Allotment/Veg Patch -Thread 8 - Its spring - time to get busy!

[bookbook]

Thought I had better get a new thread ready to roll!
It has been a long, soggy winter , but the clocks go back soon, we may see the sun , so it will be all go, go ,go
Everyone welcome, join us the celebrate and commiserate on the joys of vegetables
previous thread HERE

tiz I posted a thread recently asking for some tips on keeping our cat off the ground before plants are well established - there were some good ideas on there, I'll see if I can link it. I think I have decided I am just going to start all my plants off in seed pots and plant them out afterwards - it feels like it will be a faff, but probably less of a faff than having netting/spikes/moving the cat off every five minutes

Am going to catch up on GW now!

Live posting from my plot. It's glorious weather, and yet i am all alone. I'm rehoming stray rasp runners (further down my plot, I'm not parting with them!) and also digging out couch grass to lay a card/paper/bark path.

And i am digging up BenSquash. My wtapped up pile of weedy soil and manure that id hoped would kill off weeds. I'd optimistically bought my garden sieve from home, to sieve out the weeds. Readers, it is one solid clay clag lump. Now i know why my sieve is so pristine - it is of no use in these parts. Dammed clay.

Lots of frogs, and hedgehog evidence though, which is good

Oh dear, Zebra, no sieving today! Good to have frogs and hedgehogs though. There were very few people on our plot too, I wonder why? Am now weeding at home and trying to get the energy up for cutting the grass. I ate doing it but it improves the look of the place immensely!

Ah Spotted I am envious of your frogs and hedgehogs. We still have very little wildlife. I hope it comes back soon as we've been in the house for nearly two years now.

Spent the morning digging over my new border garden to fix the compacted dirt from it previously being part of the lawn. Was hard work but it feels good and it looks so neat and tidy now. We're putting in a teeny tiny pond in the possibly forlorn hope we'll get a frog or two to chomp on slugs but I am not holding out much hope. It should look pretty, at least.

Resting now while DH is at the park with the children. Will spend the afternoon filling the garden with new loamy dirt.

All of the seeds we planted inside have germinated, which is very exciting. All, that is, except for the courgettes.

I spent a lovely couple of hours in my tiny garden this morning - checking on seedlings, dividing herbs and sowing spring onions and radishes. I decided to do a little bit on the plot this afternoon. It was all a bit of a disaster. Firstly I find a family of snails had taken up residence in one of my wellies. I decided to travel light, intending on putting in the last of the spuds and do a bit of hand weeding. When I got to the plot I discovered my spade had gone missing (the only tool I keep there). Luckily my plot neighbour lent me one and I was able to get the potatoes in. I turned my attention to weeding the strawberry bed and discovered bindweed all over. I pulled loads up but is there any other way to get rid of it without using chemicals?

Hi bookbook- can you talk to me about follicular feeding the peas? Attached is a picture

Fourteen radishes have germinated, I am far too excited. It is so nice to see the first plot sown things emerge.
The broad beans have germinated in the conservatory and are looking good. Only one pea has raised its head. It is a lovely looking plant but rather lonely, so have sown some more. The new batch is in toilet roll middles.
Pulled up the first of the bindweed today. Only had the plot since October so expecting to discover our perennial problems as we go.

Afternoon !

It really is glorious today but firstly we were out, and didn't get back until middle of the afternoon, so no plot. I did however go and sow some more seeds in the greenhouse . More peppers, chanteney carrots into plugs, lettuce and cut and come again salad leaves.
I have been weeding in the garden since then:)
Spotted - maybe you could start up a youtube video for us? It is really strange how on lovely days like this , there are not more at the plot ( mind you, I wasn't....!) and Ben Squash going - its now Ben brick eh? Seriously jealous of frogs and hedgehogs .
elephant - what a day ... sadly bindweed is just a menace, which I can only keep under control . Mine hasn't popped up yet, but I just keep digging up as far down as I possibly can - I have much less now, but its always there somewhere, waiting to poke its head out .
Cath - the brown edges does look like cold damage to me . I think the lovely warm days have misled a few - it was really cold here last night. Foliar feed is just a gentle feed boost . I use my weed tea, but any plant food, made up very dilute will do - seaweed or tomato for example. I spray top and underneath the leaves, in a morning before the sun gets too hot on the leaves, and just drench them . It gets the nutrients into the plant a bit more quickly than via the soil.

I am so slow typing..
Pest - exciting isn't it!

Just back from a day on the allotment and sitting down with a hot drink. It is sunny but the breeze has a chill to it.

We have both had a week off and have been able to spend a lot of time on the allotment. It is amazing how much a bit of mowing and weeding does to make the allotment look loved again.

