GARDEN GLIMPSES 27

It was wet and windy weather, so not suited to trimming the grass around the edge of my plot nor doing a winter dig over or weeding my fruit bushes. My response was to make a decision. I decided to take my compost bin to the allotment plot so that I would have two there.

I figured I could empty it out, carry it down, and carry some of the compost along on further trips to re-fill it. With two bins on site, one lot of compost could rot down properly while I filled the other bin with veggie/fruit scraps, mown grass, horse muck, and whatever other items I felt like adding - such as nettles, comfrey, card, brown paper...

I began to scoop out bags (which is where the pile shown in my last post comes in)full of the half rotted apples/compost from the home bin to do this task and stashed them in the poly tunnel next to my leaf mould collectives until I had carried the empty black bin to my site.

There ended up being around 2 dozen bags, though. I carried 3 loads (2 bags per load) along on the same day I emptied the bin and carried that down, and have slowly been carrying 2 or 4 bags down since on days I popped to my plot. The contents included this pair of mushrooms - which I would have eaten if I knew they were edible ones - but as I was unsure, I popped them in the compost tub instead!

I made use of a £5 voucher and double points weekend at Wyevale to buy a patio greenhouse. My Dad used to have one similar, but he didn't brick it down, so it kept blowing over in the gales and ripped. Once all the compost from the polytunnel is taken down the allotment plot, I hope to erect the greenhouse on the patio and fill it with seed trays - ready for February!

I also purchased garden twine, 2 tubs organic food/fertilizer, and some fruit-netting. I am ready for spring, as the first frost hits!