Joe Swift eat your heart out!

Just call us Tom and Barbara! At the end of March we took over an allotment. Fed up with passing so much of our hard earned cash over to Mr Tesco we decided we'd have a go at growing our own. Luckily just over the road in Barn Way there are some allotments and we were lucky enough to be allocated one. We've only got a half allotment which we though would be sensible in our first year (not that we had any idea how big that was going to be).

The allotments are just as you imagine an allotment to be: some are incredibly neat with things growing in rows that look as if they have been set out using a ruler; others are rather less kempt with ramshackle sheds and compost heaps (I suspect ours will fall into the latter category). As Mr Webb (the allotment-meister) showed us round our glorious plot other allotmenteers were already offering advice (even if some of it was contradictory; do we cut back our raspberry canes or leave them?). By the time we were turning the first sod we already felt part of the community.

Our allotment has rhubarb, gooseberries and raspberry canes already growing. We've dug up some carrots and some there's also some chard (no I don't know what that is either). The rest of the plot needs weeding and digging over...and planting. We've only spent one day on our little bit of earth and we're already feeling very righteous.

Watch this space for more allotment news.

P.S. for those of you puzzled by the title Joe Swift is off of Gardeners World and has just got his own allotment. Watch on Friday nights 8:00 on BBC2 for his exciting adventures...unless of course you have a life. http://www.bbc.co.uk/gardenersworld/presenters/