Allotment/Veg Patch - Thread 7 - The Harvesters Arms

[bookbook]

Well, it's been an interesting summer, to say the least.
We are now heading into the season of mists and mellow fruitfulness :)
Everyone welcome to join in and ask for advice , share their woes and just enjoy growing!
previous thread here

I'm so tempted re the other allotment. When I say mine is a small one, I think it's a small half-plot, if you go by old-stylee allotment sizes. It's 96 sq m or thereabouts. And if I did go for it, it would be good to get it now, while the weeds slide (relatively) easily out of the soil...

I've realised that my 'end bed', the shady one where the soft fruit it, it quite troubled by tree roots. I took a bit back from the path, so widened all my beds, and I was digging it yesterday. It was so congested with roots that the handle of my spade broke . So I need to go spade shopping.

On which note - my sister texted me to say that Lidl's seeds are in! Hurrah! I found them to be ok in previous years - nothing crazy exciting, but reliable and cheap. So I wonder when the gardening week in Lidl's is..?

Awww, get well soon Cedar. The cold doing the rounds up here is a vicious 'un. Hope you're able to get some proper rest so you can kick it asap.

Zebra - you might need..... A MATTOCK!! Tree roots can be really challenging, though. Kind of the ideal job to do when something has made you really, really, really cross and you have some fury to burn off (just think of Donald Trump)!! I wonder if this other plot might give you a sudden revelation of what an "easier life" feels like!

I am desperate to get a cordless hedge trimmer from Lidl. I need something lighter that I can get out more often, as I'm now avoiding hedge cutting and it is destroying the entire look of my garden.

Morning- and Hello to the newbies!
reading all the posts, and feeling a bit odd- really enjoying being away, at the same time I want to be back doing . Mind you, according to DD2, it was -4º the other night, so hopefully slugs are dying. :)
Spotted - I would be very tempted to give it a go , but time constraints are always a problem. Is it in reasonable shape, apart from weeds? So maybe not so much time needed to get it going. - and once you have tree roots, its always going to be something of a problem, when you take them out, they seem to produce even more ( thats if you don't kill the tree ) How strong are you to break a spade!

shove - hedge cutting is truly a chore - I am glad that it is the one job that is the sole responsibility of DH !

BOOK YOU'RE BACK!! YAYYYYYYYYY!!

I hope you had a lovely restful break in the sunshine! And yes, you certainly HAVEN'T missed anything weatherwise!

arghh! not back til next week - I was a bit garden homesick :)

Noooooo, you said you'd be away for 3 weeks and it's been.....

Oh. Nearly 3 weeks.

BUT IT FEELS LIKE THREE MONTHS ALREADY!! COME BAAAACK!

- I am fretting about garlic, and broad beans.How can they survive without me constantly checking them?

You need a drone that you can fly over your plot on a daily basis book. Preferably one armed with anti-slug missiles!

I am sure it will be fine, though the beans will be glad to see you when you're back! We are due a real cold snap at the end of the week, so I imagine most things will hunker down and sit it out!

Hello book~ funny how much it's possible to miss a garden. I offer you some pictures of spring hopefully in a cheerful look what's coming sort of way rather than a smugly waving my blossom sort of way. I've got one eye rather grimly fixed on half term as work is very full on , but I can't wait to start germinating on windowsills etc. Sunny allotment sounds very lovely - presumably worst that could happen is it's too much and you have to give it back- so worth a go?

Oh help. Can you advise me?

I love my mini allotment. I took it on as a complete beginner a year ago and filched as much time as possible to be there. It was very overgrown with an almost falling down shed. I propped up the shed, dug like crazy and was rewarded with some very happy hours and lovely veg.

Unfortunately a death in the family and DM in hospital for weeks means my time has not been my own since November and I've completed neglected my plot. I don't know where to start, should I try to repair/ replace the shed, dig over the weedy beds, get weed suppressant fabric or what?

I was intending to spend December planning and January sorting out the shed problem. I'd be really grateful for suggestions.

Sorry you've had a tough time, Neome - it doesn't take much for it to feel like you're lost control, does it?

Do you need a shed? I had a broken down one for ages, and eventually got rid (cathartic!) . I don't have much stuff though, andim quite near home, and what I do have fits in one of those garden storage boxes. Mine was a tenner from ikea! Things that don't fit in there are my newly - broken spade, and my gifted ancient mower. The spade lives on top of my compost heap, and the mower has come home for the winter, but I'll just leave it out spring and summer.

