Wilko and out (and about)
More progress this week towards taking possession of my plot. The allotment company secretary wrote to me as promised, gave me the plot number and asked that I forward payment along with written confirmation of my acceptance. So I quickly wrote out a cheque and stopped off at his house to drop the payment off after work Friday evening. I had hoped to have a quick chat with him whilst I was there, but it looked like they were sat down to dinner so I did the polite thing and dropped the cheque through the letterbox instead.
Awoke this morning and peered out of the curtains to find it was an amazingly frosty morning. I think this may be a good sign though, as late morning developed into a gloriously sunny, although still freezing cold day.
Took a trip into Huntingdon just after lunch and called in at Wilkinsons. I've always been a bit of a shopping snob, so had overlooked them until now. What I'd failed to realise is that they've got a great range of gardening products, and I could probably have saved myself a small fortune around the end of last year if I'd used them instead of Homebase. Today, I managed to buy a couple of bags of potting compost, seed trays, some compost pots and about 20 packets of seeds for the princely sum of ВЈ18, which I can't help but think is pretty good value for money.
Whilst in Huntingdon, the lure of Homebase dragged me in, so I bought myself a wrecking bar and some nails, so I can crack on with building compost bins, etc, from the scrap pallets we can't get rid of at work as soon as I've taken possession of my plot.
Stopped off at the allotments on my way home to try and identify which one is mine. As I'd feared, it's all but impossible to figure out. I thought I'd reached a conclusion as to which one was mine but then came home and realised I'd been looking for plot 5C instead of 5A. I'd be quite happy if it was the one I'd though as, although it's ridiculously overgrown, it had a nice sunny wall against a neighbouring shed, had bits covered over with rotten carpet and, best of all, the remains of a blown down shed lying on the plot which could probably have been made good with a bit of hard work and the timber from a couple of pallets.
The whole place has a really nice air about it though. A nice ramshackle collection of sheds, interspersed with immaculately tended plots gives me the impression plot holders are pretty much left to their own devices with the freedom to do as they please - but, at the same time, with a sense that someone's keeping a close eye on maintaining the site as a whole. I'm really excited now. Well, the bits of me that aren't terrified at the prospect of my plot being one of the ones buried under a mass of undergrowth are anyway!
Came home and potted out the Bocking 14 Comfrey I bought off eBay during the week, which arrived safely in the post this morning. It's now sat on the windowsill in a tray along with my (yet to show signs of life) slipping sweet potatoes and a couple of trays of native wild flowers. The latter I intend to plant somewhere in the plot along with some suitable timber to provide a habitat for wildlife. Ideally, I'd also like to dig a small pond in the hope that frogs and toads come along and eat any slugs into the bargain. I don't plan to go fully organic, but do intend to work with nature wherever possible.
Today's visit to Wilkos also added a new crop to my list - Celeriac. I'd overlooked the fact I like eating this, so really ought to be growing it. Now just need to find out what's involved!
February 20, 2010
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Tags: celeriac, pallets, Seeds, shopping В· Posted in: General, Seeds
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