4-5 August 2007 - On the fence

We've got backache. We've been digging. We've got sunburn in the only really hot weekend we are looking likely to have this year.

Up at the plot yesterday, we do our usual inspection of the crops (sounds much more impressive than it actually is as we hope you have gathered through blogs passim). The giant pumpkin is the most expansive and happy looking plant, and we cannot bring ourselves to "pinch out" its flowers. There are three actual pumpkins so far on it. The leek seedlings are coming up nicely, though they look like grass. The peas are happy. Some of the radishes have bolted - and we see how apt the word is because they literally shoot quickly upwards, desperate to flower.

Lots of nice chats with our allotment neighbours. The bloke who has The Plot From Hell opposite us is digging up nettles and old carpet. He tells me that he has another plot on the other side of the allotment and a huge garden. And he works full-time. I feel like a miserable shirker.

The neighbour next to him, a nice girl with a lovely chocolate lab called Leo, tells us that we are doing really well. Her plot is like a lawn, beautifully kept, with small beds of flowers and veg and has an ornamental bird bath. It feels very good to be complimented on our plot as it is easy to feel that we are not really getting anywhere sometimes.

Our new neighbours, Jan and Pat, have put us to shame yet again. They have been at the plot since 9am and left around 4pm. Their fence is nearly finished - but their plot, let it be said, is a lot smaller than ours.

We started doing bits and bobs, mostly fixing the fence in the trench that N had already dug which was a bit tricky. We had doubts as to whether the fencing we bought via the Interweb was big enough but we are now convinced it is. Nice and deep trench. Very pleasingly, the first 2 of our new fenceposts were installed - these are in fact old curtain poles graciously donated by The Neighbours (house). Thanks guys. We breathlessly await the arrival of AN (Australian Nephew) who has decided he really has nothing better to do this weekend, so with the usual bribery, he has agreed to come help with the digging.

He duly arrived and starts digging the first of the long sides (and the most difficult because it is on a slope and vast swathes of vegetation have had to be cut back by yours truly). But not for long though we have evidence that he did some digging. Poor bloke had got a bad back and just couldn't do it. He switched to the other end of the long side but that was much worse as it was the beginning of the Stony Bit.

After the necessary manly fencing chat, N went home to the outside workshop and knocked up a couple more fenceposts from some more donated material from The Neighbours (peace be upon them). In the end, we downed tools and went home to BBQ and possibly the worst movie any of us had seen for a while (Superman Returns).

The next morning, after a leisurely start, N powers off to the plot. AN and I amble up shortly thereafter, me with some more twiggy sticks for the peas, AN with the fenceposts. N has got the bit between his teeth and is truly digging for victory. The trench opens up before us like one of those earthquakes in the Superman movie. Awesome. I even find some Kryptonite, which would have been useful last night.

A night on our sofabed has not fixed AN sufficiently to dig, so he is put to work on weeding and tidying chores. I then pitch in to the digging too, making sure that the trench is two spits' (a spit = the height of the spade) down. At one point we found an old fence post which we will reuse. Here's a picture of it next to two of the new ones (to arrive later).

Oh it sounds so easy to you, gentle reader. It's true that there is a strange satisfaction in feeling the spade bite through earth. But we are sparing you sight of the blisters (gloves are compulsory) and you don't feel the ache in the lower back. We managed between the two of us to dig the long bit pretty much which is 17m long. Not bad for 4 hours solid work. We have a bit to do at the Stony Bit but it is basically ready for the fence. That is going to be a laugh I can tell you. Ooh we say, let's do an hour after work each day.

N tells me the other side (obviously the same length) will be a lot easier because it is level and next to the path. I know now we can do it. And we always could do it, we just didn't want to do it. But the time taken to get to this point has been well used, mostly to learn the lesson that one should always put the fence in first on a new plot. Goddit?