And so it begins...

Well, I finally bit the bullet and took out a plot at the Three Mile Park allotment in Gosforth. Me and one of my mates have gone half each on it after waiting around 1 year to get it. 

One thing I will point out is that neither of us have much of a clue with what we're doing or what we would like to grow. Don't get me wrong, we've both managed tomato plants, chili plants, strawbs, sweetcorn and the like at home but when it comes to spuds, broccoli, etc, it's all new ground.

Looks like we've been pretty lucky with the plot as the previous owner put raised beds in and left us 2 compost bins. We also got to keep the greenhouse for the measly sum of £30 too. SCORE! To make the greenhouse a bit more reliable we went circa '1940 blitz' on its ass and put criss-crosses of tape on them as there have been frames blown through in the past. The tape just stops it shattering too much.

Here's a quick pic from the front (not too shabby eh?). The pallet composter is hiding a plastic compost bin and wheelbarrow but from here to as far as the eye can see (to the fence) is ours:

The plot from the front

Here's another sexy shot but this time from the back. Got a cheeky bit of rhubarb popping up on the right of the pic too:

The plot from the back

And finally one of the 8 lovingly installed (by the previous owner) raised beds.

The pic above was taken AFTER we took the time to weed it (there were loads!) and turn the soil as it had compacted a fair bit over the winter. Hopefully it'll dry out soon so we can break it up a wee bit more. We managed to get 2 beds done so felt quite proud with our handy work!

A little later we met one of our allotment neighbours, Michael, who was a lovely bloke. He started chatting to ask us what we were going to do, what were we going to plant and where. We couldn't lie, so we just told him, "we really don't know." He then offered us loads of 'chitted' potatoes. "You need to chit them a bit more, are you ok with that?" he asked, "Yep, sure do", we lied. Chitting? What's that all about? After the 'C' word was mentioned a couple more times we had to give it up and admit we didn't know what it was. "Stick them in the dark for a bit" was the reply, "Don't worry" said Michael, "I didn't know what it was until 3 years ago when I started!" 

Well, as they say, everyday is a learning day! So we picked up the spuds from Michael and a free hoe too, can't argue with that!

Now it's time to think about what we want to grow...