The price of progress??
Spend: £224.49 (total for the week)
Mood Words: Oops, wincing
Time on the plot: 4.5 hrs (for the week)
Tuesday
After attempting to be cautious with my spending I have to confess to a bit of a splurge. Here is the breakdown:
B&Q - £96
- "Ingredients" for a raspberry trellis (with change/credit for the next trip)
Thompson and Morgan - £52.45
- Kalette seeds
- Brussels sprouts seeds
-Pyrocantha trio (for home)
- Raspbery collection (9 canes, 6 are summer fruiting, 3 are autumn fruiting)
Farmer Gracey - £58.04
- 6 types of Dahlia tuber
- 1 pack ranunculus corms
The sprouts, kalettes, raspberies and pyracantha all have a home. I am going to have to make a plan for the flowers. I shopped around for the raspberry collection and made use of a discount code. To save money at B&Q I shopped on a day with club card discount (15%), and also pre-purchased a gift card worth £100 for £96 using a work perks site. I did not pay full price at Farmer Gracey either, there was a valentines 14% discount.
Wednesday
Today I measured and marked up the posts for my raspberry trellis before delivering them to my parents house where my brother and dad have the tools to trim out notches and fit them together. I loosely followed the instructions here.
Saturday
Things have started arriving; seeds and raspberries came in the post. I did a single hour of dig a stripe, weed a stripe. The dog came with me and 'helped' out, stealing the fork when he had decided it was time to go home. I can't work out how to embed the video of the dog here, so I will just put it on instagram.
Sunday
After excavating the rhubarb from the spot it has been occupying in the garden, I packed up for the allotment taking the raspberries, a pile of tools, and a knee rest (neglected swimming float) with me. I emptied out a soft trug-thing to carry the rhubarb to the plot. The trug was super useful while I was weeding even though one of the handles broke off.
I did quite a bit more dig a stripe, weed a stripe, uncovering the shape of the existing main beds and former paths. I planted the sticks that I hope by some garden magic will turn into raspberry plants and - once they managed to get my attention over the music in my ears - I was introduced to my plot neighbour. They were very friendly, and it sounds like they will be full of useful knowledge about getting the best from the soil and the position. My neighbour was the 2024 winner of the best cultivated plot on the site. He offered to help me out with watering, I just have to let him know. Everyone I have met so far is really nice! I also had a nice robin friend watching me closely, and there was a large rat close by too. I wonder if he is going to be a troublesome neighbour.
I purchased 4 bags of compost from the allotment shop and spread that out over the fruit beds as a mulch. (4x £4:50)
Time on the plot: 3.5 hours
Mood Word: Accomplished
