Hello :) I'm a newbie in Liverpool and got my jungle of brambles 2 weeks ago today. There are no plotholders to the right of us so we couldn't see where we started & ended, but think we've found the edge of our plot now - it looks like a biggie! Only hoping half of it isn't taken back if they ever get around to measuring but the gate position, paths & hardstandings & stuff we've uncovered suggest it's all ours.
OH & I are determined to get it workable over the winter. We made loads of progress in the first week but the torrential rain this week has slowed us down a bit. We did dig a little patch & put some broccoli in last weekend though - feels much more like we have a proper plot now!
Pics of our progress so far are in my gallery area if anyone fancies a peek. Looking forward to getting stuck in!
welcome Lottie103 I'm sure you will find a wealth of info on this site LB :D
Welcome Lottie103, looking at your pics you have your work cut out for you this winter. Don't overdo the hard labour, and take loads of photos of your progress and you'll be well rewarded next year. We've all been there, it's a rite of passage to have to clear a plot before you start work.
I remember it well, mine looked a bit like that when I started more than 10years ago. Now, the weeds still come through but so do lots of lovely other things and it's worth every minute I spend there. I'm sure you will have great fun and a real sense of satisfaction and I would advise start planting things as soon as you have cleared a bit of space, that way you will see the rewards of your efforts quickly and and will keep up the motivation and enthusiasm. Good luck!
Hi,
Welcome to the site!
Where in Liverpool are you (and have you seen the spider this weekend!).
Cheers
Dan
Welcome. You will certainly be needing plenty of brew flasks and sarnies over the coming months; looking at your pictures. It wont look so bad once the thick of it is cut to ground level, never mind the digging part. Let the games...... begin ;D ;D
Welcome, Lottie- it's a good time of year to get a plot, just as (hopefully) the weeds are slowing down but before the cold really sets in (won't mention the wet!)
Welcome. Quite a challenge but you've achieved an enormous amount already. Great work :)
hiya, lottie103, nice to meet you, as everyone has said, little and often, it's a good time of year to take a plot on, happy growing ;D
Thanks for such a lovely welcome and words of encouragement ;D.
We've spent the afternoon doing a bit more lopping & chopping & all the big stuff is pretty much at ground level now, apart from an area that is currently home to a wasp nest. We'll sort that once the worker wasps have died off & we can move the queen.
I suspect this is when the real work begins. I'm going to miss the ease of clearing brambles when we are clearing grass and bindweed roots from our heavy soil! A friend is bringing me some tatties & garlic to put in this week and I'm going to get some onions to overwinter too. I was going to try for a quick crop of radish & salad greens but we're a bit waterlogged just at the moment.
Dan - I'm at the Marlborough Rd site in Tuebrook. Lots of plots available if anyone is looking for one. We could have opted for a relatively clear one but apparently the topsoil was removed from that side of the site when they built the new housing estate next door. I'd much rather have the rite of passage of a bit of graft & have some quality soil to begin with!
Much to my shame, I've not seen the spider. Wouldn't have minded going for a gawp but the footage on TV of the huge crowds over the last few days put me off.
Welcome to A4A. Don't forget to take pics at each stage (cos we are a nosey lot ;D) Hope we get some drier weather so that you can carry on the good work.
hi lottie,a big welcome from me too! (also in liverpool,aigburth) we took on our lottie this time last year,and it IS a great time of year to start.good luck and enjoy enjoy enjoy ( have you got a kettle yet?)
love
rach
x
*waves* across the `pool!
Nope, we've not got a kettle yet. We don't have anywhere to store anything yet so have to carry everything back & forth. I can see our camping stove coming with us eventually. We do take a flask though. We have a club on site too so a nice cold beer doesn't go amiss after a few hours hard labour - can't be bad.
I'll deffo be boring you all with lots of photos. The garden of our first house was a bit of a project too and I've always regretted not taking pics of progress. The only prob so far is that it looks like OH is the only one doing any work since I'm taking all the pics!
Lynn
x
Hi Lottie and welcome. i have my plot on the Wirral so you are not too far away.
I am sure you will get loads of ideas nad help from the site.
