My first day in Plot 5B. Of course I don’t have a shed yet – there’s a whole lot of ground to clear in Shed Corner before that gets addressed – so in the meantime there’s going to be some slightly tiresome back and forth with my gardening kit from home. I’ve already refined the system in just one day though and I’m fortunate that Mum can run me down to the allotment in the car and help with all the lugging about. Come brighter weather, when the shed’s up and my strength is beginning to build back up, it’s my intention to be walking down there. At the moment, walking down the long path, pulling my cart, is tiring enough.

I did a couple of hours in the morning and an hour and a half after lunch. I was amazed to find that going back for the second stint, my muscles didn’t just immediately scream out from the morning’s exertions; they were ok for another go. I expect I’m in for a world of stiffness and pain in the week though.

The work itself was immensely satisfying. I cleared a lot from under the plum tree, as well as along the front fence. I also went outside the fence and cut the grass and weeds back to let them know who was now in charge and that they couldn’t just come through the fence when they felt like it.

I cleared a whole bed of brussel sprout plants and cleared some of the red cabbages too. It was rather fun to be able to swing between jobs, which helped keep me moving in different ways too. I went over to pick up my fork from beside the cabbages, so as to dig something else up across the plot, but decided as I was there, I should take that opportunity to dig up two cabbages. It’s like not going upstairs empty-handed. Or is that only a thing in our house?

I made a big pile of cabbages and brussels (all past their best and full of various bugs), nettles, grass, brambles and weeds, much of which is now in our brown bin at home. It’s quite astonishing how bulky a brussels plant can be. I wish had a goat. You’re not allowed to keep livestock on the allotments, which is such a shame. Think how easy it would be to clear a plot. You send in the goats, they clear everything and then you send in the pigs to turn it all over. Meanwhile, you’re at home in the warm trying to decide what to watch next on Netflix.