The strange thing about the allotment is that we didn’t really imagine that we would get one.  Back in January when the idea of Red Kite was first being mooted we did some research to find out just how tough it is to get an allotment locally so that we could use this in marketing material about growing your own at home.  Maidenhead has a 5-7 year waiting list, but the Cookham situation was not available on line, so I sent a query to Cookham Parish Council to see what the situation was.  Within a couple of days I got a reply explaining that plots were being offered to waiting list members from the parish and others were then being considered, leading us to believe that something may become available in the not too distant future and shortly afterwards we were offered a plot and a choice of sites.  The one slightly further away looked altogether better cared for and much more “professional” albeit as a resource for amateurs, so we asked for a plot there.

There was a slight hiatus when we were offered a plot that turned out not to be available as renewal documents had gone astray, but by mid-February we had been offered a newly set up plot that was freshly rotavated.  A couple of weekends of being away on Saturdays and grim weather on Sundays meant that today was our first trip down there.

The contract requires that we get three quarters of the plot under cultivation within the first year, so we have drawn up a plan that features some large chunks of area set aside for different crops (potatoes, sweet corn and cucurbits) in the first instance.

The raw plot

We have selected and ordered the varieties of potato for the allotment. (Lady Christl – first early, Charlotte – second early, Rudolph early main, Vales Sovereign – early main and Cara – main crop), so today we set to preparing the ground for these.  The rotavation had broken the soil up, but had left many large clods of turf, so we set about breaking these up and piling the larger clods into an emerging compost heap.  In the morning, we managed to get enough ground rough dug to cope with the potatoes, which marked a very satisfying start.

After the first bit of digging

By a happy coincidence, the seed potatoes arrived later in the afternoon.  Having started to work on the plot and twigged how big the area is having plenty of seed potatoes is definitely a good thing in terms of getting the plot moving.  The spare bed (with an old towel covering the bed linen) has now been turned over to a “chitting” site.