8th May.

Went up to the allotment to tidy up the pond.  I buried all the excess liner, and trimmed the end nearer the old pond. The water now trickles from the new pond into the old one when it gets really full.
I planted geraniums around one end, and sprinkled packets of seeds around the back. Now it just needs to settle down.  It rained again this evening so that will dilute the tap water.

                                          New Pond

                                          Old pond with new pond behind it.
I got some other planting done, some carrots planted, and next time Im down I'll do some more spinach.

6th May

We went up to the allotment to measure the pond, then went off to the garden centre to buy butyl lining. I got the underlay half price which I was pleased about and the butyl was reduced in price too.
We got it back to the allotment and soaked the hole in the ground and John had fun getting it smooth for me.   We got the lining in and started filling it with water.  We got it half full and had to go home cos I had to go to the dentist.  :o(  Didnt have anything done in the end :o)
I potted up some bits of plants to go in the pond  and we took them down after bee keeping.  There was a thunder storm so we couldnt do anything much, we'll go back tomorrow evening.

                                              Before

                                            after, half full and to be finished.

2nd May

The new bit of allotment looks as though it's always belonged to rest of my allotment.  Ive planted brussel sprouts, and tomatoes, and marigolds with the tomatoes as companion plants on it.  I also started digging a new pond. The origional one is small and this one will be deeper, and because the land is slightly higher than the first one, Im not joining them, but Im going to over lap the butyl so any overflow will go into the older pond.  The seating area now has a windbreak which I put up when we are using it, (Ive always wanted a windbreak, :o) . )  Ive also got two compost bins on the new end, and a new waterbutt, the other one was small.
Johns allotment is looking good with leeks, onions, dwarf beans and various seeds planted. He's put a waterbutt on there to save walking to the tap for water.

Its all exciting! and weve only just started. :o)

Seating area.

The beginning of the pond

 Pond started, the second pond is behind the planting.

25th April

Ive been given a bit more land, so I now have a full allotment.  It took several days to clear it, and John came and moved the fence for me.  Ive moved our seated area to the side of the greenhouse, it was in front before, and made it difficult to get into the greenhouse.  Ive laid down weed suppressant and we've found enough bark chips from the fence line where they are dumped to cover the area.
Im going to enlarge the pond and make it deeper. I planted cabbage today, and tomorrow I'll go back and plant broccoli and brussel sprouts.  Im going to plant pumpkins and squashes on the new area for this year.

                                              above the new area covered in weeds.

                                           The area almost completely weeded,

                                    Today, the area cleared, and beneath the white environmesh are cabbages

1st April

Havent been on here for a while.  The allotment is all dug over, though the weeds are fighting back.
All my potatoes chitted at once, some in the bags we bought them in, so we went went down last weekend and planted the lot.  Ive also planted onions and peas.  Ive seedlings everywhere in the house, accompanied by little flys, so tomorrow Im going to transport the lot down to the allotment and put them in the greenhouse.
I love this tim of year.  Ive got a flower bed with primroses, day lillies and sweetpeas already planted, and several bulbs, and Ive got daliahs and lots of packets of seeds to go in. 
My pond had some returning frogs who laid frog spawn, and they have all hatched, Im really pleased about that because its the first year I havent had to transport spawn up there.  :o)

26th February

Ive been to the allotment a couple of times this week.  Ive got most of it dug over now, and Ive just got to take up the last of the chard, and spinach.  Its very frustrating having to wait for the soil to warm up.
I potted up the olive tree in my green house today.  I shouldnt have to repot it for years!
I looked in the pond and there was a lovely big ball of frog spawn in the bottom.  :o)  how cool is that!
Tadpoles that Ive taken from my home ponds have hung around and two of them are parents!  The allotment today.

Link to photos.

https://picasaweb.google.com/118251886974337038166/Allotment2011?authkey=Gv1sRgCO-j6enf9eCfxwE#

16th February

Went to the allotment with a few jobs in mind.  I put a cane frame at the back of what will be a flower bed.
I also planted in the bed day lilies which had been rescued from the chicken run at home.  The little dears
were eating them.  I re netted the strawberry patch.  I had to cut down stakes to the same length, and hammer them in, the ground is very soggy.  That took up the whole morning, so I'll fix the gate tomorrow and realign the gate clasp.  Cant wait for the ground to warm up so I can start planting.  :o)

15th February

I thought I would keep a record of my visits to the allotment, heres a small history of it.
I got a half allotment in 2008.  It was a lawn, and took two months to dig over.  I dont like rotovators because I believe they kill the worms, and they are vital to the well being of the land.
In January 2009 I went with my 'work force' (my husband and two sons) and we put in paths, fenced it off from the rabbits, and I painted the shed and made tea.
When it came to planting time I put in brassicas, only to find we'd used the wrong size fencing and
dear little bunnies could hop straight through.  They must have thought it was Christmas, because the ate the lot.  So John, my husband bought new fencing, and I spent 6 hours putting it up before planting new brassica.
I got another quarter of an allotment so the fence was moved by my eldest son, and it was incorporated.
I bought a plastic green house,  which was blown down and damaged, but the company I bought it from gave me my money back, and I bought a metal and glass one which is fabulous. I also dug a pond, just a little one, and got some liner from Freecycle.  I took frog spawn from my pond at home, and soon had hundreds of tadpoles, and later in the year tiny frogs.
I did well that year, we enjoyed the good life, and I got 2nd prize for being a new comer in the Allotment awards.
The next year 2010 we got lots of vegetables, but I also had Chickens for my Christmas/birthday present, and I wanted to be at home with them so they werent shut in their omlet run all the time, so the allotment suffered a bit, and we had as many weeds as veg!  John built the chickens a 15ft x 15ft run, which is as fox proof as possible, and they can be out all day, and I could get back to the allotment and weed.
So 2011, and we still have leeks, swedes and a bit of chard on the site.  John also had a half allotment of his own, and we have cabbage, leeks and onions on that.
In my greenhouse are walflowers, a few strawberry plants, and an olive tree which is two years old now, and this year will leave the greenhouse in the late spring early summer for a few months.  I do want to get it a bigger pot.  I started digging it over, and my youngest son, Angus was staying last week and came and helped me with one area.  I have two beds to dig over still, but they have veg in them, so when weve dug those up I'll dig them. 
I spent two hours this Monday re netting my fruit bed. I have rhubarb, black currants and raspberrys in there. Tomorrow I intend to re net the strawberrry bed.
In our spare bedroom I have lots of seedlings, chillies, tomatoes, brussel sprouts, cabbage and broccoli, plus some flower seeds planted along with aubergine.  Im just hoping I can keep them going, and that they will be ready to plant in March. Here's a link to photos.
https://picasaweb.google.com/118251886974337038166/Allotment2011?authkey=Gv1sRgCO-j6enf9eCfxwE#