6
The Wheel
MY PLOT AT HAYDON ALLOTMENTS It
was almost four years ago when a copy of a Radstock Council newsletter arrived at my recently acquired Haydon home. An article was informing its readers that some allotments were available nearby. Having just retired, I was immediately interested as vegetable growing was something that I had never done before and therefore it appealed to me as a new interesting project. There were half a dozen plots available at the time all heavily weeded and untidy. I eventually chose one with the opportunity of obtaining the one adjacent as well once a rather large shed was removed that was breaking regulations. After successfully clearing the first plot and helping contractors to remove the shed, I then cleared up the second and I was ready to rumble! There are almost fifty allotments in a peaceful and scenic environment on the edge of the Haydon Batch. The allotmenteers include all ages and genders with an even spread of years and not mainly older, retired persons as is the common concept. There is a plot specially fitted with raised beds for wheelchair access and for young children to use. Referring back to my now larger plot, the first thing I did was obtaining relevant library books and surfing the internet but the most important issue for me was to get help from some of the existing experienced gardeners on site. They were so willing to help and because of them, I began to make progress as well as enjoying their friendship. It was fortunate that I started to work my plot in the Autumn so planting was not an issue. I cleared all the weeds and debris and dug all areas and left everything until the following Spring hoping that there would be some nutrients left in the soil as no vegetables had been grown there for a couple of years or so. My new friends advised me to plant
lots of seed potatoes and onion sets with some broad beans all in early Spring and then follow with brassicas (the cabbage type tribe), French beans, leeks, lettuce, parsnips, beetroot, carrots and courgettes, all mainly grown from seed at home and transplanted into their final position in the ground in late Spring and early Summer. I also planted several soft fruit bushes and strawberries. My successes were potatoes and courgettes which are particularly easy to grow with patchy results among the rest but my enthusiasm had been raised for my new pastime. In my second year, I particularly learnt a great deal in what to do both from my mistakes and the sources previously mentioned. During the first year, I had erected six compost cages so that I could recycle all
