Photos of the allotment, day1

every blog needs photos and now I have them. all 61 from day1 of being the offical owner! i picked the keys up for the shed from the previous tenants and they were really sorry to be handing them over, i think. every allotment has a story, eh. i met the previous owner's mum, 'betty', who had owned it before him and she was lovely. she wished me luck and i invited her to pop up whenever she felt like it to check how i was getting on :) i think she liked that.

so, here is my shed. have you ever seen such a quirky, fun shed? what a fab thing to inherit. it's crammed full of useful/not-so-useful things and i think it is quite charming. i think that great big window is such a bonus. it will be great to hide in here if the rain catches me out :) i am taking the horseshoe as a good omen for happy times ahead :)

i also have this little bench to sit on, take a break, contemplate life, sup wine/tea and admire my hard work. the allotment really is well stocked and i have inherited lots of fab goodies. look, i have 4 big butts! these fill with water from the shed roof so that should keep me going for a while :) i've been really lucky to get the allotment in the first place, but to get one which comes with lots of bits and pieces is a dream. i know most of the things won't be very expensive to buy but if you have 30 or so 'little bits and pieces' to buy it soon adds up. i also love the history of it too.

looking out over the allotment from the side of the shed - water butts, compost bins/heap and 2 old metal dustbins down here. you can see the little seat too

my allotment is already divided nicely into 3 areas. part 1 is near the shed...

this is furthest away from the access road and will be most likely where i spend most of my time. there are already crops growing away in this area, the 'shed end', such as asparagus (new discovery!), strawberries, onions and some sort of leafy thing! ha! such a novice!!

part 2 is full of soft fruits. 'betty' told me it was gooseberries, redcurrants and blackcurrants and that they had a fabulous crop from them last year. fingers crossed for a repeat!

i think i need to take out some of the dead bits and maybe prune a little but i shouldn't imagine i need to do that much in this area. it was nice to inherit something nicely established like this.

part 3 is the area nearest the access road. it has a few things in it at the moment but needs more work. there is a little area for me to park my car here so that is ideal for offloading/loading :)

the stuff in the front of the allotment was some sort of gourd-type squash and there are a lot of old ones left so i will try to gather some seeds and see how they go. you can see the full allotment in this photo now. the 'shed end' furthest from us, the soft fruit area, and the 'road end'!

...and just because i could park on my allotment, i did! (can you spot me!?)

so, that's the tour so far. later i'll post about the produce already growing away when i took ownership and the inside of the quirky shed :)