Hello and Welcome to Post 2!
This week, I’m beginning to write chapter one of The Allotment. I’m opening with the first day I got to see the plot, which was in February. It begins with, ‘On a Sunday afternoon, a volunteer meets me and my boyfriend at the gate of Midwinter Allotment. The sun is shining, but the path is wet underfoot. Weeks of winter rain have saturated the ground’. I just noticed it’s in present tense (that’s how I wrote it in my journal on 13 March, while on a mini-retreat with a writing friend in Cornwall), but I’m not sure if I want to keep it that way.
We viewed six garden plots that day, and there were six interested parties all viewing together. One of the plots was in a terrible state, but the volunteer leading us round said it had ‘real potential’. Here’s what it looked like:
And if you’d like a close-up on the rubbish and the ‘shed’:
loads of rubbish and a ‘shed’
My boyfriend and I were third on the waiting list. Our two favourite plots were picked by people on the waiting list above us. This plot, with its ‘real potential’, was our third pick. We said yes, and it was ours! Forty-five metres by five metres. Here’s what the top of the plot looked like:
Brambles and a polytunnel
and a tiny pond with daffodils covered in brambles
and a huge cherry plum tree
We were clearly in over our heads.
Next time, I’ll let you know how I’m getting on with chapter one. I’m hoping to write twelve chapters, one for each month. February included hours and hours of time digging, pruning and burning brambles. We discovered a few hidden treasures under those brambles, which I’ll tell you about next time.
Here’s to time out with the weeds!
Lania