Plot disaster

You might have noticed that there haven't been any updates recently. This is for 2 reasons; firstly this is my busiest time of the year and my paying job has to take priority and secondly because the plot was completely wiped out in the recent floods.

When the water started to rise in Oxford one of the first places to be submerged was our site in the southwest of the city. At one stage the plot was under a couple of feet of contaminated brown water. A few days ago I made my first trip down since the waters had receded to see what was left and if anything could be saved.

Anything which had ripened but not been picked before the water came has had to be cut down and either dug in or composted. It is certainly not safe to consume any of it as we have no way of know what was in the water. The shed floated away, but at least stayed in one piece this time. The asparagus looks like it may have survived and the 'forget me nots' which were growing around it have been killed off along with most of the remaining weeds on the plot.

So there is one good thing which has come of this - I have an almost clear plot to start work on for next year. The whole site has been covered in weed suppressing fabric and cardboard boxes. The boxes can be dug in later in the autumn along with some well rotted manure. I think this may be a good time to build some raised beds to try to stop this happening again. At the moment the plot is almost 12 inches below the site access tracks and it needs building up.