Down the Allotment: June 2017

So much has happened this month on the allotment! We started with a blank canvas, save for a few pesky weeds which kept coming back, and that meant it was time to plan what we were going to put in our space.

Mum really wanted a polytunnel and last month it arrived but because of all the rain it did a lot of sitting in dads van while we worried about how we’d put it up (well I didn’t worry, I just watched my humans talk about it a lot). Anyways, dad’s van had to go back this month so we had a deadline to work towards and you know what they say about pressure .. !

Before you put a polytunnel up there are a few things you need to know.

Firstly, decide where you are going to put the tunnel and rake the area out well, removing all the deep weeds, lumps, rocks and anything else that’s going to make it unstable. Make sure you start with a flat surface and things will be much easier. I speak from experience as there was a lot of huffing and puffing as mum and dad tried to drag the constructed tunnel about to level it out. Foolish people.

After you’ve sorted the ground then it’s time to unpack your tunnel and position all the bits in sections on the ground so you can see the number labels. Bear in mind folks that the manufacturers may make a labeling mistake, so if it looks wrong it probably is (i.e. don’t get carried away by the numbers, use your noodle and work around it). Honestly, if dad wasn’t doing it with mum there’s no way it would be up by now, she’s not really what you’d call a ‘tool girl’ and he had to have a lot of patience to put up with her nonsense throughout the process. Don’t think for a minute I helped matters either. I wanted to dig, bark, roll around in the ground and generally cause mayhem!

It took about a week to get the frame up in its entirety. But once done we were able to cover the outside with tape, (this stops the sun making the bars too hot and burning through your plastic cover). Next came the cover and bright sparks chose a windy day to put it on, but what do you know … it actually got on within 15 minutes and happy days we had a tunnel!

The other guys on the allotment have been so nice to us and one of them gave us a shed and base while another guy built us 4 raised beds. So this has meant June was a busy month of changes down on the plot and we have been able to not only give the space some structure with all these new bits, but also plant out the first tomatoes, salad leaves and cabbages.

On the 14th of June we celebrated dad’s birthday and because he was given 5 fruit trees that was the next exciting thing to happen and just the other day I helped mum plant them in! The tree’s are miniature so should fit the space well. We’ve got 2x apple, 1x plum, 1x cherry and 1x pear. The little tree’s have been positioned outside of the ‘pet zone’ as I shouldn’t get my gnashers on the cherry’s, plums or apple seeds.

I’ll be honest, there’s a whole lot of chatting down at the allotment and coffee breaks happen every few hours. A man called Ken is in charge of these coffee breaks and I love him as he always gives me biscuits when I go to his shed. Everyone sits around and drinks cups of coffee laced with “medicine” (I think this is their code name for rum and whisky, shhh). Sometimes people will bring cakes but even if they don’t I always end up with a tasty cookie so these breaks suit me well. If it’s been raining I make sure to jump on people’s laps just to leave them with a tidy little muddy paw present. They pretend as if they like it and fuss me back, but mum tells dad she’s not sure I should go down with her anymore, hmmm what do you think?

That’s not all! We also had a huge delivery of poo turn up the other day. Horse poo!! I was in absolute heaven. Mum found an advert on Facebook where someone was selling a truck of manure for £40. Apparently this was a bargain as delivery was free. I had to stand back while the truck turned up and made the dump and this was hard because all I wanted to do was jump on top of the pile of poo and gobble it up. Yummers!

Since then we’ve had lots more work to do as we’ve got to get the manure into the 4 raised beds and then move the rest of it to the back of the polytunnel so we don’t get ourselves some poo thieves visiting (everyone wants some of our stock as getting manure delivered is difficult). I love working with mum as it means I also get to dig which is my most favourite thing to do in the world!

Dad’s been coming down to the allotment as well a few mornings this month, he fixes himself up a comfy chair and plays Find It with me. Instead of using treats he’s been hiding my ball around the plot and making me find it with my nose. I love this game nearly as much as I love digging and we do it for more than an hour at a time as I won’t give up.

Well that’s June in a nutshell everyone. Come back again next month to see what I get up to next!

Love, Grizzle

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