Introduction

It is 1st January, 2012 - as good a date as any to start a gardening blog. In July 2011 I took possession of an allotment after three years on the waiting list. This blog is going to record my efforts to create a productive plot based on organic principles, and to follow my experiments with raised beds, no-digging, biochar, rock dust, urine recycling, seaweed teas, comfrey fertilising and sundry other strategies to help productivity, improve the soil and be generally ecologically responsible. I am also interested in growing unusual vegetables and varieties.

I am located in Aberdeen in North-East Scotland, UK. Obviously, where I am determines what I can grow. There are macro-climatic influences but there are also micro-climatic effects from being so exposed and being on a north-facing slope. I'll write more later about the weather patterns but for the moment let us just say that people don't generally grow outdoor tomatoes round these parts, even with the help of global warming!




This is the plot the week I took it over. My daughter is inspecting for potential. In the background is the North Sea and the channel leading right to left into Aberdeen harbour. The land in the far distance is the coastal stretch running north of Aberdeen which includes Balmedie where Donald Trump is controversially building a golf course on ecologically sensitive sand dunes.