Our Allotment Journey - Day 1 !

Frugaldom

Good morning to all.

TismE I hope your back is better soon, I fully sympathise, it's no fun wanting to do stuff and the back plays up (or the knees or hips! ). Maybe we should all build mini-spas in our gardens and allotments. :rotfl:

I have done nothing more in the garden this past week as it has been such horrible, cold, wet, windy weather with gales blowing constantly. The sun shines just long enough to get outside and then the heavens open as soon as you get there! :mad: On the other hand, I'm grateful of all the watering the fruit bushes and trees are getting and it isn't stopping the hedgehog from coming out at nights to help keep slugs at bay. I wonder if it would be feasible to work at computer wearing my boots so I could nip outside for 10 mins between showers? :rotfl: Final count on chicks this year, so far, is 9, so I need to get busy finishing off their housing and I want another shed, just to be on the safe side.

Rummer, the pond project still hasn't seen the light of day because of the weather but I'm collecting ducks eggs for the incubator this weekend, so that will start the clock ticking on that particular project.

I'm going to try and get some repotting done this week. No excuses now as I have the little greenhouse for shelter. :j I'm particularly impressed by how well the artichoke seedlings are doing after having to dig them all up to make room for the greenhouse in the first place.

Laura_D_3

Morning

Nyk your new chicks are lush, will you keep them all? Loving your mini spa idea if I work out how to make one on the cheap I'll keep you posted with my progress.

Spirit congrats on your new allotment I'll have to seek out your piccies I love being nosey.

Tisme hope your back is feeling better, theres nothing worse when you're itching to garden. I lifted a compost bag a couple of years ago and was bedbound for my entire week off work I was very unhappy :-( However did spend it watching gardening programmes and getting loads of ideas :j Congrats on quitting smoking thats brill news.

Rummer I'm sure you are far better an artist than you let on. We'll be seeing your piccys in Tate gallery soon :T

Melonade hope you've found yourself some more time for the garden? I've only been to the allotment once this week because of the dark nights. Hopefully with the clocks moving this weekend I should be able to get there everynight. I'm slightly concerned I may get told off for not being down more frequently and I've been missing it chronically so must make some time - if only I were a magician or could win the lotto and pack in work :rotfl:

Jtb are you off down the allotment this weekend? you always seem to have so much on how do you fit it all in? You must tell me your secret

Well fingers crossed the weather will stay nice this weekend, I've just got to collect my new car (how boring) before I can go to the allotment (think I need to feign some excitment the sales man is more excited than me - but its just a box on wheels - although being pink is the exciting part :-)) I just want to go down to the allotment though and get working, or tea making and gossiping either will do. Intentions this weekend are to get the carrots sown and the onions in (hope thats not to late) also some garlic to go in. Then need to finish tidying the strawberries and build a trench for the beans.

Anywaycoffee stop and the big dig to be watched whilst I waste time waiting to get the car then off to play with mud :j :j :j :j :j

Happy gardening everyone

Frugaldom

The sun shone here today so we did more work on the poultry pens and moved an old clothes pole. The decking outside the greenhouse is now finished and that's been wood stained and I replanted my willow 'fedge'.

The salad leaves are flooding over the edges of their tub and I had to cover over the first of the potatoes. The snowball turnips have all survived the frost, although I think there may be a touch more of that tonight.

I hope it's sunny tomorrow, as I'd like to try and get grass cut and around the edges of the fences all strimmed and take a note of all progress so I can formulate a plan that will lead to this being a self-funding project.

Hope everyone has had a great day and managed to find time for the allotment/garden/greenhouse/shed and fingers crossed for tomorrow.

LauraD, I won't be keeping all the chicks I rear, they need to pay their own keep, so surplus will be rehomed or sold at market (not eaten).

