Day one down on the allotment

The plan when we were offered this plot back in October last year was to get all of the bramble growth chopped down and the ground covered with old carpet to break down the roots and grass etc ready for digging over in the spring.

Fast forward six months and we have only now managed to get down there for the first day of clearing. Why? Well my shoulder injury turned out to be much worse than I could have imagined and has taken three months of complete rest and some fairly intensive ongoing physio to get it back to some sort of normality.

This hasn't put us off however and yesterday we loaded up a car with all the old carpet we got through Freecycle last year (which has been living in the garden under plastic covers all winter!), a few tools and a packed lunch and headed down to the plot for the first time in 2010.

With our wellies and thick leather gloves on, we made a start on chopping down the covering of brambles and after a good three hours of solid work, we managed to clear about a third of the plot. After a failed attempt at getting a bonfire going (the freshly cut brambles we learned were too green) we have made a huge pile of cut branches for them to dry out ready for a bonfire next week hopefully. The ground we have cleared has been covered with old carpet to help break down the roots and grass underneath.

With sore muscles, stiff hands from so much cutting, forearms covered in bramble scratches and the tiredness that comes from an afternoon spent out in the sunshine and fresh air we headed home feeling very pleased with ourselves. The plan is to head back there next weekend, get the bonfire going and try our hardest to clear as much of the remaining growth as we can.

Allotment hours: 4.5