After a while on the waiting list, we finally got an allotment this week. We have a six week trial period in which to improve the site and show a commitment to looking after it. Once that’s done it’s fully ours!
Given that it’s the middle of winter, we decided to start with maintenance rather than planting.
Exploded poached egg
On the first day my brother came over with some tools and we hoed down some of the stray poached egg plant in the paved area by the shed.
Here’s before:
And after!
I personally liked the plant growing in the cracks but it was quick easy task that shows the allotment bosses we care.
So for now we will keep it tidy/bare and then in the spring we can perhaps put some herbs etc in the paving cracks.
Thirsty Shed
It’s been unusually dry here for the past week, but rain was forecast for this afternoon.
The shed needs some urgent tlc so I decided to make treating the exposed wood an urgent priority.
I ran down to the hardware shop first thing and discussed with the experts there what to use.
The silvery driftwood colour of the shed is gorgeous so I didn’t want to stain it or paint it.
They recommend a chemical wood treatment but it had fungicide in it which I didn’t think was nice or necessary. I went for teak oil in the end: it’s still pretty toxic but it’s a simpler product with fewer nasties.
Given that we have dogs and humans sitting right next to the shed I felt it would be a safer choice!
Rushing against rain
I zoomed up to the allotment and got started right away! I finished up literally just as the first drops of rain started to fall!
In the end I did the top 2/3 of the shed front and the bench in front. The bottom part of the shed was a bit damp, so I think that will have to wait till it’s drier for some tlc.
Both the shed and the bench really soaked up the oil! I went through a whole can, which isn’t great. I guess it was a thristy shed and I was also rushing a lot.
Before
After
The next things for the shed are some repair work and new windows. I’m not sure about doing that in winter though, the wood might warp as it dries out. I think we might have to staple some plastic up between now and springtime!