Allotment Infrastructure v Production

Yesterday I banked up the 5 row of maris peer potatoes.  Apart from them, I've got a row of odds and sods of potatoes, 2 rows of desiree, and I've got 2 rows of king edwards still to go in. Blight or other calamities aside, there should be a massive crop altogether, and the 2nd earlies could be ready before the month's out.

In terms of production, spuds are going to be an isolated success story. Not enough rain, too much dog. I underestimated the fundamental importance of a potting shed. Get things started early, and get them out into the ground when the frosts are past. Which means having a stove in the potting shed, keep the cold out in the early spring. And a poly-tunnel is not just about tomatoes, it too is vital in the early part of the growing season.

Even the spud success story will be for nothing if I don't get the shed to store the spuds. The point is, I thought I'd be ready this spring. Now, as summer starts, and we're a few days away from the first anniversary of taking over, it's still a somewhat hobbled allotment.

There's no point getting stressed about it. I just need to be happy with the spuds, and get my ducks in a row for next spring: shed, poly-tunnel, raised beds. Hedgerow begun. Beds manured.

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