Where we are there is no pressure on allotments. In fact there are a few empty plots and nobody on the waiting list. As a result we have been able to take on another 10 pole plot to add to our existing holding. It got abandoned late last year but until that point it had been well worked so I dont think it will take long to turn it around. It comes with some fruit trees (I think plum) plus some mystery fruit bushes (possibly some redcurrants and blackcurrants).

So this afternoon we spent laying out new beds to match in with our 'house style' (all about the same size and edged in wood.

Happy, happy day but I am tired and will look forward to my bed tonight!

Placemarking!

I think we need a potato for placemarking on an allotment thread!

I noticed there weren't that many of the newer members on the field today. It was mostly the old dependables. I hope we haven't lost too many of last year's new starters.

Just found this thread and am marking my place. Lovely photos of plots, I'm very envious. I'm growing fruit and vegetables in the garden, and trying to make the best use of space without encroaching on child friendly play areas! At work now but will be back tomorrow.

Thanks bookbook I will try that. Just hauled my seedlings back in from their day out on the greenhouse. I really need to pot up the tomatoes now. I got some French beans to try the decorative bean thing. Can I do them in a big pot? Really lovely sunny day all day today but forecast for tomorrow is underwhelming .

Some pictures of our allotment including the new plot we have taken on. The attractive pallet stack is the remains of a fence we took down which separated our existing plot from the new plot.

That soil lookes lovely Gnome! What are your plans?

Evening!
welcome Gnome - that looks a fabulous open site - and a lot of allotment - I have a proper big old size one , so I know how much extra growing space you will have! Great that it is a reasonable state . Blackcurrants as all the fans on here know , smell of blackcurrants - just rub the stem . I think that new plot holders don't quite realise that getting going early, and little and often is better than rushing in and overdoing it in one fell swoop tbh, and they soon find that the commitment on a regular basis is more than expected.
And jump in Tigger and Cynara - the more the merrier

The nearest bed (the one which is dark brown) is on one of our existing plots. It used to be a strawberry bed but we are now rotating it on so covered it in well rotted horse manure for this year.

On the new plot we are in the process of dividing it into six 5m by 3.5m beds which we will introduce into the crop rotation. Peas, beans, beet, annual flowers this year then rotate next year with the usual suspects (potatoes, onions, brassicas etc).

We are very lucky, there is land to spare at the moment so we have been able to take on new plots. Our society is unusual as it is privately owned (each allotmenteer is a shareholder) and is an allotment and smallholding society meaning we can grow anything we like not just fruit and veg.

Thank you bookbook that is good to know. Will redcurrants have the same smell do you know please?

If they are blackcurrants we may keep them but if red they will come out.

You are right about it needing the regular care rather than one big push. The old stagers seem to be on the field all year round even if they are just doing a bit of pottering and drinking tea in their sheds when the weather is bad.

Operation shed today! However I need to go and buy a new spade first and nothing opens until 10 on a Sunday.

Good luck with shed and spade. We use the wood handled range from Wilkinson. The only casualties have been to human predators.

Gnome I am SO jealous of your massive plot empire! How much land is it, in total do you know?
Red and white currants don't have that smell, it's just the wondrous blackcurrant that does. I love them, a lot.

I've put some frozen blackcurrants in an apple crumble today, and I fed my plot currants yesterday and my home blackcurrants today.

Blackcurrants.

Had a couple of brief trips to the garden, mostly just to show a friend and my mum who hadn't seen it yet. They both loved it - and my friend volunteered her labour so we're going to do a full day tomorrow, weather permitting.

I think I've decided I need an extra bed for potatoes. I don't think I have enough room for everything I have planned/germinating and the spuds I have chitting in the beds I've currently dug. There's plenty of space to add another bed it's just more work!

Wow this is a fast-moving thread!
Made it up to the plot yesterday in between shuttling the DCs here there and everywhere. Gorgeous weather. Planted my chitted seed potatoes (Arran Pilot - hoping to get them grown and out in time to plant something else productive over late summer). Also sowed some purple spring onions and did some guerilla planting of red onion sets - just a few here and there. Today I braved the chaos of the understairs cupboard and unearthed my Poundland cloche tunnel from last year, also a massive roll of fine mesh netting I've had for years (no idea why i bought it when i did, but it'll be great for the fruit bushes over summer) and chopped up a few large soft drinks bottles to make mini cloches. This afternoon DS1 and I took a little wander to the local shopping centre where I was swept up in the enthusiasm for pound shop gardening again. Another cloche tunnel and a pack of 20 gladioli bulbs from Poundworld, and this rather lovely allotment/cookery book which was an absolute bargain from Poundland (after a quick browse it reminds me very much of the Andi Clevely books which i also really like)