Defrosting!!!!

Well today we've had a mini heatwave!!! It reached the giddy heights of 12 degrees!

Nothing to shout about normally but after the big freeze we've had lately, it hasn't got above freezing for days, it's very welcome! It's been too cold to do any digging at the Den.

Mind you the cold has been replaced by a howling wind... the straw I put on some of the poorly looking plants to protect them has blown all over the garden! Hopefully it will make some nesting birds very happy.

Here's a couple of pics of the frosty plants in the garden.

Spud update

The spuds are chitting away nicely... just a quick update for you.....

I've also bought some Charlottes to hopefully get a few salad spuds. I must start them off chitting soon!

Let the work begin.......

Well the Den has had a good old strimming and I must say it looks sooooo much better!

The plan is that the grass and weeds will be stimulated into life and start to grow. That way they can be spot treated in the areas that are going to remain as grass for now and the areas that are going to be veggie beds can be sprayed with whatever it is you spray weeds with!

Here's a couple of pics of how it's looking at this moment in time....



The shed will go at the top right hand corner and the greenhouse, when I get it, will go about half way down on the right hand side.




You can see where the original beds were and I'll probably keep to this layout for now. Just need to wait for the weeds to show themselves properly so they can be well and truly sorted!

Shedworld!!!!.......

Well after days of deliberation we have decided on a shed!

We've ordered a 5'x7' shiplap single door shed for £229. Free delivery! It's coming from http://www.gardenbuildingsdirect.co.uk/.

I'm hoping this will be an adequate size.... it's got to house some tools, which will hang on the wall, some sort of racking for storage and, most importantly, somewhere to make a cup of tea!!!

It also needs to have enough space for the ankle biters to hide from the weather if need be.

I ordered it online last night (Tuesday) and had an email today to say it will be here on Friday!!! Great service - I hope the shed is as good! I've also been looking at greenhouses from the same site but that's a story for another day!

The shed will go into the garage until the lottie is ready for it. There is no way I'm going to leave it unassembled on the plot for anyone to walk away with! I've also been thinking about woodstains.... I don't want the run-of-the-mill brown... I want to be a bit different! I'm not talking pink or yellow but maybe a nice heritage blue or sage... watch this space.....

Here comes the sun.....

Yay... the sun finally came out of hiding today, for a few hours anyway!

So I thought I'd hot foot it up to the lottie to see what it looked like in sunlight. Of course I took my camera with me and here is the result....

It doesn't look too sunny does it? But I promise you it was!

Next to my lottie is a grassed area to park on - although you can't park on it at the moment cos it's too wet!!!! Here is another piccie from outside the car park...

Note the lovely gate and lack of fence next to it? That's a totally secure lottie ha ha. The small egyptian Mummy type thing is actually the water tap - everything on my doorstep! :-)

Chits Away!!!.....

Well after carefully studying the bags and bags of seed potatoes at the garden centre on Monday I chose 2. A first early called Maris Bard and a maincrop Maris Piper - probably not very adventurous but who cares - I'm gonna play safe for my first year!

I've put the first earlies into some trays so they can chit away to their hearts delight.

Here are some pics of them....



















Oooooh how exciting!!

Hopefully I'll have some nicely dug over beds for them to move into!

Touching Base.....

I've been browsing the net looking for ideas for a base for my shed. They Who Must Be Obeyed (the Council) say that cement or concrete is not allowed on a plot so most paving slabs etc must be laid on a bed of sand or on ye olde allotment favourite... pallets. Being a girlie I want my shed looking nice and not a Steptoe reject so the pallet idea is out! Pallets will have a place on the lottie - compost bins or fencing - but NOT under my shed.

I was contemplating laying some sand and paving slabs but the thought of all that levelling was putting me off (not that I would have being doing a lot of it ha ha!) but I found this idea on my favourite allotment forum.....

Lay a retaining wall of wood, fence posts will do, and fill in with a couple of inches of gravel. On top of that put 3"x 3" fence posts, as many as you need for stability, and place your shed on top. The Fence posts will bed down into the gravel which will help to self level the shed. The shed is held away from the ground keeping the damp out and meaning your shed lasts longer!... Voila!!!


Can I just say thank you to Aunt Sally for that top tip.














I think I have decided on the shed I want.... It's a 7'x5' shiplap style with windows on one side. It needs to be big enough to house a small plastic kiddy table and chairs so that the girls can retire there and read or draw should the weather (or the great outdoors) become too much for them! I can't make my mind up between a single or double door on it though. Either way I hope to have it ordered at the weekend. Next on the list is the greenhouse, but that's a decision for another day!