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

Afternoon.
Well, I managed to actually do a bit today. It stopped raining early, and there was a bit of a breeze, so things dried up.
I was going to dig up the courgettes, but lo and behold, I had a whopper and a normal one to pick, and a few that will be ready in a couple of days - so they got a reprieve :). So much for prepping for the garlic ( which had arrived) I also did the end of summer melancholy thing of digging up and harvesting the very last beans. They were the runt plants plonked in late , but enough for a side tonight, along with the kale I had gone to get . As it was going so well, I finished off the area I was digging, and managed to barrow 3 loads of manure. Start on the next area on Sunday. The heap now looks properly as if I have taken some out - a small half/good third of it is gone.

So impressed with your late courgette book!! I've just been looking at my perennial caulis and I think they are now recovered sufficiently to go in! Have you done yours yet?

So impressed with all the manuring you are doing. And feeling very much that it's time I went to Poo Mountain across the city in my car and brought back a bootload for my beds!! It is backbreaking work, but so necessary.

Mine are doing well and looking nicely settled shove , but still in the pots. I have to finally decide on position , but I think they are going near my asparagus , but the spot still has butternut squashes hanging on in gamely all around there :) .
I fell as if I have done a lot of shovelling manure already, and still have loads. And then I realised that last year, I shared my trailer load with a NDN on the plot. So I have already shifted as much as last year. No wonder it's taking longer

At least you have your old and trusty car back...

Very sorry Quince

That's a lovely looking crop Book

Bucketing down here today. No hope of getting to the allotment, if it was just me I would have braved it. But two children in tow. No chance, the oldest loves playing outside with water though and probably won't mind. The youngest loves swimming and bathing, but won't appreciate being cold and wet. Inside day with some shopping thrown in and some more decluttering. Even the cats are upset about the rain.

Quick picture of this week's spoils! Autumn is more colourful and more productive than the weather might suggest!

On top of this lot I have two massive carrier bags full of borlotti beans. I'm going to have to dry them as I have no room in the freezer. But it's a nice problem to have!

Hello. Can I gatecrash for a moment? I'm just taking on a large overgrown plot - I'm very excited but want to do some reading before I start - can anyone recommend good allotment books or websites that will help me?

Thank you!

Hello and afternoon!
oh wow shove - that is some harvest! So much for not going for a week . And the apples look particularly superb .And do I notice a pumpkin or two in there? Enjoy podding.....:)
goodenoughal anyone can gatecrash on here - everyone is welcome :) There are loads of books. My personal favourite is Andi Clevely 's The Allotment Book. I always suggest a trip to the library too, just to have a flick. To a certain extent it is personal preference on how it is laid out. The one I use as backup for a bit more detail is the veg and fruit growing section in the RHS Encyclopedia of Gardening. (I picked up my copy in a charity shop for pennies, and its incredibly detailed , but not one to carry around!) . I also use Allotment Month by Month by Alan Buckingham, but I find it less easy to use for some reason, maybe as I am in the North, and it is just a bit too time specific.But you can always hang out on here too- though we are obsessed by slugs, pests and manure
Rain IkleWikle - that is just so unfair
I only had a quick time at the plot today. I volunteer at our local Horticultural Society 'shop' and it was my turn this morning. Gorgeous day too . But charity has it's rewards- a lady came with 12 x 4 pint milk bottles filled with wormery juice to put on our freebie table - so I snaffled one...( It is a busy table, full of over production veg, cuttings, spare plant pots.. you name it!)
I am now off to do another hour washing pots in the greenhouse, while the sun is out. Have to make the most of it

Hello goodenoughal! It's lovely to have new people on the thread. Let us know when you start and we can give you our golden trowel!! My advice about reading is that it's a great thing to do BUT don't worry if it all seems confusing/overwhelming. It's a hard thing to get a sense of the whole gardening year from a book. But when you are actually doing it, it will all become much clearer.

book - that is a SQUASH!! Crown Prince. So far the only one that has ripened!! The orange things at the back are golden beetroots which have been gorgeous all year - they lack the earthy flavour of the red ones.

The wormery juice will be golden - your charitable impulses well repaid by the fates there!!

ikle - that really sucks about the rain. Hoping you get a clear spell tomorrow maybe.

