Earth stood hard as iron...so does our resolve.

We haven't been to the allotment since well before Christmas. Because I have now re-joined the ranks of the full time workers here at the Manor, and we leave for work whilst it is still dark and it is still dark when we come home, the only opportunities for allotmenteering have been the weekends. Which have been either snowy or tipping it down with rain or snowing again.

So it was with some trepidation that Andy and I set off for plot 87 this morning. The sun has been out all weekend, but it has been bloomin' cold. Minus 6 bloomin' cold today. Arriving at the allotment site, I had to huff very hard on the padlock of the gate just to get my key to turn so we could gain access.

We dreaded what we'd find. A plot full of weeds. A polytunnel collapsed and shredded from two hefty downfalls of snow. A storage bin swept to pieces across the neighbouring plots.

But no! Our plot, like all the others, was relatively neat and flat and iced with a heavy frost all features intact. Our polytunnel stood proud and strong, a testament to the skills of builder Andy when we put it up last spring. And despite the ground being rock hard, we managed to winkle out some leeks and Jerusalem artichokes to bring home. We would have dug up some parsnips, too, only the leaves have died back and we couldn't remember where they were.

After a couple of months where we both felt disillusioned with our self-sufficiency dream, what with the sale of our house falling through and having to wave good bye to the cottage with the massive garden, we stood side-by-side and made plans for our plot this year. A fruit cage, definitely. Move all the fruit to one side of the plot, to take up about a fifth of the space, build a permanent structure as protection from birds.

Not so many potatoes this year. Concentrate on early news, and lates to fatten up for baking. More varieties of beans - try ones that can be dried for use over winter. Put a proper support structure in the polytunnel for the tomatoes, which were such a success this year but overgrew.

Melons. Turn one of the compost bins over to use as a hot-bed, stoke up with chicken manure to get the heat going.

More squashes. Less onions. More carrots - some of the fancy colour heritage varieties. More greens like pak choi and chard. I'll try taking some cuttings from the hops and see if I can propogate some new bines. (Auntie Nece says it's a doddle - she did it many a time on her parents' hop garden).

We may never be lucky enough to own our own acre of land, but I guess the important thing is that we make the most of the land we have got, albeit a small rented plot and a garden at home. And even more importantly, as we approach our fourth growing season, we have learned from the previous years. We have begun to know what works and what doesn't. What crops are efficient to grow and what remains cheap at farmers' markets and therefore a waste of precious growing space.

And maybe this year will be a bee year for us. This April we will have been chicken keepers for 2 whole years. Time for more live-stock, and bees we can accommodate.

And now it's time to make marmalade again. Two large bags of seville oranges await my attention. Our rhubarb is poking its way through the ground, bravely facing the rest of the winter where even the hardiest of weeds are still hiding.

And onwards we go. Doing our bit the best we can.