Joe Swift's allotment for Gardeners World, 10 rod, pole or perch.

Sunday 13th April. I took one of Joe's ideas, namely bark chippings for paths between the beds, though with one slight change. I include laying a permeable membrane before spreading the chippings. So far I've done just two paths.

With regard to the strange bed shapes, you can always 'square up' the growing area and use the new triangles for all those bits of planting eg seeds for beetroot and other outdoor sowing; garlic cloves as you need just a small area; somewhere for the companion planting - Nasturtiums, African Marigolds, Rosemary, Bay Tree, Chaenomeles Japonica, even a clump of Jerusalem Artichokes, Strawberries, Globe Artichokes. That would leave the rectangles for the main crops. Yes, that would be very workable and will indeed look pretty.

Saturday 12th April. I had to pinch myself last night when I watched the programme:

- The Council cleared the land with a scraper ( and will remove the debris rather than compost it)
- The Council delivered a twelve ton load of beautiful compost, steaming away
- The Council delivered a huge load of wood chippings for paths
- Joe just happens to have (own??) a huge van so that he can collect his £25 second hand shed
- Joe just happens to find a builders' merchant clearing out superb boards, 8" x 1.5" x 15ft and they just happen to be free and to fit in his van, what a wonderful coincidence
- and of course the brand new pallets could be piled high in the same van.

My question is - Will this mislead potential lotties or was this your experience?
It certainly wasn't mine.

As for having huge diamond (and triangle) shaped raised beds well we'll just have to wait to see if he can find any unique benefit, though they do look pretty.