VEGGIE PATCH

So the corner full of weeds is to become a vegetable plot.  I wanted to use the no-dig method starting with removal of about a thousand dandylions and then sheets of newspaper on top of the grass and about a three inch layer of well rotted horse manure from the wonderfully named company 'puckamuck'.  It was delivered in a big builders bag and took me days to spread with a little help from my friends' partner Tom.

A weedy patch of land in the communal grounds where I live with a very unhappy looking hydrangea is the chosen spot to try to grow some delicious food!

I was very sad when one of our lovely cherry tree had to be chopped down but I asked to have some logs to make and edge for the plot

I started by planting a couple of things from the allotment and then sowing some green manure to cover the soil, add some nutrients and dig in in the spring.  You can just see the seedlings sprouting here.

CHANGE OF PLAN

It is now 10 months since my last post and a lot has changed since then. 

I absolutely loved growing food at the allotment.  I learnt so much in six months - mostly by making mistakes but that's probably the best way.  I went on a permaculture course for a weekend and loved learning the principles of working with nature instead of against it and became determined to grow organically using natural predators to control pests etc.  I also read permaculture magazines and books and searched online to find out all I could.  It was hard being the novice and being told by all the old hands that I had to use slug pellets but I don't really want to kill slugs or birds - it seems much better to me to make a pond and let some frogs have a gourmet meal!

Of course I was frustrated by many of my seedlings being gobbled up but using physical barriers helped a bit and I knew that I hadn't had time to establish a proper ecosystem to do it for me.

However much I loved working on my plot I always felt in the back of my mind that it wasn't the right space for me.  This meant I didn't want to invest in say a new shed, or the time and effort to bring in tons of manure which I felt was necessary.  The plot was too big for me to manage and it's layout with lots of paths all overgrown with weeds and surrounded by long grass was very high maintenance.  It was also too awkward to get materials to it.  Although very close to my home getting my bike out of the garage, cycling there opening padlocks etc all took 15 minutes so that was half an hour round trip meaning I usually stayed two to three hours each time I went and was so exhausted the rest of the day was written off!  I kept wondering how I could find a more suitable space - I'd love to buy a small plot of land but that would certainly be too far away, I could have worked instead at a community garden of which there are many in Brighton and shared the produce, I could have tried to find someone with a garden which was too big to manage and arranged to share it with them and share the produce but none of these ideas seemed right for me.

I live in a flat on the second floor and there is a border of grass and shrubs around the block. I rarely used the garden as I have a balcony but it was a lovely day and I took my lunch out to sit in the sun before it got to the west side where my balcony is.  On this day I had a eureka moment.  All of this space is wasted!  It's right outside my back door, the grass is covered in dandylions and daisies but it could be covered in fruit and veg!  Surely the neighbours wouldn't mind that? It solved so many of problems of the plot and all the other possibilities I'd been mulling over.  If I had any success I could share the produce with my neighbours, get a bench so that they could enjoy sitting out too and perhaps get some of them enthusiastic enough to grow their own too.  It seemed much more worthwhile than working alone at a plot which no-one else would see.  I felt very excited and contacted the managing agents for permission.  There was some resistance  'what if everyone else wants to do the same'?  My first thought was well, wouldn't that be brilliant, all growing our own very local food. I reassured them it was highly unlikely given that most of the people in the ground floor flats were elderly already grew some flowers beneath their windows and that a lot of the residents are tenants so probably wouldn't want to invest the time.  I also said that it would be easy to revert to grass if anyone complained.  I got agreement and those overlooking my desired space were all very happy and interested in my plans.

It was September and so the growing season was over at the plot so, I dug up the perennials to replant here, tidied it all up, took the lovely compost I'd made and emptied the shed then mustered some energy to start all over again!

Wildlife and harvest

After three days of rain I was itching to get to the plot but was sadly greeted by a very horrible site, the decapitated remains of a seagull.  It was decomposing and smelly and my worst experience since starting on the plot was having to move and bury it.  Sorry - not a pleasant thing to report - but I guess it's all part of the circle of life - he was probably a lovely meal for some wily fox.

