New allotments Autumn 2010 Chat

scotsaver

Still not had any decent Rain down here so off to the Allotment to water again today.;)

CommitedToChange

you can have some of our rain - I need to dig in another two beds but need a couple of dry days as my soil is quite clayey (you know what I mean). Seems quite dry today so I'm hoping I'll be able to get down their tomorrow. We've had some cracking downpours recently - and even some hail :eek:

Now I'd like the sun back please

CommitedToChange

And of course it's been raining all day

dogstarheaven

sorry peeps, not been on for ages.. too busy working on my lotti unlike some of you! (hehehe)

we only had 2 lots of 15 mins downpours last week, and last Sun. 1 hr light shower..so in Notts, it's still v. dry for us...

here's my update since I last wrote:



8 x 4 shed nicely installed on top of paving slabs (2nd hand off Gumtree for £50, and £1 slabs each - bargain!!)
next to that a bath that our 'bottom' neighbour kindly brought round for us
frog pond - taddies still developing their legs
Lil' Gem hearting v. nicely - crop early next week - 20 all at the same time!
Potato bed - 23 tubers out of 30 are up
broad beans - 6" tall and prob. another 2 weeks to flower - dreading the blackfly tho'
brassica bed - net framed - doing well, just added a couple more Chinese veg (first crop was last Sun - Choi Sum - v. yum sauteed with garlic and olive oil)
ornamental bed made on top of mound near shed - Iris Chrysographes (black iris) v. pretty flower atm, next to Red Mustard, some grasses, herbaceous fragrant blue clematis, viburnam 'dawn', globe artichoke plantlets, herbs and a wigwam of Mange Tout ('Golden Sweet' heritage yellow-podded) and some yet to be germinated night-scented flowers (good for moths, food for bats as we've seen quite a few Pipistrelles)
Comfrey Bed - started to flower which I had to whip off as it's their first yr, and wanted them to concentrate their energy to getting themselves established.. Pity tho', as the bees love them
Onion Bed - mulched 2 weeks ago when the Site brought over a Leafmould dump - this hopefully will keep down the weeds as weeding between onions is vvv tedious/dangerous (as you could damage them). They're 10" tall now, v. healthy! need to seaweed feed them soon as forgot last w/e.

Failures:

Direct Sown - Beetroot, Carrot, Spring Onion, Scorzonera, Chard.. only a couple of each (except Scorzonera) have come up.. Have indoor sown beetroot which I hope will take soon...

From the above bed, have been v. foolish and impatient to get seed-sowing in March without turning the bed over to check on missed weed roots...Guess what? There's allsorts of annual weeds/thistles that come up every day on it... seems futile to expect much on this bed. Do you think I should start over and dig it all thru'???

diddly74

I have been to my allotment today - A few things planted, but now have to be moved, as I realised that how I had the plot laid out all wrong, there was no way I was going to get a decent amount of growing space the way I had it. I know this has probably messed up my cropping for this year, but as I have only had the plot for a few weeks. I plan to follow along the lines of Patti Moreno (Garden Girl TV) in Boston, Massachusetts.

One crop that won't be moved are the green beans (bed can be moved after crops finished) - I personally don't like them - but the MIL does and so does the rest of the family!

So off back to the lottie tomorrow with the kids (half term week) and gonna get it all sorted - next job is to source a shed! Need it - fed up of carting the tools back and forward already! lol

scotsaver

Had a nice day up at the Allotment today, spent most of the time Watering and Weeding but also put in some Purple Sprouting Broccoli. Still got a few gaps to fill in, have some Fennel, celeriac, Butternut Squashes etc in the Greenhouse waiting to go up to the Allotment - plant to take everything remaining up to the Allotment on Saturday.

So far this year I've picked Strawberries, broad beans, radish and salad leaves.;)

How is everyone else doing?:D

loucroft

Ooh, they all sound good scotsaver and its worth having a shift around diddly, because when you get it laid out just how you want it, it'll be hard to change it around!

We are having a fab time, cuc's came up and are fruiting but anything I sowed in my garden didn't come up..... carrots at the allotment didn't come up, twice, but the squash is flourishing (10 on one plant) and we've a tonne of tomatoes and cabbage.

Does anyone know what we can sow now?

dogstarheaven

hey

been in a new job since march, so all my energies gone in a 50hr week, so am left feeling v. guilty about the lotti being visited just at the w/ends. it's mighty successful in the weed kingdom. we've got everything from bramble, nettle, shepard's purse, euphorbia, marestail et al romping away in the uncultivated parts of the lotti (about 2/3rds).

since my last visit on this thread, i've just finished the last of my lil' gems and green mustard and still cropping the CCA (cut n' come again) salad leaves, raspberries, 2nd early tatties, broad beans. this week shall be cropping my 1st batch of mange tout (v. successful!)

and here's the rest of the lotti veg:

- onions still bulbing up and growing well
- home garlic leaves drying out (ready to lift prob end of july)
- celeriac; sweetcorn, courgette, squash getting bigger (last three interplanted into same bed)
- runner, borlotti and french beans ok, but should of grown them up string/canes as they're against chicken wire so not as tall as they could be, still they're starting to flower now
- globe artichokes more established now
- jerusalem artichokes coming into bud
- winter radish ready (i know they're meant to be winter ones, but these are massive and have started to run to seed)
- summer cabbage, PSB and kale growing big so netted frame will have to be made taller!
- comfrey bed - bees enjoying the flowers
- swiss chard - 6" tall and looking bright n' cheerful ('rainbow lights')
- tomatos picked up and growing well, just started to flower some of them
- shark's fin melon - only at the 6 leaf stage, but no doubt am prepared to train it against the hedge to avoid shading out nearby plants.

all in all, it's been really hard work managing the lotti. sometimes when the weather's been too hot, I can only manage 5hrs at the most, and then I'd have to come back on the Sunday and do a bit more. the weeding's been the most difficult task, i think. harvesting is the easiest and most enjoyable, so i tend to leave that to last. i've found a new friend who's able to supply me with weekly grass mowings as a way to mulch my bare earth.

hope everyone's well and happy with their growing. do any of you feel bad for not maintaining their plot enough? somehow, i long for the winter so that everything's died down, and it'll be easier to kill/dig up the weeds... (not a killjoy really:o but seeing all this rampant weed growth, it's a bit disheartening to see it after a week's absence)

dogstarheaven

loucroft: you can sow another batch of Runner Beans this month as a late crop for September. I shall get round to doing that at some point this w/e. I've prepared another trench with kitchen compost for it already. I'm not really sure about other veg to grow - have you got a copy of the Vegetable Expert, I don't mine here at home as it's in the lotti shed where I tend to need it for referencing spacings on young seedlings..

angieplus4

hi every one only got my allotment 3 days ago and have been up and cleared half of it. really eager to get growing so thinking about what to grow this time of year any suggestions would be great, also have 4 children ranging between 3 and 8 so want something that grows quicky to keep them interested. i know we will need plenty of potatoes i belive ther is a late variety. also was wondering if any one has ideas for bind weed to get rid of it i mean. my plots under some trees so morning shade till about 1pm then full sun till dusk . would love to grow apples but i would need a minature tree.
excited about the fruitful future:j