New plot = Aches and Pains

I ache today, under my arms - which feel like lead weights. The back of my thighs are tight and niggles every time I get up and my necks a bit stiff.

I’m not complaining; it's the feeling you get when you have done honest days toil and it serves to remind me that this allotment lark can really keep you worked out, you just need to keep working at it and then It doesn’t hurt so much when you put in a mammoth session.

I was given the oldest rustiest petrol lawnmower by another plot holder who was buying a new one. It shakes rattles and rolls but the engine - A 4 stroke brigs and Stratton is a real battler as I found out putting it through its paces. I tackled the new plot which had weeds, brambles and all sorts waist high in places. This old machine was set to its highest level and I yanked it back and forth over the growth, then raked up and lowered the settings and did it again and again until the plot turned from hippy length to us marine crew-cut.

Max and I got a controlled fire going and we threw all the debris we had collected on top. It never really got a flame but it smoked and you could have baked some nice spuds in the centre.

The stripped plot is rutted and is maybe a foot (possibly more) higher on its left hand side than on the right. It has mounds and ruts which look to me like some kind of machinery piled up earth on one side when the plots were stripped in March this year using heavy duty plant tools.

I'm not going to use chemical warfare, roundup or machinery to prepare this land. I'll dig every last inch by hand and remove all the stones and roots. It’s going to hurt a lot more but on reflection, one of my favourite bits is the preparation.

I also dug over two existing beds (leaving the Sprouting Broccoli and leeks in peace) . They got a good mucking.

Max pulled the rest of the turnips. Is it normal for a six year old to be addicted to turnips?

I dug out every last strawberry plant and runner, gave it all a good turning over, mucked it and added compost. We put membrane over the top and replanted thirty of the biggest plants into holes we made in the membrane and gave the rest away to various plot holders.

Trevor gave me half a dozen cabbages to plant. But they will have to go in next week. By the time we finished we had been there since nine in the morning and it was getting dark.