How to Get Through The Tough Times The Old Style Way.

flowertotmum

Morning all...well no yellow ball here today,got lots of clouds and windy..hung the washing out and got cold..
Our lotties are owned by a private estate and we have recently got a new chairwoman on the committee..seems like she is doing a good job of it so far,caused a bit of uproar with the water bill but thats worked out fine..even though some left in disgust over it..example..you pay for the plot without water you cannot use the water tap..this was broken as lots of them used it..or you pay for the plot plus water tap..they were the ones moaning..so to make it fair she said everyones rent was going up to pay for the water tap and everyone could use it..the older ones who didn't want to pay for the water but still wanted to use it complained and were told by her if you don't like it you can leave ,,so several plots are now available..got to give it to her she is good..no nonsense woman i like her...
Well fern is back at school for 3 days..she had an accident last night typical..she has badly skinned her knees and hands..poor baby..they really are a mess..look all swollen this morning and she was limping on the way to school...gave note to her teacher and asked for her not to have to kneel down at storytime..had to go and pay for her milk too...money ,money,money ...al they seem to want from you these days.
Had a bit of a bargain delivered this morning...boden send me now and again a voucher for a fiver,never bought from them but get emails and catalogues...well they sent me a £10 voucher plus code for free p&p..checked it out it all seemed ok..so i went on and got my son a jacket reduced from £40 to £10..put it in my basket and then the code for p&p..got it for free delivered this morning..its lovely nice and thickish for autumn..i know i know its coming to summer..but will come in handy and even better coz it was free..thats my favourite word FREE...
Hope your all ok today , hugs to all that need them..
Got to go or my dandelion tea will be cold..thats a real booster for your energy levels..
Love to you all
ftm

grandma247

Our water is in with the rent because they have a water meter. We are encouraged to use big blue barrels for rain water storage as that keeps the bill low.

EstherH

Grandma247, did I read that right? You put paper down and then compost on top and then you plant and it stops the weeds? I am sure I am missing something here. If I have that bit right, then how much paper, will any paper do? We have loads of paper from a laser printer that it is printed on wrong and needs shredding. If I could put it straight in the ground, that would be great.

purpleheather2810

It's certainly the case at our allotments that people who don't make a reasonable effort to keep their plot under control will be warned and then turfed out. Don't get me wrong, ours is not exactly manicured. We don't believe in spraying it with anything, keeping things as organic as we can. Therefore we have our fair share of weeds to contend with :O Especially Mare's tail (sp??)

kezlou

Hippeechiq i grow basically everything in pots and bags.
Last year i grew salad leaves in milk cartons, just chopped the top off and put soil off.

I also used old plastic boxes, like the ones which you put toys in etc. They great and if your lucky come with handles. Just put some holes in the bottom for drainage.

As for tomato feed, i bought one 1.5l tub last year and its still full.
B&Q sell 125l of compost for £6.89, i've just went and bought some today. Good value and its a massive block.

I also got a box with circles in them which shops use to carry plant pots in. Great for growing lettuces in. B&Q mnormally give them away for free. Oh and pundland is selling three large pots for a £1 again, i also buy the tomato feed form there.

Growing tatties in a growbag.
Turn the growbag so it up right, slit of the top. Dump a spud in it, c9ver with soil. Then half way down, make a slit in it and put another potato in. Just make sure to water it. When the plants die off, slit the growbag on its side, fish the spuds and reuse the compost for salad leaves etc. I do this every year and its really well.

maryb

Ceridwen, I put my name down for an allotment a couple of years before I expected to have much spare time and it came up quicker than expected. However it had had a whole load of old wood dumped on it because the previous tenant was into grand schemes which mostly never got any further than squirrelling away all sorts of junk that might come in useful. He was building a shed from old pallets and fence panels but had only got the base and the uprights in. We debated whether it was cheaper to start from scratch but we decided to finish it in the end - and yes, it did cost us more. What was left of the plot that wasn't covered in junk was covered in brambles and nettles

Anyway, the point of this rambling background is that it took so much work to clear the allotment that we couldn't do anything the first year - we took it over in late autumn and didn't manage to do more than clear the junk. So I ordered a huge roll of black plastic and we strimmed the whole plot and covered it in plastic. And left it.

