Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Growing => Grow Your Own => Topic started by: New shoot on January 01, 2023, 09:14
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A shared thread of our gardening exploits, so let us all know what you have been up to :)
Link to last year’s thread :
https://chat.allotment-garden.org/index.php?topic=135843.0
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So far on my first trip to the chickens this year I just walked round the site x 2 to get a bit of exercise, but it is rather sunny out there so I might be back with an update lol
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Well I’m back having spent a lovely 3 or 4 hours in the garden. Decided I’d wet & forget the patio as it’s so slippy & slimy. But first it needed clearing & sweeping which was a tad difficult as there was a breeze:unsure:
Also cut down the herb bed- note to self to redo it this year as the marjoram or oregano has taken over, just need to obtain some poor soil & I might dig it all out & start again. Also gave the patio troughs a prune, weed & tidy to save mucking the patio once I’d swept & sprayed. All sprayed & down the entry done too so a bonus.
Then I was still raring to go so I got out the leaf vacuum & did all round the greenhouse & the steps up to it, with the thought that if we get the promised weather the same as today tomorrow I’ll clear the paths around there & the shed & wet & forget that, we’ll see :D. Then I trundled the wheel barrow of pruning’s & a bag full of chopped leaves to the plot on my afternoon visit to the chicken girls.
What a cracking start to the New Year, might copy & paste this onto my gardening diary too & kick start that off again :)
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Got as far as opening the gates and that left me nearly ankle-deep in mud ::) so shut them again and came home. Be some while before it'll be worth trying again, I think *sigh*
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Got as far as opening the gates and that left me nearly ankle-deep in mud ::) so shut them again and came home. Be some while before it'll be worth trying again, I think *sigh*
I was thinking of going this weekend, but I fear the same fate *sigh*
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Oh that’s a shame for you both. We can get on ours but it is very wet so I’m staying off mine apart from pulling weeds for the chickens & a bit of tending in the tunnel.
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I spent some time building a secure fence around the remainder of my back yard plot, similar to the fence I built around raised beds 1, 2, and 3 last year. It should be complete by March if the weather cooperates.
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Put some wood ash over the veg patch, and looked in my compost dalek! Its a start.
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Dug another dozen or so bricks out of my new plot this afternoon & discovered there's no more than 3-4" of soil over the top of rough quarry waste on this part too. :(
I also stripped the 12" of soil from up the side of the plot where I'm putting a 2' wide paved path & will strip the soil off the quarry waste & use it under the path, at the back of where the polytunnel is going & anywhere else which won't be used to grow stuff.
Then I'll use the stripped soil to partially refill, plus 6 ton of topsoil I have coming from my farmer friend.
Might have 8-10" across the whole plot after that (I'll keep growing carrots, parsnips etc. at home, where I have 2' of good black soil.
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Sounds like you have a job ahead of you Odders, but yes, it's a start!
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I've been chitting tomato and biquinho pepper seeds and transplanting them into cardboard "pots" made from kitchen paper rolls. Most of the seeds have chitted just fine, though Marmande tomatoes are being slow to germinate (or are maybe not viable?). I'll keep an eye on the Marmande, as I thought my Stupice tomato seeds were not viable (until they all sprouted at once! :D )
I also applied some water-soluble fertilizer to my spinach, tatsoi, and lettuce. We are alternating warm and cold spells, but the plants are growing.
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Sounds like you have a job ahead of you Odders, but yes, it's a start!
After clearing another 10' wide chunk of 4" deep, twitch infested soil this afternoon, I decided to explore the southern end of the plot.
Good news; there's at least a spade's depth of half decent black topsoil with little in the way of twitch. I'll now strip off some of it where I'll be laying the path & use it on the upper part where the polytunnel's to go.
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More work on the garden fence today, and probably more of the same tomorrow. There's a lot of drilling holes to attach some webbing to the fence. After drilling, I need to construct a tricky section of fence that is going around a large yellow poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera). The fence will need painting before I attach the webbing, that may need to wait a couple weekends for better weather.
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More work on the fence today.
Buried a dead squirrel (not in the garden) that fell out of one of our pine trees. Landed right next to raised bed #5. Burial better than reeking in the wheelie bin for a week. The critters jump from tree to tree 120 feet off the ground, I'm amazed it doesn't happen more often.
Planted more cilantro and spinach in raised beds # 1 and # 4. Also planted red tatsoi, bok choi, and Chinese cabbage (Napa type) in #4.
Chitting snap peas and snow peas to replace some killed by our big freeze before the holidays.
Packed up some tomato, pepper, and other seeds to share with my sister in Indianapolis.
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Dug holes for three polytunnel anchor plates & tubes & set two of them.
Hard work when you find 20kg chunks of concrete & numerous large pieces of quarry waste a few inches down.