Hello everybody. Sorry I've not been posting. Between baby DD, 3YO DS, the amazing escaping Labrador who throws up on my bed and ends up in MN classics AND the Daily Mail, and clearing / selling MILs house, there's been very little time for gardening. Things are starting to settle down a bit now though, so I'm hoping to be able to join you a bit more.

quince I am so very sorry for your loss. My garden has certainly been a huge comfort to me over the recent months, I hope you find the same.

Welcome GoodenoughI and congratulations on the new plot! TBH I haven't found anywhere as good as this thread for info, so stick around!

I'm enjoying seeing photos of your harvests. Hopefully this time next year I'll be sharing similar pictures!

DD is now starting to settle enough that I can get out in the garden in short bursts, which is lovely. I dug out most of the potatoes last week, dug over that section of the plot and covered it with cardboard as I won't be using it over winter. Today DH has promised me some child free time so I'm going to get in the greenhouse (too wet for outside stuff!) and clear out the tomatoes.

Then I think I'll be sitting with my squared paper and suttons catalogue and making some plans!

Thanks for the welcome, everyone. My new plot is a bit daunting but I'm really excited to get going. I think it's about 75 foot by 60 foot. And it hasn't been tended for about 4 years. There is Japanese knotweed on the back of the plot, but otherwise just brambles, grass and other weeds. The current owner also says there are lots of fruit bushes/canes underneath the jungle, which used to be very productive apparently.

My plan eventually is to have some laid to lawn to reduce growing space and create some family space - we don't have a garden at home. But it's a long way from that at the moment!

As it happens my DP bought me Andi Clevely's book in a charity shop when I first started talking about an allotment so I've been reading that. And I'm going to pop to the library too to have a look.

bella - you are now Mumsnet royalty!! I am sorry things have been so stressful/busy though. I honestly think it's good to let gardening take a back seat through those times, or just to do the things that you really feel like doing. You will be able to get back on top of it no problem when you have more capacity to do so. Enjoy your time today!

goodenough - that's a proper big plot!! You'll be able to do a marvellous range of things in the space. It'll be lovely! I do sometimes think people who don't have gardens at home should take first priority on allotment lists - it's just lovely to hear that you will be using it for outdoor space for the kids as well.

Morning!
well, the rain has driven me home - I went a bit early just in case, so managed an hour. Being pragmatic, I picked a cauliflower and some leeks, sorted them and then just started on sorting out the flower bit. I dug up dahlias to overwinter at home - a lot of the leaves had gone black, so a sure sign there has been some low temperatures. Then all the other things that have been flowering right up to now . Looking a bit straggly tbh, but still, it gave me a bit of a pang. I was in the middle of barrowing all the stuff to the compost bin when it started to rain. I got wet.....:) So home and a shower for me !
goodenough - thats a big area and Japanese Knotweed you say . That is going to take some determination. You cannot put it in any council waste - it has to go to special sites. In the meantime have a quick read of this RHS advice. I would definitely make near that end into a no go zone for fruit and veg if possible. ( I listened to a programme about it , which said it is basically spread by idiot humans!) So for the rest of it, I would take it steady, and just start clearing bit by bit. You have all winter to do it, so you can maybe excavate to find the fruit bushes, and get them cleared soonest, to hopefully give them a chance to fruit next year :)
shove - Halleleujah! I hope it is worth the wait :)
Bella - you and your dog , are officially famous -the DM ? And there is nothing like a bit of squared paper. -

Howdy fruitful folk.

Thanks for the mention Bookbook - had a name change recently. All is well if a little hectic trying to sort out issues at work. They don't call me Lethal for nothing ;)

Hope everyone is well - haven't kept up with the gang as only just saw this thread today. Sorry to hear your news Quince. I hope your time in the garden helps you. So sad. Sometimes just sitting and watching the life in your garden can help put the life back into us, at any time of year.

So what's new? We've been harvesting so many lovely things, a large range of squashes of all shapes and sizes for a start. Propagating like crazy for next year. I've signed up to an RHS course and have had to use peat compost there [eek - pah! - and OMG] - [goes against the grain but by 6pm on a Thursday all the fight has gone and I just want the qualification], did a permaculture course [supposed to be 2 days but the pace was so excruciatingly slow I left in the afternoon of day 1]. I've planted all the pots of next year's bulbs for selling over the winter period [good for those with small gardens and small budgets - they can still have nice displays even when the bulbs have disappeared from the shelves], have made a load of bug hotels, have been getting my team to take down all the out of control buddleia and self seeded trees, and mulch the woodland areas with woodchip creating new planting spaces. Also am planting new trees, some of which I grew from seed - wild cherries, asian pears, another quince or two. Or three if I can.

