[scousemouse]

New to the site and just coming to the end of my first year as an allotment holder.  

A diary planner would be good.  I found this year that I was behind with everything and everything was late going into the ground.  We still got plenty of veg, but some things like the butternut squash and sweetcorn just didn't have enough time to ripen.

Mind you, it's not just the planting of seeds.  I'm just planning what I want to grow next year (by looking through a guide to fruit and veg and going "ooh, that looks nice I'll try that").  Anyway, the book tells me if I want nice spring-sown onions next year, I need to be manuring the raised bed about a month ago!

It was the same this year when I came to plant runner bean seeds.  Apparently two months previous I should have dug a two-spit deep trench and filled it with cardboard, newspaper and grass cuttings first ... which makes a beginner like me panic a bit.   :oops:

I think the diary, or a wall calendar to hang up in the shed, is a really good tip as when it came to harvesting potatoes I could never remember when exactly I'd planted them so didn't know when to lift 'em!

[shaun]

who was it who dropped there trousers and sat on the soil to see how warm the soil was before he planted owt ?  

[Ice]

Don't panic as nothing is set in stone when it comes to growing veg.  You really ought to just plant when you feel it's right and learn from what grows well and what doesn't.  

I gave myself a five year plan when I first started growing.  Every year I hoped to learn something new and also learn from my mistakes.  

Mother nature has a nasty habit of making even the best laid plans useless.

The moral is...Don't worry, be happy.  

[Ice]

who was it who dropped there trousers and sat on the soil to see how warm the soil was before he planted owt ?  

YOU

[shaun]

who was it who dropped there trousers and sat on the soil to see how warm the soil was before he planted owt ?  

YOU

I use my elbow  :roll:

[Ice]

I use my elbow  :roll:

I heard different.

[DD.]

It was the same this year when I came to plant runner bean seeds.  Apparently two months previous I should have dug a two-spit deep trench and filled it with cardboard, newspaper and grass cuttings first ... which makes a beginner like me panic a bit.   :oops:

I think the diary, or a wall calendar to hang up in the shed, is a really good tip as when it came to harvesting potatoes I could never remember when exactly I'd planted them so didn't know when to lift 'em!

You don't have to have done anything! There are more ways than one of going about it. This was one bloke's way. I just chuck a bit of muck in before putting the plants out & I'm quite happy with the results.

As for digging up spuds - they will tell you themselves  when they're ready, as will most other plants, you don't need a wall planner for that!

[shaun]

I use my elbow  :roll:

I heard different.

well whatever you heard ice ,it was wrong  

[Ice]

well whatever you heard ice ,it was wrong  

That's quite a dibber Shaun.

[shaun]

well whatever you heard ice ,it was wrong  

That's quite a dibber Shaun.

dont take long does it  :roll:  

[Ice]

dont take long does it  :roll:  

I don't know what you mean.

[DD.]

Sorry Crezz, thread has gone wandering off topic.

This rarely happens. :roll:

[Crezz]

It's Ok it happens not just here but on other forums sometimes      

[Bombers]

O.K. so I run the risk of being lambasted by some of my fellow allotmenteers here, but I did keep a diary last year. Problem is, as others have said, Mother nature.  :roll: BUT.... I do find it useful to refer back to.  Past successes/failures, sowing times/planting out dates can have some influence on my timing for the new season. So, as I sowed,  I wrote the  date on the plastic tags with a permanent marker. When I've finished with the markers, I collect them.  I will now enter on a calendar with a few notes on how they faired. I'll still end up with failures though... thats the nature of the beast I'm affraid!

   
P.S. The soil's still too bl**dy cold to go dropping trousers yet!

 :oops:

[JulesJ]

I must be really anal ... my spreadsheet has a weekly 'Done' list, so I can see at a glance what happened when and where. Helps me to have it all in one place, and it's easily updated (because I'm a sad person with no life and often in front of a computer).