Third day on the plot

Weather at the allotment today: 12 degrees at noon, then 14 degrees for the rest of the day. A breezy south-westerly wind, sunny with just one light shower.

Four hours of work at the allotments today.

* Moved some dumped flagstones into a more orderly pile, which serves nicely as the slime-covered sacrificial slug altar...

* Spent 90 minutes hacking and pulling all the brambles away from some completely swamped currants. Then I hacked back the evergeen hedge behind the currants, so I can get at the currants from either side and keep the brambles' suckers down in future...

* The bramble detritus from this was chopped and put on a growing bonfire pile, which I'll cover soon and then after a month of drying will hopefully be ready for Bonfire Night...

* Hacked back some escaping mint from its prison raised bed. I'll have to eradicate all the roots that have escaped, since mint is a prolific spreader.

* Found two straggly 'weed' gooseberries, and a nice vigorous gooseberry in a pot that was being completely swamped by the mint.

* Sorted and stacked the old wood planks I collected yesterday. Rotten or wormy planks went up the back or onto the growing bonfire. Middling stuff was stacked at the side of the plot. The good planks were kept by the shed, ready to become walking planks for the plots.

* Moved some old plastic sheeting onto my plot, ready to brick it down as weed suppressor.

* Cleaned up and moved some loose fertilizer bags that had been at the top of the plot.

* Tidied up up the little picket that's on the public side of the shed.

* Undertook a basic dig of my first row, against the low south-facing brick wall. This will be a little herb row, in time. Gareth has kindly started me off with this, by donating some sage and a lemon balm plant...

Time for lunch...