I've had feedback from locals in the area I work, and from locals through volunteers that the changes I have made are great, and that they are looking forward to the variety of veg that we are selling and they have loved the veg this year. People are saying they have never seen so much for sale. Also, the head gardener that I replaced has started buying his plants from me. Which is a result!

New project started last week, another 4 weeker - this place has built a mahoosive polytunnel which was just finished a month ago - which we have weeded and prepped the ground for, will make the raised beds for and will still have a decent classroom size space in the middle for indoor potting on, growing and woodwork. It is ace.

At home - have found a chap who will drop woodchip at the allotment as I am mulching all the beds with it. So my time has been spent barrowing and making sides to contain it. The clay is so bad and we are sick of keep adding piecemeal so we are going for the big guns. Should have done it years ago. I do love barrowing woodchip though. The smell, the heat, the lack of slugs. What is not to like?

And the Forest garden at home looks amazing - the leaves are starting to fall and I am just about to dig out loads of plants that were in the right place when we had beds but in the wrong place now - and all the oregano and strawberries that have covered several of the beds to make way for new plants. Yay. Of course will take the dug out plants to work, and get the propagation gang to plant them up and get them out for sale.

So busy busy busy. My 28 mint reference library will need a name if anyone fancies naming it. They will be grown in small 1 foot square raised beds, with paths in between, so that when we propagate from them we will take the whole plant out, cut the roots into pieces and then plant three roots with good leaves back in. The whole thing will be woodchipped inbetween.

Hope everyone is good, and now I've found you I'll be popping in when I can.

I'm definitely going to take it bit by bit - have been reading about mulches/plastic sheets and will cover much of the garden once I've chopped down the jungle and cleared any debris (fortunately I don't think there's much as it's a very private, enclosed site). I'd like to get the fruit bushes 'free', as you say book and maybe clear a small plot for planting for spring, but I know it's going to take a good while to get it really up and running. I would like to get a bit of lawn laid, as then it makes it easier to have DD with me when I'm there (she's 5 and very excited) - a swing, and possibly a trampoline would keep her occupied for ages while I graft!

I have spoken to a local professional knotweed removal man and I think I'll get him to come and give me a quote, but I know it'll still be a few years before I can use that end of the plot and I'll definitely not be growing there any time soon.

There's a large sycamore at the back of the plot too, and footings for a shed/greenhouse. And there are also some concrete-edged beds somewhere in the plot, which hopefully will be manageable to clear.

It's definitely a huge job, but it's a private site so it'll be mine forever! And I'm going to really enjoy the challenge

Just swinging by very quickly (in the middle of cooking a roast) to say WOW WOW WOW you have achieved so much ChuckLethal... And I think, since you are Queen of the Herb and Veg garden, you should call it the Royal Mint

I am currently making rosehip syrup. A bit pot is reducing away in the kitchen, filling the house with a lovely autumnal rose smell!

lethalbiscuits - I would love to know more about the RHS courses. I have thought, somewhat tentatively, that it might be enjoyable to do one, but I don't want to be in over my head. I don't really understand how the qualification structure works!!

Your comments about woodchip have given me food for thought - about the only thing provided at our site is woodchip, and I hadn't thought of using it as a soil conditioner/improver, but it makes so much sense.

goodenough - I don't often say this, but I think getting in a professional with the big guns probably makes sense with knotweed. This is really obvious advice, so apologies, but maybe check where it's coming from as well - you don't want to go to the trouble and expense of removing it just to find it spreading in again from a neighbouring plot!

I am contemplating sorting my compost in a bit. And really wishing I'd taken chuck's advice to buy a pitchfork.

Permission to behave like a complete wet weed for two seconds.

So I have just been cleaning out my compost and trugging it up the garden, which is as stinky a job as there is. Hot work and involves rotting stuff. I hasten to add that this involved the shifting of multiple spiders, slugs, worms, centipedes etc which I managed with aplomb because outside I am not scared of such things.

However, I have just come indoors in desperate need of a shower and smelling unspeakable, to find a GIANT 3.5 INCH SPIDER MONSTER IN THE BATH.

I literally cannot deal with it. I don't know why, but as soon as I come indoors, a switch goes on and I am terrified.