Melonade

Laura D- No I still haven't found any time Could have some tomorrow if I have enough energy after getting up to watch the first F1 race of 2009!! I've decided that at minimum I need to strim, mark out and take the grass off the plot for my first raised bed. I know once thats done it'll be enough for me to see it through. I hope you get to spend some quality time at your plot :cool:

Tisme, I hope your back is feeling better soon :j

spirit

Morning all,

yes I was down at the lottie all day yesterday. I was pretty much a Billy-no-mates mind you :eek:. There was a stiff old wind down there which I reckon must have kept folk away

I dug 2 and a half more of the raised beds (dug the other half during the week). The polytunnel (still awaiting the delivery of the replacement polythene) has raised beds in it so I forked those over and got the annual weeds out. It has compost in there not soil so was quite easy to do. Then I wandered up to the lottie office/shed and bought some more compost to top them up. On the way back down to the lottie I spoke to a long-standing lottie tenant who gave me lots of advice and encouragement. I think we were the only 2 people up there yesterday! Oh and i've covered an area by the polytunnel with black sacking -which is just grass and weed at the moment. That will need digging somewhen. It was too windy yesterday but I might get round to weedkilling the bit at the back of the plot down by the fence. My shed will be going here once I can see the wood for the trees!

I've got 3 more raised beds to dig - probably today. Then there is the manure heap, with grass on top - to de-grass and then spread onto the beds. Once that is done I want to dig where the heap was and use that for my runners and peas. I figure the ground there should be quite good as it will have had the liquid manure running into the ground.

I'll take some more pics today to show progress.

How did everyone else get on?

jtb2412

Hi everyone

Just got back from a very productive day so i'll catch up a bit later (once I've had dinner and supped my glass of red ).

DH has been digging the large bed again today (I must remember to take the camera next time!) and i've nearly finished digging out all the weeds from the raised beds. One more to do and I've finished all of the raised ones.

It's hard going and I must admit I keep thinking 'what if we don't get it next year' but I've got to push that to the back of my mind and just focus on this year. I'm sure she will let us keep it in her name and we just pay the rent but everything is still uncertain and I hate uncertainty ! :mad: One of my bad points I'm afraid, I like to know where I stand .

Anyway not going to focus on the negatives, this is a positive thread !

Today I've sown carrots (carrot fly resistant supposedly ), salad (under cloches), spinach and I've planted out my peas that DS kind of 'borrowed' lol (we went fruit/veg picking at our local farm at the end of the season and he put all the dried pods in his pocket and brought them home :eek: :rotfl: ). So we dried them and i'm pleased to say that they've ALL germinated and seem to be very prolific ! I'm not sure what variety they are (they're a creeper and not a climber) but time will tell what produce we get from them. If it's a good yield then I might have to take DS down there at the end of this season .

I've also popped in some Cos lettuces that I started in the greenhouse, have fleeced them so hoping they'll be ok - twas a bit cold here last night.

Not much else done really as spent a bit of time nattering, as you do :rolleyes: but we're taking the second half slow and steady as it half killed us last time .

Plans for next week (as I think it's going to be nice) is to get some more seed started off, plant out my leeks in the nursery bed here in the garden and hopefully get down the lotty one day to do a bit more weeding in the last raised bed.

Picked a lovely lot of rhubarb again today so I'll weigh it later and enter it on my spreadsheet (savings of £15-odd so far this year and that's just the rhubarb ! :eek: )

Tomorrow is H/W day as it's been a bit neglected the last 3 days and I'll be mortified if we get any visitors . The fundraiser went excellently and we raised just over £300 so all my hard work was worth it. The girls had fun too which is the main thing and I think DH really enjoyed working on the cake stall (he made loads to sell and most of them did so he had a bit of a big head on last night :rotfl: ).

Right i'm off to get tea ......... back later to catch up and see what you've all been up to - hope you've all had a wonderful day .

Hope you all remembered to do your clocks - we forgot .

See ya in a bit xx

spirit

I don't think you were the only ones who forgot their clocks jtb2412. Deserted as the top deck of the titanic it was today. Well down my end it was! I'm plot no. 1 right at the bottom by the hedge! My neighbour (as in next door to house) came down to have a look and is going to make me a door for the polytunnel and put the shed up (when I've bought it :rotfl:

My back was aching a bit this morning but I set about digging the long grass out of the manure heap (see pics) http://s629.photobucket.com/albums/uu14/Spirit_010/

the manure is lovely well-rotted, non smelly stuff. Perfect for topping up the raised beds and digging some in to the ground where it is now.

