The 2015 Allotment / Veg Patch Thread Part 2

[agoodbook]

the previous thread is just about full, - well done spotted so welcome to everyone interested in growing their own veg!

Previous thread is here
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/gardening/2282529-The-2015-Allotment-Veg-Patch-Thread-its-here?msgid=53650520

I can see lots of windows clash - maybe you could use them to build a cold frame.

Hmm, I don't know what it was used for before - it was part of the stray I think...the original allotments there have expanded.

I was pleasantly surprised - having seen the state of some of the plots people get given! Also, I was always led to beleive there wasn't much point going on the waiting list for a plot as it would take years and years - I got offerred to view one on the same day, and this was my preferred site, so I'm feeling very lucky!

It's close to a tap and a toilet too

Signed the agreement today but won't get the keys for a week or so due to holidays.

Plan is to cover half whilst I work on the other half, then when I get to the next half, hopefully the grass and weeds wil have weakened a bit.

I know I've missed the boat on a lot of the sowing season, so I'm planning to put in a herb garden from some pots I've been growing, a salad bed and providing the clearing goes smoothly, would like to get a carrot and parsnip bed and some overwintering brassicas in. Maybe some swede and pak choi too.

I have also been given some soft fruit plants to plant in, but not sure when they need to go in

Yes, have scavenged the windows and put them to one side.

Have also purloined some pallets and will make a compost area with them.

Even things you've missed the sowing window on you could still put in as plug plants. I believe minkGrundy has some spare cauliflowers she might let you have at very reasonable rates .

That sounds lovely.
My herb garden is in its second year and I'm so thrilled by it.
Plug plants is definitely the way to go this year.

Y'know, I think you might be right...

Will certainly be more motivating when I'm working on the rest of the allotment if I can see something growing!

You might also have friendly neighbours on the allotment who want to see their extra seedlings go to a good home!

cupcakes-oh no did you cry?! I had slugs roaming in my house last night. Woke up to lovely trails everywhere. Never happened before I think they must be trying to get me in my sleep for putting pellets down...Three greenhouse panes smashed in wind last night. Hope it holds out tonight!

evening!
ooh and another newbie - welcome Clash :)
Thats looking like it could be a good plot- and with a tap and a toilet - wow! -its a great time to start, as long as you can dig some over, and get some plug plants in - the ground has warmed up, and they will be away! and good idea for covering up - Alternative upthread recommends cardboard or you can buy weed suppressant stuff if you prefer.
LinkDat - slugs and broken glass - thats bad for you.
On a slug note - I am going to try a wire and coir boot scraping mat at the entrance to my greenhouse as a " not welcome to my greenhouse " mat....

If my greenhouse is still standing tomorrow I want one of your non welcome mats goodbook

Welcome clash still plenty of time for peas and french beans to go in too. Direct down courgette is worth a go. And beetroot. And oriental salads go in after mid summer. And lettuce can go in whenever.

Or pick up the plugs that are reduced in b n q. You will get all sorts just now.

I have sucessfully rehomed some caulis

Thank you for the warm welcome, and it's encouraging to think that I can start growing sooner than I thought!

I'm still waiting to get my keys for my new plot. It's been ages! I've paid my admin fee, and my key deposit, I've not been sent my rent bill yet so I'm still in plot limbo! It's been warm and wet here so my weeds will be enormous by now. I have seedlings everywhere and nowhere to put them. I'm now panicking about whether I'm going to get things cleared up in time to plant. I'm also panicking about the best way to clear my plot. Is it better to simply cut down the weeds, dig over the soil and cover with weed fabric and then plant straight through it? Or should I spray with weed killer and wait for the weeds to die before digging? Or, option 3, do I just cover up, forget about digging until autumn and again plant through the weed fabric. Anyone there who can guide a keen amateur?

Oh no,Linski - can you run up anywhere and gently remind someone to pull their finger out? It must be horrid to want to get going on but to be unable to. It was bad enough for me in Jan/Feb, but that was a short wait and there was snow on the ground, and I had no seedlings! How very frustrating.

What are you planning to grow? That might dictate what/how you need to clear. And what is your policy on weedkiller? Can you tell that I am a rank amateur who is just asking you questions so that a clever person who comes along can better advise?

I did get some great advice on this in 'thread one', I'll go and find the link, date and time so that you can easily refer to it. Of course you'd need to adjust advice to suit the difference in seasons.

So Linski if you go to this thread--> www.mumsnet.com/Talk/gardening/2282529-The-2015-Allotment-Veg-Patch-Thread-its-here?pg=1&order= and scan from about 23 Jan you'll see some advice e that I received.

For what it's worth I'd cover with card and a mulchy thing (compost? Manure?),aand plant through that, especially with strong stuff like courgettes.

Linski - don't panic! The end of the growing season is longer than you think.

