New Year, New Plot

As we welcomed in a new year my mind was busy focusing on our new plot and all the hopes and dreams that came with it. If you didn’t catch my last Youtube video you might be a little confused so let me explain quickly….

Both me and my Dad are joining forces again in 2020, we had a good long chat and decided it would be best if I moved over to his larger plot and we shared the growing space. You see once the garden show season starts in April until September our work life gets super busy and previously we’ve been struggling to find any time to spend on our allotments. They’ve been neglected and so has our mental health, we’ve had no time to enjoy the spaces and my Dad was so close to simply giving his up because he couldn’t keep up with the weeds. It might sound silly to be moving my little plot over to the other side of the allotment site but two pairs of hands are better then one after all! We can share the weeding, share the watering duties, share the DIY jobs and share each others company as well.

Don’t panic though! I’m still going to be keeping my plots personality and I’ll be moving the little purple potting shed over to the new space. I’ll be making a new pond, creating a beautiful sitting area surrounded by flowers and they’ll be even more room for more varieties of vegetables, fruit and flowers too. In fact there’s even room for a bed of 10 dahlias which I’m so excited about!

My Dad’s plot (or I should really say OUR plot) measures roughly 14 metres by 13 metres so it’s double the size of my old one. There’s two large beds which measure 10.5 metres by 6 metres and for some reason we’ve taken each one on separately even though they won’t be treated differently. My Dad’s shed will be staying where it is and he’s in charge of the bed in front of that. My purple shed will be moving over to where that big pile of rubbish is and where the greenhouse was going to be erected once upon a time. The new seating area will be in between our sheds and a small pond will be on the other side of my shed. The area along the hedge gets a lot of shade, once the Summer sun rises into late afternoon the plot starts to lose daylight quickly. My old plot was drenched with sunlight all day long and if I’m honest it was too much sun… plants bolted quickly, it needed more watering and there was no where for me to shelter from the heat.

We have such big plans for this new plot and to say I’m excited is an understatement! Our inspiration comes from a recent visit to RHS Wisley back in September and we both agree that it had to be our favourite kitchen garden. So we’ve decided to try and recreate our very own paradise by growing vegetables and flowers together in perfect harmony. Rows of cut flowers will mingle with rows of vegetables and they’ll be no set rotational beds, just like Wisley. Of course we will continue to rotate our vegetables to nourish and improve the health of our soil, but this can be still be done without constricting ourselves to the regimental beds.

They’ll be 3 rhubarb plants dotted around the beds, a lavender hedge, globe artichoke and rows of salad, herbs and flowers lining the pathways. In the centre of the pathway they’ll be a large round container which will house an apple tree underplanted with bulbs as well as 4 large archways planted up with sweet peas, runner beans and a new climbing rose. My blackcurrant bushes will be moved to the new plot and planted in a line with new raspberries and two gooseberries which will be grown as cordons.

Of course before we can get planting anything we need to start getting the plot ready for the growing year. It’s been a little neglected the past couple of years but not too drastically! Bindweed has made it’s way into the beds so it’s going to be a big job of hand digging and removing the roots bit by bit. We both headed up to the allotment last weekend to get digging our beds, the weather has been so awful lately that we have to jump at the chance when the sun decides to show it’s head! Little by little we’ll get there, that’s what we keep telling ourselves. Plus when the digging gets a little too much or if the soil is too wet we can start clearly that pile and move my shed over… now that’s exciting!