Does anyone keep a gardening diary on MSE?

LavenderBees

LavenderBees

LavenderBees

LavenderBees

I have permission to feed these girlies (2 allotments away)with as many slugs/snails as I find...:j

LavenderBees

Not sure why...I'm currently moving the young runners to the edges of my cleared beds to give them a chance to root before winter. They're free plants, taking up no space on the edges...hopefully, will enjoy the fruits of this labour next year

Davesnave

It all looks pretty good to me, including the soil. :beer:

What's more, if people have the confidence to put up polytunnels and expensive chicken houses, vandalism & theft can't be too much of a problem either.

NinjaB

Well done you have really made some progress there

I forgot to mention Claires Allotment on youtube. She has a blog details on her youtube. She has helped me through so many "how do I do this" moments. She has her own allotment and just sets up her camera ... this is what I am doing today style. Her back catalogue pretty much covers everything so i always just search straight for her videos.

Oh ... except, I have a problem with swede ... They look like carrots, planted in March but havent swollen, if anyone could ask anyone they know if I should just give up now that would be great, I planted loads as I am in France and they are very expensive to buy. They don't really know them here but all I was told it perhaps too hot for them and to plant in summer so they are growing in autumn instead.

Horticultural fleece ... sounds grand but cost me £1 a go last year from a poundshop, was invaluable for the seed bed and covering the potatoes until frost risk had past.

Compost tea ... I found out about it after I had dug all mine in but will do it this year but I did nettle tea but have been too scared to use it silly me as I am not sure how strong it should be and worried I will kill plants. I have planted comfry ... looks like dock leaves and apparently is a bit of a tonic godsend but yet to actually use it.

Sorry I do go on but with the square foot gardening, as I had only found out about it after I made up my beds, with rubbishy pallets yours look lovely, mine werent in the sizes they suggest however I still marked off multiples of 12" when I planted, so far so good. I now just plant at whatever spacing between plants it says on the packets and ignore how much between rows is needed.

Last thought ... do you have mains water? If so do they shut it off in winter to avoid cracked pipes? If so, do you have sufficient water butts to catch enough water in to last at the beginning of the spring when you are perhaps doing seedlings? Maybe not a problem in the UK really however.

For your diary could you set up a blog? I would follow it

LavenderBees

A blog? :eek:

Gosh, I barely know how to log onto MSE :rotfl:I'd need to teach myself so maybe in the dark nights of winter when I can't "lottie", I will.

Have I invented a new verb? - "to lottie", "I will lottie", "I have lottied", and, of course, "I have been lottied" (as I moaned on Saturday night as I lay exhausted and aching in my bed):rotfl:

I did type a bit blurb last night but then everything hung up and I lost it, so I went to bed :mad:

OK - seriously now for a minute...I do feel like I made a lot of progress at the weekend, the digging was actually relatively easy - it is nice soil, Dave, you're right, and I've also green manured one small bed and half the large bed.

The other small bed had obviously been manured at some not so distant past with farmyard manure, and is lovely stuff, so I reckon I can plant into that without further ado. I just may be trying the square foot principle there...or my version of it anyway, Ninja

What else did I get up to? Oh, yes, meeting some of my lottie neighbours. Friendly, funny and very scathing of this newbie...good job I can laugh at myself :rotfl:

I've ordered or bought the following for sowing next weekend :eek: - garlic, onions (red & brown), broccoli (purple and white) and spring cabbage. All the labels said plant in Autumn. I avoided anything that didn't say this. Foolproof method of shopping, eh?

I've also ordered some tunnel cloches thingies from Am4z8n to keep the pesky birds off my precious seedlings, and note your point about fleeces, Ninja. I have, of course, ordered tropical weather for this winter for us all. Not sure of the delivery date, though .

I also was introduced to another fab forum by Sally A - if anyone wants those details, please PM me. Very friendly and helpful, and I've barely arrived. I'll be posting some piccies on there tonight.

What else? - oh yes, the paths around my marked out beds are just weeds and mud. Fine-ish if it's dry all the time, but horrible as soon as it rains, so I have a local blokey (is that cheating? ) coming to see me this evening to see what we can do about making better paths as cheaply as possible. I also want a cheap & cheerful fence putting up to grow things up.

The wood around my beds is rotting, I'm afraid. It looks ok in the photos but it's not good. That'll probably be a replacement job for next year or the year after if I can make them last that bit longer.

