The Legacy of Reg

Day 3 - 10/06/2012

A Sunday afternoon was spent allotmenting - is that even a word?! I've decided that it is now. 

Given that I had eagerly planted some seeds in pots weeks ago, and the fact that they were quickly outgrowing the pots and soon to die; today's day at the allotment focused on planting. The exciting bit in my opinion. 

Again in my head the allotment looked much better than it did in reality. There was much to do. So, Jerica decided to rope in some child labour - in the form of Joel's little brother, Elliot. 

It being half-term and away from teaching teens, I had forgotten that teenagers have an extremely short attention span. Or as I termed it on the day 'you've got the attention span of a...(pause for approx 10secs) a nit'. In the space of an hour or so Elliot had assisted in at least four separate tasks. This was quite amusing really. His help was welcomed nevertheless. 

Day 3 also marks the day in which we met our neighbour. Our neighbour shall be referred to as anon - not to withhold his identity for legal reasons, but simply because me being me did not think to ask his name. As you'd expect our neighbour is a retired, old man - a stereotypical allotment owner. 

In meeting our neighbour, we discovered the legacy of Reg. Reg was the previous keeper of our plot. He had kept the plot for 30 years...no pressure then :/ Anon told us of how beautiful plot 393 had been. We also learnt that carpet was apparently the norm - it keeps weeds down. I stand by our decision to rip the lot up, carpet outdoors = wrong. 

Reg had given up the plot back in March, and Anon couldn't understand why the council had taken so long in offering the plot to us. I find it difficult to believe that Reg had turned all the beds over in March, unless the weeds had been involved in some kind of monster genetic modification in the three month window. 

We made friends with Anon, and obviously he approved of us as loaned us a rake. 

A successful day was had and we made good progress, turning over a bed and planting all the seedlings to avoid any causalities. We rewarded ourselves with a top notch Coop lunch and an ice-lolly. 

I guess we shall allotment in the legacy of Reg and his fruit bushes. 

The Day of Carpet

Day 2 - 08/06/2012

On reflection from our brief visit to the plot yesterday we decided that there was much to do. Nevertheless in true Jerica style this did not diminish our hopes and dreams of a royalty inspired allotment haven, with a white picket fence, lush crops, a sage green shed and of course a BBQ.

I should probably explain that I (Erica) am a trainee RE teacher - hence the religious references and eccentricity. Joel as of September will be returning to uni to train as a primary school teacher. His patience and desire for a challenge serves a purpose outside our relationship too.

We decided to get up early, well early for half-term at 8am and make our way to the allotment for around 9am. The rain at first did not dampen our spirits and we were determined to make a start.

On assessing the area and ever so slightly crossed words on how to approach the mammoth task we decided to create a pile of crap basically. It soon became apparent that the previous tenant clearly had a sense of humour.

The make-shift shed contained a diary from 2004, a years supply of Actimel cartons and a wasps nest...we chose to ignore the dilapidated shed for now.

In the two hour window we decided to clear some pathways. On closer inspection the existing pathways were laid with carpet. Yes, that's right, carpet.

And so, the carpet had to come up....

The shed of doom...

The dreams of our little allotment haven seem so distant.

In the beginning...

Day 1 - 07/06/2012

So, we are Joel & Erica, also known as Jerica. We got together last May (2011) on the premise of a blind date, which happened to be a success thanks to our best friends setting it up. It was apparent from the beginning that we both share a love for food - good food - both making and eating it. Our first date being an example of this - I (Erica) had a very manly gammon, egg and chips, but nevertheless ate it with demur, whilst Joel had a sturdy pie, and mash with Hendo's relish of course being from Sheffield and all.

I (Erica) have always had a tendency to come up with completely ridiculous and irrational ideas, fully convincing myself that they will work (as lets be honest in my head and with an imagination they often do). However, actually actioning them is a completely different story. Soon into the relationship is was clear that I (Erica) was comfortable in sharing my thoughts with Joel. Surprisingly I was never laughed at. His face was more a silent don't be silly kind of look. Or a 'yes dear' response was given.

Around last September I decided that I quite liked the idea of growing my own fruit and vegetables. Growing raspberries and rhubarb in the back garden was no longer enough. I'd outgrown the idea - get it?! Apologies for the really bad attempt at a gardening joke. The idea of having my own patch of land to grow 'stuff' appealed to me...I put my idea to the other half of Jerica - Joel. To my surprise Joel liked it too. (At this point in the relationship I thought this must be long-term as some would run a mile at the thought of a 21 year old allotment keeper).

At this point I must point out that the thought of bugs, mud and manure had not even crossed my mind. Helping Dad mow (I nearly typed hoover there for some reason) the lawn was a chore which I would only consider if paid to fund my Topshop addiction.

Having perused the Sheffield City Council webpage I figured out how to apply for an allotment. I therefore requested the forms and completed all the admin crap.The chosen plot was Meersbrook - kind of midway between mine and Joel's house. I was disheartened that out of 500+ plots there were nearly 200 people on the 'waiting list'.

And so we began the waiting game: in which time we went on our first holiday to somewhere quite exotic - Thorton-Le-Dale in N.Yorkshire, we had a very merry Christmas, we survived the most horrific ferry journey to Bruges at half-term and we visited LDN where we shared our love for our Sovereign Queen.

June 7th marks the day which we picked up our keys and the day in which it dawned on us what kind of commitment an allotment would be.My big idea soon turned into the 'what have we let ourselves in for' phrase.