The allotment plot is progressing

We have taken out the pallet, board walk, paths on our allotment plot and replaced them with turf. The pallets became very slippery when wet and also needed lifting to weed underneath them. The turf is so much nicer to walk on.

My husband spotted a simple push lawn mower for twenty pounds in our local D.I.Y. store so he bought it for mowing the turf and the grass around our plot. He also fixed a bracket to the post in the foreground to store the hose pipe.

The allotment has a turf path running through the middle

I suggested that perhaps we should lay another turf where the soil is trodden down as this is the path from the water butt to the centre path.

The hose draped around the plot is going to be our irrigation system. We fill the water butt from the communal tap and then the hose is attached to the tap on the butt with holes in the hose, so that it will self water, or at least that is the plan.

We have had complaints about the orange netting (from a house overlooking the allotment) and are planning to lower it to just above the raised beds using the wood from the pallets as supports. This is a work in progress.

All the netted area is now turfed

We also fill this butt and use watering cans to water the raised beds. The lawn mower is parked across the plot from this water butt.

Turf around the raised beds

The raised beds

The pockets around the raised beds have had wild flower seeds sprinkled in them.

We will leave the strawberry bed uncovered so that the bees can pollinate the strawberry flowers.

There have been some honey beehives set up in a sheltered part of the allotments.

The back of the beehives

The yellow warning sign says that the bees are active and warns that you may get stung.

The front of the beehives

The bees are unlikely to sting if you don’t get in their way. We were advised not to block their flight path. They were very active but didn’t bother us. Notice the bee on the right entering the hive.

We are enjoying the process of the plot evolving and are pleased with how neat and tidy it is looking. It has also been nice to chat to other people working on their plots.

It will be fun when we start to get some produce but at the moment it quite satisfying seeing it evolve.