step 4 ...rotavating and covering!!!

Well all i can say is ouch and ZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzz.............
This has got to be the most exhausting thing i have ever undertaken!Even more than having a baby with colic, well i guess if i tried to fit the 10 months of screaming and crying into 2 months i reckon it probably wouldn't be here to say i have an allotment.
It has been a race against time, and we made it, now it is somewhat under control for now i can safely say 'commitment' is the word that most covers what having an allotment means.
i had a very hot week mid august digging up the last of the obvious bramble roots (buggers!!) and going back over areas that we had dug, taking out those  cheeky dock leaves that were threatening to come back with a vengeance. once that was done i had a little break as i had a tummy bug and couldn't lift a fork let alone dig with it,  so i made a birthday request; i think must be the most romantic thing i have ever asked for, a rotavator of my very own!

My wonderful husband obliged and got me a Honda FG110. Or as we like to call it the red wizard! When it arrived i couldn't contain my excitement, it was all shiny and conjured images of perfectly ploughed fields and scenes from a Thomas Hardy book or a kitchen garden from a Jane Austin novel, all these were suddenly possible, it was the wizard that would make a veggie patch to make the mouth of any growers mouth water.
we started early on the Saturday morning and i managed to get 3/4 of the way through, once we had worked out what it was that upset it, eg stones, old buried carpet, once the aid for killing weeds (clearly didn't work),we were away, steaming ahead through the rows of weeds that were once again taking over. i say steam ahead we actually discovered going backwards worked better, if we went forward it had a mind of its own and i was in danger of taking off through all the neighbouring plots!

I was very greedy with it and only allowed ed the odd couple of rows before i couldn't bare it any more i had to take over!Heres a picture of my beautiful helpers;

ed was so sweet though he took the bored boys off in the car and kept them amused until the village flower show at 2 o'clock. we had a lovely afternoon and a big success as Theo one first prize for his miniature dinosaur garden in a seed tray and his painting of his house (the fact that there was only the two of them entering the garden one and only himself entered the painting competition is irrelevant we were most pleased!).Despite its old fashioned layout, unbearable stuffy rules and clicky gang, it was an inspiring afternoon, seeing all the giant onions and perfectly formed tomatoes and carrots.

we went back the following day to finish off the rotavating, we left the boys with mum for the morning so we could tackle it uninterrupted. This bit was a killer as the ground was hard and hadn't been turned for god knows how long. Once it was done we covered over bits that i wanted to rest and kill off the weeds over the autumn and winter. I decided to cover a 2 m strip then sow green manure seeds for 2 m then allocate 2 m to sewing winter veg, the cover 2m, green manure 2m, sew veg for 2 m and so on. It was such a relief! The membrane sheeting that we used was easy to roll out just time consuming and we wanted to make sure it was weighted down properly as it gets quite windy there. We used any thing we could find really from old  bricks to trunks of an old tree i cut down earlier that month. we also used tent pegs which look very professional thanks to ed!

That evening ed took the boys to my in laws for tea and i went down to my perfect blank canvas. I had a wonderful afternoon in the setting sun and peaceful surroundings sewing my seeds and watering them in. I have sewn all things hardy to hopefully take us through the winter. Cos lettuce, can can lettuce, dwarf beans,mizuna, mibuna, rainbow chard, spinach and spring onions. although i not sure they will work?! This is what it was all about and the moment made it all worth while, i felt such a sense of calm and satisfaction that i just don't think anyone could deny its simple grounding and humbleness.    
i have rewarded myself with a new hoe and some more tunnel cloches as i not sure the lettuces will like the frost. I have also installed my snazzy bird scarers made of old free Cd's courtesy of my pa and an old octopus peg thing, and an old umbrella frame. they look shall we say a little !pottie! but they actually make really pretty rainbow reflections along the ground, all of which will hopefully scare away those pesky birds.
so for now i am eagerly awaiting the delivery of my new tool and then i will quite happily spend the rest of the long summer evenings down there then the early mornings once i have dropped Theo off at his new school in September nipping off the top of those dastardly weeds! Let the battle commence!