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.

OK, I'm going to start chucking the grass on the compost heap then, but the impressive dandelion roots we dug up earlier are staying out.

One day I will get round to posting a photo of the new allotments;- they are highly impractical picturesque .

yep, dandelions in the naughty bin - and here its also couch, bindweed and thistles !
I am sure they used to make a coffee substitute with dandelion roots if my memory serves me right? :)

This has been extremely useful reading! Thank you for the naughty bin idea, I have one of those huge builder's bags left on the plot that had some unidentifiable weeds in, and I'm pretty certain I found couch grass in the next bed. After digging out roots for hours, I certainly didn't want to put it in with the normal compost, so I chucked it in there pretty much in desperation ... What do you do with the naughty bin contents in the future?

I'm weeding my second bed now (well, will be at the end of the week when youngest DC is at pre-school) and it's a vicious mix of strawberry plants and couch grass. I started try to weed round the strawberries, but realised the couch grass was well entangled and the strawberries didn't look that well, so I'll take the lot out and plant new plants in a different bed later in the year. Feels wrong to bin the strawberries, but I have no idea how long they have been there (more than a year judging by how they have spread) and being thorough might mean I get on top of the couch grass faster. But I think I'm going to have to dig the bugger out of my paths as well

stainless - I originally put the naughty bin there so I could eventually empty it into the recycling trailer - that was until it filled up in no time at all! (I have 2 plastic trugs with me when I weed, one for the bin, one for the heap - it saves having to think about unmixing .)So it just got left while I was busy, and I brought another one from home! As I had so much digging /weeding/firefighting to do, it wasn't until a couple of years that I thought- right, lets get that out of the way. When I went to dismantle it ( its one with slotted sides which comes apart) lo and behold - really nice compost at the bottom. I sieved it carefully a bit at a time to check for bindweed roots-( little blighters - sorry don't swear, but I would like to! )and I then put it onto my nice compost heap, to compost a bit more, and put the dodgy looking stuff back in the naughty bin for another go.
On the strawberry front- commiserations! I had exactly the same- still do really. I ended up digging them up, disentangling the roots and replanting the strawberries. It seems to have worked- they are hardy blighters. They usually need to replace about every 3 years. I am doing what an old time allotmenter recommended - I pin out the runners , let them settle, dig up the plants that were not productive,- I mark them with red string, and then gradually move them along the plot a bit at a time. Does that make sense?I had some nice harvests the last couple of years, if only I can stop the slugs and blackbirds gorging on them ( I did find actually old fashioned strawing them worked well last year , and careful netting against blackbirds-:)
I am actually sat here instead of digging, as we had snow yesterday, and the rest of the week is due to get no higher than 1º if lucky- so I am doing my plan for where everything goes this year, and trying to pluck up the courage to go and wash plant pots , but a cup of coffee first methinks

agoodbook - thank you. I'll work out a place for a very long term compost bin and make sure nothing roots out the bottom of it. I seem to be at the allotment when other people aren't, weekends not possible for a while, so can't ask their advice for now.

I like your strawberry plant plan. I hate the idea of throwing them away, I might have to dig over another bed, then go back and transplant them. Though it's all hypothetical this week anyway. Far too cold to go and dig, and I have OU work to be done! Hoping I'll get down there at the end of the week for a good session, otherwise i'ts avoiding studying via the medium of seed websites

agoodbook Oh, you're not a fan of the asparagus pea either hmm, it seems that not that many people are... I think i shall still attempt them as i have the seeds and I can then check them off my list. Maybe I'll be brave and if I hate them (if they grow and produce), I'll get rid of the plant? I'm rubbish at getting rid: even thinning out if sometimes too traumatic for me to do!

I still have not finalised my last seed order. I like just playing around and drooling over the pretty veg. Gosh I have changed so much over the past few years. If anyone had told me I'd be doing that, or getting jealous of strangers on the Internet who have allotments and who have trailers driving up and dropping off muck direct to them, I'd have laughed in your face.

Darn it - just been writing, and it disappeared!
I realised that EauRouge had asked about green manure. I used it the first winter, as I was trying to get some goodness in. I knew little about them, and after dithering I ended up buying a winter mix from these people www.greenmanure.co.uk - I'm sure there are others who sell it. I personally found it hard work to dig in come spring - maybe I left it too late, but it put me off trying again.
I apologise profusely for making you jealous of my recycling trailer and manure delivery -but I am really really glad I have them...
I have been going through my seeds, and realised that I have not got any celeriac - I have tried for 2 years with this , and I will NOT be beaten - 1st year they grew just knobbly roots - maybe not enough water I think -and last year the rabbits decided they were delicious , so Monarch or Prinz , thats the big decision for this week.