This box makes things soon much easier for me, as I have no building skills or contacts so it would have been time and money and faff for me to replace or repair my shed, and I don't have to worry about it falling down!

Ooh, and for quick cover, get cardboard. Weed, then cover up with cardboard the bits that you have weeded.

NB I think lots of people at my site don't go between November and Feb, so you're not at all behind MN that sense!

Shove maybe I do need a mattock! I actually love clearing ground. I also love tree pruning.

I like dramatic transformations, probably.

I am v v tempted by the 2nd plot. .. you're right, Cath - the worst that can happen is that I give it back!

booky half (the bit near me) was tended last year and is in ok condition -would be fine after a good weed of the raised beds. The other half is big beds that are just cut in - not raised. That wasn't tended last year really. There is also loads of grass, wasted area, which will be a faff to control as I hate mowing/the time it takes. And an apple tree that needs a bit of attention. Hmmmm....

Thank you, that's really helpful. I've been dithering about getting a box. That's a really good plan, get a box, empty dead shed & ignore for a bit longer, weed and cover beds. Once I've done that I'll have had enough thinking time to get focused again

Neome - I agree with Spotted. I've barely touched my plot since October. I have a bench box rather than a shed (great for resting on as well, mine's the sort with a back and arms. It keeps everything in one place and dry. Yes also to cardboard, I tend to put down flattened boxes then cover with thin black membrane and peg it down or weigh it down with milk cartons filled with water. Even better is boxes buried under a thick layer of compost or rotted manure.

In fact two years ago I turned a plot full of couch grass into a productive bed by putting down cardboard and a thick layer of compost in Feb, then in March drenching it with water and making holes with a bulb planter and putting seed potatoes in. By the time the spuds were harvested the card had rotted down, the grass was thoroughly weakened and I was able to dig out most of the roots pretty easily.

Mumsnet just went back in time and lost my post!!

neome - I'm so sorry for your loss, it sounds as though you've had a really rough time.

Don't panic! You've had more than enough on your plate and neglecting the plot is absolutely necessary when life gets busy and stressful like that! The thing about a few months of weed growth is that it looks way worse than it is. Divide it up into chunks, tackle one at a time in manageable amounts of work and don't go mad and injure youself - you'll be on top of it e-a-s-i-l-y before the growing season starts. It may not all need digging if it's been recently worked - I know chuck gets great results by laying down cardboard, mulching on top, and then planting through - same as whoknows.

cath - you're miles ahead! And that quince is lovely.

Neome welcome to the thread. Don't worry about not getting much work done. To be honest during the winter it's either too wet or too cold to get very much done without damaging the soil. As others have said just cover over to suppress the weeds and dig it as and when you get the time.
We took on a half plot a couple of years ago that was quite neglected. It took us over a year to get the last part dug over. It was just covered with a tarpaulin all that time which helped to suppress some of the weeds. You could think about growing things like squashes or pumpkins which - with a good dose of manure will grow quite happily over the top of weeds.

So....I sowed some broad beans in autumn and they're coming up beautifully under fleece. The plants are around 6 inches high already.

Just wondering if anyone is planting any spring sowing varieties, what the varieties are and how they're going about it?

Thank you I got 2 boxes in b&q sale and emptied the shed (taking a big pile of rubbish to the dump) very satisfying. I made a start on the weeding too and generally got a bit muddy. A happy day.

Morning from sunny hols!
welcome Neome - agree with all those upthread - loads of time, just take it steady a bit at a time , and yes its good to feel you are getting stuck in :)
clara I also sowed some broad beans direct under fleece, which are doing well, fingers crossed! I will also sow some more direct next week, and some insurance ones sown into pots at home. That way, I can cover most problems. The ones already up I find crop about 10 days earlier than spring sown ones. I use 'The Suttton' as my preferred variety , for autumn and spring , but have grown 'Aquadulce' before - they are good too.

forgot to say - thank you Cath - those pictures were lovely - the blossom seems early?

We are in the southwest so everything is a bit earlier anyway - my baby plum tree has blossom on it for the first time ever and it's bloody cold tonight so I'm worried it will be game over by tomorrow . Who knew plums were so tricky?? Been looking at my slightly sorry over wintered leeks and wondering if I should pull them or if they will regroup and grow away again as it warms up?

cath - hope your plum is OK! They can often withstand a bit of cold -the Japanese love them and grow them as very early colour and it's freezing in some places there. So far, with fruit I've found it's wind that's the enemy. One year, it got very windy just after my apple tree came out and all the blossom blew off before there was much of a chance for it to be pollinated!