Laser level makes getting these in properly a LOT easier & also showed I've more than enough soil in the middle of the area to bring the rest up to the desired level.
Interesting to see the effect of all this work on my blood pressure: Gone from borderline hypertension to normal in two weeks, which proves that sitting inside on yer bum all day is bad for you. :nowink:
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You're going well, Odders. You deserve a good season.
I bodged up an extension to the compost bin out of more pallets. As a retired carpenter, joiner and sometime cabinet maker some might think it should be flawless; far from it, 'if a jobs worth doing, it's worth doing badly' is what I say
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After chitting pea seeds, I planted snow peas and snap peas to replace those killed by the deep freeze in December.
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Spent a sunny hour replacing some broken wire on the Tayberry/Loganberry fence, pruning out the damage and then tying in the good stems :)
Then the sun went in and the cold wind got up and that was it for the day ::)
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I have two rhubarb crowns that I grew last year that are sprouting nicely. However, another two from last year did not survive, so I bought two more today and planted them in the raised bed with the other two (roughly 3 feet apart).
Also, seedling tomatoes and peppers were transplanted into slightly larger containers this morning. I put them outside, in flats, to enjoy a little sunshine and 10 to 15 C. They are back indoors, as the temperature will dip for a few days. I'm expecting 3 days next week and 3 days the following week where they can go outside again.
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I’ve been twice this week just getting ready, clearing ground and emptying compost bins to mulch planting areas.
Today was dropping off several bags of green waste from the garden to restart the compost bins, forking over a patch of ground and putting up a small net and a mesh tunnel to grow some early greens under.
I also finally planted my garlic out from the pots it got started off in.
It was a very pleasant and satisfying morning :)
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It's been mostly a cold day, though sunny.
After I walked the dog (there is some dispute over who-walked-who), I did some more work on the new fence.
The section of fence that will be behind the vegetable beds should be complete tomorrow. Most of that will be mesh strung continuously between existing trees.
Additional work is planned for tomorrow on the sections of fence in front of the vegetable beds. These will be PVC frames that are pivoting/removable for ready access to all parts of the vegetable beds.
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Well i finally started digging a patch over, i have been looking at it for weeks so using a digging hoe, as using a fork is not an option with wonky hips, but had a steroid injection so up and running in a manner of speaking :lol:.
This area will be for the onions already germinated they are in the house at the moment.
Also have my spuds chitting nicely.
A beautiful sunny day who would not want to be outside.
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Finished refilling the compost bins that I’d dug out earlier in the week with the pike of vegetation that has resided on a bed all winter. Looking much better up there
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Well, at least I got the section of fence BEHIND the garden finished . . . Not much work on the section of fence in front of the garden.
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Lovely Sunny day here so I went down the plot and tidied up a bit.
Harvested the remnants of my leeks and pulled up purple sprouting broccoli and spring cabbages. All seem to have been decimated by a combination of the extreme cold in December and some slugs waking up recently. Covered the beds with black plastic so the plot looks a bit tidier if there is an early snap inspection! If the weather holds I must burn my cut down asparagus soon too.
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After a day at my job, I managed to get some work done on the front fence around the raised beds built last year.
Also checked the pak choi, napa cabbage and additioal tatsoi recently planted. Seedlings of all three are popping up :)
However, spinach planted in the ground on the same weekend is still a bit shy.
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This week I've trimmed the roots of my overwintered chillies and refreshed their compost. Also sowed broad beans, went with masterpiece green longpod this year. Have also caught four mice in the shed, still more to go I think. Might start some onions and summer leeks this weekend
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A bit grey here today but still managed to burn my cut down asparagus.
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Caught another mouse, picked 4 large parsnips
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A little more work on the fence today.
Also planted gold and red beets, French corn salad, cilantro, and carrots into raised bed #5.
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It was yesterday, actually: filled 2 bags for life with horse manure; one of straw and one of wood dust; stirred them into compost heap. Also had 2 bags of manure from garden centre so spread one between the two runner frames, the other to mulch the raspberries. Got around to removing hoops and net that had been over cavalo.
Big pile of woodchips from tree surgeon - probs barrow some to top up the paths.
Not long now till sowing time
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Brief visit to the plot today to plant some shallots.
Weather lovely so I created another bed by removing grass ready to add some home made compost.
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Another visit today to plot.
Taken down the contents of two used tomato growbags spread them on on beds and added some chicken manure pellets. Must be getting closer to spring saw half a dozen others working on their plots.
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I have a half dozen each of chitted yellow crookneck and zucchini that I transplanted into small pots today.
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I bought a ibc tank a while back well about 6 months ago, big day its plumbed in to the greenhouse so hopefully i will get a nice 650 litres of water on tap, parden the pun!!!.
