Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Growing => Grow Your Own => Topic started by: Babycat on September 21, 2006, 10:56
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Hey all,
I get my lottie on Monday and cant wait :D It is a 5 rod and as far as I can tell straight north to south. Comes newly rotovated but I am sure some weed prevention is required and a pile of much might not go awry either.
Now then, I got all the books, the seeds for next year sorted and a vague idea about what goes where. Also have a few romantic notion about the whole thing and sure that when I am knee deep in manure in a few weeks I'll have an epiphany of the bad kind :roll:
:?: Do I attempt to set some potatoes and onion sets before the winter :?:
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Don't worry, the excitement never dies, even when you're knee deep in muck.
Here's my advice, based on a whole 9 months-worth of experience:
1. Get your compost heap built - pallets or the council bins.
2. Get a shed and a chair.
3. Mark out your beds with string and tent pegs from the pound shop.
4. Change your mind about what to put where 46 times.
5. Plant some broad beans, peas, garlic and onions in the next few weeks. Soon you can also put in fruit trees - rasberries etc. You'll need something to eat when you're digging next year.
6. Do not take any notice of what your friends say, they'll soon be begging for your produce.
Good luck!
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broad beans, peas, garlic and onions in the next few weeks
Seriously? I know about the garlic, but onions and peas? Is this why mine were both useless this year?
Cheers
SG - still learning oh so much, partic from this forum - thanks all once more :)
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Onions you have to plant the japanese ones for over wintering. And peas you can too - although I've never tried it. I read it in a book by Gay Search. I'm going to give them a try when I plant my broad beans - I think I had one pea pod this year so it can't be much worse.
If it gets very cold I'll just chuck some fleece over them
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Get some spring veg in as well, ive got two rows of spring cabbage, two of spring onions, all doing well, been in about two weeks or so.
Another great starter - carrotts. Sounds odd, but ive put two and a half rows of Nantes Frubund in, going strong. These are early earlies, should be ready before anyone else. Be the first to pull carrotts in march and wind everyone else up!
But also, take it easy. Dont try to do the whole plot at once or you'l end up with a bad back and dissilusioned. Little by little and you'l work wonders
Martin
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Ta for all the advise - let's see what state the plot is in next week shall we :?
I'll take some piccies - realised that my nokia phone is ideal for taking small pictures that are easily uploaded to my gallery. how handy - almost makes up for the annoyance of having it.
What a fantastic day today 8) If I didnt have such a bad cold, I'd be down the river for tea and scones and a little walk.
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Thats the best advice from Zak, don't try to do it all in a day....little and often is best.
But most of all enjoy it :)
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Hi again,
so I started shopping around for some black plastic stuff and it is very expensive - any tips for cheap sources of this weed killing wonder?
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Everyone on here always says to keep looking in the cheap shops for stuff like weed control and fleece, seeds, pots tools etc etc.
Also, soon the garden centres may start to sell them half pice as we are coming out of season with planting generally.
I was lucky, I got loads of terram free with my 2nd hand polytunnel, all we had to do was pull it up!!!!!! It had been on the ground in this nursery for 4 years, but boy, when we pulled it up, there was not a weed in sight!!!!
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2. Get a shed and a chair.
Probably the best advice on this thread :!:
Might I add to this a litttle primus stove, tea bags, sugar and milk :!: (depending on your tastes that is :D )
Cheers,
Alec
Oh and I forgot.......a pair of binoculars,
a) There is always some wildife to look at and......
b) To keep an eye on the oppostion :)
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A shed is an excellent idea. Good if the heavens decide to open. The black weed stuff i bought from the cheapy shops (Nearly a pound shop) but it was useless. Dont try it if you have thistles or couch grass. Mine just grew straight through and I had weighed it down. At the time I thought i had dug all the thistles out.
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Could try radishes. Or perpetual spinach? That seems to grow pretty much anytime. When I got my lottie last year the first thing I planted was daffodils, on the basis that I knew I could definitely grow those!! In March I had armfuls of flowers for the house and to give away.
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Don't worry, the excitement never dies, even when you're knee deep in muck.
Here's my advice, based on a whole 9 months-worth of experience:
1. Get your compost heap built - pallets or the council bins.
2. Get a shed and a chair.
3. Mark out your beds with string and tent pegs from the pound shop.
4. Change your mind about what to put where 46 times.
5. Plant some broad beans, peas, garlic and onions in the next few weeks. Soon you can also put in fruit trees - rasberries etc. You'll need something to eat when you're digging next year.
6. Do not take any notice of what your friends say, they'll soon be begging for your produce.
Good luck!
i put peas in under plastic and they were the best row out of three, broad beans the same but without plastic, next years growing starts in a couple of weeks, well, on my plot anyway. :)