And Along Came Lottie

The thought of having my own allotment was very exciting and I had a romantic vision of lush green beans and being surrounded in an array of home grown produce with bee’s buzzing from plant to flower and me sat in a chair with a flask of coffee, a sandwich and a smug look on my face.

This is of course isn’t what happened , well not at the beginning anyway. I acquired my allotment in October 2018 and as you will see from my photos it was not a vision of beauty. But waste high in couch grass brambles and over grown beds and to be honest it was a little overwhelming.

But we made a start and decided just to clear a few beds to get going, the strange thing about having an allotment is that once you start to see results you just want to keep going.

There was something about being outside and clearing and tidying that made me very proud and very satisfied.

My fellow allotment folk were full of encouragement and that kept me going too.

Over the next few week we cut cleared and dug and then stood back and there she was “ Lottie”

I read books and looked online and listened to my fellow allotment friends. And found it all a bit confusing to be honest. In true Dorset fashion I was told “ ahh you don’t wanna be doin it like that, you should be doin it like this “ Only for the follow day someone else telling me the opposite.😳

Then I discovered quiet by accident “ no dig” yes gardening and growing and not digging! Well after weeks of clearing this quiet frankly this was music to my ears! But would it work!?

The first thing I have learnt is that as quick as you dig them up weeds grow back. So choosing to go down the no dig road sounded perfect to me.I covered my allotment in pig manure ( provided by the allotment society ) and bough a large roll of black plastic and some pegs and covered it completely.

First rule of no dig, nothing can grow without light! So cover the ground in compost or mulch and anything else you can get your hands, even cardboard or black plastic. And then wait for spring.

I have convinced my fellow blogger and partner in crime Katie to take on an allotment this year, together we would like to take you along our allotment journeys , share tips and mistakes and also share the joy of having your own home grown produce. From knowing what went into the soil, to incredible taste of fresh home grown veg and also to share some of our favourite recipes, talk about harvesting ,freezing and preserving.