(This also happened to me when I was reassembling a spidery shed. I was fine putting the walls together, but I suddenly was scared when the roof went on).

Waaaaaaaaah. I think there is nothing but to sit here and wait for a neighbour or DH to come home.

Just popped in - been rather busy this morning.
shove - handhold . He's frightened too no doubt! Can you wash him down the plughole with a something squirty or a jug of water? I'm not frightened of then, but am of moths , so can sympathise)
I am off shortly to the plot, so hope he takes the hint :)

Afternoon properly !
so nice to hear from you Chuck - glad that things are going well for you. Its a wonderful thing to be doing something you love and believe in, and get paid and receive appreciation for . Though how you have the energy to work, and then come home and do your own as well......
goodenough - sounds to me like you are well organised for it all. It sounds amazing, that you know you can keep the site - it means that all the prep and work will be for your benefit. And a trampoline - they are a great idea - penned in, and enjoying it!.
shove - I hoped you have coped .Which thread /poster had the " I have a pitchfork, and know how to use it" - (though for different reasons)... that still makes me smile
I have managed a bit of time at the plot. Digging the bit where the flowers came out yesterday for an hour and then barrowing 5 loads of manure. That was it apart from a bit of faffing and picking some spinach for tea . I have however cracked and picked my aubergine. I think it could have got a bit bigger, but I noticed snail tracks on the leaves this morning when I went to open the greenhouse door. So I will not allow a single blighter the chance !

AUBERGINE OF TRIUMPH! That's so lovely and black and glossy!

Hello all. Welcome to the new people, and hi again Chuck.

So sorry for your loss, quince.

I finally did some stuff with the garden yesterday. Pulled out almost everything - just left a few spring onions and my courgettes - and gently forked over the top. Not sure the courgettes are going to grow much more but I'll give them the rest of the week. Have a lovely lot of little beetroot to enjoy over the next wee while, which is great.

Have now made plans for next year, and it's going to be fun. I'm taking out all of the flowers (apart from marigolds and nasturtiums) so I've got more space in the garden for vegetables. The flowers will be moving to a new border garden.

Evening!
lovely to hear from you Grouchy - I do think vegetables can be so pretty - runner beans and french beans up a lovely wigwam/obelisk are lovely to look at! I too am eyeing up the courgettes, and thinking they need to be out, but they will keep producing courgettes. Mind you , it was a bit sharp last night, and am panicking a bit about my squashes.
I had no chance in the end to spend time today at the plot - life just seems to fill the calendar up , even when this morning it was relatively free time I am definitely going to be down tomorrow ( I will look a bit 'done up' as I have a hairdressers cut and blow dry tomorrow- the only time every 6 weeks I look erm groomed I think the word is :)
I did pop in first thing this morning though - I had the offer of some tomatoes from a fellow plot holder. I got there, and he had absolute loads. Outside grown, just taken in to finish ripening in his greenhouse. I have taken a fraction! They are 'Orkado" , so will be interested to taste them.

grouchy - waves That's brilliant that you got out for a bit. I am in awe of anyone who manages it at all with young 'uns. I hope you are feeling OK! I am also leaving my courgettes, since a couple of years ago I harvested some in the first week of November. Amazing!

And wow to those tomatoes book. Mine were over ages ago - I had loads of green ones, so made chutney. The idea of growing in pots and taking them under glass to finish off hadn't occurred to me before!

Afternoon!
shove - these were actually tomatoes grown direct in the soil. I had one for lunch, and they are rather good taste wise.I think he took fright about the overnight temperature and picked everything and laid them in trays. I have just looked at the ones I did the other week, and quite a few have nicely ripened now, so I can use those up too.
well, a busy day. I emptied my greenhouse this morning, and it is now scrubbed with bleach and rinsed down. I left the window and door wide open to dry. There is a pile of clutter on the grass...! This afternoon DH came with me to the plot. So while I weeded ready for the next batch of manure, he dug up raspberry canes , ready to replant at our daughters garden on Saturday. It was glorious. So I have left the butternuts yet again....I am living dangerously I now have the lovely job of repacking the greenhouse. I have cleaned about a third of my pots, so they can go back in with the bench and the potting thingy, and the shelves etc , but I am going to be lazy and leave the pots that still need to be washed outside, so it makes me finish up washing them. Then its all done - clean and tidy, ready for Spring.