[gavinjconway]

Hi gavinjconway,

I see you've been lucky enough to get an IBC, it can sometimes be difficult to keep the water sweet in those tanks due to the sun/light and their transparency.

There are a few guys on our site that have them and all of them have them covered with a tarp to keep the light out.

They do this to stop algae from forming in the rain water and they all have crystal clear water from them, i have seen others where there has been no cover and the water turns green and smelly  

Hi stompy - thanks for the advice - good idea.. I'll get a cover sorted..

Just a thought  

[gavinjconway]

Another busy day today. Fitted the greenhouse in its place. Then deeply dug and turned the soil in the GH (no glass fitted yet), then added manure mixed with shavings and fertilizer and dug it all in.  Then started to shift the extra soil adjacent to the GH outside on the pathway that will be flagged once cleared.. My back aches today!! My plan is to grow directly in the ground so all the big dig and preparation.. Worms please do your thing.... 

[DigIt]

Another busy day today. Fitted the greenhouse in its place. Then deeply dug and turned the soil in the GH (no glass fitted yet), then added manure mixed with shavings and fertilizer and dug it all in.  Then started to shift the extra soil adjacent to the GH outside on the pathway that will be flagged once cleared.. My back aches today!! My plan is to grow directly in the ground so all the big dig and preparation.. Worms please do your thing.... 

Definitely taking shape now Gavin.

[gavinjconway]

It is getting to look good now.. still loads to do before Spring digging..

[snowdrops]

Popped down to the plot with some shreddings that I had done at home.Had to set up a dalek bin as the others are sort of full. Then I measured & marked out the beds & paths on plot no.2 before it began to rain whilst I was having a little dig to see how bad the couch grass is.

[like diggingk]

push the shed back so it sit next to next doors he said it would be a good idea   :happy:
put down some more slabs well hubby did that 
dug up some more bind weed 
brushed and cleaned the inside of the shed 
planted a climbing rose could Paul that's my hubby's name 
had a cupper     

[gavinjconway]

Found a customer that is a caretaker for a few blocks of flats and has some spare wheelie bins ... got to collect and use to dump new horse manure mixed with shavings and water added to rot down.. then pour on as liguid manure and dig it in..

[vegypete]

hi ya i dug a trench for me runner beans today 4mtrs x1mtrx18ich deep, first in was some old clothes the OH chucked out, then a layer of leafs then some well rotted compost i dug it at the lower end of the plot so it should catch some rain water .........pete

[gavinjconway]

Pete - I have never heard of old clothes being used in trenches - where did you get that from?

[vegypete]

hi ya me grand father  he would put mattreses and allsorts in his bean trench to hold the moisture , he told me runner beans are thirsty * .........pete

[plot53b]

Spent a few hours yesterday clearing the new plot - was very pleased with the look of the soil and one of the 'old boys' came over and told me that the previous occupier had covered it in muck about 18 months ago and not grown on it since.

[richy]

covered 1/4 of the plot with well rotted manuar and 1/4 with compost yesterday and today covered the other half with 3 ton of free good quality top soil, lets see if that helps the clayish soil.

[plot53b]

Just got back from another two hour digging session - managed to clear a large section of nettles - looks good, even if my hands are a bit rashy! 

[Son of Steptoe]

Gav,

Your plots coming on a treat there you must be up for 'plot of the year' this year. Like the website too with upto date photos showing the progress you have made since late last year - well done! Have you grown much before or is this your first year?

[gavinjconway]

Gav,

Your plots coming on a treat there you must be up for 'plot of the year' this year. Like the website too with upto date photos showing the progress you have made since late last year - well done! Have you grown much before or is this your first year?

Hi S of S... thanks fore the comments. It is my first year as a lottie owner.. I had my rooftop garden previously and 2 small garden shares last year..  I was previously in Zimbabwe where I had a huge veg patch but had gardeners and a tractor to do the hard work!!

I'm really enjoying the lottie and once the big works have been done I'll get on to the digging soon as it is dry and not frozen end Feb hopefully. Still got to make a lean to shed roof as a storage spot than the big work is done!!