Our Allotment Journey - Day 1 !

Rummer

Shaz I really like your garden layout! I think I might do something similar myself with my larger beds.
Top_banana the potato rows great, I still haven't organised my potato bed :eek:and I really should get a move on with it.
Nykmedia fabulous news about the egg! It is so exciting when things start happening.
jtb2412 sorry to hear about the allotment problems but you have a whole plot for a whole year to enjoy.
Melonade how is the new bed coming on?

Well today I got up very early and spent hours in the rain lifting up the bark I laid in the front garden, digging over the soil and then planting some lovely ground cover plants so that in a few years I can focus only on the veg and fruit.

Then (still in the rain) I built exciting structures for my peas and beans and cane pyramids for my sweetpeas. I also made a path for round my pond. Then I planted hundreds of seeds and bulbs in my new cuttings bed so that I can enjoy fresh flowers indoors and outdoors over the summer.

Now that I am exhausted and have come in for a rest the sun is splitting the skys and I am not amused :mad:. Just typical! Too tired to go and do anymore, think I will have a nice cool drink and just sit and enjoy looking at all my hard work. Maybe tmrw I will get to work in the sunshine!

Frugaldom

Rummer, it sounds like you've done loads! I've done practically nothing 'frugal' in the garden today as it started pouring every time I went out, but the sun has now come out, so there's time to do something. have you any photographs of your pond, yet? I haven't even started mine.

During my brief visits to the garden, I did notice my onions have suddenly sprouted - it must have been all the rain. I picked another bowlful of salad leaves and we had them with open salad sannies at lunch plus gave some to the chicks and quail. Frugal poultry food growing here, too.

Going to dash out and take more photographs, water the seedlings in the greenhouse, inspect the square foot garden and cover over another couple of potatoes that have come through in the buckets.

have a good evening and I hope the sun's shining wherever you are for some evening gardening.

shaz_mum_of__2

nykmedia wrote: »

Shaz, that looks great! I think I can make out strawberries in the tubs, but what's that growing at the back? It looks really healthy and well grown compared to anything I have.

Theres spring cabbage , purple sprouting broccoli and ruby chard. I am planning a tour of the garden on the blog once i take a few more pictures

Rummer the layout was a fluke there was a patio there originally we just lifted up enough slabs to make the beds (then had to replace all the sand and gravel with soil :mad:) your flower planting sounds fun and will reward you come summer. i have more bulbs to plant(irises from £land) but am doing them in pots so i can place them where i want not where the birds move them!!

Shaz

Rummer

That's where I got my bulbs from too!

Top_Banana_2

I've added 'leaf mulch' to the gaps in my spud bed. Is this ok?:



I used this as the leaf mulch:

Does that look like leaf mulch? There is a massive pile of this stiff at the end of the allotment. I hope I've used the right stuf?! The picture is not very good, but underneath it is black, rotten, wet leaves.

Will it now rot down into the soil? Do I dig what's left of it after the spuds are gone into the ground? I hope I haven't ruined my bed.....?!

Thanks for your advice, by the way.

Keith

Is that the stuff the council leave? If so, they've done the same at mine but the old guys told me to leave it as it's full of shreaded weeds too

Melonade

WOW I love all the pics thanks everyone!!

I've still got to get wood for the raised beds... which have both been dug over, weeded, de-glassed and de-stoned and covered with carpet for now. Hopefully we'll sort it this w/e I need to fill in a small pond too, planning on planting sunflowers there... after I've put screening on the back fence that is :mad: Since I took the ivy down the stupid dog patrols up and down all day looking through the fence for cats. It's quite funny to watch tbh BUT he'll trample any sunflowers I plant :mad:

My son put 2 of his strwberry plants into their own pots yesterday and they now live in the garden :T Tomorrow we'll put the tomatoes in bigger pots and clear a few more weeds from round the fence :cool:

Can't wait to see some more pics soon :j

Rummer

Gutted. I got up early this morning looking forward to another productive day in the garden and it is pouring with rain :mad:. I have also run out of seed trays to plant up seedlings and I don't want to buy anymore so I am going to have a hunt to see if I can find my newspaper maker then brave the rain o get the compost bag into the greenhouse.

I so want a sunny day so I can get my beds organised and planted up!

Frugaldom

Rummer wrote: »

Gutted.... I so want a sunny day so I can get my beds organised and planted up!

Same here! It feels like we got 3 nice days and then told, 'that's it!' If I had taken the time to dig the pond, the thing would have been filled by now with the amount of rain we keep getting. Poor little lambs and calves in the fields must be wondering if this is what life is all about - being cold, wet and windswept! Feels like we're living in storm alley at the moment, no wonder my plastic greenhouse only lasted a couple of weeks here. :rolleyes:

Top_Banana, I don't think you'll have ruined your potato beds so don't worry too much. Mine doesn't even look like a potato bed as it has everything over it - wood ash from the fire, straw & shavings from the hens, well rotted manure, compost and any available soil that was dug from anywhere else. If it needs weeding now and again then so be it.

I spent about 90 minutes in the garden last night and managed to get a few more squares filled in my square foot garden, but will need to net it over the top now, as well, to stop the wild birds going into it. Luckily, one of my hens spends most of her time searching for snails, so that's one thing that should be less of a problem this year. (I hope.) Here's how it looks before netting goes over the top - I use cut off 2L drinks bottles as mini cloches for my 'delicates'

Top_Banana_2

Keith wrote: »

Is that the stuff the council leave? If so, they've done the same at mine but the old guys told me to leave it as it's full of shreaded weeds too

No, I think it's just the leaves that were collected from the plot last year/year before from Autumn.