I was there yesterday til 5 only stopping for half an hour for lunch and the same thing today.

what should i get planting sowing first?

oh and my hands are as dry as a nun's chuff now - any remedies for that folks :beer:

jtb2412

Evenin all, have been fed and watered and feeling a bit more 'with it' now

Nyk - love the pics of the chicks ! I still dare not look at the chicken thread on here . Have just been reading your webpages and getting up to date with your progress . The weather hasn't been too good here this week either but today has been good. I think it's looking pretty good next week down here too - what's the forecast up there?

TisMe - So sorry to hear about the back xx I must admit I was worried either me or DH would do our backs in when we were digging - it's so easily done and takes ages to get back to normal. I hope you're feeling a bit better now? We watch the gardening channel too (much to the groans of the kids :rotfl: ) .

Rummer - Did you get your planting rota sorted? We're still learning but i've been sowing seeds in succession hoping that will give us a bit of a constant supply. I'm sowing salad every 2 weeks, done 3 lots of cabbages now, carrots x 3, radishes x 3, beetroot x 3 and a few other bits. I'm going to do some more tomatoes next week and some more peppers as my last lot haven't moved and I need to get them going before time runs out (will put them in the heated propogator). The way we do it is the things that need to be in the ground for a long time (like cabbage, parsnip, brocolli etc) get planned for and the things that crop quickly (like radishes, salad, spinach) get planted anywhere we can find a space. I've got a garden and lotty plan and would be happy to send it to you so you can get a rough idea. Make sure you jot down what you've grown where so that next year you can make sure you rotate properly. Let me know if you want a nose at my plan (it's not very good ).

Melonade keep going hun ! Things can seem a bit daunting at first but you'll soon find your feet . Most of us bite off more than we can chew (including us with the lotty !) but we've knuckled down, read books, watched the gardening channel :rotfl: and learnt as we've gone along. I'm sure you'll be just fine. Ask any questions you want and we'll all try and help .

Laura hows it all going? Have you been down yours this weekend (I'm thinking you have because you've gone very quiet ! ). Had to giggle about your comment about me fitting it all in and having a secret ........ no secret ..... just plenty of enthusiasm and over-excitedness I think. I do tend to go to bed pretty early though - am an early riser so tend to get a lot done in the mornings before school/work. Working with kids helps keep me young too (and on my toes !) and if I'm doing something I enjoy then I'm happy to just keep plodding along . I do get tired sometimes though and have to reign myself in and think I must have a sit down. I do find it hard to sit down and do nothing though, am one of these people that if there's something to be done then I have to do it. Ants in my pants I think :rotfl:

Spirit you're doing really well ! Digging is hard work but strangely satisfying. I'm going to go and have a good nose at your pics in a minute when DH has made me a nice cup of coffee. I'm wondering if I'm the only one that loves looking at other people's allotment pics ....... am beginning to feel a little strange and obsessed :rotfl: .

Moozle - feel free to come and join in ! We're slightly crazy (and obsessed) but a friendly bunch - just a shame we all live miles away from each other - would be fun to all be on the same site :eek: :rotfl: . Can you imagine it !!!!??? !!!! We'd all be carted away in white jackets :rotfl: :rotfl: .

Right off for a nosy at spirits pics .......... have a great week everyone. Hopefully going back to ours on Tues to do some more .... will make sure I take the camera xxxx

Top_Banana_2

Rummer wrote: »

Top_banana How are the potatoes coming on?

I'm getting them in this week.

Do you think they are ready?:


Should I earth up mounds straight away, or let them grow up out of the soil first?

shaz_mum_of__2

Top banana i plant mine at that stage but wondered have you sprouted them in the light as some of the sprouts look a bit yellow but that could just be the picture

i use buckets for spuds but when i put in the ground i do make a little mound on top so i know wher they are more thann anything and then cover as they grow

my rocket spuds in the greenhouse are already at the top of the bucket i am amazed how quick they have grown I planted them all at same time but put in various temperature zones to try and ensure succession

Potted on 2 types of tomatoes yesterday so now have 68 plants if all the ones i have planted germinate as well i will have almost 300 plants..........gulp i did 12 varieties and obviously planted too many but am hoping that i can sell some alomg with 60 pak choi plants and 50 lettuces...........


Shaz