Where to Even Begin

When you stop and look at a garden or an allotment and think to yourself gosh I wish I had one of those, often that is as far as your brain goes. Obviously mine went a little further in that I actually got an allotment and was so very excited. I sat down with google, books and a paper and pencil and began planning what I'd like to plant and where. Going to view the allotment for the first time, I looked across it with excitement. We cleared some rubbish and some dead plants that could be burnt. Sue's husband has fixed our fence, built a side gate, a new gate on our shared fruit cage, a dividing fence and a gate for my end too.

Although we will both be doing bo dig, the state of the ground meant we did need to get a rotorvator in to turn the soil over for us, then we would just need to go in and mark out and sort out the beds. Due to covid-19 we cannot be up there at the same time, so when it was my turn I arrived with little one in tow, looked across my bit and...wanted to cry. I felt completely overwhelmed. After discussions with Sue, I knew the ground still needed work. It had lots of hard clumps of weeds that wouldn't break down, buried roots and large pieces of flint that needed removing. I didn't know where to begin and it's quite a daunting prospect. I honestly stood there and thought, how on earth will this ever be a garden with just Alyssa and I working the ground?!

However, I took a breath and started by simply choosing one side and marking out the two beds I would have. Then spent a week, digging out one bed. It was slow going, I only did an hour at a time due to my daughter getting bored and wanting to avoid injury. However, by the end of the week, both sides are now marked out and one whole bed is dug. It is actually starting to look a bit like something other than a daunting pile of field. Feel free to share your tips and tricks for this total beginner!!