"Since taking over the allotment at the end of January, the biggest task has been getting it ready to plant things in!

An ambition is to serve home grown vegetables with our turkey at Christmas this year - but that's going to take a lot of hard work.

How we got started
Paul Howgill, Allotments for All Officer at Environ, organised a Beginners Allotment workshop at Abbey Park visitor centre when we joined other newcomers to allotment sites all over the city to learn the basics. A "Plan" is vital - so we've worked out how much of the Radio Leicester Allotment to cultivate, we've prioritised jobs that need doing and drawn a map showing what we want to plant and where to plant it.

What we have done so far

Our progress - and we've even got a path

The Rowley Fields Allotment Society gave us the use of their strimmer, and "Bessie" the rotovator, so half of our sixth-of-an-acre was ready for "cleaning" - forking over the soil and picking out any bits of root lurking there.

It's a back-breaking job and very time consuming, but help was at hand from Lisa Reeves at the BBC Radio Leicester CSV Action Line.

To celebrate the 40th Anniversary of CSV Volunteers, She contacted "Next Steps" who came along and put in hours of digging with us one Monday afternoon.

A huge vote of thanks goes to Lisa and Gill and Michael and Tony who were worth their weight in gold.

Monica Winfield

A huge vote of thanks goes to Lisa and Gill and Michael and Tony who were worth their weight in gold. Their efforts will be remembered when we unveil a commemorative CSV anniversary plaque which will be attached to the side of the shed - once it's been re-roofed and renovated!

During the last few weeks, the Allotment has also made several appearances on BBC Radio Leicester - including Ben Jackson's Breakfast Show, The Lunchtime Show with Dave Andrews and Rupal in the Afternoon.

What's next

Where's the veg? Growing on the allotment, we hope.

Now it's cleared and cleaned, the seed beds have been raked over - and finally plants have gone into the ground! We've planted Arran Pilot early potatoes; white and red onion sets, early carrots, shallots, spring onions and parsnips. Later in the year, we're hoping to add lettuce, cabbage, cauliflower, courgettes and brussels sprouts - essential for that Christmas Dinner!"