Blimey it's hard work this allotment milarky

Well it proved challenging leaving the house this morning. I was putting the wheelbarrow into the car, along with a few other things when I noticed I was no longer alone !



Loki jumped in the car and then wouldn't come out !! Is this normal behavior for a cat I ask myself. Eventually he jumped out and ran down the alley (spooked by a passerby). Great, I went to let him in the house, when he changed his mind and then ran under the car and refused to come out ... so I had to resort to bribery. Mum got the kitties some treats for Christmas and they are obsessed with them - with a shake of the tub they turn into sweet, obedient cats .... butter wouldn't melt.



Finally catless, I set off for the lottie. Top job for today was to clear the greenhouse.

I thought it would only take a couple of hours, but as soon as I started to dig I discovered bindweed. Groan. It's taken me ages, but at long last it is finished. I found 3/4 of a bag of manure so that's been dug in and the strawberries have been replanted. It was doing a good impression of the sahara, so I've given the soil a good water. That's it now until I sow some seeds - actually I meant to do some cabbage & cauliflower today ... but I forgot to take them with me.



There have been some more break-in's apparently - lots of mess, but nothing appears to be taken - I think the thieves are looking for power tools. It's bloody annoying - poor Jenny had her door kicked in.

I've been dong a little bit of tidying and managed to uncover the compost heap - spot the difference. Haha, my ambition is to be retired so that I can sieve my compost - who on earth ever gets time to do that.



The raspberries are budding up, so I took the opportunity to give them a quick trim. I have to confess I'm clueless as to what I'm supposed to be doing. I cut out anything that looked dead and 'trimmed' everything else. They look a little tidier, but I must try and find some time to 'contain' them properly. I'm determined this year to remember to mark the summer vs autumn raspberries ... note to self, paint yummy canes so you can co-locate them for near year !

I can just see the rhubarb pushing it's pink buds through the surface of the soil and the blueberries are also budding up.



I thought I'd start to dig over one of the beds. As they are nearly all empty I thought it would be a relatively easy task to remove the creeping buttercup that is plotting plot domination, but the first spadeful revealed yet more bindweed - tonnes of it. It's coming from the hedge, so I guess it's going to take a fair bit of work to dig over. Oh well, at least I've started.

I've potted up 5 teasels and some ox eye daisies - we might be holding a plant sale later in the year, so I thought I'd get organised (haha).

Last job of the day - Jenny persuaded me to dig up some potatoes. Hmmm, really didn't expect much, but they are blooming lovely - dug up some Charlottes. I'm hoping OH is going to do something yummy with them for tea, but no sign of action yet. I've still got Pink Fur Apples and Cara to dig ... oh well, that's one way of having spring potatoes :)

I've spent about 5 hours there and I'm completely shattered. Oh well at least I should sleep well ... yawn