OUR ALLOTMENT - Life on The Weald October 2016

October 2016

I feel rather guilty that, although I kept notes and photos of progress on the Mile Oak allotment in 2015, I didn't get round to posting - but will do so retrospectively!   We were co-workers at Mile Oak on Luke's allotment but now have this one of our own at The Weald, much closer to home.

Just as a reminder this is what it looked like when we took over the tenancy

It looked a lot better after the council had strimmed it and we had removed most of the rubbish.

On the first Sunday in October, with massive help from Luke, Charlie and Fran and from Steve who has a plot nearby, we made a good start, clearing the brambles, tree stumps and the derelict fence.  We also managed to work out where the  boundary should be with the neighbouring derelict plot and began the construction of a path.  Perhaps construction is a bit of an overstatement - we dug out as much of the weeds as we could, laid some tarpaulin,cut to an appropriate width and covered with wood chips.  

Thankfully The Weald has a ready supply of wood chips from an approved source.

Here's the path nearing completion (apart from where the wilderness still exists at the far end)

We brought two raised beds from the Mile Oak allotment and refurbished them - one made from old floor boards and the other from an old door.

Having removed as much bindweed and couch grass as we could, I lined the beds with layers of old newspaper before adding some fresh compost.  Hopefully the newspaper will act as a temporary weed inhibitor and also help to conserve moisture. I am hoping for a concerted effort on Sunday 16 October with our press-ganged band of "volunteers"

John Austin

Hove 14 October 2016