I had the same thing happen to me when I got my plot last year. I was told in May, but I didn't get it until late June! I thought I'd not get anything planted, but I actually got loads of stuff in! Plenty of plants like beans and courgettes don't mind being planted a bit later - I got a good harvest off them, helped by a warm October. Plus, you can get stuff in to overwinter in the autumn.

I'm actually adapting my practice on the basis of this experience, sowing my courgettes in two 'rounds' this year - one lot is on and the next I'll sow at the end of the month. I am hoping it'll extend the season, as the plants go so mad that they get a bit exhausted and disease-ridden after a while.

Oh and the other thing is that of course you don't need to do it all at once, you could just cover and leave some of it, depending on what your allotment site rules state.

But I was eager - and had time - and did try to crack it all at once.

Hello Clash! Welcome to the gang! Always lovely to have new members. Where in the country are you?

Tragically I sowed my carrots a day before you, on the 19th, and last night I noticed a few were up. Hopefully yours won't be far behind. Well done on the horse tail!

I have 31 sprout plants. Lord knows what I'm going to do with them. In my defence I have a rabbit who will get through a lot of greens.

Link I was on the verge! I've decided to bring my remaining cucamelon in so I can keep an eye on him. Sorry to hear you lost greenhouse panes, such a pain. (pun not intended!) Loving the idea of a non-welcome mat. Think I'll sort something out.

Linski don't worry too much – the year we moved into our house we got the keys on 9th July and I still managed to get some veg going! Obviously not a great deal but I got lots of cheap plants at garden centres and from friends.

Quiet weekend for us coming up so really hoping to get some work done in the greenhouse / on the veggie patch. My mum gave me 2 new blackberries so I need to find a nice spot for those. Then there's the foraging garden to sort… it’s never ending! (but I love it!).

Did anybody else suffer Gardener's World withdrawal last week? DS gets up stupidly early in the morning so my survival method on a Saturday is to take him downstairs and watch GW whilst he plays. Bliss.

There is still plenty of time to get things planted this year. Its still the beginning of May and in some parts of the country we won't be frost free for certain until the middle of the month.
Definitely quick winners like salad crops can be planted for ages yet.

I took over my plot last summer, end of July, beginning of August. Weeds were waist high - lots of grasses and dandelions, docks, etc. We sprayed and then covered over part of it - we were going on holiday for 2 weeks anyway so there wasn't time to do anything more. Then we dug out the weeds over the next few months. We still haven't finished all the digging. If I was starting now I would focus on one small area to start with and cover the rest with some tarpaulins or use the cardboard method recommended upthread. You can get a small part into production relatively easily and it means that you don't get discouraged if you don't get to do everything the first year. Nothing more disheartening than working to clear an area, fail to have time to plant and then find it covered in weeds again when your back is turned!

Supposedly 2015 is going to be a bumper year for slugs. I'm contemplating ordering some nematodes and watering them in everywhere, especially after hearing the tales of depradations on this thread.

Hi thespottedzebra I have no way of getting to anyone in the halls of allotment HQ. It is similar to MI 5 I believe. I had to wait 7 YEARS for my plot. I had all but given up. And then whoop whoop! A plot! Soooo having visited

Strict rules on my plot, three months to get a third planted up, 6 months for half, and so on. I'm not allowed to just cover and leave. I am however getting a nice belt made with the words "linski the slug slayer" written on. I managed to uncover, when digging up a tree root in my garden, a slug hotel. Seriously there were about 15 of the suckers all snuggled up together! I transported them en masse to a local landfill < via a builders skip> where I hope they will be very happy die a horrible death

Wow Linksibinski your allotment is strict but then if you had to wait 7 years for a plot then I suppose there is lots of demand! I'm not quite sure how that would work if you took on a plot in the middle of winter.

With the weeds I would say it depends what you have. If its mostly grass then you can just strim, etc. If you have lots of invasive weeds - couch grass, dandelions, docks then I would really consider using weedkiller to help you start off unless you are really against using them. Otherwise you need to dig out as much of the roots that you can. Depends how much time you have to devote to it as well. I'm mostly restricted to weekend gardening now and there's a limit to how much I can do in the time available.

Linski - those are the rules for our site too! But they are not so strict in enforcing them. Basically, as long as it looks like you're trying, they tend to be pretty nice about it. (There are people on our site who barely have a quarter of it going after a year. I think it's good that there is some tolerance, because not everyone has the health or energy to be able to do it all at once, but that doesn't mean they can't get there in a couple of years).

Some of the seeds in my new greenhouse have sprouted. I don't know if you guys feel the same, but there is a real elation about that moment of seeing two little green leaves!

I meant to say before, welcome new folks and Clash that looks like an exciting plot with tons of potential!

They seem to have moved the goalposts on our site, when I got mine 18 months ago it was after a 4 year wait and loads of the plots looked totally abandoned, including mine. Now there are new plotholders all over the site and all the abandoned plots are being cultivated, I spoke to one new plotholder last week who said he was only on the list for 4 months!