'I was going to remove the turf on the first Sq. metre today. and then as I soon thought where am I going to put it? (is there anything I can do with removed turf? or should I just forget it?).' As pnbrown says do not discard the turf. Either compost it or put it at the bottom of the double depth trench. Look again at instructions for double digging. Find pictures of couch grass. If your turf is couch grass you need to shake off the soil and remove the roots. Don't dig them in or compost them because they will regrow. You can put them in bin bags and let them rot completely then put on the compost heap. Or burn them. Or bin them. If the turf is lawn grass just dig it under. Regarding 'first frost/last frost/frost dates', etc. All that really applies more to US gardeners who are working in much more clearly delineated temperatures than we are. I gardened for several decades before starting on these forums and never heard any of those terms until I came on here. You need to look up each plant you want to grow and follow advice for it. Don't assume there is a single rule. We could have one frost in September and then no more until Christmas so there's a lot of leeway. You can plant trees and shrubs all through the winter whenever the ground isn't actually rock hard. Broad beans and peas for overwintering need to be in when there is still enough warmth for them to germinate or they'll rot. ) October/ November is fine. Garlic can go in at a similar time. If your sister has access to manure, lucky you. Pile it up for 6 months before you use it or get it from the stables' oldest pile. Do use other allotment holders for advice. They'll be very pleased to see a youngster taking an interest, I'm sure. But you are still fixated on planting. Soil preparation is your top priority at the moment. If you can get say a third of the plot done this winter you can really get growing next spring. Meanwhile bash on with the rest of the plot prep.

I can't decide where to put her just yet... So I placed her by U. Albomarginata for now. She'll get the most direct morning and early afternoon sun there right now. But once Albomarginata unfurls, she'll overwhelm her, so I will have to move her before then. I'll decide on a good place later. Probably in front by Whee and Minuteman and Orange Marmalade, I am thinking.

Eh, it's getting to be way too much trouble to even bother making pizza, now that I've thought about it this much. I think Elery should just make pizza when he's at his place and I'll go to Pizza King for the grandkids. Voted "Best Pizza in Big Rapids" for about 11 or 12 years in a row now, and owned by a neighbor next door to the farm. Mike Mohnke, he also owns/runs the local funeral home. I'm not asking him what makes his pizza so popular, LOL. Annie

I was wondering why you didn't use your Ooni until I realized you were in LA not CC. We always parbake our crusts when using the Ooni because it makes them easier to launch in our narrow 12" Ooni. Those pizzas need some meat ;-) Cases are trending up pretty quickly in much of the country. The next county over from us has one of the highest number of cases per 100K in the country at 232. My county is at 30 per. We are supposed to start going back to the office 2 days a week in June. That may get postponed if cases keep trending up. I hope you and Kevin manage to not catch it!