Hi Susannah,
How are you getting on with the allotment now. I love mine and things are beginning to grow but are very slow. I find the neighbours are vey nice most of us took on our plots at the same time and all new to allotments apart from one man who is in his late 80’s but is the fittest out of all of us. If we want advice he will give it but we all do different. I have individual beds about 10’x4’ which is great I can work from the path and not stand or walk on the planting area which means it is alot easier to dig when I need to. Everything is welcome I put in an old cat litter tray and sunk a bucket filled with water and left it I now have frogs living in them and the local blackbird has his bath in them. I grow sweet peas with my beans and peas which help with the bees also nasturinns as the black/green fly prefer to eat them than the peas and beans. another great flower for bees is poached egg plant and they look lovely. I planted some about 6/7years ago and have not had to plant any more a bit of a weed now but they do look lovely and when I want to use that bed I just pull them up. Comfrey is a great plant as well you can make a soup out of this and feed it to your plants. Even our old boy has now started putting in flowers.
Well have a great summer and I hope you have a really great harvest.
Rosemary
…if you like to lottie au naturelle, ie without gloves!, put some good hand cream on before you start, the dirt comes out the grooves in your hands much easier!
Happy tending, and have a good harvest, NOTHING beats scrumpying your own sun warmed strawberries.
Suzzie x
How exciting but looking at the photo I imagine you are going to certainly have your work cut out. We had an allotment when the children were little, a rabbit and a spaniel on leads tied to the tree and children making dens out of bits of oddments. Its a really good feeling growing your own fruit and veg and either being a creative cook or swopping your glut of spring onions for someone elses glut of gooseberries. 
Hi guys!!
Allotment things have been happening…slowly!! Great to hear about yours @GinghamRose
I thought it would be easier to attach a photo or 2 of my allotments current status…
So since the end of January, I’ve sort of just been focusing on one side of it.
The left side had all been cleared now, there’s a compost heap at one end, then i’ve got potatoes in pots (don’t eat enough of them to justify them being in the ground) then I’ve got onions (red and white), Brussels sprouts and strawberries, as well as lots of potted herbs. Then there’s a gap where I’m going to put salad stuff- lettuce, radish etc. Then there’s my pond- which I’m in love with!!
These photos are 2 weeks old now as I’ve been on holiday since- went along yesterday and thanks to the rain & sun it’s gone a bit mad! Covers are off the sprouts now and they’re looking fab- and the grass & wildflowers around the pond are looking lovely.
I really love it though- though it is hard work!! Thankfully I work in a school, so I get 7 weeks off quite soon- so you know exactly what I’ve got planned!! 
I love people’s allotment stories though!! I’ve quickly become very addicted to it all and spend a silly amount of time thinking about it & worrying about it!! Haha
I’ve got butternut squash, kale, celery and broccoli currently growing in my old lean-to (come greenhouse) so really need to create space to put them in!
Wow you have worked hard and the pond looks super.
Well done, the pond looks great! I love the white gravel next to it …
Gardens/allotments are amazing! I love growing fruit and veg and it tastes so much better …
Have fun! I am envious of your long holidays!
Thanks @Glehcar and @sejleather 
I’ve been trying to get down when I can- though for the first few months when it was all just the boring turning over, we were just going for an hour or so at a time. Turning over a blank space is really dull…though thinking about the outcome kept me going!
I plan on turning the space to the right of the pond into sort of a little wild garden sort of space with a place to sit, so that’s part of my next project- although I have a lot of dockleaves to dig up (though no nettles) and lots of what i’ve discovered is wild mustard. While it’s quite pretty it’s pretty invasive as well and is in all sorts of places where I don’t want it- otherwise I would have probably left it.
The weather here has turned very wet and windy though which is really annoying! Though the rain part is fine- getting really sick of the 40mph winds!!
I love my holidays too @sejleather to be honest- with working full time and my artwork- I probably wouldn’t have time to have the allotment as well if it wasn’t for the holidays. Though sadly I don’t get paid for them so it’s not quite as good as it sounds. Haha
Do any of the other allotmenteers have any tips on dealing with white rot in onions? My autumn planted ones have the first signs of it so are coming out (the spring planted ones seem fine for now and are in a different bit of the plot) but I’ve heard that the fungus that causes it can stay in the ground for upto 15 years so I’m after a way of getting rid of it if possible.
Thanks
Sasha
Thought I’d post a few photo updates! Summer is well underway- everything has started growing like it’s nobodies business! And not everything I want to grow either- but as a fan of all things organic and a friend to all wildlife, any weeding happens the good old fashioned way- so it’s a long process at this time of year!
I totally love my pond!! It’s a few months old now- and the little tadpoles have legs now, there’s some lovely happy frogs having a chill every time I go (you can just see one in this photo- top left of the pond) plenty water beetles and pond skaters, pond snails seem to have made more snails too! Totally love it!
This is just the left side of the plot- haven’t touched the right side yet! (That’s my job for the summer holidays)
I’ve also made the perfect frog house under the compost heap as well it seems! So quite happy with that! It explains why my young Brussel sprouts are looking so happy!
On that side between the compost heap and the pond I’ve now got potted potatoes, White & red onions, carrots, Brussel sprouts, broccoli, strawberries and celery- as well as pots of herbs all over the place!