Next year we only managed to dig one bed and grew potatoes which kept the weeds down. Then I took early retirement and next year we managed to get the whole plot cleared and planted - with mixed success. (Then I had to have an operation on my hand so couldn't do much and it got away from me again).

But black plastic works very well against really bad weeds and is totally organic. The thing is, you have to leave it for a long time to work. So if you want to get a foothold on the waiting list but you are worried about being booted off if you can't give it the time it needs, then just cover most of it in black plastic and do what you can.

Just don't use old carpet - I'm still excavating stuff that people thought was a good idea to put down years ago and it gets so heavy. It never rots because you don't get pure wool any more

EstherH

Maryb, where do you get the black plastic from and how much does it cost. I have loads of horsetail coming up in mine, think this may be the same as mares tail which was mentioned a couple of posts back. Feathery kind or weed which has sprouted up all over? Anyway, I have been told the only way to get rid of it is to dig out everything else and put black pastic down for a couple of years.

flowertotmum

grandma247 wrote: »

Our water is in with the rent because they have a water meter. We are encouraged to use big blue barrels for rain water storage as that keeps the bill low.

Meant to say we have water barrels too..all over the lotties..hubs never uses the water tap but doesn't mind paying for it as you never know:D...
ftm

flowertotmum

Hello to PepPop..welcome..you still reading lol..
ftm

RAS

ceridwen wrote: »

I've got a little something nagging at my memory re uncultivated allotments - as I did wonder some years back whether it would be worth my while to get hold of an allotment before the current fashion for them started up (ie I would have been able to get one easily at that point in history - whereas now people are often finding that the waiting lists are being manipulated by not letting people put their name on them in the first place:cool:).

My idea was to leave the allotment be until the (many) years hence when I would finally have the time to deal with it (ie because of being retired) or if I became unemployed before that point. At that point - I was going to start work on it at last...but would have just made sure I had it before everyone else was asking for one too (as they have been for the last few years - because it has now become fashionable).

I did wonder how the other allotment holders would react to an allotment being just left - whilst I waited for more free time.

Subsequently - I heard somewhere or other something about Councils now having powers to take allotments back off people who arent actually working them (as I remember thinking "How do I explain to the Council that I really DO intend to work it - but am waiting for ".

When I took my first plot in this city, there were only about 6 of us on large site; which the then parks Manager was trying to run down and divest to a community group. Today it is a thriving if rather chaotic site. My next plot was allocated by a National Allotment Association rep after he was stupid enough to tell me he had nothing suitable for a lady! Around about 2 square metres dug and the rest jungle, hiding a quite a lot of fruit. I got on top of that before moving house.

So in those days, in some places you might have got away with a token gesture. In others, definately not. Our current committee seem to have got the message that two-monthly inspections which led about half the plot holders getting amber notices, including one who had just signed up and one who had the audacity to grow FLOWERS is a bit OTT.

I spotted a plot yesterday that has some attention for the first time this season. I suspect the holder has recieved the dreaded amber notice.These days you really do need to show that at least half the plot is under cultivation and that you are getting more and more done each year.

I would not get away with the plots that one of my fruit growing acquaintences runs either; he grows fruit and runs most of them as an orchard, with a couple of small beds for annuals. As long as the grass is cut his committee are happy.

Until three years ago, I had Mr Muck and his family one side; who came in turned everything upside down several time a year (after the Amber letter usually), used anything they wanted off other plots and then disappeared and a lovely but aging old Polish gent whose son turned over half to two thirds every year, meaning that the other third had not been dug since heaven knows when. When he finished, the poor half was taken by a couple who had no clue and left after a year. So I have been fighting the invading bind weed, couch grass, horsetail, and creeping thistle at the far end for years. Only now I am really get on top of it, as each year's work improves the situation rather than just puts it back where it was the year previously. Neither of these old neighbours would survive under the current regime.