More digging ! 5.09.08

Welcome back to Reads Retreat, our new Allotment Guide to growing your own veg in Raised Beds. After another afternoon of dodging showers, we managed to clear the weedy topsoil from the bed marked out 2 days ago, and dig down / turn over the soil , down to a depth of 1 spit. This was far easier to dig than the previous 2 beds, probably due to the topsoil having been loosened a couple of days earlier. All the beds that are going to be dug, will in due course be turned into raised beds. We plan to use scaffold boards again(as we used at home ) so we will wait until we know what quantity to get, then order them en mass to save on multiple delivery charges. These can easily be cut to size on site, and quickly assembled. A lot of people advised against us using these boards previously, but the ones we used 2 years ago are showing no sign of rotting. After all, they were in use by the scaffolding company for a few years before we got them.
While we were at the plot, the council delivered a free load of pallets, and the allotment regulars just said to help ourselves. Apparently, these deliveries happen a couple of times a year, so it seems we were in the right place at the right time! I was beginning to wonder where I could scavenge some pallets from. Currently, they are just roped together, but long term I will secure them properly. Its nice to have a large composting area on the actual plot - makes life easier. There are "communal" composting bins dotted around the site, but they are currently full, and apart from that, I don't have a wheelbarrow yet!
Have to say that so far we are impressed with the way the site is run, much more organised than we expected!
Thats all for now. More digging to be done soon, and hopefully some planting before the end of the year. More on that to come! See you all soon,

TTFN.