South West Corner

My pal and fellow allotmenteer, CliffDotMac, suggested I should be doing a photo journal of the allotment, and he's right. I've always got the iPhone, and I can take a not-bad photo, so it's absurd not to.

Started today with a "before" and "after". Here's the SW corner "before" I did any work this afternoon.

This area, when I first started last June, was mostly very tall nettles. So tall, in fact, that TWO proper builder's barrows were concealed amongst them; (both barrows, btw, just needed their tyres re-inflated, and some minor maintenance, and they were good to go). And at the back, there were peculiar layers on top of the fence. It's difficult to explain, it was as if the fence wasn't good enough, and it needed another three layers of fence - using old bit of wire and chain link fencing. It was a a bugger to get rid of, requiring a new set of heavy duty wire clippers. 

Anyway, this is "after", about two hours later...


That's after six or seven barrow-fulls of rubble and chain-link fencing went to the skip. The blue plastic sheet I'd put down to discourage the blow-ins and ground elder is also ready to go to the skip. And the pile of rotten wood and dead elder tree is ready for a bonfire. 

Whilst at the skip, I noticed a proper oil barrel which someone was throwing out. I expropriated it, and you can see it to the left of the "after" photo there. Don't know yet whether to use it for burning stuff or as a water barrel. 

I needed to clear this area because, well, frankly, it's been a bit of a rubbish dump since I sorted out the weird fencing. But also because this is where the pond is going to go, and if I'm going to get and then puddle clay from the bottom of the bastard trench, then I need somewhere to keep it. And anyway, I'm heading in this direction as I dig my way South along the West bed. 

Those polystyrene fish boxes. I really don't know. I haven't chucked them out, yet. They might come in as planters in the poly tunnel(?) But I really don't like them. Too white. I saw some guy on Beechgrove Garden do them up to make them look like stone, but fuck off, it's an allotment. 

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