Allotment/Veg Patch Thread 9 - Spring is sprung, its getting really busy!

[bookbook]

Well, the last thread filled up quickly - maybe due to the horrid weather . Its time to battle slugs, snails and weeds !
Last Thread HERE

I have just filled my 1000l ibc tank with the help of a very kind plot neighbour as it was completely empty - the heavens opened just as we finished and it chucked it down for 10 mins. I've probably put a curse on us and it will now rain for the next 3 months! Pumpkin and beans are in, and some extra peas to fill the gaps. Butternut to go in when they're a bit bigger, I will try training them up an arch.

Don't be disheartened Lulooo, these things happen to all of us. (Looks at weedy 5 out of 16 sunflowers ....)

IlPorcupino you are doing better than me on sunflowers. I planted 64 and have 18

Only just, Pest! They are last year's seeds admittedly but I have them appearing like weeds in my broad beans so I might be able to move them. The wild ones are doing much better than my carefully nurtured greenhouse ones ... such is life !

Busy weekend at the new plot. Ds has been helping and has managed really well - we put potting shed with books etc but he has done some digging and planting. With his level of disability introducing new things isn't always easy and I am really proud of how he has done.
We have potatoes, runner and French beans in and today ds planted onions - I am not expecting much from them as he kept peeling them before planting and was being cheeky and putting them upside down then laughing.
Still got loads of plot to clear - currently the weeds are flourishing under the tarpaulin.

Wow, you've all been so busy this weekend!

I have a question that may be asking how long is a piece of string:

What is the minimum sort of size that is productive for a square bed, if we were to put four square beds out the front? Bearing in mind we have the space out the back for the bigger things.

What size would they be Gin?

Sorry, I mean what would the maximum/minimum sizes be? Given the size of garden you have in the front.

Evening!
Frouby - no wonder you are shattered, it looks fabulous.
tibni - thats great about DS - no doubt the onions will thrive :)
DGS and I sowed 8 seeds out of a little grower Xmas present , no idea what they are - the all germinated , but 1 toppled off the bench and was gone. They are like triffids now, but they are off to his house for them to water and feed . :)
Managed to get back to the plot to put up wigwams, so I can plant out sweet peas tomorrow ( though now its looking like rain all morning...)
Just spent a fair bit of time trying to put all my hardening off stuff away from slugs. Last year worked quite well - I have taken them all off the ground and stood them on an aluminium folding table , all squashed together. I did find two critters lurking under a couple of pots of dahlia, . We are due more rain, so I wanted to get them off the damp grass - let the blighters climb Everest!
Gin - mmm the perennial question - you are already outgrowing your space! I think it depends on what you want to grow extra - I would say 4' x 4' would give enough space for lots of stuff - salads, spinach, broad beans, strawberries etc ,

Wow Frouby, that's fast work! You've all been busy...I've done nothing this weekend. DS had his black belt karate grading on Saturday and we went to see relatives in Teeside today. Ah well, I'll spend a bit longer down there this week.

Thanks for the potato and seedling advice Book. I think it will be baby plant stirfry for tea a few times this week

I had manure disappointment:( when I went to get some, it was all very fresh. I dug right down into the pile to get the most rotted I could (and almost fell headfirst into the whole I created), but It is still far too fresh to use as a mulch which is what I'd been hoping I would be able to do. So I took a couple of bags and will have to find somewhere to let them rot down. Bit worried the ratio of straw to manure is out as well. On the plus side at least me and my son got to see some nice horses :) and I might go back in the autumn to get a lot more and use that to fill the new raised beds I plan on making them lasagne composting styles to plant Next year.

Got to the plot for the first time in weeks.

Needed a pick axe to break the soil. Not a lot of weeding happened before DS1&2 decided it was time to go. The bed I dug and manured last year looks like it's a rubbish lawn (someone keeps mowing it) - the strawberries have disappeared.

The most depressing thing is that the raspberries which were the only things that grew, are only 4 inches tall. The ones in my garden are 2-3 feet. Not sure why they are unhappy.....