Having to use sticks to get about because of being misses wonky hips, its going to make things much easier for watering my veggies, no carrying watering cans, or walking backwards and forwards because the hose has a kink in it yippee :D :D.
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Visited this morning and delivered 3 bags of manure. Dug over beds and spread it out.
Realised I’m a bit behind with pruning the raspberries so cut back those that had fruited including those in my cage. Realise I must be quick to prune the black current bushes which are overdue.
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The first of the "summer squash" (courgette) seedlings went out in the sun today, with the tomatoes, and will also go in-and-outside. I will add to that as the remaining indoor seedlings get a bit larger. This continues last year's practice of starting courgette seeds early to get a crop in before the dread squash vine borers. I will start more in August, after the vine borers are done for the year.
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Few hours in the garden,weeding & I side of the lawn edged. 2 bags of spent compost tipped on the weeded area following digging up & splitting a hemerocallis that’s been needing doing for at least 2 years. Then i potted the remaining plant up into about 15 cuttings! What am going to do with them all. Also repotted a peace Lilly houseplant, got 6more of those now :wacko:
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Weeding, and more fence-building work.
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Just managed 30 minutes today but that was long enough to prune my black currants.
Pleased I have managed to get it done as some of the branches were starting to show buds. Think I will get some more manure later in the week and give them a good feed.
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Transplanted peppers (Sweet Banana, Jalapeno) from flats into small pots to grow on.
Corno di Toro peppers and the last of the banana peppers tomorrow.
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Just got the last of the weeds out on my plot. Lucky in that we get free horse manure so that is now spread around (last years rotted). Suggestions as to best nutrients to grow welcome.
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Mum's 93 & ended up in hospital & the stress of that & looking after her put posting here & elsewhere out of my mind.
I have been working on the plot though, as I find it very therapeutic & takes my mind off other stuff.
All the anchor plates for the 10x20 polytunnel are now in & I'm still moving soil (& clearing perennial weed roots as much as possible.
Been stripping a few inches of quarry waste from where growing beds will be & using it as a base for the main paths & as infill round where the polytunnel will be.
Weed mountain is getting bigger - should make some good topsoil after a year or two under black plastic...
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Mum's 93 & ended up in hospital & the stress of that & looking after her put posting here & elsewhere out of my mind....
Here's a poem see what you think:
My Allotment
In the early morning light I rise,
And head out to my plot, eager eyes,
To check on all my tiny seeds,
And see what progress my hard work feeds.
Each bed I tend with thoughtful care,
Pull slugs and weeds from here and there,
I water and I watch them grow,
These plants that soon will thrive and glow.
My allotment, small patch of land,
Is where I put my heart and hand,
To grow some food, some flowers too,
And spend some time in nature's view.
It's here I find my peace and calm,
Revel in the sweet, green balm,
Of plants that rise towards the sky,
And share their beauty with my eye.
So here's to my allotment plot,
This patch of land that I have got,
May it flourish and may it be,
A source of joy and food for me.
PS watch the wind with the tunnel. Ours although anchored well the bars going up and over bent inwards and we had to brace them inside.
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Bit of a grey morning but managed to dig over a couple of beds, one for beans and another for onions. I notice that every year I have to widen the beds as the grass tends to invade over the season. Hopefully our local stables are going to deliver some manure so I can spread that on the beds rather than buying some. Bought some bags of manure a few days ago and it took a while to remove the smell from my car!!
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Mum's 93 & ended up in hospital & the stress of that & looking after her put posting here & elsewhere out of my mind....
Here's a poem see what you think:
My Allotment
In the early morning light I rise,
And head out to my plot, eager eyes,
To check on all my tiny seeds,
And see what progress my hard work feeds.
Each bed I tend with thoughtful care,
Pull slugs and weeds from here and there,
I water and I watch them grow,
These plants that soon will thrive and glow.
My allotment, small patch of land,
Is where I put my heart and hand,
To grow some food, some flowers too,
And spend some time in nature's view.
It's here I find my peace and calm,
Revel in the sweet, green balm,
Of plants that rise towards the sky,
And share their beauty with my eye.
So here's to my allotment plot,
This patch of land that I have got,
May it flourish and may it be,
A source of joy and food for me.
PS watch the wind with the tunnel. Ours although anchored well the bars going up and over bent inwards and we had to brace them inside.
My plot's certainly a refuge from all the world's (or my own) ills.
I went for every strengthening option for the tunnel - bigger diameter tubes, crop bars & support braces.
Site has trees to the SW, so prevailing winds are lessened too.
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Gave up waiting for manure from stables. Added 3 bags of manure to plot, 2 for my recently dug beds and one for the pruned black currants. Need to visit this week and burn the pruned black currants or take them to the tip.
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Gave up waiting for manure from stables. Added 3 bags of manure to plot, 2 for my recently dug beds and one for the pruned black currants. Need to visit this week and burn the pruned black currants or take them to the tip.
Have you a shredder? I just take all my woody pruning’s home, shred, & take them back to the compost bins, bit of a faff. Really need a small petrol shredder at the plot :lol:
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Gave up on my shredder I’m afraid.
Wasn’t up to the job.
I could get a new one but I don’t have a lot of use for one normally.
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Gave up on my shredder I’m afraid.
Wasn’t up to the job.
I could get a new one but I don’t have a lot of use for one normally.
Ahh yes see your point. We have to pay for our brown waste bin & since I rarely used it I sent it back when the charge was implemented (£24 I think it was last year) my neighbours let me use theirs on the odd occasion I need to & since I keep them supplied with veg it works well.
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A bit more digging. Soil seems to be improving after a bit of work :-)
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I gave the lawn it's first haircut of the year. Also, sanded all parts of the fence that will be painted tomorrow.
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Gave up on my shredder I’m afraid.
Wasn’t up to the job.
I could get a new one but I don’t have a lot of use for one normally.
Ahh yes see your point. We have to pay for our brown waste bin & since I rarely used it I sent it back when the charge was implemented (£24 I think it was last year) my neighbours let me use theirs on the odd occasion I need to & since I keep them supplied with veg it works well.
As of yesterday I see the payment for our brown bin collection is going to be £37.50 from May, pleased I opted out
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Pleased today to finally burn both my raspberry and black currant prunings.
Interesting comments about use of a shredder, I wonder what brand of shredder others use and if they can handle larger woody prunings??
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Only an hour but planted a rhubarb crown I got from Poundstretcher. It looked pretty dry so not too optimistic. People say they're impossible to kill but I've managed it with two others last year.
also lifted last 6 of leeks - left one in to bolt so flowers there for pollinators
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Might be worth asking others at your allotment whether they have any they could give you. I would endorse the fact that normally they are indestructible.
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I finished painting my new garden fence.
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Ate the last of my leeks in St Davids Day cawl.
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Took 2 trugs of home made compost to the plot and dug it into my bean bed.
Tidied up the asparagus bed and strawberry bed too.
Sowed some peas in a gutter in the conservatory.
Things are warming up (though next week looks cool :ohmy:)
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Added compost and wood ash to the veg patch then dug it over. A bit of frost would be quite helpful now!
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Only have a cold greenhouse so having had 4/5 inches snow this week I thankfully haven't actually started this year yet. Pots have been washed, guttering found, cut and drilled ready to start peas, new seeds have arrived and second early spuds chitting, just need the weather too improve.
Aiming to put some plastic cloches out this week, weather permitting though as a bit flimsy and possibly start some lettuce, beetroot and onion sets in the greenhouse
Itching to get started though...
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Same as you, Learnerlady. Was thinking about putting a cloche up to dry and warm up a bit of a bed.
Warmer today but will probs wait til next week before sowing owt.
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After a big rain last night and this morning, cold air is moving in tomorrow, so I am moving my tomato, pepper, and other tender vegetable seedlings indoors and under the lights for a week or so, until it warms up again. Orchids and houseplants as well.
I don't know if you have the equivalent of daylight savings time over there. Story short, everyone affected (including the Subversive household) moved clocks ahead by an hour this morning. That means an extra hour of daylight for gardening after work - at least until mid-November.
Cut the grass in the front garden. It will be the back garden's turn in a day or two.
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Just sown a couple of trays of lettuce in my conservatory adding them to the peas in gutter and broad beans. Increased the light by drawing back the roof blinds. I was wondering about planting out some onion sets but think I will wait till next week given the forecasts and high winds.
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Just watered the beetroot and peas and beans in the conservatory.
Tomatoes have germinated in my propagator. Can’t do much else as I’m still at home with Covid!
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I hope you recover soon HH, best wishes for a speedy recovery!
I planted out all of my courgettes started from seed (two varieties, labeled "Early Summer Crookneck" and "Dark Green Zucchini"). Everything is planted in 5-gallon or 10-gallon containers, one or two seedlings per container, depending on container size.
During the past work week, all of my "spare" tomato and pepper seedlings, not needed by me or my sons, were taken into my office in Atlanta, and given away to co-workers. That was fun. Some were experienced gardeners, others were planning to grow a plant or two in containers on a patio or balcony.
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A community day on our site at the weekend so a bit of communal graft and chat which was very pleasant. A bit of weeding in one of the beds on my plot and retrieved a good supply of compost from my compost bin. Now to start filling that back up again. Whispered words of encouragement to the lettuce seeds in greenhouse as the green shoots emerged.
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Finally got to the plot today.
Planted my gutter of peas that were getting too large in the conservatory.
Also planted my onions but covered them to protect them from the weather and birds.
Ground just about ok but still too wet I reckon for small seeds etc. Rain and wind had made a mark on the plot in my absence. Top of my incinerator blown off and the bottom has collapsed fortunately I have another at home.
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First pot of container potatoes planted, and tomato, cucumber, French Beans, and peppers planted indoors.
Cheers. Aled
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Managed to plant out some broad beans today and sow a few seeds beside them.
Covered with a cloche. Pleased to see there was still a good supply of manure from our local stables. A fellow gardener told me that the manure had been maturing for nearly a year. Given this encouragement I put one wheelbarrow full onto my french/runner bean bed and piled up two onto the bed I’m planning for sweetcorn.
Retreated as it started to rain again!
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Got in the first and second early potatoes. :)
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Set out one of they plastic cloches as recommended to dry and warm a strip of bed. Probably beetroot to go in half of it.
Got a cheap washing up bowl ( cos the litter trays are too big for our needs ) and sowed some Bandit leeks. I thought I had some Musselborough but cannae find them.
Twigged that I can use that inferior Levington seed compost to put in a trench for carrots - stump rooted; but might put in some longer ones later - tend to get comedy carrots in our heavy clay but me and partners grandkids like that as we bite off bits like healthier version of ginger bread men
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I potted more tomatoes and peppers on into larger containers of compost, fortified with 13-13-13 fertilizer and pelleted dolomitic lime. Today is mostly a day off work for me, trying to get lawn and garden care finished before several days of rain.
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Quick run over the grass at lunchtime before the drizzle started.
Yesterday I weeded my asparagus bed and covered another bed with a cloche to dry it out a bit ?? (Hope)
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Showed a friend the plot for the first time, she was suitably impressed :lol:
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Weeded about half the Vinca bed, took a break, Mrs. Subversive thought I was not doing it fast enough, pulled off the weed tops in no time flat - left all the roots! I guess I will continue pulling them out, but it will take even longer.
Other than weeds, I dug rooted sprigs of St. Augustine Grass out of landscaping areas and planted them in bare spots in the lawn. St. Augustine is a broad leaf grass with spreading rhizomes, it is a really good lawn grass.
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Planted out some beetroot seedlings under a cloche, weeded my onion bed and added some lime to the bed intended for Calabrese. Fingers crossed sunny weather is coming at the weekend.
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Did a bit more weeding and hoeing. A gent on the allotment gave me one of his tools to help me along
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Started some sweetcorn by putting seeds into airing cupboard (John’s method)
Also courgettes in heated propagator
Fingers crossed the weather is going to warm up.
Finally dropped into plot and added some lettuce seedlings into the existing bed of broad beans.
Post script: sweetcorn already germinated by today 16th I need to pot them up
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Today I harvested a few varieties of lettuce for dinner, as well as red tatsoi.
Yesterday, I hand-pollinated what I hope will be my first courgette of the year (Yellow Summer Crookneck). There are many other yellow ones and some zucchini that should be setting fruit soon.
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Did a bit more weeding and hoeing. A gent on the allotment gave me one of his tools to help me along
Ah - those boys adventure stories I read as a lad had a description of a shovel headed spear landing in someones chest. That pic took me right back
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Dismantled the fruit cage.....it couldn’t stand up to the recent winds bent poles.
Erected a bean support whilst the canes could be easily pushed into the ground (clay!)
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Planted my potatoes out. More hoeing
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Planted my leeks and used my new brush cutter at the over grown end of the allotment
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In between non-gardening tasks, I've been digging out a huge old clump of Nandina, probably planted when our early 1970s house was built. It is an invasive weed here.
The Nandina is going, and making room for a "Betsy Ross" lilac bush.
Also watered some squash and other plants, and hand-pollinated more squash.
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With help from himself,transported a half builders bag of chippings to the plot, that I had been given. I also took my module sown peas that were ready to plant out. We finished my new cardboard & wood chipped covered paths. Then ‘we’ put up my munty frame, it’s a bit more ‘Heath Robinson’ than other years,but I think it will surfice for this year. I then transplanted the peas & netted them temporarily while they establish.
Spotted the first shoots of the potatoes so covered them with a bit of mulch.
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Planted out my Calabrese and covered them. Checked the broad beans plants growing well and seeds germinating too. Asparagus just showing tips approximately one inch above ground.
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Potted on the outside tomato plants in the conservatory they need a bit more space to grow before going out if it ever warms up.
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Pulled all the kale up and dug that bit of ground over. Never realised how sharp couch grass roots are. Thought it was glass! Also planted out and netted some sugar snap peas
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I've been taking horse manure down the allotments took 4 loads down 2 yesterday 2 today and it looks like the ground is drying up quite well so its going to be full steam ahead next week planting planting and more planting after the bank holiday's over every thing here is saying plant me :D
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Snowdrops mention of woodchips reminded me to barrow some on to the paths before all the heap is claimed by others.
Hardening off seedlings and its all starting to take off. Want to plant out as much as poss before a holiday in two weeks. Plot partner will water whats left
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Sown some dwarf beans and put them in my pop up greenhouse.
Think I will install them in my bean bed in 3 weeks or so if they germinate ok.
According to books they crop faster than the climbing varieties which I am planning for the bean and runners bed. Hopefully get some succession.
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Strimmed the grass paths added some more strawberries to the bed. Harvested my first two asparagus spears of the season.
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Went around with the strimmer again and turned the 'compost heap' Practically every weed I've thrown in it has re-sprouted!
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Revamped my pond edges, a bit of an understatement actually as I placed every stone/rock you can see at least twice & that was after fetching them(did have a bit of help with that part)
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More hoeing. 1st pumpkin has just poked it's head through in the pots at home. Also bought what I thought were cauliflower plugs only to get home and realise I'd picked up pointy cabbage. Oh well!
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Potatoes are all in, the rest of the seeds going in this weekend.
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Carrots, Beetroot, Leeks, Sweetcorn, Lettuce, onions and radishes all planted. One row each of carrots and beetroot as well as the French Bean and lettuce plants then we are sorted!
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Weeding, fence-mending, cut grass in back yard and near vegetable plot. Squirrel-proofed the bird feeder (I hope).
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Planted out my cabbages and cauliflowers
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planted out some of my cauli's, courgettes. finished preparing all but one bed ready for planting out everything soon, weather permitting :)
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Planted out sweetcorn and weeded onion bed and peas.
Replaced fleece around beans with chicken wire to deter rabbits I think it’s warm enough now.
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More planting out. It seems to have gone on for ages and eaten up most of my time on the plot, but nearly done. Just waiting for the sweetcorn and a couple of squashes to hurry up and get big enough :lol:
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The last 2 weeks has seen me planting pretty much everything on the allotment, in the tunnel -30 tomatoes,11 peppers,3 aubergines, 11 melons, 8 cucumbers, 3 x 1/4 trays of French beans, 5 luffa. Already got 6 minus 1 greyhound cabbage in there.
Outside donated shallots that were past their best a month ago so not sure they’ll do much, runner beans, purple climbing French beans, brassicas-sprouts,purple sprouting broccoli,primo cabbages, 1 red cabbage, perennial 9 star broccoli, Daubton kale. Lettuces, spring onions the rest of the French beans, mangetout.
Got the squashes & some sweetcorn to plant out, plus a 2nd sowing just germinating, luckily had the same variety. Also got some gherkins and leeks. Need to sow more parsnips & carrots as well.
Might be feeling a tad tired soon :lol:
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Bought a new hosepipe yesterday and gave my plot a thorough soaking. Had to net practically everything I hadn't netted due to pesky birds eating everything. Gave next door a couple of watermelon plants for his polytunnel
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Went up the plot this morning to plant out some modules. Everything baked into concrete but a bit more crumbly where we'd mulched heavily in the autumn.
Hacked out holes for some summer cabbage but don't hold out much hope. A couple of climbing squash in a slightly better patch - they might survive but cant see them galloping away.
Will get another load of mushroom compost in the autumn plus stuff from our heaps might mulch everywhere.
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Removing sticky Willy today. Horrible stuff and sticks to my garden gloves
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I'm trying to get holes dug for transplanting cucumbers and tromboncino squash. I'm having to dodge some thunderstorms to do that today, so I'm not getting as much done as I'd like.
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4 hours spent up there from 8am to beat the heat, prepared holes for planting gherkins, by filling the holes 2 or 3 times with water & then puddling the plants in. Then I built a moat around all 6 plantings & filled it up twice with water, I’ve done my best for them, they needed to go out as they were struggling in their modules & im busy the next couple of days & were forecast rain. Also did some swoeing- fruit cage & edges of other beds. Weeded strawberry hanging baskets :mad:, note to self, another year don’t use homemade compost mixed in just use it at the bottom & add water retaining crystals to aid watering. Picked a load of broad beans.
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Got up early(so I thought) to water the allotment at 6:30 only to find 3 other people were already there with their hosepipes! I'll have to rethink and go again after work tomorrow at 22:00.
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Hubby & I went up earlish to get the netting on the top of the fruit cage-note to self, get it done earlier next year when there’s no growth in there,also buy new netting! We also sorted out the empty water barrels finally, I gave them a scrub out & hubby is going to link the ones by the tea shed so they can all fill up if it ever rains again :wub:
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Planting tromboncino and cucumber seedlings in hills beneath home-made fence wire towers. The towers are going in next to existing fence wire trellises. Tromboncino towers are about 8 feet tall, cucumber towers are a bit shorter. The soil is rooted and rocky, lots of work with a soil auger, digging bar and pickaxe. That soil has a granular to blocky texture at the surface, but is sandy loam below, tough to dig through when dry but a little easier after a rain (like now).
