[cbu183]

I've had my allotment a month now and wondered how all the other newbies were getting along?
I put my garlic, onions and spuds in straight away and they are actually showing.  I can grow stuff!  This morning I planted out my sweetcorn seedlings - a proud moment.  I chased off a blackbird from them - it better have been after worms and not my food  :evil:
My carrots are in a container and tiny seedlings are visible.  
The weeds have gone insane this week so I was hoeing furiously this morning.
Still loads of things at home hardening off and waiting for the end of May.
How are you all doing?

[Carol]

Hi Cbu,
I took my plot in October last year and it's coming on great - but I can't believe how many slugs and snails there are or how fast the weeds grow!
My plot is nearly full and I've still got loads of stuff hardening off at home - bit more forward planning required next year!

[iwantanallotment]

No allotment yet, so I'm squeeeezing as much as poss into my little patch & growing the rest in pots.
This is my first full season at it so I've gone a bit mad  :oops:
Taters, beans, lettuces, leeks, strawberries, corn & broad beans are doing well in patch and carrots, taters, cabbages, parsnips, beetroot, onions, tomatoes, cucumbers etc etc etc going mental in big pots all over the place.
It's so exciting to see all the greenery popping up, isn't it? But now the hard work of keeping it alive begins  

[kezlou]

It's all going great at the moment. All the growbags and containers are brimming. carrots and tatties popping their little heads. Just put the tomatoes and cucumbers out and they tripled in size in the hot weather. Its great

Think i went a bit mad though got more seedlings than room  :oops:

[gardgydja]

The lotty is ready and waiting for the cow manure delivery tomorrow. Planted sunflowers with the family today (they planted, I raked the beds). Tomorrow I plant out broccoli, various herbs, sow ruccola, radish, and spinach, and whatever else I can manage. At home I am waiting for my peas and beans, pumpkins and winter squash, tomatoes, peppers and chilis to be big enough to go out as well. On plot two I am going to sow carrots, beets, parsley root and "Hafrarot", no idea what that is in English, never seen it before. Loads more but can´t remember! It sounds like a lot but there´s not much of each, so we´ll see what makes it.

[Sharon]

Hi,
I've had my plot 6 weeks now.  Everything is coming up a treat.  I have got to learn to use sun cream though, I'm a bit red  

[cbu183]

Well done everybody and thanks for responding.

Of course along with the successes I've learnt a few things from my mistakes - the main two are

Successional sowing - at the end of Summer I am going to have to eat about 50 broccoli, 40 onions, 100 carrots, etc, all at once.

Leave some earth with which to earth up spuds instead of placing them in a nice neat row with two stamped-down paths on either side (think I'm going to have to wheelbarrow it from another part of the plot.) :oops:

Keep up the good work!  Hopefully it will start paying off soon.

[crowndale]

I can't be bothered with successional sowing!  So if anything can be frozen it goes in at the same time and i'll just have massive freezer sessions!  so far everything I have planted has started to come up but still have a fair bit of ground to prep but the ground is rock hard right now which is making it tough going.  but have got in about 1/3 of the brassicas and am planning on putitng in some peas later today (Baby willing!!)

[Sadgit]

I can't be bothered with successional sowing!

ditto...

[woodburner]

I'm successionally sowing carrots, didn't think of the broccoli  :oops: and don't think it matters with onions (except spring onions) or leeks, I hope.    Not having any success with the beans  :x Sweetcorn are doing nicely waiting to go out, brassicas are not quite ready for pricking out, saladings are next on the list.
Looks like I might actually get measureable crops this time! They do say third time lucky . . .  

[fluffybunny]

I seem to be doing ok so far too - onions and tatoes are in and are peeping up through, I have enough rhubarb to make crumble for the whole village (courtesy of previous allotment holder!) and now I need to get my sprouting and first carrots in...but it's been too blooming hot and I went to the lottie yesterday and I need to do some substantial weeding before I can start on that.  

But I now own a bike so no need to keep driving there just for a bit of tinkering.

[Jeanieblue]

We've had our lottie since the middle of September. Half of it is dug and the fruit bushes, raspberry canes, rhubarb and asparagus moved from a previous shared allotment are all sprouting happily!  We've planted all sorts of stuff too, which is growing happily. The runner beans - Enorma and Painted Lady - are sprouting happily in their little pots and are just waiting me to get their wigwams up over the next couple of days.  We've first and second early potatoes in, and beginning to show. There's been a bit of a delay with our main crop because of weather and visitors, but we'll get those in this week.  My OH and I have been digging for England, but we just couldn't manage the whole plot, so half is under plastic now and we'll leave it for a season.  I've become a passionate composter, and have managed to produce some wonderful if rather rough stuff to put in with the spuds etc.

We've acquired three water butts, and paving slabs to make a path down the side. I've a cutting patch set aside and have 60 gladioli bulbs to plant out and will sprinkle that patch with a couple of packets of annuals too. The lupins I brought on in pots and planted out in the lottie have taken beautifully. This is the first time we've managed to grow them successfully, they must like lots of leg room!

Our project once planting is done is to dig out the big heaps of stuff at one end and make our compost/manure bays there.

BUT the best bit of all is that our 4 year old grandson is becoming a passionate allotmenteer too.  When they visit, he loves to potter round, dig, give orders, inspect what's growing! 'I'm the farmer, Nanna, you're the digger".  He'll go far one day!

Happy gardening everyone!  Jean

[iwantanallotment]

'I'm the farmer, Nanna, you're the digger".  

Bless, that's lovely  

[Caddi fuller-teabags]

This is our second year.  The first year we had an open bramble patch.  We grew mainly salad leaves and herbs.  We had no real luck with tomatoes or strawberries, and we left the plot as the beans were just ready for harvesting.

This time (since September) we have had a delightful patch with two sheds and a broken glasshouse.  It already had a strawberry patch and asparagus and rhubarb.

Today's lunch is homemade asparagus soup.  Most of the sparrowgrass is very tough though.

The lettuces, radishes and herbs are doing well.  Our beans are suffering - they are gowing brown on the older leaves.  We think this is  because of the lack of water. Being on soily sand -  any rain we have just goes straight through.  

We have loads of artichokes growing - dunno where to put them all, and celeriac plants coming out of our ears (I think we have about 36 plants!).  I have chard, 2 varieties of broccoli, cauliflower and onions just about showing but the parsnips I planted three weeks ago are very slow - I think I can see about four - though they may be weds.

I am growing potatoes for the first time too.  Yes I have learned that you need to leave some soil for earthing up too!

Another thing I have learned is that I have made my plots far too wide.  The last one I dug I made 1 metre wide, it is far more manageable for someone who is 4'12" tall and almost as wide!

Succession sowing is something I am trying, but I need more beds, I seem to be constantly playing catch up, digging beds just to plant my successions in, never have time to leave a bed for a few days!

[littlelisa]

I got my allotment just over a month ago, and got potatoes and onions in quite fast, so those are coming up. I also planted some runner beans and broad beans (not up yet) and some sweetcorn that I started in paper pots at home (just got the sweetcorn in the day before my waters broke ) - had new baby at beginning of May!! Anyway, we're getting a car this week, and a kind freecycler has offered me a good carrycot with some shade... so I can hopefully get down there and do some watering and weeding before it all goes pear-shaped... I think I'll chit more sweetcorn later this month too. Hoping that there's still plenty I can plant in June and July :-)