Digging under the rain

What a day: I started digging at 11 and was not done before 6!

It was very satisfactory physical work - was shattered when I got home (man who saw me on my way said: "Keep going!" and burst out laughing it was so obvious that if I stopped I wouldn't start again!!!) and went to sleep at 9, but it felt really good.

As it was raining in showers quite a lot of the time, I managed to sow some more seeds, but otherwise the soil was surprisingly not too muddy, so by the end of the day I had

• marked the boundary of half the plot,
• digged and covered my potato bed, so the soil will get warm early,
• digged in compost in a very compacted bed that is going to be my chilli bed, and covered it as well.

I hope the compost I have used to sow the seeds will work out fine: looks a bit too rough and I am worried that the woody bits migh mould and affect the seeds. I have bough some organic and peat-free today for the rest of the sowing.

Today I also stocked up on clip top kilner jars on sales, ready for my jam-making in a few months. A few weeks ago I got the River Cottage preserves book, together with another book on keeping the harvest (which is very US focussed but interesting). Now I only need hubby to help me put up shelves in the kitchen, or I won't have enough space for any preserved produce :)

P.S. One of the neighbour's had cut back his share of bushes to make the path walkable - even though he did not uproot them, so they will be back in the summer - which is a tiny step forward. And tomorrow I am going to post my challenge to the notification letter.

The big scare

Talking of a lot to do in terms of digging and clearing, I came home tonight to find a letter from the council: first warning, they will take my allotment away if I do not fix the path.

How the hell could that be, wonder I, when it was Yours Truly in the first place to ask the council and the allotment manager to help me deal with path clearing from tree stumps & other rubbish on the neighbours' side? You all know I have cleared my own side's stumps to set a good example at the time!

Will they really take away my plot, with all the nightmarish consequences to my well being and peace of mind I dread?!?

Anyway, turns out it was my own complaint that caused a letter to be sent to all allotments bordering on the path, par condicio debitorum...

While wondering whether it would be fair to contest it to the council - for fairness to my record - I do however appreciate the manager bringing up the issue - and hope this procedure will finally rid us of stumps, soft fruits canes (which I have cleared myself the year before last), plastic sheeting and other neighbourly rubbish.

So that I cannot be faulted in any possible way, I will also dig along the whole of the boundary so that a clear line shows: Sarah seemed to think it would define the path better than my plastic line, which however is going to stay, as an obstacle to careless visitors and crapping dogs.

A parcel was waiting together with the obnoxious letter: my potatoes and Jerusalem artichokes. Besides, I have to plant in the allotment the blackberries from the pots, before it's March and too late. Got my work cut out for me this coming weekend.