The plot unthickens

I've never been much of fan of apples before, seemed like a lot of chewing for not much flavour.
Today I was converted. The only way to eat an apple is to bite into it just seconds after plucking it from the branch.
Wow!
The plot may be 'well-established', but that has it's advantages. As well as the apple we've also sampled raspberries and blackberries and we've harvested a few potatos.
We've had plenty of warnings from books and other allotmenteers about the disappointment of failed harvests, but if all the food that does survive tastes this good, we're in for a treat.

The paths down either side of the plot are now clear. This seemed to be a good idea as I'm guessing the second rule of Allotment Society is 'keep your neighbours happy'.
The first rule of Allotment Society is you don't talk about Allotment Society.
We've also started to spread the brown among the green. The patch above the bit in the middle, which we've already cleared and started to use for a pile of rubbish, is now hacked back and we've made a start on turning over the soil.
I also found the door to the fruit cage today, so no more clambering through the hole in the net to get inside, and I fixed the door to the larger shed, so no more having to clamber through the hole in the side.
Of course, fixed is a relative term. In this case fixed now means that it is open unless you wedge it shut, rather than shut with no chance of pushing it open.

The most productive thing we've done so far is speak to a few neighbours. Ian and Jane two plots down took over their site 30 months ago so they are full of advice about the best way to clear the plot, what they've had success and failure with and how to pace yourself.

One more plot down is Alan, who took on his allotment the same year I was born. A hive of information he's grown just about everything on his patch in it's time. Except peas, but he takes that as a personal failure rather than a failure of the plot. Thanks to Alan, Ian and Jane we now know to watch out for catterpillars, foxes, slugs and badgers as well as blight.

They all tell us the key is to take things slowly, tackle a bit at a time, and the best way to learn is to experiment, try and fail. Alan revealed he is still learning 34 years on, having just failed to grow any raspberries on one particular stretch - because he grew raspberries there last year.
Still, he knows what went wrong, and it won't happen again.

Sounds like there may be a few failures ahead for us, but if we harvest more marrows than mistakes then I guess we'll be ahead of the game.