CHOP IT ALL DOWN / JANUARY 2023 / EMMA'S ALLOTMENT DIARIES

Welcome to what can only be described as a very cold morning on the allotment plot. It's about minus two here where I'm in London in South London and my plot has completely frozen over as predicted. So it's not the best time to get here to do any actual gardening um but I went I wanted to go on a morning walk this morning and my feet ended up bringing me here so I think it's just nice to walk here sometimes even if I can't actually do anything productive so it looks really really beautiful though so stunning to see it like this and I love seeing it like this because then you get to see the real contrast in the spring and summer when everything kind of starts growing and you remember how it used to be in the winter so but of course if you're not wanting to get out yourself because it's too cold where you are come and watch my vlogs because here I am on the plot doing it for you. Look at this frozen stick, frozen stick, it's quite beautiful isn't it? It's like I've done it on purpose in glass or something and preserved it but we don't really want all that ice so my friend we'll leave it maybe the little bugs can practice some ice skating or something I don't know who knows what birds get up to when we're not watching um all right that's the pond broken up just want to say a massive thank you if you have gone out and purchased my allotment planner um so overwhelmed with the amount of you that have actually gone have left me really nice comments as well and just sent me pictures of it arriving and you know think it's really nice and stuff it just means so much it's the first time I've ever sort of sold anything in my life ever that I've like created um so it feels really scary at the same time it's really exciting to see like the the orders go up and stuff so I really hope you like it if you do order one I hope it brings you a lot of joy I hope you find it really useful um and just thank you thank you thank you I think I got to number four this morning when I checked on Amazon for fruit and veg books um for the best sellers so to get to number four is absolutely insane I don't think that would ever happen in my life and it's not even my book it's my planner um so definitely going to be thinking about self-publishing this book if I can't find a publisher this year because I think now I know how it all works and stuff I feel a lot more confident doing it so really happy so just thank you thank you thank you I'm at the back now and I'm looking at my compost tape so compost tape is looking very very frozen I don't know if it freezing over is actually maybe a good thing um because of the moisture and stuff but somebody did say I should cover it um and that's just to keep it warm and also stop it getting too wet because if it gets too wet then it doesn't turn to compost so I think what we'll do is I think I'm going to use I always like to use what I've already got right so I've got this this on it now and I put a big slab of wood like it's part of a tree I think I don't know what that is and be I put that on it and that's just to keep it insulated and stop it getting from too wet in there and to keep it covered people keep saying to me you need to cover it keep it covered so now it's officially covered um so that's sorted um I was going to try and do a bit of a oh gosh what's happening I was going to try and do a bit of a dodgy job today but um I don't know if I've got the the strength the mental strength to do it but no one's here and I sort of think it's the best time to do these things that I don't know how to do so yeah I think I'm going to do it and the thing I was going to do is try and thin out the tree but I'm looking at it now and it looks a bit scary doing that I don't know if it's one of these moments where I'm like I shouldn't I just shouldn't it's just that this tree because it's got multiple stems it just it's it makes sense just to take a few stems out so that I can um get a bit more light to my plot in the summertime but looking at it now the stems look really thick I thought they were thinner than that what I can do though is tackle this thing because this thing here is really annoying and gives a lot of shade over my pond which I don't really want so I might tackle this one right whenever you see me coming out the shed with one of these it's time to brace yourselves um just wearing my cool job winter gloves so I've left a link below these are the best best gardening gloves that I've ever found um I do get sponsored to um wear them if you know what I mean like I've given them for free basically but they are really good they're waterproof they're also fleece lined inside so sort of like a winter glove as well as a gardening glove and they're really thick they're just the best ones that I've ever ever found in my life they're amazing so definitely recommend them if you're looking for gardening gloves particularly in this weather um and hopefully they'll protect my hands from imminent danger coming my way right let's do this I thought it'd be glad I didn't see what's cutting down then so as I'm just putting those things there to make my little fence I've got a makeshift fence just behind there there is something that looks really interesting and it looks like it's buried and all that stuff and I don't think anybody else wants it oh look at that smoke coming from there does that mean it's compost or is that evaporation actually cool doesn't it that is pretty magical looking isn't it yeah it's pretty magical I'm not sure what's going on there but it's so cool right this plot next to me is abandoned now it's an abandoned plot I know that because the people who um have that plot haven't been there for ages and they sold all their stuff off all their stuff's gone all their raised beds and everything so I was obviously too late um or they just didn't like me they just didn't offer any to me but there is something there and I want to go and have a little look at what it is I really don't think they're using it I really don't I really want it I don't know what it is if I really want it I think it's just going to sit there and do nothing right can we just all collectively agree that it's not stealing if it's been abandoned under a pile of brambles and it's rotting to within an inch of its life no one is going to claim this no one's going