Davesnave, you're right, there is very little theft (to date, anyway) from these lotties. It's a secluded area and nicely brought up [STRIKE]kids[/STRIKE] children, too busy with violin lessons etc to be out rampaging. Havng said that, there were mutterings yesterday that some radishes had disappeared :eek:. Many of the allotments had tools left strewn outside etc...mine come home with me, but mainly to keep the weather off them rather than worrying about theft. But also, why tempt someone?

The downside to my lottie - there's a downside?? :eek: - without doubt is the shade cast by a tree on the west side. Hmmm...Gorgeous sunny plot until about midday, and then doom and gloom until much later in the afternoon (after 5pm)

OK...my next question for all you experts is, I'm going to be planting broccoli at the weekend, and I apparently need to use a general fertiliser - Fish, Blood & Bone, do it, you think?

And another question - I'd love to get some fruit bushes for this Autumn, but it's a small plot, so I probably only want one raspberry bush, one gooseberry etc, or do I? I'd be wanting to use the fruit for sprinkling on my brekkies, and also maybe a little jam making...how many bushes of each would you recommend, and are there any fab varieties I shouldn't live without? Where would I be able to order just a small amount of something?

Oh, back to work now...I can't honestly fit in work anymore. The Lottie is taking over my life

NinjaB

I am afraid I know very little about fertiliser so can't advise and as for planting now well apparently according to a chap down the allotment today I have done everything wrong so feeling a bit wounded. I planted according to what the seed packets said and he laughed at me saying I was wrong and too late now to do anything about it. He is probably right, the weather is different here and my swedes are all in the bin now and the brocolli all bolted and my cauli turned yellow which I all planted in march, i planted a bit more in May and they seem better. I don't think I have the experience to advise re the fruit bushes, I have about 8 canes of raspberries which were preexisting. They had been mown to the ground before I took the allotment. Only two produced fruit this year. Apparently there are different types that fruit at different times and I would check out which you need to get depending on when you want your fruit. For jam some ready all at the same time would be a good idea but for eating spreading it a bit? I may get some more next year but waiting for all this year to finish in case I get some autumn ones so I know what I have. Maybe people on the allotment are clearing their raspberries up a bit ... they are a bit like weeds and go everywhere so they might have a few canes going spare. Perhaps a note on the noticeboard if you have one? "all donations gratefully accepted"? Lidl and Aldi tend to have deals around when things need to be done in the garden so maybe they have canes?

I am planting cabbage seeds just now, chard is a good one apparently it comes back in the spring too. I worry I am too late here for seed planting brassicas so shall look in the local shop and see if they have any plants.

I just found this site http://www.rosendale-allotments.org.uk/?page_id=13&ID=9 to help with what to plant when and they have a newsletter by email for non members too. I would be happy if you would PM the forum you know of

It does takeover especially at the beginning but I feel more in my stride now things are a bit organised though I just wish I had a bit more knowledge so I could feel confident when I plant things instead of being unsure then just putting them in the bin when they fail. Ah well, learning all the time

LavenderBees

Ah, Ninja, you sound a little downhearted tonight. Chin up...as you say, you're learning all the time, but it must be difficult with the added dimension of gardening in a strange country. Can you maybe copy your allotment neighbour for a while...he'd probably get a kick out if helping you...I hope, anyway. One of the reasons I wanted an allotment was to learn from others and in due course help others.

I'll PM you the site asap. everyone seems very friendly, although again tonight, time has run away with itself and I haven't manage to get on there yet...

Tonight, though, without me lifting a spade, my lottie has made more progress. "My" handyman is onboard with providing a fence as a boundary/climbing aid, paths, and replacing some of the very rotted wood around the beds. He also thinks he'll be able to source and deliver manure for me. Bless him, he was as enthusiastic as I am, and has offered to use reclaimed materials where possible, and try to give them to me free.e.g. he has a fence post in his garage, and his friend has another couple stashed away. There was already one down the side of my compost bin, so almost there for a free fence. He will, of course, charge me for his labour. Fair do! :T He's high on my list of people to give some produce to, should I actually manage to produce any

Mind, it was cold and wet on the lottie tonight, and I got very chilled. Still sitting here clutching my hwb. I'm going to have to toughen up (or wear warmer clothing :rotfl:) .