Allotment Key

In the picture above you will see a water tap key and a normal padlock key. I obtained these today when I handed in my payment and signed tenancy agreement at my town council offices. So it’s official – I’m an allotment holder as well as a smallest smallholder! Am going to commission my Mum to make me a nice little keyring to attach these two small but very important instruments to.

My plot is literally right next to a tap, which is going to save me so much time and effort with the watering. I’ve only gone for a 5 pole plot, but I’m going to ring up next week when the lady in charge of running the allotments is back, and see if the plot next to mine is vacant too. I think it was originally a 10 pole plot that has been divided up into two. I’m hoping that I can get both, as I’ll lose a bit of space having to run a path all the way through the middle. If it’s already taken, it’s not such a bad thing. Kind of hoping it will be vacant though…

There seem to be shallots still in the ground, as well as some unpruned raspberry (possibly some other fruit) bushes at one end. The nettles have started creeping in, but there’s no thistles thankfully! So of course the first job will be digging and weeding. But it looks as though it’ll be a manageable job.

Here at the smallest smallholding I’ve started making trips down to my cousin’s best mate’s stable to collect some really well rotted manure. She’s desperate to get rid of it, and I’m only too happy to bag it up and bring it back. My existing plots are being manured, but as I’ve been told countless times not to manure where the root veg is going, I’m not going to manure the new plot (carrots, parsnips etc), just add some bulk to help the soil structure and some general (organic, if I can get my hands on it) peat-free compost. My compost on the compost heap isn’t ready yet, and the old compost bin I have really needs emptying and re-structuring, as a load of it got mummified last year. My composting skills consist of break it down, chuck it on, if it’s hot and dry water it a bit, don’t put too much of the same thing on, and if you can be bothered, turn it or move it around occasionally. It’s working on the other compost heap (mountain), but the compost bin was neglected and is basically a bit crap.

Whilst reading up about manure and poo, as you do, I found out that in Africa they use dried elephant poo (dung) to make paper. Amazing! Apparently herbivores produce much less pungent poo, which is virtually odourless when it dries. I’m guessing that in parts of Africa where there are herds of elephants, poo is in abundance.So it seems to me to be a very environmentally friendly and finacially frugal venture. Can’t see it catching on here though. What with the lack of elephants, general squeamishness and dettol-toting hygiene freaks.