Things have been at a bit of a low ebb with the allotment for a while now, but suddenly, while I'm almost eight months pregnant, things seem to be starting to come together on my small patch of land.
Rick and I spent two sessions on the plot at the weekend, soaking up the beautiful weather and getting started on some preparation, sowing and planting. Of course I'm pretty limited in what I can do physically, and have been for a while - I haven't done any digging or heavy work all winter, which, on top of a crazy work schedule, launching the book and time spent preparing for the new arrival, means everything is somewhat neglected.
All I can say is, thank god for raised beds - this end of the plot was a great place to start work as it's easier to make visible progress in less time. Rick dug over and prepared the beds while I did a bit of hand weeding and planting: we managed to do a bed of blight resistant Sarpo Mira potatoes, another of Stur BC onion sets and shallots (forget the variety), and sow beetroot Forono (highly recommended - it's huge and tasty), some rocket, and the heritage lettuce Forellenschloss in a further bed (pictured here). The rectangle of chives you can see will be replanted in another bed which we'll use for carrots this year (the smell is reputed to discourage the damaging carrot root fly, and it seems to work a treat for us - and is a lot less trouble and more attractive than using fleece to protect the crop).
I utilised a brilliant little item given to me by a friend for Christmas - it's a gardening bag that doubles as a stool, which allows me to sit next to the raised bed at just the right level for some close sowing work without hurting my back or crushing my now considerable bump. I did manage to become unbalanced and topple backwards into the brassica bed at one point, but this did give Rick a chance to have a laugh (while resucing me, my I add).
It's not all rosy - a large swath of the plot is still in dire need of attention, and I fully expect to get an untidy plot letter this year. But we're made progress - four beds prepared, no less - and that's all one can hope for when you're gestating what feels like a bowling ball in your belly.
I have this idyllic vision of pottering around the plot, baby in a sling, all summer long. I'd be glad for any new parents to disabuse me of this vision, or offer some advice on gardening with small children ... anyone?
I am hoping that visiting little and often will help me to get things back on track, and get a decent harvest of at least some crops this year. Next job is to get a few tomatoes sown ...
Looking after a small baby is rather time consuming, it turns out (heavy sarcasm intended here) ... hence the lack of recent posts and, indeed, hours of gardening under my belt in the last few weeks. The heavy rain that has dominated the skies over the past few weeks hasn't helped, either. 
Recent Comments