down on the plot. I knew I had all day to spare and the weather was going to be ok, maybe a few showers, but generally overcast. Main job was to complete the fence and finally have a secure boundary to plot62. Over the past week or so I'd completed digging a 1' deep trench round the boundary and mid week I'd hammered in the posts. I had a huge 50m roll of chicken wire and despite botching the first attempt where I rolled it all out rather than sections it did ok. Nailing the fence on was relativly easy but filling in the trench was back breaking. The sods I'd removed had been broken down by the rain and instantly crumbled when I tried to shovel them back. It took some doing but finally by early afternoon it was complete. The photo above shows the entrance to the plot and I also had chance to make a would-be gate from scrap wood. So all fenced in (or out depending on your point of view!) and its "safe" from rabbits. Lets get planting!!

Seedlings

Well work on the allotment has been postponed for quite a few days because of holidays and rain. I managed to squeeze in a couple of hours on Tuesday evening when I started to errect the rabbit proof fence but thats been it. Since then it hasn't stopped raining so I've been trapped indoors. However, thats not to say there is no progress as my sweetcorn seedlings have started to emerge. Several of the crops I'm planting have been started off in cells rather than planting straight in the ground. Last year I got a small 6'x6' greenhouse in the freeads so this should help them along nicely. In the above picture (left to right and back to front) I've got 20 leeks, 20 squash, 80 sweetcorn, 20 pumpkins, 7 courgettes, 20 parsnips and 20 carrots, not to mention the 9 tomatoes and 4 cucumbers round the edge!! I grew cucumbers and tomatoes (plus chillis and peppers) last year as my rookie attempt at growing veg. It went really well and we enjoyed the tomatoes and cucmbers so much I've sacrificed the others for more! Can't wait until these start cropping. Marketmore cucmbers and gardeners delight cherry toms mmmm!

Anyway rain or shine this weekend is a big at the plot so watch this space for updates. Heres hoping for the sun once more. Cheerio...

Spuds away

Once I knew I was getting a plot I started to look for seeds and sets I could plant. I know mid April is a bit late for potatoes but the good news is that means what you do buy is reduced! I was lucky enough to pick up 3 bags of Charlotte seed potatoes a few weeks ago for 99p each. These have been nicely chitting ever since so once the plot was prepped they were going in asap. Sunday evening Helen and I went down to the plot ready to plant. We dug a trench 15cm deep and planted each seed 30cm apart. The deeper soil was still clumpy but it soon broke up and there were only a few weed roots so the rotovating had done a good job. After gently covering them up they were watered in – definitely not the easiest task. The well is nearly 100m away and we only have a bucket. After three trips you are losing the will so the new way of watering can’t come soon enough. Still it works for now and we earthed them up to keep the moisture in. The third row was planted the day later to complete the lot and that’s when the above picture was taken. So that’s it the first crop is planted – plot62 is officially off the mark and growing yeehah! Onions are going in next followed by a whole load of other crops so watch this space…

Scrapheap challenge!

One of the key tools on any plot is a wheelbarrow. When I was clearing the plot I borrowed a neighbour's but it wouldn't be long until I needed one of my own. As luck would have it when we searched the plot on day one we discovered a couple of old discarded wheelbarrows waiting to be dumped. Individually they were no good but between them there was a good wheel and a good frame. I saved the bits and had my own go at scrapheap salvaging!

I used some 2”x1” wood from pallets I’d obtained to make hubs using a large 25mm drill. These were bolted onto the frame and greased. Secondly I had some old plywood and shelving in the garage that got converted into a tub. It's a bit Heath Robinson (who is/was he?!) but its certainly unique.

Like the proof of a pudding is in the eating I guess the proof of the barrow is in its use. Well what can I say it works even better than the real thing, even if I do say so myself. Also did I deliberately make the sides of the tub bigger than the base so that it wouldn’t fill with water when it rains, or did I measured it wrong? Hmmm definitely the latter!

So there we have it a scrapheap barrow. For less than £5 I've got a fully functional barrow that works great and has saved extra waste from being landfilled. Best of all I can leave it on site safe in the knowledge it will be there the next day. Now what else can I salvage……?

The big dig - part 2

Three and a half hours later and I decided to start to rotovate. There were still a few piles of soil, weeds and roots to clear but I only had the machine for a couple more hours.

What an amazing machine! I takes some getting used to but once you realise not to fight it it works really well. I hadn't realised in the morning how efficient it was an before I knew it I had turned over most of the ground. I stuck with it right through until the hire van arrived and took it away. By the end I had covered the whole plot (minus the bits with weed piles still on) to about 6" depth of fine tilth. Near perfection!!

So that was it I stood back and marveled at a days work. My back was aching really bad from stooping over the machine and my hands had blisters from clearing weeds earlier. I raked over a section to see what it was like then packed up and went home. Time will tell if the rotovator was the right idea as there are still many small weed roots in the soil. At least its easily workable soil and what is left of the roots can be raked up eaily. I may even trand and coarsly sieve areas where I plan to plant root vegentable. Anywau I'll try and finish the clearing over the next couple of days and then get the crops in but right now its time for a rest....

The big dig - part 1

Thursday saw the first real action at the plot as I attempted to convert field and weeds into lovely soil! I had the day off and hired a rotovator to do the hard work. There seems to be quite a divided opinion on whether or not to use a rotovator on land like this. Some say all you result in doing is chopping the weeds into more weeds but my opinion is it makes the soil instantly workable to a good depth - plus its good fun!!

My original plan was to cut the weeds with a mower but sadly it conked out after 20 minutes and no effort on mine or Edwards part (who had wandered over) could get it going again. Nevermind rotovator it was and I got stuck in. It worked amazing well cutting out the roots and leaving the weeds on top. By 11:00 it was done and I started the mamoth job of piling the weeds and raking the surface.

We've got a plot!

On Sunday 22nd April 2007 we signed up for the princely sum of £12 to secure Plot 62 as our very own piece of Oxfordshire land. As you can see its a bit rough and ready but a bit of effort should see it come good. Now, where to start?!

Unfortunately Plot 62 has been a bit of a dumping ground so there was lots of rubbish and asbestos to move off the site. Some of the weeds were knee-high but none of them seem to be too much of a challenge to remove.

Anyway, that is it for now. Good news is that we are up and running ...