Celeriac does like a lot of water, they can be small and corky otherwise. I've has success growing them like celery in a trench, then flood the trench when watering, it seems to help them use the moisture better and after the longest day I used the trench sides to earth them up a bit to protect from frost.
Went down my lottie today, had a bonfire and a bit of a clear up, depressingly the nice clear areas have surface couch and lots of forget me not seedlings so plenty to do!

Thanks shobby - yes they were small and corky ! So I've not grown celery ( a no no from everyone apart from me :) ) but that sounds like a plan. Lucky you to get some work done- its too frosty here - I went on Sunday, and the fork went boing and had to virtually prise the leeks out of the ground
I am also looking into planting a greengage and a plum, probably as bushes on a pixy stock -it looks as if I am in the running for the other half of my allotment as my next door neighbour has decided to stop - didn't think that would ever be a possibility, and am excited and slightly concerned at the amount of extra work involved.

I had to go and rescue my compost bin from the wind on Sunday. It didn't have much in it as most of the weeds are the pernicious ones J don't want to put back. We vaguely planned to have a bonfire back in the autumn but didn't get round to it. I expect its too damp to burn now.

Mostly the allotment is covered with tarpaulins. About half has been dug over and we've got a short row of garlic in. Just waiting for my seed order to turn up to get planning where and when to plant everything!

Am envious of council recycling and manure deliveries. We have the dreaded horsetail and I need to carry back the stuff we've dug out to put it in the recycling bin at home - I'm thinking of drowning it first.

We're growning potatoes, onions, leeks, sweetcorn, carrots, peas, beans, lettuces, beetroots, squashes, pumpkins and various other things I've forgotten

Ooo I'm a bit late but can I join in? I got my allotment last year but late on in the season so couldn't grow much. Its only a teeny quarter plot but came with a huge fruit cage with tons of raspberry, blueberry and gooseberry bushes, a shed, a pear tree which is diseased and that's it. Because our council only offer quarter plots it means that half or full plots are cut in half so you don't get much room but I'm happy enough. I've cleared it all, reluctantly halved the fruit cage so I can fit another bed in and I grew radishes and beetroot last year. My garlic and onions went in last year and seem to be doing OK

I've got a back garden and grew potatoes in pots and bags last year. It was great kids loved digging them up.

hardly late blackhearts ! its early season yet - I am sat here with a coffee as its sleeting outside :) .
Funnily, it sounds as if you started almost like me - the allotment society had so many people giving up in the first year , that they decided to give quarter plots as starters to see if you were prepared to do the work. Thats how I got mine, but very quickly, within 2 months, I got given the next door quarter, when the tenant didn't turn up. Now it looks as if I may , just may, get the whole plot. Our society had a 6 year waiting list when we put our name down .Now it looks as if its balanced out and there is virtually no list at all.
Oh- just reread your post - I don't have my raspberries in the fruit cage , the birds do nibble a few , but I keep redcurrants , blackcurrants and gooseberries in mine. Blueberries sound nice :) I wonder if they would grow up here - shall have to google

OMG! Exciting news Chez Zebra... Have just had a message to say that there are allotment plots that have come free on the site about 4 mins walk from my house! i now just need to arrange a time to go and visit...

Yes you're right. This does mean that i shall need More Seeds.

Am beyond excited.

Ooh, and welcome Blackheart. We can be newbies together!

Wow The Spotted exciting! - you see , thats my one issue with mine -its over a mile away, and though I ought to walk to it, being an old lady :) if I walked there and did my work, I wouldn't beable to walk home!
Definitely more seeds - its amazing how I had to up the number of plants needed to fill the space - its now just getting to the point where it is - I need more space'!

pah! blueberries need acidic soil - I'm on chalk!

yay zebra I have same problem as agoodbook - it's a long walk to mine, having one so close is brilliant! How exciting

agoodbook we have blueberries. You need to grow them in large containers filled with ericaceous compost and then- v important - only water them with rain water or it'll go alkaline again. Another tip is to have more than one blueberry bush. Although they're self-fertile, you'll get bigger crops on both bushes if you have two.

eaurouge I'm using a winter mix green manure that I bought at a garden centre (unwins or suttons I think). It's just starting to come up now. The trick is to dig it in before it flowers. It depends what you're using it for too - if you want to fix nitrogen in the soil then I just grow lots and lots of beans (especially broad) in new plots and then leave the roots in the soil. Others are good for weed suppressing when the soil is bare. Probably was this one seeds

Congrats zebra. We found out yesterday that the plot we're taking over are leaving behind their shed and big fruitcage and it'll be ready by 27th January. Can't wait. First job will be to identify the varieties of fruit bushes in the plot already and decide which to keep. I think there's a grapevine (!)

