[Paul Plots]

Looked at the plots thinking............'Where did this growing season go?'

Tell me about it! Me too.

I spent most of my time waiting for the weather to come right.... right for anything. Inbetween whiles the weeds got on with it.

One fine (do we get them) day I'm going to take all the things I need for a decent brew and go and sit in my allotment shed. Not done that for more than a few minutes in the last four years. 

[grendel]

me as well - the tomato's didnt even make it out of the garden this year. (in a way I am glad as most people on both sites got blight this year, and at least I have had a few tomatos
Grendel

[yorkiegal]

Got down to the plot for the first time in nearly two weeks as i have a nasty inner ear infection which is messing with my balance. Found lots of dead peas and beans so pulled them all out. Covered half the plot with black tarp because it's got beyond me a bit. Had another dizzy spell. Cut my finger on my secateurs. Fell over. Limped home.

[Paul Plots]

Got down to the plot for the first time in nearly two weeks as i have a nasty inner ear infection which is messing with my balance. Found lots of dead peas and beans so pulled them all out. Covered half the plot with black tarp because it's got beyond me a bit. Had another dizzy spell. Cut my finger on my secateurs. Fell over. Limped home.

Doesn't sound as if you're having a very good time of it. Inner ear infections can be very painful as well as cause you to feel dizzy (and sick too in my case in the past).

Hope it clears up quickly.

[allotmentann]

Got down to the plot for the first time in nearly two weeks as i have a nasty inner ear infection which is messing with my balance. Found lots of dead peas and beans so pulled them all out. Covered half the plot with black tarp because it's got beyond me a bit. Had another dizzy spell. Cut my finger on my secateurs. Fell over. Limped home.

Oh Dear! Yorkiegal, what a rough day. I tend to find that if one things go wrong a dozen do, and it is often best to cut your losses and do something else for a while. Sorry you feel it is all getting on top of you, you will probably feel much better about it when you are really well again. Don't worry about it, there is little, that there is a major rush to do, at this time of the year anyway. Wait for a glorious autmn day when you are feeling better and just go and potter for an hour and see how you feel then. In the meantime get yourself well

[allotment-bill]

what is this country coming to been up the allotment after work to find that some low life has been and broken into my shed and others on site
trashed it all inside and messed the plots up
 all the hard work we put into it as well just makes my blood boil

[allotmentann]

Allotment Bill I am sorry to hear that. It seems that more and more people are suffering theft and vandalism. It is very sad indeed.

[carlrmj]

 yorkiegal my wife got an ear infection called labrynthitis( that's what the doctor called it )she has dizzy spells can't walk properly and she feels as though everything around her is spinning.If I didn;t know what was wrong I'd say she had been drinking ,The doctor prescribed her antihistamines.I digress .

Weeded where the potato's had been, tripped over a giant BNS hiding in the undergrowth.
 Tied in more fruit canes from loganberry,tayberry,boysenberry and bedford giant,growth is amazing.

 

[wneva]

Here I am again, towards the end of summer and wondering what to do now.  It’s my 4th year of allotmenting, and it’s been a constant battle against the weeds. 

I’ve divided my half plot up into about 16 smallish beds.    Several are doing well, with crops of leeks, kale, spinach, cabbages, French beans, runner beans, parsnips and lettuces all growing pretty well.   Crops that didn’t come good this year have been potatoes, beetroot, a few tomatoes, some broad beans (others grew OK), and raspberries. 

There are also about 6 or 8 beds where I have massive weed growth – couch grass, bindweed or chickweed.  I’ve glyphosated some of this area, and as a result have some areas of brown dead stuff as well as quite a lot of flourishing green vigorous weed growth.

So what to do now?  My efforts have been to focus on the successful growing crops –weeding to keep them free, and harvesting.  I’m still working three days a week, so have not a huge amount of time to spend.  Should I aim to dig over the glyphosated areas, and then cover with plastic to keep them free till next spring?   Should I remove the dead weeds, or dig them in?   Should I glyphosate (weather permitting) the rest of the weeds and wait for them to die back before more of the same?  And what can I plant now, as beds come free – the beans will be over soon, I expect.

Sorry to sound so weedy myself, but I’m feeling a bit weary of this unequal struggle!

PS - Yorkiegal!  I too had vertigo about 12 years ago- doc called it benign postural vertigo - everything spinning round.  It was awful, but mercifully it self-righted after a few days, and I haven't had a recurrence.  But while it was happening I was really immobilised!

[Paul Plots]

Here I am again, towards the end of summer and wondering what to do now.  It’s my 4th year of allotmenting, and it’s been a constant battle against the weeds. 

There are also about 6 or 8 beds where I have massive weed growth – couch grass, bindweed or chickweed.  I’ve glyphosated some of this area, and as a result have some areas of brown dead stuff as well as quite a lot of flourishing green vigorous weed growth.

So what to do now? 

To keep on top of those bl**dy weeds little-and-often works quite well (with not too much of the little  ) Only wish I could manage the "often" as it would help me a lot.

[angelavdavis]

We hadn't been able to make it to the plot much over the last two weeks what with our children starting new school and nursery, so I went up tonight convinced I would be facing a greenhouse full of dead plants, but actually, they had survived well so the watering membrane had done its job.

Sadly, we discovered that some oiks had broken into the shed - not much taken that we could see thankfully but a pain nonetheless!  Therefore a quick fix up job was required.

Otherwise, I harvested more tomatoes including some from a potted tomato which seemed to escape the blight.  I also harvested chillis, beans, stacks more courgettes, beetroots and raspberries.

It is time to start clearing now, the french and runner beans, courgettes and some of the squash plants are ceasing production, so that will be job next week.

[Plot 6B]

Dug up six rows of Potatoes which are now washed and in the shed drying out.
Started the winter digging in preperation for the Horse Manure.

[gavinjconway]

Cut a frosted cabbage and picked blackberries for our show... Watered the outside tomatoes before the sun got to the frost - we used to do it in Zimbabwe on irrigation farms if there was a frost and it stopped most of the frost damage..    They look fine now.. all the marrow / squash family plants on the whole site are dead today..

then I went and won our show!!     

[snowdrops]

Weeded the raspberries,planted some spring cabbage plants I was given,dug up some more rocket spuds,weed killed as much of the plot as I could in yet another attempt to get the Mare's tail under control. Had a few cups of tea with plot neighbour H & J,shared my lunch with H,planted some pak choi H gave me.

[Yana]

Planted kale and cabbage.
Having made new raised beds that are a different size to those already in place (why did I do that?), needed to use sand to relay the paving slabs as the ground was uneven. 10 bags of sand later, looks much better and paving slabs are nice and flat.
Took down one gazebo that was covered in netting as the crops had all but finished.
Took down Climbing French bean frame. Cleaned canes and washed netting to,put away until next year
Planted it Swiss chard
Painted two tall raised beds (built last year from old garden shed), and lined with plastic (bottom left open) ready to fill with weeds and shredded paper to rot down over the winter. Will then top up in spring next year and use to grow squash and pumpkins.
Went home feeling tired but happy so much got done.