Our Allotment Journey - Day 1 !

Laura_D_3

Hi all

I've just spent 4 hours moving the horse poo from the drive into a stack of 2 tractor tyres - ready for the melons when they get a bit bigger, also wangled 12 of those builders (tonne) bags you were mentioning NYK and filled one of those for pumpkin and cucumber, it took forever.... If I don't have the best pumpkins in the world I'll be distraught :rotfl:

Shaz I'm loving your living wall - I'm thinking you've been taking inspiration from Chelsea. I want a living wall like they have at the shows but can't work out how to do it on the cheap, it'll come to me. Maybe I could re-stitch my builders bags and put soil in them with holes for the veggies to ooze out of......

Don't suppose any one has any tips on how to make cheap greenhouse shading, it seems rather expensive so any suggestions would be gratefully received.

I've got my work canteen collecting egg shells for me this week so hopefully that should stop the slugs :T:T

Happy gardening all x

rhiwfield

Laura, only cheap greenhouse shading I know of is coolglass, sorry, no other ideas.

Just been out watering the spuds and the container veg, supposed to be 26C here today, had to water hanging baskets 3 times yesterday!

shaz_mum_of__2

Hi laura i did see the green walls at chelsea but had seen a gardeners world special weeks before about some famous designer in europe who does living walls for public buildings then joe did a cheats version using an old bookshelf and adding timber to create a vertical grid then filled with soil and covered with weed control fabric then cut holes and planted in it (hmm not explained that well)

the planters i bought were a quid each and i have used 5 but hope to have 15 up by next year ................run out of horizontal space , now were going vertical


Shaz

shaz_mum_of__2

Spent the morning reclaiming the patio ..............ie making it suitable for people not trays of plants waited to be planted..lol






looking so much better , hubby has bought me an early anniversary present....the olive tree in the foreground ...it actually has olives on it too!!!!(sorry nyk)

The herb rockery is my hit list project for the weekind and will do a blog post after its finished

Have a great weekend

Shaz

rhiwfield

Despite the rain not a wasted day. Pricked out another 100 foxgloves as well as betony seedlings, and divided bugle and repotted. Now have lots of celltrays and pots full of lupins, hollyhocks, foxgloves and aubretia for autumn planting in the new long borders and have loads of asters and dahlias that will need to be planted out soon for late summer flowers.

For the wildflower bed to be planted up this autumn I've now got bugle, betony, pulmonaria, violets and borage. Only thing I've got to track down are half a dozen devils bit scabious plants (succisa pratensis) to complete the planting, but the online prices are horrendous. If need be I'll try sowing seed from this year's wild flowers but they are supposed to be difficult to germinate and that will mean at least a year delay.

Had visitors to the garden yesterday and have since spotted several seedlings accidentally trampled. Without going into detail why, its quite weird picking immature beans knowing that you cant use the produce. Even though there was a good reason, your mind still rebels from picking broad beans in early June!! Still, at least the early potatoes didnt disappoint, though yields were lowish and the two ripe strawberries were sacrificed too, tho at least I got to eat them later. I shelled the broad beans and had the tiny beanlets with dinner, nice but less than a spoonful!

More gooseberrise to pick when we find some jamjars

shaz_mum_of__2

rhiwfield

your garden sounds lovely and cottagey with all those foxgloves , lupins and hollyhocks i love dahlias too but never grown any my fave is Bishop of LLandaff

Shaz

rhiwfield

shaz_mum_of__2 wrote: »

rhiwfield

your garden sounds lovely and cottagey with all those foxgloves , lupins and hollyhocks i love dahlias too but never grown any my fave is Bishop of LLandaff

Shaz

Thanks Shaz, hope it looks ok next year, this year the new borders are a real heinz 57 with runner beans, spare toms, bedding plants, cornflowers and a cottage garden annual mix. Oh and bindweed in industrial quantities. Dahlias were dwarf double mixed, 60p from Wilko and dead easy to grow.

Looking at your lovely patio I couldnt quite make out whether its candles on the table or you havent cleared up from last nights shot party

Frugaldom

Sounds busy in here, love the patio, Shaz, and I also love the sound of all those Foxgloves and Hollyhocks, rhiwfield. I just don't have the space for flowers other than the few spring bulbs that can be moved to make way for the veggies.

The builders' rubble sack still remains as storage for the straw. A ton of compost to fill it makes it a bit of a no go for me, financially, especially as it would be impossible to find a space where I could guarantee no feathered or furry livestock could gain access.

I've managed to move quite a lot out into the garden from the greenhouse, there are peapods coming on my early plants and blackcurrants on the bushes. We are some way behind the warmer south, so I'm not expecting much before the end of June. (Last year it was 24th/25th June before I got my first early potatoes.)

The bottom 'layer' has been built for my wooden 'potato well', as recommended in the link posted by Shaz recently. I can hardly wait to find out what sort of quantities this of potatoes this method will produce; it's certainly an exciting project.

Going back out now to tie up some more of the peas, pot up more peppers and check for more eggs, seeing as the hens seem to be hovering outside the livingroom window just now.

Quite bright here now, only one shower today but an almighty, although brief, hail storm last night cleared the muggy air.

shaz_mum_of__2

rhiwfield wrote: »

Looking at your lovely patio I couldnt quite make out whether its candles on the table or you havent cleared up from last nights shot party

they are citronella candles .........................yeuchy midges

Laura_D_3

Morning all, I haven't been to the lottie for a week due to all this rain which has caused severe pangs of distress so today to my great excitment I woke up and saw the sun shining, so I've called in for a duvet day yipeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee :j:j And no thats not taking a sickie we're allowed 3 last minute days of holiday a year :T:T So my boss does know I'm going out gardening....

This rain seems to be helping everything grow but still no sign on rice in the paddy pool :eek: I wonder what treasures (or destruction) await down at the allotment I'll keep you all posted.
Happy gardening x