Spring will soon be here!

Spring will soon be here. Bring it on. I'm ready! Today I had a chance to look back at the last three years - (the hard work of converting a derelict allotment plot-and-a-half) and to look forward to the fruits of our labour.

On the left there's a helper of mine harvesting leeks. We did well last year and planted enough to last until mid February.The garlic and onions we put in last autumn are sprouting nicely.

You'll notice I use a variety of materials to mulch the soil:
- Cocoa shells for the asparagus bed (on the far right of the next picture) and the ground beneath the peach tree. (It's expensive, so I keep it for the 'luxury' items.)

- You can see rabbit manure on some beds. I don't dig it in, as there are so many worms in the soil now, they do the work for me.
- I buy lots of things by mail order so I recycle large cardboard boxes to make the paths. They're weighed down with bark chippings that are free on our site.

Walkways like this only last for one season, but I reckon since we're only in our third year we might change our minds about the lay out and move things round a little bit, so that's fine.

I'm very proud to say there's not a weed out of place in this picture. And all that mulching gives us a head start in Spring as they won't come up so quickly. The clay soil is beautiful now too - much lighter than when we started due to all the organic matter we've added to it.

There aren't many leaves showing yet, obviously as it's only February and still very cold but you CAN see how the plot is structured and the empty beds which are ready to be filled with plug plants from the mini greenhouses in my courtyard at home. Very soon we'll be enjoying the fruits of all that planning. Hope yours is going well. Do write and tell me about it, or ask questions if you like. Here's another picture of the half-plot: