Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Growing => Grow Your Own => Topic started by: Beanzie on July 25, 2006, 00:51
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After spending 3 hours removing netting and weeding my Brassica patch it strikes me that this is my most hated allotment chore. If only I had used the hoe a few weeks ago it would have been so much easier tonight.
I was even puilling "rogue" potatoe haulms with decent spuds (desiree) on themn.
What's your most hated chore?
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clearing bind weed from netting. bind weed in general :x
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Living in the South of England it has to be watering at present. It takes me over an hour a night with watering cans to give everything a drink - time I would rather spend planting, weeding and tending.
Still the crops are doing well and we are eating very well at present.
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Having given this some thought, the best that I can come up with is locking and unlocking the gate. Stay in control and there are no chores, just lots of little jobs.
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Yeah - the gate is annoying. but A sense of calm does descend on the way in. (Now I use slug pellets.)
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Locking the Gate!
Sorry we live in a village in the counrty and the only gate is five bars and you push it open to get on to the plot. Unless of course their is a tractor in the way.
Sorry, I fully appreciate what folks in the less rural environs have to endure. It just feels so claustrophobic to have to unlock and lock a gate to your peice of countryside.
We are lucky where we live in that we get very little vandalism and damage from unwanted visitors - other than fox's, Badgers, Deer and
Pigeons.
We are lucky and I should appreciate that a lot more than i do!
Happy Allotmenting.
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Loading and unloading the car at home and at the allotment - tools, watering can, plants, seeds and if the baby is with me sun tent, toys, cushions, nappies........too much!!!
I really must get a shed!
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and if the baby is with me sun tent, toys, cushions, nappies........too much!!!
oh my word, it's not only me then! I have to take my 9 month old with me most days during the week ( i get a break at weekends) and he takes more stuff to the plot then I do! not to mention the dog..............I hae a shed but I only keep less valuable things inside so big tools have to be carted with me.
we also have a gate with a lock and we are in the country too! still, if I have to unlock the gate on the way in it means I'm the first one there :)
so far (not had the plot long), most hated chore.........leaving to go home!
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Spending 3 hours removing netting and weeding my Brassica patch
Concur. The weeds I have probs with are dandelions, cos the leaves just come off so easily, leaving the roots. Also watching the ease with which cabbage whites just fly straight through the netting mesh, meaning I have to open everything up every couple of days and check for eggs and caterpillars (found one green one the size of a small slug on Sunday).
By the way, what is it that lays threads of sticky eggs along the strands of netting? Start off white, then go purple. Hope it's nothing useful, cos I've been crushing them.
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I hate weeding dock and thistle, they are our worst ones, but good where I put some brassicas and potatoes under terram, the only weeds are what are trying to get through the hole with the potato!!!
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My most hated must be pulling off damaged tomatoes - at the moment I've got blossom end rot - I missed watering for one poxy day a week ago and now I am paying for it - even typing this brings tears to my eyes.
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I thought so, it was only 1 week ago tonight when I thoroughly weeded mt brassica plot and I swear therev was no sign of a caulie. Tonight however, 12 out of 15 have hearted :(
I might revise my choice and opt for having to harvest everything at the one time when I thought I took care to ensure a staggered crop!!
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on the subject of locking and unlocking being the most hated chore...
...we have an locked outer security gate, an inner gate with padlock, a lock on the garden gate and another on the shed. normally i find it reassuring, security wise, to lock and unlock everything - almost like some sort of temple ritual - when coming and going.
week before last however i managed to have a very near disaster.
i work shifts and if Ian can't get to the plot during the day i call in on my way home from work, which i did the other night. i watered everything, pottered about, felt great that stuff was growing and blooming, wishing i could just stay at our lovely little allotment for ever (now they do say you should be careful what you wish for!) i packed up to go home at about 10.50 and stupidly managed to lock all the keys in the shed!!!
slightly panic stricken i started to search about for a fence i could climb over to get out but as all of them were over three foot high it was no go - luckily there was another allotmenteer there having a bonfire and once he stopped laughing he let me out.
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i packed up to go home at about 10.50 and stupidly managed to lock all the keys in the shed!!!
slightly panic stricken i started to search about for a fence i could climb over to get out but as all of them were over three foot high it was no go - luckily there was another allotmenteer there having a bonfire and once he stopped laughing he let me out.
Now thats funny. Never done it but I did once lock my keys in the car......... with the engine still running!
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i packed up to go home at about 10.50 and stupidly managed to lock all the keys in the shed!!!
slightly panic stricken i started to search about for a fence i could climb over to get out but as all of them were over three foot high it was no go - luckily there was another allotmenteer there having a bonfire and once he stopped laughing he let me out.
Now thats funny. Never done it but I did once lock my keys in the car......... with the engine still running!
we'll never do that, as neither of us drive!
(Ian's first post - all the rest have been by Laura whilst I've been digging out knotweed!)
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I spent half an hour searching the shed for my keys. They were in my pocket. Wonder how they got there? :D
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Hi everyone, well its just gotta be keeping on top of the weeding, what was a well Rounded plot last week is now like a day of the triffids, yes I should get down more often, yes I should spend more time hoeing, but somehow other things seem more interesting to do!. So I have stopped beating myself up about it and engaged a dear old pal to at least help a little, amazing but with the pals help I am on top if it now.! Oh the pals name is Glyphosate and we are to be married
. summat I have to tell the wife!!!!
Trapper
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We've got 3 terraces covered in grape vines, I spent today pruning them and putting the twigs into bundles for the BBQ got blisters and only done one terrace!! so at the moment its pruning grape vines! Off top watch the footie now come on En-ger-land!!
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My most hated job, is the entire process of growing potatoes! Planting them, earthing them up, watering them, if they need it, then digging them out. All of it bugs me. I do like eating them though, so it is worth it.
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We've got 3 terraces covered in grape vines, I spent today pruning them and putting the twigs into bundles for the BBQ got blisters and only done one terrace!! so at the moment its pruning grape vines! Off top watch the footie now come on En-ger-land!!
Oh dear Biscombe, that's so awful. Val and I are really moved by your plight and would like to offer you a home swap to save you. :)
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this is the time of year i dislike,pulling out and clearing up of the used up crops.trying to keep in mind plans for next year but its quite a sad time
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I think it's quite exciting now - a new season starting really. And that lovely smell of compost. Everyone on our site is digging up their tomatoes and chopping them up for their compost heap. And people are taking over new plots so it's a new beginning.
Must be all that late sun to my head today.
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I know exactly what you mean Noshed :D I'm one of those new allotment holders, we just took over ours today :roll: It's rather derelict so lots to do :( I hope to be soontohaveashed :lol:
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Washing plant pots out,especially all those smaller ones that were shoehorned into the shed months ago that I know I should have washed and bagged then.They are now home to enormouse spiders,I also found a cache of hazel nuts but can`t see where the squirril got in.
I am however cheered to see late plantings of spinach and chard starting to pop their heads above ground.
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By the way John & Val when ARE you coming to visit? Cold san Miguel of 2 is waiting for you
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By the way John & Val when ARE you coming to visit? Cold san Miguel of 2 is waiting for you
Ahh, thank you - we haven't had a break this year as our old cat has been so ill and asking the neighbour to look after him would not be fair to them or him.
Unfortunately he's very near the end now so I suppose next spring we can get away. He's 17, which is very old for a cat but it's something you hope will never come.
The other cat's can't believe what he gets away with - they get told off for hopefully sniffing at my dinner but he gets to 'pinch' whatever he wants.
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:( aww, my sympathies John & Val, I'm a cat lover we have 3 adored ones! Sounds like they are in good hands and spoiled rotten! Thinking of you and the fluffy one.
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Thanks - he's been with us since six weeks and it doesn't seem that long since he was tripping over his paws.
This is from when he had some surgery last year -
(http://www.allotment-garden.org/frugal/assets/pet_medicine.jpg)
He'd lost weight and his eyes had sunk back (cats have a pad of fat behind the eyes) so the vet did the same operation that plastic surgeons do to reduce bags under the eye.
I'm not taking any more photo's of him now, prefer to look at the ones of him in his prime,
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Thanks for the pic John, little poppet! Thats the cat not you!!!!
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weve just had our little cat spayed John and it was a fighting battle to keep that blooming bucket collar on her head.felt so sorry for her.
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The first night I put a pillow by the bed and he went to sleep on it. In the morning he was in exactly the same position but the collar was on the other side of the room!
He used to have these mad fits when he would charge around yowling then jump up onto the fridge freezer - owning the high ground. Now he can't get onto a chair. I don't think we're doing him any favours keeping him going but he seems to appreciate being near us - he's by my side now.
I don't know what to do for the best - half hope he will go quietly in his sleep but I think I'm going to have to take him to the vets this week. Every day's a bonus.
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Aww, bless. I "specialize" in adopting old and rather pitiful cats. I've had a lot of experience "when the time comes" and all I can say is you'll know it's there when he doesn't enjoy eating his favorite treats anymore and stops enjoying the little things (like perhaps cuddles) which he used to enjoy.
As for the gardening chores: I've only recently caught the gardening bug (absolutely HATED anything to do with plants until about 2 months ago and now I've gone mad) so everything at the moment is giving me satisfaction. I suppose the one thing I know I WON'T like about it is anything I have to do in the cold and wet.
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Washing plant pots out.
This is probably one of the worst jobs - everyone gives her plant pots to plant up for the plant sale in May each year and they come in DOZENS of different sizes, so sorting and soring them (she has a special shed for the purpose!!!) is a pain!
The next worst job is waiting out the winter
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John.
Just seen the picture of your cat, he looks exactly like ours. A bit of hope for you.....ours is 19 years old (there might be a few years left in the old dog yet!)
Vic.