I have spent a few days stuck on the sofa ill but have used my time to investigate tomato problems. Looks like it could be grey mould so I'm looking into staving it off this year. Don't really like to use chemicals/sprays (beyond slug pellets- slugs seem to love boggy clay) so will look for resistant types as a start.
Going to plan my beds too. Might get chitting this weekend.

It's amazing the amount of people who take over a plot and then abandon it within the first year, isn't it? I blame the lifestyle magazines. I think the first question allotment societies/ councils should ask prospectives is: "Are you willing to come up pretty much every weekend? Because that's the kind of commitment it's going to take".

Mystic We inherited a grapevine when we moved in. It has never produced anything except lots of leaves and some flowers. Never a grape. Was going to dig it up this year as it just gets in the way. I'd be interested to see what yours does.

I think the length of waiting lists means people circumstances change while they wait. I put my name down in 2009, when I had taken voluntary redundancy, was fully fit, was planning a year off work and my youngest child was about to start school, I was envisaging being able to do most of it during school hours (site is right next to school).

By the time my plot came free in 2013 I was working again (p/t), studying for a degree, going through the process of getting a statement for DS who has SNs, had developed an injury which means I will have to be careful about heavy lifting and digging for life, also the DCs have a busy early evening schedule of activities.

So, I'm struggling to keep mine up. I did debate whether to take it at all, but decided the worst that could happen was that I gave it up again. If I can get through the next couple of years till youngest DC is at secondary school, statement is sorted, studying is finished I will hopefully have more time to do it properly. For now I'm just doing what I can to keep it ticking over.

I had an allotment for 5 years, but it was too much on top of a very stressful FT job, a DH who spent 50% of his time overseas (2 weeks home, 2 weeks away), a DD who had been dx'd ADHD/Aspergers and managing the household (au pairs were grand for childcare, but a bit rubbish on housework - DD also went to afterschool club in a crèche most days so it was only really every morning for an hour and about 4 hours (in total not per day) in the afternoons per week that I needed childcare). And it was a 20 minute walk to the plot from the car (which was a 20 minute drive from home), carrying all my tools every time as no sheds were allowed. But it was a lovely way to de-stress and also get a fair amount of our soft fruit and veg needs. So I do miss it.

Nowadays, I have somewhat less stress but no chance of getting back on the list. So I make do with the pocket hankerchief garden an dream of a house with a larger garden.

I do "green fences" - growing peas and mangetout up the fence on either side of the garden (so I can tell the pods apart). I have dwarf French beans on the bathroom windowsill. I have another 2 long pots on the playroom windowsill, that tend to alternate between beans, salads, baby spinach, radishes and spring onions. I do broad beans, courgettes, radishes, baby turnips, spring onions, leeks and lettuces, sometimes even a few brassica plants (usually broccoli or Brussels sprouts), in the roughly 1m2 bed I have. There is a deep square pot that holds a climbing tomato plant, with some salads around the base. And I put 3 bush tomatoes into a hanging basket on the wall - I keep thinking about a 2nd basket as that is great! And I have a few herbs scattered around in pots and between the flowers in the other bed. I don't have any soft fruit at home - no room - but I do have a rhubarb plant from my DGM's garden (which came from her DF's allotment originally).

I actually looked at seeds the other day as I need fresh ones for pretty much everything. I only have about 20 leeks in the ground at the moment, which are doing well. I want to start a couple of broad beans indoors this weekend, and also be ready to put in a handful direct in early February. I also want to try some sprouts this year again for winter veg. And I need to get salads and radishes started soon for interest in my lunches. I may even, depending on work stress mostly, put in a couple of chillis and sweet peppers for the windowledge indoors and perhaps try 1 for outdoors too. (I have grown tomatoes and courgettes from seed often before, but a lot fail and I get timings wrong so I tend now to buy both as plants from the GC - which I don't mind as the results are worth the added expense).

Grapes only produce if pruned properly. I have 3 at home and another 4 at our community gardens.

Can I join in? I don't have a veg patch yet, but hoping to put raised beds in in the spring. I left behind 4 decent sized raised beds filled with lovely sandy loam and now have a garden filled with boggy, acidic clay . So will definitely need raised beds. In the meantime, I have already put in a black currant, rhubarb and gooseberry plants/bushes in the existing bogs beds. Would like to put in a couple of small apple trees (one front and one back) but they'll need to tough and cold tolerant as we're on the edge of the dales. I think I may get away with planting blueberries directly into my garden soil here, though

I tried growing veg in the existing beds last year, but the slugs got everything (did I mention my garden's VERY damp?), except a single pumpkin plant. Going to start everything off in modules this year (indoors, as we don't have space for a greenhouse) and plant them out when they're bigger and more slug-resistant.

Another vote for Franchi seeds here- their courgette varieties are amazing, and they do a fantastic range of salad leaves. Excellent germination rates IME.