to come back and pick this up right so it's fair game right it's just going to be wasted there and it is but I really like it I really like it I don't know what it is but I really like it and look what it's got the top it's got this thing as someone was saying about my compost I had to sieve it or something this is really useful this is like amazing I know it's all rotted and everything but who cares right it's free I found that I like it I like it a lot so initial ideas are that it's like a vegetable washing station and you put your vegetables in there and then you just pour some water over it to wash them that could be what it is because it's got this grill on it also could be like a sieve for compost and you put compost in then you put a big like bag or something at the bottom and you catch all the compost that goes through it whatever it is I like it I just like it I like the look of it like the feel of it I like the fact that I found it but yeah if you're an old time watcher of my channel you might remember that next door they had loads of raised beds and they never grew in them and then now they've just all gone so I think either everyone's helped themselves to them or they've come and said anyone can take them I don't know but I missed them so I missed the memo but oh well I mean that plot's just abandoned now I could take that plot and grow stuff on it couldn't I like I could just ask for that plot I feel like Emma the dreamer wants to be like yeah take it come on have a double plot and then Emma the realist is sort of like no come on this one takes enough of my time let's go have a little look at it see the size of it pretty sure it's the same size as my plot so it would just be double the work but so you can see it's a hell of a lot of work and it's it's got all this ground sheet down as well which I don't really like um but at least you could pull that up and maybe there wouldn't be so many weeds it's a nice little size plot doesn't get much sun there's my plot right next to it so I would just expand out have a big plot let's go have a little look on the plot come on no one's here let's do it they've got nice compost bins not used but really nice I wonder if there's some free stuff here I can have actually if anyone comes back and claims like that little old abandoned wheelbarrow um let's have a look ground sheet ground sheet ground sheet I don't know if these are fabric raised beds or something let's just try to put in it's fallen tree there someone's obviously had a go at the tree uh yeah then we've got next door they've got a nice little garden next door you see what I mean this is what I mean by this is what I mean by when you get an allotment plot you don't just have to grow food and fruit and veg on it if you don't want to so my neighbor over here has actually created a little garden for herself so she's got the nice trimmed lawn and she's got like a lavender hedge which is so sweet and a couple of veg like patches at the back of it but basically this is her garden because I think her and her kids don't have a garden so now they do they can put a little paddling pool there or whatever so yeah the the rules are pretty like lax and what you can actually do at these places so this plot is actually massive look at how big it is and then we come right to the back here it just needs so much I don't even think it needs that much work actually I really don't I really think you could clear this in like a day oh I don't know now these are beautiful aren't they look at those tell you what rebel me wants to take it on so bad it's such a big amount of space it's beautiful oh my goodness but I think it just gets so much shade especially at the front I think it's so much wasted space because I think the front of it it's just so shady and then we've got this great big tree here behind me which is in someone's garden so you can't take that down and you've got another tree over there with a big magpie nest in there and then obviously my trees and my plot which I really want to get rid of but I just don't feel confident enough to do it just yet oh but yeah I really want to take that on but come on be sensible Emma be sensible I think I've got enough on my plate at the moment with this one but maybe in the future if nobody takes it maybe I'll consider it in the future but for now I think this space alone like takes up a lot of my time and also I didn't even have very much growing last year so I really think I need to just focus on this plot it actually makes me really appreciate how how much work has gone into my allotment plot because when you see one like that you realize it's not as bad as you think is it it's just not as bad right so we've cut that back a little bit and we've found ourselves a new toy to play with which is just good fun um right really looking forward to spring and summer now I can't stop thinking about it every time I'm here I'm just walking around just imagining the plot like with tulips and with crops to pick and just that feeling of like when you come in the morning and it's really warm and sunny I just can't wait for it now and I'm so excited and inspired to start sowing and growing stuff I really feel like this is going to be my year and I think the reason for that is because I actually took a break over the winter so you might have noticed over December there were very little videos on the channel I really stepped back from my garden for my allotment plot I completely focused on my house and like Christmas and all that stuff um and I just completely left the allotment plot to the back of my mind and it's like recharged me it's like giving me this fresh energy it is absolutely stunning here today but it's blooming freezing I'm so glad I've got my winter gloves on these are actually amazing at keeping your hands warm I'm going to go home now and have a really hot cup of tea I hope you enjoyed my vlog today if you're not getting out because it is absolutely freezing I completely understand if you don't want to get out um don't worry I'll be doing it for you so just tune in here every Monday Wednesday and Friday I'll be out as much as I can at my allotment plot getting jobs done doing things trying to inspire you put a smile on your face so subscribe to my channel if you aren't already and I will see you again on Monday have a lovely weekend everyone see you Monday bye