Many hands make light work

Today I was joined down the allotment by my friend Katie. She has just taken a plot on over in Sandbach and was interested in seeing ours. We walked across and spent a happy half hour walking around the site and looking at everything.

We stopped off to feed the chickens and checked on Emily. Today she had all but one of the eggs under her. It was half out from underneath her but I don’t know whether it’s because she has rejected it or she was in the process of shuffling the eggs around.

After a while, we got into the car and headed off to Katie’s new plot. The allotment site is tiny, hidden away behind houses and comprising about 30 small plots. The land is owned by the local farmer who allows them use of the land and a large old pig barn as a clubhouse. As you would expect, the area surrounding the allotments is stunning fields and the Trent-Mersey canal running along the bottom of the site.

Katie’s plot is the last one and whilst rather overgrown is entirely salvageable with a couple of days hard graft. With the help of other plot holders, we borrowed a large lawnmower to tackle the mass of grass.

Judging from the patchy grass in certain areas, it looked like there was a wide grass path down the centre of the plot with several smaller paths branching off to the left and right with beds between. The idea of grass paths is lovely but from experience, it takes a lot of work to keep it under control!

Between us, we managed to mow sections of her plot and managed to clear two of the beds and discovered a strawberry section that looks healthy, albeit overgrown with weeds. I also spotted several patches of raspberries which could be easily replanted into a bed.

The clubhouse is lovely and cool in the hot weather. The old brick pig shed has been split into sections, two for storage of tools in numbered containers, one for communal tools and one for a kitchen area.

It’s fascinating to see how different sites are run. Although a full sized plot on the Ettiley Heath site is fractionally less than half of mine, it’s lovely to see the creation of a new allotment site. They have just had confirmation of a new three year lease which is exciting news and gives them a chance to continue to enjoy the triumphs and tribulations of allotment life.