Thanks everyone. It's been hard work and I ache like mad this morning! But am very pleased with what we have achieved since friday. It helps that dp and his mate had a bit of competitive spading going on lol.

Not going up today. Need to blitz the house and it's going to rain all day too.

Can anyone recommend a decent book on veg growing/allotmenting? We grew a few bits in the old garden but it was very much trial and error and relying on my old ndn to point out any really obvious mistakes. This year we probably won't get a great deal in but want to be ready for next year.

Also will the little apple tree already on the plot need much doing to it? Ndn apparently pruned it last autumn so it's a managable size. Was thinking of sticking a load of well rotted manure around the base maybe.

Morning!
well, its started raining, as the forecast is that it will rain all morning, s thats my trip to the plot out of the window ( may popdown to plant sweetpeas if it eases up enough though)
Flop - what a shame. Can you use it as the base of a compost heap,/bin or mix it in with an existing one?
didi - are they autumn ones? mine are all fairly low to the ground, as I chopped them down in February.Someone has been strimming your bed? Thats a bit off!
Frouby - I'm not surprised you ache! But amazing amount of work done . My favourite book is The Allotment Book by Andi Clevely
HERE
Manure around base is a good idea-, don't put it up to the trunk, spread it out in a circle just a little further out for the younger roots.

Thanks book. Just ordered it. Was looking at them last night and liked the look of that one so glad you recommended it lol.

Glad to see this rain. We need it for the ponies and the water butt at home.

I'd second Andi Clevely, Frouby, but I've found that second hand allotment/gardening books are often very cheap on Amazon, so I've picked up others by Cleve West (Our Plot), Lia Leendertz (Half Hour Allotment), Joe Swift (Joe's Allotment) - all very different but inspiring in different ways. I also like Carol Klein's RHS Grow Your Own Veg.

At the moment, I'm really enjoying Charles Dowding's How to Create a New Vegetable Garden. He does the 'no dig' gardening method (www.charlesdowding.co.uk/no-dig-growing/why-no-dig/) which is very appealing for all sorts of reasons, including the fact that I started with a plot that was even more overgrown than yours!

I asked the same question about books when I started and someone said they found this thread (and its predecessors!) most helpful - and I agree. I nearly always find the answer here - either because someone else has asked the same question, or because someone will answer me!

Morning again!
I whizzed down to the plot managed a very quick hour, the rain was a bit patchy- its just getting going now ( and of course, forecast all week now!)
I planted out my sweet peas, and I was very lucky to get offered some overflow swede seedlings from NDN yesterday ( I had totally forgotten to sow any) so got those out as well, before the rain set in properly.
Wet hair and a cup of coffee now :).
I have other books too , they all give you slightly different ideas - I ahave the Carol Klein, Alan Buckingham Allotment Month by Month and funnily the big RHS book Encyclopaedia of Gardening has a very good section on fruit and vegetable gardening too. (I picked up most of them at charity shops and car boot sales ) .And on here...real life - not beautiful soil, extra help and limitless money

This is the area I was hoping to put the four square beds, just as far down as the rhododendron. It's 9m wide and 14m down (roughly) but hoping for space for a path in a cross between them (wide enough for a mower!) - would it be big enough do you think?

Got the glittering on the cabin finished yesterday so excited to see how much it fills up today

That should of course say guttering!

I typed out a long reply and lost it

It's Ariane crowns Book and Martha Washington seeds.

We have good rain today too

Oh, I wanted a photo of a glittery cabin!

A glittery cabin will be very cool

These are the books I have just now.

I saw the previous allotment tenant and now know what my potatoes are...from the co-op She laughed when she told me!

Finally got some rain! I got soaked walking home, but at least I didn't have to water the sprout plants I planted out. Must get some cheap beer ready for the slug invasion.

Doh! Tap on water butt had been left in the open position so no more water in there than this morning!

And sorry to disappoint with the lack of glitter.

Oh and my potatos are Aldi, were being sold off cheap with no tags so no idea if earlies etc. Anyone know what varieties they were selling earlier in the year? I swear they've grown an inch in a day, covered them all over yesterday and they're well clear of the soil again today.