Also, some of the snow pea plants are done for the year, time to cut them down. A few plants may yield a bit longer, but probably won't live long past the 32 C temperatures we are expecting 3 days from now.
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Woke up at 3am couldn't get back to sleep, so went to water the allotment at 3:45 just as it was getting light
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Yesterday just watering & care of chickens as I was out all day but himself came & watered with me so everything got a good watering to try to combat the heat of yesterday & forecast today. Too hot to be there this afternoon when I had the time.
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Pruned back suckers on tomato plants. Planted the last few tomatoes from nursery pots along a trellis where peas are being removed. Harvested zucchini. Side dressed pepper plants, rhubarb, beets, carrots with 13-13-13 fertilizer.
I'm starting a few orange grape tomatoes for a late summer to fall crop. I will likely do the same with a few determinate tomatoes (Goliath Bush, 42-Day) and some Stupice at the end of next month. Just something to give us some tomatoes through most of November.
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Weeds had exploded under the brassica nets so uncovered and weeded. Can't say I enjoyed doing it lol
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Yes Viking the recent rain seems to have super charged the weeds on my plot too!
Had to remove numerous weeds choking my onions after the rain and one week away.
Cleared out my peas and they were equally infested by weeds. It’s a tricky balance keeping the birds and butterflies off crops whilst allowing easy weeding. HH
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More hoeing and watering. Looks like i'm going to have to uncover the brassica nets again for weeding
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Like others, weeded under brassica net and where some had been slug banquet I planted cavalo nero. Theory is that summer cabbage gets lifted and leaves more space for the cavalo. Plan to put in kohl rabi when the ones in modules have grown on a bit.
Short row of spring onion and beet.
Celeriac were sulking so bought 9 plants and put them in.
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Cleared broad beans and sowed some peas.
Weeded a couple of beds.
Harvested some raspberries.
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Pulled out yet another tomato with Fusarium wilt. Sowed Kentucky Wonder pole beans. Planted young tomato plants in large nursery pots for late summer and autumn tomatoes. Sowed Straight Eight cucumber seeds into pots for a succession planting for late summer. Watered everything.
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Weeded onion bed.
Sowed some more beetroot and radishes.
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Weeding and watering newer plantings. 2 out of 4 scorzonera have been pulled out - funny, hasn't happened with some other plantings. Sowed a quarter row of beetroot. Doing odd patches of green manure on the baked clay: so fodder radish, hoping it will help break things up although did some last year and got crumbly result at first but its gone to concrete now. trying fenugreek as well and maybe plant lettuce after
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Visited on my way back from shopping just to check that the bean support was still intact.
Seriously windy on the plot hope it calms down overnight!
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Had to stake a couple of sweetcorn cos the wind has been so bad. Weeded a bit around the potatoes
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Watered everything. Staked okra and pepper plants. Tied rampant Tromboncino plants to trellises.
I'm getting ready to add some vegetable scraps, coffee grounds and banana peels to the compost pile.
Yesterday, took a load of green waste leaf and limb to the city compost facility. The tomato haulms with Fusarium are going straight to the wheelie bin for landfill refuse.
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Planted additional cucumbers to give a succession crop when the existing ones are done.
Cut and bagged the clippings from the front lawn. Also cut the back lawn (no bagging), but did pick up and stack limbs from storm damage.
Pruned branches from bushes getting in the way of lawn mowing.
Mulched with grass clippings around peppers, okra, tomatoes, beans, cucumbers to retain soil moisture (heading into more dry weather).
Tied Tromboncino onto trellis to keep it growing where I want it to be (instead of where IT wants to be).
Between all that and walking the dog, my steps tracker recorded 10 miles today.
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Planted pumpkins yesterday.
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Rained off today. Some modules to plant out and need to plan for a bit of succession after fennel lifted. Could do with more greens, brassicas maybe, to come in later. Suggestions?
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I watered. Too hot to really do much more than that.
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Not much we can do in the current weather as much as I'd like to. Weeded a bit by hand
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Picked beans and courgettes as mentioned elsewhere. Ran around with the hoe hoping the rain holds off long enough for weed roots to dry.
Comfrey still galloping so cut down half. Filled a tub and topped with water; rest gone on compost heap.
Summer pruning the Bramley. Seems that plot rules have a height limit on trees and this one is certainly over so showing willing.
First compost heap matured a treat so spread some on a shady and hard patch where chard self seeds.
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Strimmed the insane amount of weeds that had grown. Hoed around the sweetcorn and leeks. Watered the pumpkins
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Sowed spinach, winter radish and chard. Gave everything a good weed
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Put some plastic bottles on the sweetcorn to protect from vermin!
