The Beginning

Our first mission is to clear the area closest to the greenhouse, an area of approximately 8m by 8m. This is the land that was obviously worked last as it's where multiple rows of potatoes are buried. I dug up a small section of it this morning while showing the kids around and most of the potatoes are totally unviable. Surprisingly there were some that were in good condition. But, as I know very little about potatoes they will sadly be dug up and discarded as I have no idea if they're edible!

Today is an exciting day, we took over our new bumpy, weedy, overgrown allotment plot in the South Wales valleys. I've got the be honest when I say that just looking at all this land and grass gives me the collywobbles. The ground hasn't been worked in 2 years and it shows. It's a mixture of tall grasses, brambles, leftover plants and debris. Underground there are potatoes that hadn't been taken up and roots and masses of bricks and stones.

The plot is 8m wide and by my guess around 25 to 30m long. It's a twisted mixture of soil, paths, gravel and goodness knows what else...It also came with a substantial greenhouse and a shed. Both full of the previous owner's stuff.

Our plan for this plot is to work the ground nearest the greenhouse by building some raised beds and using the square foot gardening technique for growing. It's a method I've used in our small kitchen garden at home with some pretty good results. So, we'll start with what we know and take it from there. We'll be able to get four 4ft by 4ft square beds in a row near the greenhouse and hope to get them in before the spring.

The rest of the land will be covered with black plastic sheeting (once the grass has been cut) to act as weed control while we work on the rest of it. We're also planning to build an area for the kids to use on the right hand side of the plot - next to the hedge, so they are contained while we work (and hopefully stop them running on to the plot next door!)