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This afternoon's #allotment job was to work on the long raised beds on the polytunnel plot. First trenching along the edges then lining with plastic sheet* before levelling off. Next we will top these with as much compost as we can scrape out of the oldest bay (mainly year+ old horse manure) and then they're ready for planting.
These beds were part of the original design for the plot but for four seasons have just been long mounds as we didn't have timber for sides. The timber is spare from a deadwork building project, we put it in place at the end of last season. I've been wedged on doing fancy metal stability stakes for it for ages but finally just went with screwing it together as we need beds really soon.
Now their usable area will increase from about 50cm to over a meter, should double the productivity! 
* plastic sheet/membrane also left over from deadwork, I wouldn't buy it for the purpose but I'll use it if it's effectively free and surplus.
Meanwhile Kat completed the side quest of removing the old buddleia from next to the greenhouse. We were surprised to discover it was actually a labelled bought specimen! The label was buried amongt the root level. I feel a bit mean about yeeting it now... but its just not the right spot for it. Not sure it'd survive being put in somewhere else.
I haven't done front-view plot photos for a while... it's funny actually, I've realised that since I now record videos to document our allotment progress I'm taking fewer photos. I should try and remember to take photos still as they're a better (and more searchable) record.
I took some today and also this "panorama" shot... which makes it look like I'm standing at a corner lol. Really that road left and right is one straight line and the left of the photo is the front of the polytunnel plot and the right is the front of the new plot.
@yvan Taking still photos of my garden process and filing them by date is how I keep track of when I do things and where things have been planted. I refer back to the file photos frequently to help me remember things. I enjoy seeing your allotment! 
@richrollgardener @yvan I use photos to refer back to also. Memory can play tricks otherwise.
Your two plots are looking great. I like to see the progress you are making. It’s good to see signs of your neighbours using their plots too.
@Broadfork @richrollgardener ah, was meaning to reply to this! Yeah, the photo record is an essential for me, I refer to it all the time. But I don't put any effort into sorting it, its all just in a big data heap.... but the time and GPS metadata combined with a bit of ML makes it pretty easy to search back through all those photos (from the allotment and also everything else I do!)
I sometimes feel I should be more organised about it. But this is me I'm talking about
It's fantastic to have all the activity around our plots. Those plots have been pretty derelict for years. The same person was holding on to all 4 including our new plot but they were never there. The council finally gave them an ultimatum and they gave them up.
@yvan It is infuriating when people have plots but don’t make use of them.
I love to see a neglected plot being brought back to life again. It’s great to see enthusiastic new starters getting on with things. It lifts the whole site when that happens.
@richrollgardener
@Broadfork @yvan @richrollgardener The downside there can be overly eager beginners who lose heart or find that it doesn't quite match up to their Gardeners World viewing aspirations or is plain too much work to sustain. Some plots then become continual churn.
@rooftopjaxx The downsides are much more likely to happen if people start a plot with little effort, enthusiasm or time.
Give me an enthusiastic starter with energy every time and we can all be helped along the way with useful advice. @yvan @richrollgardener