The “thing” has finished and Monty Don has Monty gone. What next? This post includes soppyness.

Summer has passed. Monty has gone. The allotment is done. What a stupid thing to say though! An allotment is never done.

What is done though is the “thing”, and I’m pretty happy with myself and what I’ve achieved.



The first time I met Mr D I presented my plans to him and he said, and I quote “these are the best plans I’ve seen for the series so far”. He may have just been being polite, but I like to think that he liked them because they were simple, realistic and achievable.

In fact he advised me to stick to just half of the plan but, because I like a challenge, I only went and did the whole bloody thing, like a legend!

The woodchip drama worked itself out in the end (after a tip off we, er, liberated some from another alllotment site) and the pubshed, now officially christened the Ross & Crown was a roaring success. First cider was poured around 10am. We even had a game of darts using chard as the ockie.



(The trip to the pub afterwards ended up being quite debauched. Not with the D-man obviously. He’s a pro and had another reveal thing to go to anyway.)

Because this has been for a telly thing I don’t want to spoil it too much (I’ve probably said too much already), however I’d like the opportunity to thank a few people.

Firstly there’s Sara Venn of Incredible Edible Bristol. She’s been my rock (not in a Paul Burrell way, that’s weird) and has always been there to offer advice, support and patience, even when I’m asking the most ridiculous of questions. And most importantly, allotment aside, she has been a window into a whole new world (for me anyway) of kindness and community and for which I will be eternally grateful!

Then there’s my best mate Simon. I’m not going to get too soppy here, because he reads this and yer’know, we’re bloke blokes right, but the support of him, his kids and family has been excellent. Especially since he’s been having a few tribulations himself. And a special shout out to his dad Rex for supplying shelves, bricks and even the name for my scarecrow. Hope your colleagues don’t take the piss too much!



There’s the TV people themselves. Especially Beatrice, Max and Bob. They’re motivation and encouragement inspired me to overachieve.

Also:

The guys from Wellesbourne allotments. Thanks for the inspiration guys!

Bristol Wood Recycling Project and B&Q for the cheap/free wood.

Lucy my allotment neighbour.

Foxy for the lift.

Bill.

Grandad for the gnome.

So what next? Not a lot really. It’s October tomorrow so it’s just a case of prepping stuff for the winter (winter is coming GoT fans). I’d like to grow “something” over the coming months but not sure what or how. Especially things that I can eat on Christmas Day. So any tips would be warmly received.

I’ll also be helping Sara out with a few things over the next month or so, including more Hairy Biker fun – this should keep my fingers green (please Google Incredible Edible Bristol. It’s, well, incredible).

All in all it’s been a pretty decent summer really. And I’m as surprised as anyone in discovering that I might actually be excited about this gardening malarkey. Who knew?

There was one night that stands out though, it involved just me, my plot, cider and sunset, this, I realised, was my happy place.

The positive effects are almost too many to list, so I’ll summarise: having an allotment and doing a bit of volunteering is good for mind, body and soul. It’s made me a better person basically.

This show will be going out next springtime so keep your eyes peeled. In the meantime I’ll keep on bothering you with my ramblings.

But I’ll leave you with this: a pub shed evolution collage. Four words that have never appeared in a sentence like that before!

Cheers!