The New Arrival

This week was a very exciting one on the allotment. In what is probably the biggest development since I built my beds, I finally caved and invested in a polytunnel. At 6ft by 13ft, it’s a good size for my plot, narrow, long and tall (kind of like myself, we’re a perfect match).

Having being stuck in work when it arrived, I was itching to go out on Saturday to see it, but Saturday arrived with a storm. I had to forego the chance to visit and spent the day hiding
indoors playing Xbox. Sunday, however, Sunday was glorious. Sun beaming, not a cloud in the sky, cold but no wind, perfect gardening weather. I hauled ass out to the plot, best friend Kat in tow (she just so happens to be a botanist, fancy). Flask of coffee made by the daddy. Bliss.

I squealed when I saw my polytunnel, it was majestic. We stood there looking at it for a good ten minutes, marvelling at it before getting to work. We needed to level out the ground before doing anything else, so we dug the soil inside the tunnel (sweaty work, hot stuff). Took us little or no time, then I raked the soil over, I’m a dab hand with a rake now, I’m a regular old rakey master (I’d apologise for that pun but I have no shame).

Kat has some serious digging skills, we got the rest of the plot dug in under an hour. The ground in that dreaded messy corner was very uneven, so we sorted it out, now it’s ready for me to build my little patio area.

Having had a break, ie. Kat the botanist ripped apart some flowers to have a look at them and I had a chat with Joe the robin, who has become like my pet now (Joe is short for Joseph Gordon Levitt, and yes, I am a super nerd). We decided to tackle the shed, which was an absolute disaster after the winter, everything was just flung in on the floor, messy. We pulled everything out, swept the floor, I found about 3 quid in change and a load of seeds I forgot I had. Echinacea, comfrey, evening primrose and about four different types of broad beans, which I’ve never grown so I’ve no idea why I have so many. Guess I’ll have to grow them now this year. Kat had a great time hammering up my new coat hook, which I bought in Tiger, otherwise known as the best shop in the universe.

I dragged my pallet shelving I made last October into the shed, why I hadn’t thought to do this before is beyond me. I have a christmas tree trunk from last year which I use to hang my hand tools, I have good ideas sometimes, sometimes. I plan to build a bench with storage in it and make a hook for my tools. I also have about fifty adorable pictures etc to hang up and my birdhouse.

This week is the first week of spring, so I guess you could call it the spring clean, but we really did get the place seriously tidied up. It’s nearly time to get planting. The polytunnel will be a serious advantage when it comes to propagating this year. It will extend my gardening season by months, it’ll give me the chance to grow tomatoes, peppers, aubergines, cucumbers and a plethora of crops I can’t currently grow in our temperate climate. I could already feel the difference in heat in there yesterday and it hasn’t even had time to heat up yet, I can only imagine the heat in there during the summer.

I’ve gotten my gardening bug back this year, I’m obsessed. Last year was my lean year, the fallow one. This year I’m raring to go. This week I’ll be planting my first seeds. I’m beyond excited.