I was interested in Joe's new allotment. It was good that he did not
know too much about veg growing before. Many people who take on
allotments have not grown veg before, so he learns as he goes as
others do.
I agree with others that getting a digger on to most allotments is
impossible and not necessarily desirable. Scraping off the top did
not get rid of the weeds, but have you noticed since, that his soil
looks beautiful. I'm sure that as well as the council-made compost,
they had a team of workers digging over and taking out the nasty weed
roots.
He said he paid £68 rent for the year which included the services of
the digger and a huge load of compost.
The annual rent on my allotment has just gone up, after 20 years, fom
£6 to £8. No digger, buy/make your own compost!

Did you hear Joe say on one of the Chelsea progs that he is a trained
archaeologist? Perhaps we should have a new programme; Time Team
meets Gardeneners' World!

Pam in Bristol