The 2015 Allotment / Veg Patch Thread - it's here!

[TheSpottedZebra]

Yes, it's the thread you've all been waiting for, a place to chit chat about your allotment or fruit and veg patch - however big it may be. Even if it currently only imaginary or no bigger than a pot of growing basil from the supermarket.

Come discuss your plans, your seeds, your learnings from previous years and your goals for this year. All levels of knowledge welcome, from absolute beginner, to enthusiastic 2nd year-er (me!), to anyone else.

I have not covered any of mine, so not bought/salvaged any- but mink suggested cardboard - could you start with that?

I've been collecting cardboard too but I don't have anything to mulch it with per mink's suggestion I've found a supply of manure but it's all brand new. I have no compost, leaf mould, nothing! I will be better prepared next year but had not expected to get allotment so am utterly starting from scratch.

Mystic are ya better prepared than me?! I have (some) time, but no stuff! Unfortunately also no clue.

Ya? I meant you. Autocorrect seems to have tuned into a teen?

spotted I'm all set. Got my sowing planned, know which bed is for which (for crop rotation), tools waiting for me in the garage, just need to get out there.

spotted - can you weigh down cardboard with anything to start with, and then as you weed, chuck the weeds on top? - a blog I was reading bought spent mushroom compost to put on top ( no idea where you get that from though) or, if you are not planning on using the bit that you cover this year, can you put the fresh manure on it as an impromptu manure heap?

I wouldn't put weeds on top. They may regrow. (You can drown weeds in a barrel to make liquid fertiliser)

You can put fresh manure if you are leaving it to weather down.
Or if your allotment has an arrangement to buy in builders bags of compost?
Or check with council to see if they make compost.
Or if you are near the sea, get seaweed (wash it) and use that. The brassicas love it!

Failing that just lay planks of wood over it. But try not to put it down on frost. Do it after the soil is sun warmed.

Mine is mostly covered in planks this year as i didn't have time to get much to put over it. Just a bit of seaweed and some fresh chicken coop sweepings which are now weathering down

Will try to move some of the allotment leaves over and buy in some compost. And try to avoid my stalker jumping in to help.

I will be putting down polythene in a couple of weeks to start the warming procrss

spotted no..some weed membrane is worse tjan useless. Weathers down to quick. Shreds and the crows poke holes in it. I got mine off the internet. It has green lines making checks on the black iyswim. It is heavier weight and better. Buy something reasonably heavy is my advice.

Likewise not all bird netting is equal.

Lots of good advice mink - having a bit of a day! I suppose I was thinking the weeds would rot down - hadn't really considered them regrowing!

Ooh thank you so much for all this excellent advice. mink I think I've found that green checky one on ebay, so I'll buy some of that. And will only put it down on unfrosted ground!

It's odd, I've not spotted a single other person at the allotment. Just me, a cat and some birds. So I've got job etc ask about compost deliveries, or anything at all, in fact! Am nowhere near coast for seaweed alas. But we do have council compost collections, so i will figure out how to get some of the result back.

Thanks again!

If you can find people to share with, or you want a fair amount Capatex ground cover textiles are very good quality. I bought 100 metres approx 8 - 10 years ago and it's still all in excellent condition. (You need to melt the edges when you cut it is the only thing to stop fraying)

Do any of you put weeds in the compost and hope the heat kills it? I burn weeds which is a hassle. Like your idea to drown them for liquid fertiliser mink.

Realised today that we have rats in our compost bays I'm vigilant about not throwing meat etc into kitchen scraps so don't know what else to do. Need to turn the compost but I'm terrified now that one is going to jump out at me!

Another problem I have is that our cats have been using our raised beds as toilets over winter it can't be healthy for me to grow veggies in there?

Any advice on how to deter the rats/cats? (Don't want to get rid of the cats as they have been known to catch the odd rat!)

The cats no idea. They get in my garden all the time. Tried all the usual- tin foil, pepper, chili.
Coffee grounds might work?

Rats- supposedly if you bang the compost bin everytime you pass it. Give it a good couple of thuds with a stick. No idea if it works but gqt claim it does.

My compost never gets hot enough, despite garotta. Was told you have to pretty much fill the whole bin at one time with finally chopped material layered with garotta etc to get it to heat. I would put in e.g. nettles, dandelion leaves and anything leafy but no roots like dandelion or dock nor weeds like mares tail. Dock roots are so big and satisfying though I can't resist drowning them - it does smell though!

If you have rats in your compost bin it is too dry - soak it for a few weeks with any spare water you have. And don't let it dry out again. Turn it when you are sure that they have left the heap.

