This weekend was rather different, no work on my allotment but some serious construction on Nicky’s plot. We went to stay with Mike and Nicky in the Lake district and Mike and myself were helping to construct a new composter bin on her plot. She got the bin from their local council and it is supposed to be excellent. We had to construct it there and then, it came with an instruction booklet and in the end it was quite easy.

The weather deteriorated during the morning and we were able just to clear the corner on the plot and place the new bin in situ. Then rain stopped play and we went home.

We took the wood home in the car and put it in Mike’s recycling bin. After lunch the skies cleared and I persuaded Mike to go back to the allotment and finish the job properly. I don’t think he was too happy with the idea but we went. The afternoon’s weather was much better and I’m happy to say that all is done. Any greenery was put in the new bin and I have raked the soil level, all ready to start planting. There are loads of stones in the soil so we picked out as many as we could and added them to a large pile in another corner of the site. Mike even managed to cut down a stump of another lilac bush – we’ll have another go at the roots in the autumn when all around will be harvested and we can dig a large hole around and keep hacking at it.

I was glad we went back and finished the job. It will be interesting to see how well this new composter bin functions.