Harvested the last of my onions and put them in my plastic greenhouse to dry.
Weeded my purple sprouting broccoli and strimmed the plot.
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Cleaned up onion bed and sowed some carrots (yes optimistic!!)
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Despite 37oC heat, managed to get six 10-gallon combination pots with courgettes and cherry tomatoes planted for late-season vegetables. It is unusual to have frost here before November (but happens rarely), so I am taking a small gamble.
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Evening all, not posted for a while, but had a good growing year. This evening I have prepared a raised bed for overwintering onions and garlic. Probably the warmest September evening that I have ever done allotment digging.
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Cleared a few beds of lots of weeds, cleared the gherkin plants and found a large basket of blimps :) also cleared the ornamental gourds & found 4. Picked lots of oversize purple beans some were already drying & lots more for drying also some runner beans for podding for seeds or eating the beans
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Yes, plenty of fat runner beans are now drying, in the sun, on the kitchen windowledge :D
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picked sweetcorn and got them cooked and vacuumed, then shredded the stalks for the compost, dug over the area added compost and minerals before planting spring cabbage plants and covering them with enviromesh frames. (okay, took me two days!)
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Lovely morning up here in West Yorkshire - bright but cool. Today I planted my hardneck garlic (Rose wight and extra early wight) plus re-planted some of the 'Snowball' onion sets I put in last week as the birds had pulled some out. Cleared out the old brassica bed amidst a cloud of whitefly and sowed some green manure. Planted some blue hyacinths under the fruit trees, can't wait to see how they look next spring! Harvested my last (and biggest) Polar Bear squashes. There are still three Red Kuri squashes on the muck heap but the resident wasps are still active so I'm leaving those for now! Had a slight tidy of the shed, shook out the old brassica netting, folded it up and popped it into the shed for next year, took some piccies and went home for lunch.
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Dry here for a change.
Took the opportunity to prepare a bed and plant out 4 garlic bulbs after adding some chicken manure. Still lots to do to tidy up but at least the garlic is now underway for next season.
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First time in about 2 weeks it hasn't rained so went with the hope of doing some digging. Was far too wet and heavy so only harvested the final pumpkins. Digging will have to wait while it dries a bit
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Walked over to the allotments to get some fresh air and looked at the leeks and cabbage, then decided it was too wet to be paddling in there after them. I contented myself with picking a nice bag full of chard and perpetual spinach, which I could get to from a path.
Checked everything was OK around the site after the storm. Luckily it was and no-one’s polytunnel was up a tree. Not much actual work done, but by the time I walked back home I reckon I did about 8,000 steps :)
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Hubby & I cleared the rest of the poly tunnel, had a cup of tea in there too. Re cardboarded & mulched 2 more paths
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A bit of tidying and realised all my leeks have had it due to leaf miner. Found an old metal hose reel and reeled my new hosepipe on it to be stored for winter. It was a bit too wet to do any digging
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Decided to dig one of the beds over. Was very heavy in places
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Planted 3 strawberry plants - hope its not too late. All prunings and loppings now on communal bonfire but lighting delayed cos too wet.
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Roughly dug over two beds this morning and covered with black plastic.
Ground very wet but made some progress before the rain has started again.
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Was a bit drier here today so did a little bit more digging
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I've been building more raised beds, narrow ones this time for a set of fruit bushes (To be grown as cordons/fans), on the site where I've just removed the squashes and sweetcorn.
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Picked kohlrabi and celeriac for Sunday's roast
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Quick trip to the plot to tidy some more space for some new beds, there's a lovely big heap of 'nicely matured' cow muck in the way, so I'm moving it bit by bit onto the existing beds...... There's a wasp nest in there somewhere too, I didn't see it this time, but I hope they've all gone by now!
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Finished digging before the cold snap comes this weekend
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Yesterday, finished planting up the strawberry runners in to hanging baskets, planted my newly arrived garlic. Also planted the red onion sets ’Comred’ having ‘swoed’ this years potato bed, sprinkled chicken pellets & raked them in & added 1” of homemade compost beforehand. Topped up the wood chippings on a couple more paths. Looking good.
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Nothing, and it's killing me!
I nipped down to the plot to put some fleece down on 24th November and do a bit of tidying and since then we've had ice, snow and rain. I've painted the last of my planks for building the last of the raised beds but cant get down there to build them!
Is anyone else having withdrawal symptoms? Please, please, please be decent weather this weekend!!!
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Turned over a 10 ft long x 5 ft wide bed with the garden fork.
Tomorrow (I hope) I will rake smooth and FINALLY plant out some spinach and lettuce seedlings.
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Despite some cold and windy weather, I did manage to rake the dug bed smooth, and got some spinach seedlings transplanted. I hope to finish planting that bed tomorrow.