Tough work

We spent three hours at the allotment today and everything seemed to be really hard going. The weather is not helping with the battle of the weeds, it's perfect conditions for them to thrive.
I've covered quite a lot of land with black sheeting and carpet pieces today. Did a bit of weeding which was backbreaking and took ages but appeared to have no effect!
I planted out the leeks in cross cut holes in black sheeting. I used the no-dig method and protected them with cut up plastic bottles for makeshift cloches.
I've prepared some more ground to do the same kind of thing with the brassicas but the ground is much harder so I'm not sure how possible it's going to be without a major digging session (which I don't have the time or energy for). I'm also still waiting for my brassica collars to arrive, hope the plants will hold out til I've worked it all out.
I'm pleased with what I've achieved today but arriving home covered in mud, rain soaked to my underwear, stinking of leeks and covered with cuts and bruises, (not to mention a sore back) my morale for the entire project is pretty low. Maybe I'm just tired but I feel like I need some help! Is it bad form to employ a gardener to work on your allotment? I don't want someone to do it all for me, I just want some help to make some inroads.
I listened to a radio show today about sustainability and food miles etc. which I enjoyed (this may be in the news, I don't watch it so I don't know!). It was suggested that we should go back to a war time diet and only eat what we can sustainably grow in our own country. The show lifted my spirits and made me feel like I'm moving in a direction I want to be in. I can't usually afford principles on our meagre budget but this seems to be something attainable. The more we delve into the world of gardening, the more we tend to eat seasonally. I do wish we could find a veggie box scheme in the area that is actually grown locally and doesn't cost the earth, to supplement what we grow - the ones I've tried so far have either been overpriced or contain items that have travelled further than the supermarket produce (tomatoes from Argentina kind of go against our reason for investing)!
I'm rambling now so shall sign off and hope that tomorrow brings renewed enthusiasm and energy.

First Allotment Food!

Hello! It's been a while hasn't it. Between hurting my arm and waiting for the rotavation to occur there hasn't been much activity to report at all.

The rotavation still hasn't happened, to mine or anyone elses plot. I haven't had the chance to chat to anyone about it but I'm guessing the council are dragging their feet.

As the land I cleared has been left untouched waiting for the rotavation it is now covered with a carpet of fresh weeds!! I always knew that it'd be a never ending job to keep on top of them but I hadn't anticipated so much.

In brighter news, we scored an old hessian backed carpet from a local freecycler which my Dad very kindly brought up in the car for us, along with some other things we needed.

And today - the unidentified currants I've been watching since we got the allotment were ripe for picking - lovely juicy blackcurrants, 360 grams of them. It probably would've been more if we'd been on the ball before the birds noticed them!

The birds got all of the raspberries while we weren't visiting much so although we didn't get any, I did gain the knowledge that I will need netting for the bushes next year so it wasn't a wasted experience.

We also found three blackberries too, plus loads more to come. I love blackberries, they're a symbol of the approach of my most favourite season. Between the allotment and the thorn less blackberry bush in our back yard, I think we might be able to leave the ones in the woods for other pickers this year and still have enough for pies galore - yay!

In other news, during an over-ambitious evening browsing sites online, I ordered a winter vegetable garden from Wiggly Wigglers which is mostly brassicas and leeks. I didn't really think it through and the plot isn't anywhere near ready for them! I'm going to try my best to get the ground prepared for them this weekend and buy some netting to keep pests off them.

I'm going to do my best with them and anything edible will be a bonus but I'm not going to stress myself over it - that isn't the point of the allotment. Whatever happens I will learn from it and now I know to stay away from late night shopping without thinking things through!!