BB x
Thanks BB :)
We were wrong about thinking we'd found the edge to our plot last weekend - the fence I happened upon today suggests we have now though ;D! OH is convinced we will be told that the bit we've cleared isn't all ours. It's at least a plot and a half, if not a double and looks huge but looking at the the position of the paths, fence & gateway, there's no easy way to divide it. Anyway, it's been standing idle for 5 years so no one else has been too desperate for the land thus far.
We got a mini shed up this week too which was rather exciting. We'd had the `to lock or not to lock' discussion after reading the thread here. So, last night we left our tools in shed & didn't lock it. Got to the plot today to discover our shears on the ground *outside* of our plot! Expected to see the other few bits & bobs we have there strewn around but everything else was as we left it, nothing missing & shed door was closed and bolted ???
Wonder what tomorrow will bring??
xxx
Are you sure you didn't leave the shears outside lat time you were there? ;D
lol, that would be the logical (& preferable) explanation but no, sadly, deffo not!
I clearly remember placing them in the shed handle end down cos I was peed off that OH initially put them in blade end down (I know ::).... but allow me to be a wee bit precious about our shed floor for the first week....)
& even if we had accidentally left them out on the plot, someone would have had to have been on our plot to take them outside. We've not had the need to venture out of our gate with tools just yet - we've more than enough to be getting on with inside so we def didn't leave them where we found them!
Glad to hear you are doing so well, at least you don't have to replace the shed lock! :-X
Hi Lottie103,
Congrats on the plot at last another Marlborough rd lottie holder! I've got plot 16 (half plot) ashamed to say haven't done much though apart from clearing because of work but will get some more done next week! Looks like you are doing really well good luck!
hiya, syenson, welcome to the site ;D
Ooooh Syenson, hello ;D I can't think out where 16 is, but I'll have a scout around when we're down this weekend. I'm thinking you might be on the end of the row with Santa cos I know there are half plots there??
We've not been for a couple of weeks what with the dark nights / manic work and being away for the last couple of weekends. We're there tomorrow morn before the rain gets to Lpool. Can't wait to see how it's all doing. I'll have to get some more pics too - my camera was playing up the last few times we've been there so hopefully it now looks a bit different to my last load of photos :)
Hi Manicscousers thanks for the welcome! :)
Hello Lottie103, Yes i am down the row from Santa right at the end, i have an old poly tunnel frame on other half of plot. Are you on the other side near the old railway embankment? I have been told that in WWII an ammunition train was bombed there and the pieces of train ended up scattered over the allotments! Apparently someone found a wheel once! Nothing like that on mine yet though just old potatoes from a school who had the plot before me.
Can't wait to get the plot dug and actually plant some veg.
Sounds like the site is getting more and more people interested in the plots, they had problems with vandalism before the big green fence went up which led a lot of people to leave. Hopefully it won't be too long before we get a full site which will help i think.
I hope we will have events like some of the other allotment sites like seed swops and things i think that would be really good.
Also may i ask did you get a tenancy agreement for your plot as i haven't had one ?
Hope to see you down there next week ;D
Gotcha :) Our plot backs onto the houses at the other end of Santa row. We have a big hedge at the front & the entrance to ours is the black metal gateway. We were warned off the plots by the railway cos of the poor soil.
I don't have a tenancy agreement yet, which is a wee bit of a worry. I can understand why tho. They said we could have it rent free til Jan cos it was in such a state & I spose if they give us a tenancy agreement then the council will know it's taken so they'll have to charge. It's just that when we took the plot, we couldn't see how big it is & now we've cleared it, it's turned out that it's a double plot, they might only let us have half. That would be a pain since the gate is in the middle & the paths etc are all laid out. I have tried to clarify but can't get a definite answer apart from `the previous guy wanted a double plot'. I'm hoping he's just worried about telling us it will cost double (which is fine), rather than not wanting to tell us we can't have it all!
I'm sure there will be plenty of seed swapping. I've witnessed chicken exchanges already LOL. Gutting - we can't have any (although OH says no way anyway, so perhaps for the best) in case the people in the houses complain then no one will be allowed any.
Will look out for you this week - we walk past your plot to get to ours when we come in the side gate ;D
Welcome to the site Seynson ;D