The plots are showing the effects of the heavy rain this weekend. The spade-deep holes we dug in February are full up again (in fact they haven’t completely dried up at all since then) and to get to the willows, you need to be wearing wellies.

Looking at the area from a distance, with some of the vegetation now felled or dying off, it’s clear to see how the land has suggested how we might work with it. Where we cut the willowherb, and also to the other side of the willows, are hollows that are becoming ponds.

Some of the mounds are the remainder of the earthworks by former allotmenteers, and others are long buried pallets or other allotment detritus. Some of these will be exposed when we start the main clearing work on site in the next couple of weeks, but others will inevitably stay secretly buried under the vegetation – no doubt making good homes for creatures unknown.