Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Growing => Grow Your Own => Topic started by: Peterjohn on January 17, 2008, 12:28
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Have just come home from my plot, well with all this rain it is water logged, picked a bag full of sprouts 1 cabbage and 3 swedes, only went down there with my walking boots should have been my wellingtons, as it was underwater about an 1 or so deep, lets hope the rain clears up, so things start to dry out, for the start of the season.
Pete
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Sounds nasty Peter :(
We have a very well draining soil on our lottie, but it's like cold porridge just now :evil:
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Mines not under water but am willing to bet if i squeezed it it would pour water!! Its very squelchy, far to wet to even put fence posts in. Even tried painting some wood today in the garage and had to bring it indoors as it just wasn't drying. Keep thinking of all those vast expanses of undug earth that needs digging before it can be planted out! guess a lot of stuff will go in as seedlings from pots this year to give me a bit more time.
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I sympathise with you PJ. My new plot (heavy clay soil) is near the bottom of the hill so I knew it was likely to get waterlogged, hence I went for raised beds (gravity can only encourage drainage) I managed to get most of the digging done but it came to an abrupt halt last weekend when all I was doing was creating a mud bath. Won't be doing much digging this next weekend either, but I've still loads of other things to do. Moving some of the compost and manure to the recently turned over bit is all good fun! :D
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Parts of my plot are under a couple of inches of water, and if I hadn't piled so much straw and bark chippings in the chicken run that probably would be flooded too :( . The fields to the back of us have huge pools of water on them. Bloomin' weather :roll: .
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Drainage is fine on our plot though the soil is a bit :roll: heavy.
Still I could go there now and still dig a row or two, lucky us I think after reading some of the disaster stories on here :wink:
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when I got my first plot 3 1/2 years ago, the "old timers" laughed or were a bit disparaging about the fact that I'd turned all of the plot into raised beds - too much hard work, too much wasted space etc. I was down there at the weekend and I was the only person able to get anything done, due to the fact that everyone else needed snorkels and flippers on theirs. So if you are in an area likely to suffer from too much of the wet stuff, then raised beds might be the answer!
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Due to cold, waterlogged soil in Spring, I have changed wherever possible from seed sowing to seedling sowing using guttering and cell trays started off in cold frames.
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Have been thinking this afternoon, about the water log problem, only got the plot last May, so its new to me, thinking that the winter to early spring could be a problem with the water, have come up with this idea from reading from some of the threads, how many of you use a greenhouse to bring on seedlings rather than using coldframes etc: I can have the use of my neighbours greenhouse as it has been idle for the last couple of years, have been round this afternoon to ask.what veg crop is a no no to bring on, I am thinking of bringing on Leaks, peas, cabbage, sprouts,broad beans and the rest of the crops will be sown on the plot.
Pete
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My soil is clay, so I know it will do more harm than good to do anything on the plot at the moment, but I have still got leeks to pull and perpetual spinach.
I hope to venture down on Sunday and will tippy-toe along the paths to do a bit of harvesting.
Trouble is, I have to walk across a field to get to our site, and it turns into a mudslide when we have had a lot of rain, so that is an adventure in itself
:roll:
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Have been thinking this afternoon, about the water log problem, only got the plot last May, so its new to me, thinking that the winter to early spring could be a problem with the water, have come up with this idea from reading from some of the threads, how many of you use a greenhouse to bring on seedlings rather than using coldframes etc: I can have the use of my neighbours greenhouse as it has been idle for the last couple of years, have been round this afternoon to ask.what veg crop is a no no to bring on, I am thinking of bringing on Leaks, peas, cabbage, sprouts,broad beans and the rest of the crops will be sown on the plot.
Pete
Some root veg that most folk sow directly in the soil eg carrots, turnips, swede, parsnip etc, can be sown in peat pots, home made paper pots or loo rolls and soon after germination, plant the whole thing without disturbing the roots. There is a mixed opinion on this site about its effectiveness. I would say it worked for me as I did not need many of each, AND I'm still waiting for the carrots and parsnips I sowed directly on the plot last spring to germinate :lol:
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Painted Lady, when you sow into loo roll holders what do you put across the bottom to stop the soil faling out when you plant out?
Cawdor
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Usually the bottom of the pan they sit in. You should be using potting mix rather than soil which would definitely slide out. The rolls shouldn't be lifted during germination and early growth. Come time to plant out, slip a thin bit of cardboard or metal under the roll and move it that way.
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Thanks Trillium, yes i will be using compost, in my potting shed at home then 10min drive to the lottie so when ready for planting out need to stop them all falling over first and then when planting into holes i did not want them falling out of the bottom but i guess if tilted to the side and lifted and placed carefully it should not be a problem. Guess i will think about it more carefully before posting next time :oops:
Cawdor
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A chap on our site grows all his carrots and parsnips from seed in individual pots. His parsnips were pookey quality when I saw them!
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Painted Lady, when you sow into loo roll holders what do you put across the bottom to stop the soil faling out when you plant out?
Cawdor
Actually, it was strips of newspaper loosely folded and pushed down the loo roll to form a cup shape (only a couple of sheet thick - the idea is that the root will push through it and it doesn't act like a barrier). Once the compost has been moistened and settled it was fine - may be some gentle handling when lifting. As for keeping them upright, I save plastic trays (eg for mushrooms) which are about 2 inches deep and wedge in about 8 loo rolls quite nicely. :D
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good idea thanks