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#