[fatbelly]

What are your top three tips that you can pass on to the rest of us.
What have you done over the years that has worked time after time.

Mine are..........

Number 1, Water your maincrop spuds as heavily and as frequently as you can particularly in a dry spell. I do this and my spuds grow into really good size tubers.

Number 2, Plant your Onion sets where you have put compost from your compost bin / pile. This year I did a test and planted 150 sets where there was loads of compost and 50 sets in  normal soil, the difference was astounding.

Number 3, plant some Comfrey on a spare piece of your plot. it is a great activator for your compost, it makes a great liquid fertiliser and you can lay the leaves in the bottom of your spud trench when planting.

[Spana]

I've only got 1. and thats to run your hoe through your crops as often as you can, even if theres not a weed to be seen

[mumofstig]

1) Read the seed packet, it's full of info, and save it for a while for reference in case you need to check on something.

2)Don't panic if you sow/plant things a bit later than you should, things generally catch up. Sow/plant things too early and a late frosts will kill them anyway, so often it's better to be a bit late.

3) When things go wrong............just blame the weather.......it's not worth stressing about the failures.It's usually ok the next year anyway

[bigben]

1 hoe hoe hoe - or the weeds win

2 balance boring jobs with easier ones - this is meant to be enjoyable

3 spend the last 5 min on the plot planning what you need to do next time

[pigeonpie]

Grow what you like to eat, it helps make it feel worth while if you enjoy eating the fruits of your labour.

Have a good compost heap (or preferably 3 so you can be loading one, resting one and using one)

Get friendly with other growers to swap plants or seeds.

[stentman]

1)  Patience. Patience when sowing, patience when harvesting natures clock ticks at a different beat and will not be rushed.
2) The last frost will be exactly one week later than you think.
3) There are no set weather conditions, time, temperature or season for weeds to germinate.

[fatcat1955]

1 Enjoy
2 Enjoy
3 Enjoy

[waddecar]

Nice thread...

1. The secret is in the soil - or more specifically the soil structure - read all you can about soil structure and improve yours.

2. After sowing carrots, water and then cover with black polythene for 7 days, from day 8 remove polythene and cover with enviromesh or similar. They should show from around day 12

3. key 'MKHenry' in to the search engine for this site - loads of good tips.

not heard from you recently MK hope you are well

[zazen999]

1 - succession sow
2 - mulch
3 - save seeds and swap!

[Hey Jude]

1. Only grow what you like eating.

2. Get into the swing of successional sowing.

3. Keep things in perspective, if something fails it's not the end of the world!

[MoreWhisky]

1 look after your soil

2 dont crowd things

3 have fun

[SUTTY1]

1)  never run out off tea/coffe/ cup-a-soup at the allotment in winter

2)  same with beer and wine in the summer

3)  host the odd bbq, great way to get a help with the weeding

 

[Paul Plots]

1) hoe

2) relax

3) be patient 

[Babstreefern]

1.  Put everything edible in the compost, then make a cuppa tea;

2.  Spend at least an hour each day howing, then make a cuppa tea;

3.  Always keep the kettle on the boil for the odd cuppa tea;

4. Have the BBQ in winter on a gorgeous sunny frosty day like today , it will keep you warm

[Aidy]

Always be prepared to learn and listen.

Good preperation.

Have good storage available for your hard earned vege's so you can enjoy them thoughout the sparse months.