On a much happier note I enjoyed a lovely few hours in the sunshine picking raspberries (still more ripening after 3 months of picking)! blackberries, my first few tomatos (the first of which went ceremoniously into my mouth within one second of leaving the bush and exploded in a juicy blast of flavour), beetroot, a couple of beans and my first ever potatoes.  The chamomile flowers in the photo took ages to get going when I planted them out but now look very happy.  Another candidate for my cups of fresh herb tea perhaps.  I also picked more flowers to bring home - it certainly seems true that the more you cut the more they grow!

I'd taken my lunch over today and added some lemon balm, fennel fronds, mint and oregano to the salad.  Yum Yum!  It's so brilliant being able to pick food and eat it straight away knowing it's not been sprayed with anything nasty.  

Then  I saw a mouse or a vole or something small brown and quick darting across one of the beds, there were lots of butterlies today and the frog was sitting in the grass.  I saw several slow worms when I lifted some card which I'd put down to suppress the weeds and then in the compost bin I saw this little lot.  I can count four heads but I think there are probably about six.   The slow worms obviously love the heat of the compost heap under the lino which I have covering it up.  Of course they slither away fast the minute I take that off so I had to be quick for the photo.  I thought they were totally harmless but someone the other day told me they can bit hard.  I was happy that they liked to live in my compost bin but now I have mixed feelings as I think they've eaten all the worms which break it down so brilliantly. 

Co-worker at Plot 61

In July last year I went to look at my neighbour Chris's allotment just around the corner.  I had seen him setting off with tools many times and asked about what he was growing.  I was interested as I'd always wanted a garden but had never had one and so my growing attempts had been limited to my balcony pots.  

The plot was amazing very lush and full to bursting with flowers and vegetables.  I loved it and was very impressed as Chris had only had it for one year.  I now wish I'd taken a photo so I could remember what plants he had.

A few months later Chris told me that he and his wife were planning to move to Worthing so if he put me down as a co-worker at the plot I could take it over when he left. Brilliant!  There is a 3 year waiting list and although I had been on it and come to the top about 2 years after moving to Shoreham-by-Sea, the plot I was offered was massive and totally overgrown which I knew was too much for me so I turned it down.  This time I felt very excited at the prospect although a little daunted to my total lack of knowledge.  luckily my life had changed a bit though so I knew I had more time work on it.

In December I was given a key and went to explore but where was the plot?  On a muddy wet December day it was like another world to the one I remembered and I looked around the whole area where I knew the plot was but didn't recognise it amongst the sad looking sheds and empty beds.  I still liked the peace and quiet and the atmosphere there and was keen to get going.

Chris told me the number to look for on the shed and I went back, found the right one and wondered if I'd ever make it look like he had done by the summer!  I had a holiday over Christmas and in January went to do a bit of tentative tidying up.  Chris still had crops growing like beetroot, leeks, brocolli and chard which I picked and took to him each week and I didn't really feel I could get going because the shed was full of junk and I had no tools!  Also it didn't really feel like my plot yet. 

In early March Chris cleared all his stuff away so at last the rickety shed was mine!
I took a whole car load of junk to the tip including a large piece of asbestos.  Two guys there were very on the ball and noticed before I chucked it in the skip.  I had no idea how seriously that is treated.  I was told to take it home, spray it with water, wrap it in two sheets of plastic and tape it closed before returning it to a special asbestos container. I may have breathed in some dust but luckily it was damp so hopefully I didn't.  

My lovely sister came to stay with me so that we could spend a whole day clearing and sorting things out.  Irene is an expert gardener and has a big garden full of flowers.  At this stage though I just needed more muscles.  I am a bit of a weakling and she is a lot stronger than me so her help was greatly appreciated.  There was a pile of wood chips in the access road at the other end of the allotment and we decided it would be great to put a layer on the muddy weed ridden paths between the square wooden beds.  We borrowed a wheelbarrow and Irene pushed the very heavy loads back to the plot and having weeded the paths we spread the wood chip over them.  It looked so much better and I was very pleased to have made a start at taming the wilderness.