You won't get high temps in compost unless you turn it - and you needed to have put it together at once with layers of browns and greens and soak it to kick start the process - and if you add manures or other activators that can help it. When I start a new heap, I keep all the brown and greens separate, then pile it all together, wet all the brown layers, and leave it for 4 days, then turn it as often as I can. Activators include manure, comfrey, male urine, nettles, coffee grounds - and you can get it hot enough so that when you put your pitch fork in, steam comes out. Also, the smaller the pieces in your compost the quicker and hotter it gets. We made usable compost in 31 days if we keep on top of it.

It's called the Berkeley Method.

deepgreenpermaculture.com/diy-instructions/hot-compost-composting-in-18-days/

I've been collecting cardboard too but I don't have anything to mulch it with per mink's suggestion

The cardboard IS the mulch. Just weigh it down with anything you have to hand. If you put 3-4 layers down on areas you won't be able to dig over this year, you can still make holes in it, and plant stuff like squashes under it, so that they ramble over the top and use the space.

I don't really know about cats ,- we have problems in my garden, and I haven't really found anything that works , though I do have a super soaker water gun to deter them from where I feed the birds - but that only works if you can see them
spotted as you can see, there is an idea for every person when it comes to compost/ mulch etc. I think you just have to go with what you are happy with in terms of time and effort against reward and don't angst! ! We all find our own way as we are all different as to how much time we have available. I always have lots of weeds to compost, as `I haven't found the time to do all the hoeing I should , when I should :) - one day......

Zebra I don't see many people at my allotment at this time of the year. Last few weeks I've not seen anyone there at all. When we had one a year's ago the man next door to us had an immaculate allotment but we hardly saw him there. Just different timings.

Cats - you can try putting lots of little sticks buried in the soil and sticking up. Cats don't want to get poked up the bottom so puts them off. In the garden I've used netting to keep our cat off areas of the garden. Even then she'd look for a gap and sneak in if she could (sometimes when I was stood right there next to her!). Once they've established an area that they like to use as a toilet they will carry on unless you are strict with turfing them out. Also eucalyptus puts them off so something scented in that can help. I've used old tea bags but they only work until it rains so I wasn't that convinced.

At home I use one of the dalek shaped compost bins, I never turn it or add anything special to it, but do keep it moist, it makes amazing compost. It is in full sun which probably helps and I keep it moist, but it is mainly fruit and veg scraps and grass clippings, I've never really put weeds in it, they go in my garden waste bin. It will be totally different at the allotment, no fruit and veg scraps and no grass clippings, but I was left two dalek shaped bins so I am going to use those for weeds. Most of them I took away to the tip last year though, it was all dandelions and thistles and I didn't trust then to rot properly. So, I'm following all tips with interest.

I've found citrus peel helps with cats, also covering bare soil with sharp twiggy cuttings if you have them, but that's only on small areas of the garden. Maybe take a few satsumas for a snack every time you go to the allotment!

I have a trick for keeping cats off my veg plots - dig the ground, then plant your seeds, then cut some cheap plastic netting (the sort that comes in rolls) to size and pin it to the ground with tent pegs. The plants grow through it but the cats can't dig in it, so they bugger off. Very satisfying!

There are a number of plants which cats can't stand the smell of. The only issue is that some of them reek so much when brushed, that you'd have to have a strong stomach to tolerate them. May be suitable for an allotment but not always ideal for a garden! I'm always tempted to go the other way and plant catnip in another area, to draw the buggers away and intoxicate them!

I'm with you WhoKnows - we don't turn ours -I throw in annual weeds, grass clippings as we do have grass, and all the vegetable trimmings . I leave out brassica roots, and anything too twiggy that won't break down easily, and the naughty ones as well!. I have the overflow from the water butt going into it to keep it damp, and a piece of carpet on the top to keep it warm. I just fill it up through the year ( its full now) when I am ready to use it (soon now- come spring) we dig all the new stuff that hasn't composted and chuck it in the bottom of the empty manure bin ( ready for the manure delivery!) and use the stuff underneath- its always been nicely rotted down.

Just popping on to say
Fruit trees Aldi. £3.99.
I got a nice looking Victoria plum.

Orange peel didn't work for me. Nor sharp sticks. The net does work though as i net raised bed in garden and its the only place they don't go.
They poo all over the grass.

I did have a cat scarer which worked for a bit.

I also use the super soaker method of cat deterrent. And the shouting and chucking stuff if I ever see them in the garden. However I have found cat poo on top of the strawberry nets. That was one agile cat!

Ooh, footballs did it say what rootstock they are on? Or how tall they'd grow?

Thanks for all info about compost and weed membrane /mulches! I think I am going to do 2 things - 1) when it warms up a bit and the snow has gone, dig and cover with membrane. And 2) on the bed that I am going to put my squashes and courgettes on, cover with cardboard and plant through. Unless I turn put to be a weeding, digging demon and can crack through that one too.

I wish this frozen weather would just sod off now though. Although it was useful that the ground was so solid that I could happily pop up a ladder to tidy up the poor straggly apple tree.