The last photo was taken about 2 weeks ago (the first two photos were taken today) I would have taken one on my way out today but the heavens truly opened as my husband and I left!
But as you can see- still plenty to do! But I really love it!! Totally worth waiting on the list for 5 years! Maybe I appreciate it more because it’s taken so long!!
Now just looking forward to when I get paid so I can head to a lovely family run plant nursery further into Northumberland- the whole back part of the allotment is for wildlife- so looking forward to getting plenty of nectar rich flowering plants!
that’s the next job!j
Hellebores are really good for bees as they flower so early in the year. If you were closer to me I’d say pop round and you can have some of my self sown seedlings but I think Cambridge would be a bit of a trek. I was down the allotment earlier putting net on the fruit cage and eating all the ripe strawberries much to the dislike of the black bird.
Sasha
Haha yes a bit of a trek!
We’re a few weeks behind with th strawberries. Mine have just started to go red & swell. They’re looking good though! Looking forward to that!
Haven’t posted in here for a while! Thought I’d share a little update as I’ve now had the plot for just over a year. My most exciting part is the wildlife area though if I’m honest.
I created the pond with help from my husband last February/March I think it was. It was the first thing we did. We filled it with tap water, left it a fortnight. Put in some pond plants and then spread grass seed and wildflower seeds all around the outside. Planted some taller plants, stuck a big rotting log next to it, dotted around some upturned plant pots for things to hide in and just let nature do the rest!
Life moved into the pond so quickly!! I was really surprised! But today was pretty cool- I went to the plot just to water some things in the greenhouse and take a peek in the pond like I always do.
And today I was amazed to find so many newt larvae!! I mean- the sad thing is they’re now eating the frogspawn that appeared a fortnight ago which I was really excited about. But I certainly wasn’t expecting newts!
Alongside the newts I also have 2 kinds of water snail, water slaters, water boatman and water beetles, and frogs usually- but maybe not so many now! Thought I’d share a few photos. 
My newt babies! (Taken this morning!)
This was one from the summer last year.
Marsh marigold in bloom (also taken this morning)
And thought I’d just include this one of the view from the shed/greenhouse. We’re going to put raised beds all on that barked area.
And lastly one of my shed-come-greenhouse. It was made from 100% recycled materials and was completely free. It has 150 year old roof timbers making up most of it- it’s incredibly heavy!!
Hope you don’t mind the share!!! Just got very excited at the newts!! 
I have a pair of newts (Tiny and Issac) at the the allotment, they spend the winter under a piece of black plastic in the greenhouse before moving to a neighbouring plot’s pond for the summer. I still get a bit over excited when I see them and we’ve been sharing the greenhouse for a couple of years now so I totally get your reaction. The frogs seem to stay in the greenhouse all year dispite it getting really rather hot in there over the summer.
Haha aww that’s so cool. I do get very excited at pretty much all wildlife. And there’s something really special about creating something for wildlife but then actually turning up and using it of their own accord!
Do the newts lay eggs in a pond that you have? Just wondering how much larvae you usually get? As we have so much- I didn’t think they laid quite so many eggs.
I can’t say I’ve ever checked the pond for baby newts/ newt eggs - there are rules about not disturbing them I think so I leave them be. I also wouldn’t know how to tell the difference between newt/ toad/ frog tadpoles once they have hatched (spawn is distinctive but the tadpoles all look the same to me). We currently have someone running a study on the amphibians and reptiles on the site as part of her PhD and I’m looking forward to seeing her results - I’ve seen plenty of amphibians but no snakes or slow worms and I’m interested if they are lurking elsewhere on the site as my parents had a plentiful supply nesting in the compost heap back home and we have plenty of compost heaps dotted about.
This reminds me I need to email a woman about a hedgehog - she released one in the garden end of last year and promised him a girlfriend when he woke up. The lack of slugs/ snails suggests he’s up and about even if I haven’t seen him.
Aaah that’s really cool. I love wildlife spotting no matter what it is!
The newt larvae are much smaller than tadpoles and don’t have giant heads but they have obvious gills coming off the side. They also grow their front legs first (unlike frogs and toads) though these ones haven’t started growing legs yet but their floaty gills are quite obvious. There are so many of them as well. I have a large oxygenator plant in my pond so I’m assuming eggs were laid in those leaves. I just assumed I didn’t have suitable egg laying plants to be honest. It’s safe to say they’re demolishing the frogspawn though which is a bit sad.
I have looked online a fair bit now though and most of what I’ve read has said you either have a frog pond or a newt pond! Haha next door have a frog pond and they still have plenty of undisturbed frogspawn- so feeling a little special that my ponds become the newt pond! 
FANTASTIC, it looks fantastic, love the Marsh Marigolds, love some of them in our pond, just going to check them out. Sheenhouse is such a brilliant bit of engineering/building.
I am somewhat jealous,
Hope the sun shines for you, and you get a fantastic harvest,
Suzzie x
Wow!! You’ve worked wonders there. That’s incredible. Well done!
Thanks guys! I love it down there!! It’s in a bit of a sun trap as well and any winds seem to just sail over the top of my plot so even when it’s a windy day I know it’s going to be OK down there.
In one sense it’s a shame I’m moving to Canada in September! Haha