From some of my previous features you may recall i have taken on my own allotment, well in less than three months i have turned a wilderness infested with mountain goats and nettles into somewhere i can honestly say i am proud of!
I started out just wanting a piece of land were i could grow a few veggies and just potter around with when bored, but after the initial clear out and back breaking tidy up we finally had a level plot with soil you could actually see.
 
We started putting the odd row of cabbage plants in and a few lettuce’s here and there and things started to take shape and bang there it came…………..i caught the bug! now we have a plot full of veg and twelve free range hens all with names and there just isn’t enough hours in the day to grow plants and just take in the great views and fresh air, i love it and wish i had taken a plot like this on years ago.
 
Last week end we finally had a full meal with all the ingredients entirely from our allotment grown by ourselves, we had salad with all the usual favourites and topped it off with our own free range eggs and you would be amazed how wonderful it all tasted, when you compare supermarket bought veg with fresh home grown produce there’s no comparison.
Last week i planted up the rest of my planters and hanging baskets with our summer bedding plants, many of which were grown in our greenhouse but i must admit i cheated with the odd few plants and bought those from a local nursery!!!
Touch wood all is looking good and with the mixture of sunny spells and rain plants are romping away now and flowering nicely.
 
One job i do intend to do this week end is sow my packets of seed for my winter flowering pansies and ornamental kale that i will plant in my winter displays this year, starting them away now will ensure i have strong plants that will be flowering just at the right time at planting out stage, doing this will save me a good bit of money but will also give me the satisfaction knowing i have grown them.
I have also been busily propagating some of my favourite plants from cuttings too, it may sound daunting but is not as hard as it sounds and i highly recommend giving it a go, its great when you can bulk up your range of plants and most of the time for free!