New allotments Autumn 2010 Chat

Jake'sGran

I have just received an email from The Book People advertising their annual sale and one of the first books on the list is THE VEG PATCH. It was £12 and is now £2. I am hopeless at doing links but if you just Google "The Book People" it will take you straight there.

dogstarheaven

hiya all! i've not been down much to mine either. now that Xmas and all that is over with, and the weather's been milder than expected, I went over at the w/e and emptied our kitchen waste into the composter (that's all i've been doing in the past month!). noticed that 1 out of 4 garlic varieties is growing v. nicely. shot up to 6". not sure what's happened to the other 3 tho'. planted out some Carvelo De Nero Kale and hopefully, might get a nice crop by mid-Spring, if the weather keeps going the way it has been. I had tried it some time ago, and wasn't that blown away by it, but recently, had it in a casserole and it was sosooso sweet. best veg from the Brassica Family of all-time, I reckon. Hence, my planting 11 plants!

it's been really hard going digging the lotti since the autumn harvests. most of you might think of me being lazy, but the rain and coldness was the main reason for not going. but now the NY has arrived, and the weather a bit nicer, I am going to make more effort in digging over the beds, and getting out more of the weeds. with all the seed catalogues that keeping arriving in the post, i can see myself accumalating more plants to plant out soon...

had a non-gardening friend visit recently and said he'd support me in sorting out my lotti which is nice, but i know it'll take a v. passionate gardener to want to help me out more than the obligatory first digging session, coz i know he'll prob. not wanna help me again!!

it looks a bit of a state really, now that everything's died back. bit of stray wooden planks, fencing, plastic sheeting, piping etc. strewn all over the space. felt a bit embarrassed really as i'm sure my friend was expecting a well-ordered type of plot. have any of you guys felt like this when you've had non-gardening friends visit your 'work-in-progress' new lottis? i tell them that i grow flowers too, but they never flowering at the time when they visit!

dogstarheaven

oh, forgot to tell you -

remember last Tuesday's dreadful wind and rain? well, when i went down on Sat. noticed 2 out of 4 sprouting brocolli plants had fallen down. they're still ok, but i didn't really have the time to rectify them. will do on Wed!

other jobs that i might do whilst i'm there:-

finish off the new pond - fill in the sides and dig out surrounding weeds
dig over all the beds. fruit bed definitely needs it, tho' not sure what to do about the old stems of summer-fruiting raspberries. they're looking v sprawling atm...
weed/dig around the front of the shed to make room for climbing plants that i'd like to transfer from home pots.
etc.,
etc.,

the list is endless, and no doubt, i'd probably just tackle one thing on Wed, and not expect too much of myself. One thing I've been doing is taking more photos (from my phone as I don't have a camera anymore) as a way of keeping a record of how the lotti evolves over a course of the yr.

oh and yes, nearly forgot.. wilko's have got some of their gardening supplies in already. today, i snapped up a 3-variety pack of raspberries for £3.98 but only bought it for the 'Polka' late variety. am keen to see what else that will come in from Wilko's. I'm after a blueberry replacement as the one i bought last yr, didn't get looked after properly...and died w/o enough water (bad girl, i am!)

mary1

I go down the allotment everyday to check on hens morning and night. I have been recycling there waste and digging it into the trench we have been digging. This year we should have some nice crops coming through.
Our garlic is growing the hens don't like it so it is surviving nicely. The onion seedlings have grown in the greenhouse. These need protecting from the hens though.

I can see I will have to section part of the allotment off to the hens. They will be feed some veg just need it to get established first. They have not touched the large celery, strawberry's or cabbages last year. I just think they like the new little shoots. lol. I have started a blog about our allotment it has taken so long to get one that I need a record of events to see what works and doesn't also it will keep is motivated looking at photo's throughout the year.

Moving onto Feb planting veg in greenhouse next.

lution

I'm really looking forward to getting some hens on the allotment this year. I dug in a run around 6 inches into the ground. Will this be sufficient to keep out the crafty fox.

diddly74

I am in a quandry whether to keep my allotment on.

1, last year was our first year and frankly we didn't really get started. It was my 3rd yr training as a nurse so I didn't have much free time, Hubby isn't particularly interested in growing things (tho he does help when I make him go). I am worried that I won't have the time this year either once I get a job.

2, Rent costs are £100pa (not council but a private landlord), due in April with a new association being set up as we speak which has a membership of £10pa, and there was also talk at the meeting we had this week of a possible option of paying an extra £70 and becoming a tennant farmer (???) Trouble with all this is that I may have passed my course and am now a nurse, but I haven't found employment!

3, We can't have a shed. :eek: The Local District council are objecting to the allotmenteers having sheds for storage etc. Apparently there has been a complaint that they are spoiling the view. Honestly I can't see the problem as long as they are kept in good condition - but that is why we are creating an association to fight the council. WE need sheds, you can't carry tools there everyday, you need somewhere to shelter from the rain, and there are no facilities so you need somewhere to put ur bucket!!!!

So there you go - what ya think? Do I give it up or carry on? I want to but I am worried that I will be time poor (to give to the lottie), cash poor and frankly I don't want to be there if I can't have a shed .

orchidpepper

Diddly74 , thats a lot of money. £170 a year for a hobby is pretty cheap though. Depends how much you enjoy it. Are there any council run allotments in the area? Although I waited 6 years for mine.
Could you maybe share it with someone to bring down the costs?

No shed is a bit of a bummer though.....

loucroft

Hi, great to hear about hens and everything

Can I ask anyones opinion - I've a compost bin (plastic, large) in my garden and I noticed when I was putting in some veggies that it had gone down a bit. I thought 'fab, is composting and breaking down' but then saw a hole.

I put my stuff in, then looked at the bottom - there are two places where the bin has shifted and there is compost that has been dragged out.

So theres something in there, but what could it be? this is not a self made compost bin so don't think its hedgehogs..

whatever it is, makes me shiver every time I go near it now so aside from it being a pleasure and something to help my plants, its strange approaching it!

What could it be?

diddly74

gayle21 wrote: »

Diddly74 , thats a lot of money. £170 a year for a hobby is pretty cheap though. Depends how much you enjoy it. Are there any council run allotments in the area? Although I waited 6 years for mine.
Could you maybe share it with someone to bring down the costs?

No shed is a bit of a bummer though.....

Long waiting list for the council allotments, which is why I went for the private one.

Not having a shed is driving me nuts :mad: it makes me not want to be there. The site needs a lot of work, and although my MIL says she will help - she did not do much at all last year as not having a shed or facilities is a negative for her too, as she has to get the bus to the lottie when I am not around and frankly can't go a whole day without a wee!

She is however going to speak to one of her friends and see if she and her husband want to come in with us. That way costs will be spread and the land can provide more than enough for us all if we manage it right.

ANY_CHANCE

I'm still waiting in hope for the allotment, a year has gone by just another 1 and 1/2 to go!!