A bit of background on 2009

Daniel was born in December and those first five months were pretty hectic, and also wet and cold. As a result, there was always something more immediate to do than get out and dig. That's not to say that I didn't think about it daily, like any other job you really know you should be doing, but aren't. As a result, with rumours of our allotment being taken away, it was May 28th before I got down there. Fortunately my instinctive obsession with new projects kicked in - all that remained was industrial relations negotiations, which I won't go too far into, but I realised I could only save it if I was allowed my own head, so Rachael graciously agreed to step back while I kept it going this year. I'm still stuck with her beds, rotation and scheme but we will be doing it 'together' next year and hopefully on a more equal footing because I'll no longer be a total noob.

Back in May, I was greeted by a water meadow. It was a quite amazing bed of wild flowers and brambles. A casual glance would have given you no clue that this was cultivated land just eight months before. Over the next few days I made strides with the brush cutter, and eventually the lawn mower and then the spade and fork.