Failing my plot inspection
When I first took over the plot, I was told there was a lot of raspberry bushes, some gooseberries, currants and fruit trees.
As I described in my first post, I wanted to start small. So other than building some raised beds I thought I’d leave the raspberry bushes - especially as I like to eat them!
To me, they could be next seasons’ problem…
But… it got messy!
As part of taking on a plot, certainly for this site in Haringey - the tenancy is subject to passing a probation period. It was communicated this was about showing intent, and following certain rules. I had been gently assured I’d have no issues passing given my work on the raised beds.
However, when my final inspection took place I was informed they couldn’t pass my plot due to “the amount of weeds and long grass present”.
It was a bit disappointing to hear, but in fairness the raspberry bushes had totally exploded towards the end of April/early May. A lesson in itself!
So, with this little kick up the bum - I resolved to take the nuclear option…
Armed with my roughneck digging bar, secateurs and any tool I could find I took to ripping out the whole mid-section of the plot. It took a few hours, but eventually I’d removed most of it.
And eventually…
It was a nice feeling to get a sense of actually how much space the plot had. And also nice to have a real ‘blank slate’ to look at to start thinking of how I want the plot to develop.
A harsh lesson learnt!