Allotment/Veg patch thread 11 'We bid farewell to rainbow leaves but will keep plotting along'

[bookbook]

Well, nights are drawing in, leaves are starting to turn, harvesting carrying on
What a summer it has been!
Join in with the ups and downs of growing our own into autumn.
Last thread www.mumsnet.com/Talk/gardening/2951768-Allotment-Veg-Patch-Thread-10-Plotmenters-busy-into-summer-and-loving-James-Wong?msgid=71770088HERE

For our raised beds we filled mostly with topsoil, with a bit of compost added on top.

This worked out the most cost effective route for us.

Thank you for cabbage suggestion- I’ve not tried roasting cabbage so might do that this evening. Just collapsing into half term with grateful/ weary expression. DH spent today clearing up branches from all over the garden after unexpected weather yesterday. I’m half way through clearing the raised bed. Ours cost lots to fill but it is waist high. We did rocks / gravel/ top soil/ horse poo. It has dropped about 20 cm over the last 4 years so we really going to top it up I think but I am worlds worst composter so it will be paying out for soil and poo again.

Morning!
Hope everyone coped with Brian :)
I popped and did a bit yesterday - weeding, forking etc , and picked broccoli.
Today it has been raining until about 30 minutes ago, so it will be too wet, so thats today out of the window, as we have visitors this afternoon.
Did anyone see GW , and the bloke growing Szechuan peppers - intriguing .....

Thanks for the asparagus reassurance! I think I have to wait until they're all brown and sad-looking before mulching them for the winter, right?

Morning!
I hope everyone is okay.
Maybe a bit like me - totally disgruntled this week .
Monday - busy , so no time for plot - dry all day
Tuesday - can go to plot - rains all day
Wednesday - busy , so no time for plot - dry all day
Today - can go to plot, rain forecast this afternoon , set off early and after half an hour rain sets in -I had just started to get in my stride, digging up the borage and cut flowers, started to spit, I ignore, then gets a bit heavier. I down tools, and run and pick some veg for tea, in the hope it stops. It didn't
But all my shallots and onions are showing, and about half the garlic!
I shall now sit at home and sulk. And maybe pick all the green tomatoes and bring them indoors to ripen, and get ready to clear out the greenhouse, ready for winter ...

arghh ! goodenough - yes - mulch after you cut the tops off :)

Afternoon all

All been a bit quiet plot wise here. Shed was supposed to come this morning but the space that dp had grudgingly cleared for it wasn't level enough. As I told dp at the time. So I have ordered a base for it to sit on instead and it's all coming tomorrow.

Ordered 18 raspberry canes the other day to be delivered by the end of November so started digging a bed for them to go into. Well, digging a long trench. It's hard bloody work! As well as stones and glass there are also loads of bramble and other roots to dig out. It's probably the first time in 4 years it's been dug over where they are going. Managed a couple of metres before the rain started. That took a good hour though so will crack on with some more tomorrow. Then I am going to dig some well rotted manure through it all.

The council have finally moved all the inherited rubbish and glass thank god! We can get it properly fenced off this weekend and the gate put on, shed will be up and all the equipment put away. We need to move the compost heap too.

But it should look like a proper plot soon!

Ideally I will have all my beds dug over and manured by the end of November. Probably won't do much then until after Christmas as we go away 13th December for a week, then Christmas.

I do need to research polytunnels though. Am aiming for that to be up and used from end of February.

But everything is so weather dependent this time of year. We have the ponies too and I like to get stuff done with them when it's ok.

Can see me having mornings at ponies, afternoons on the plot. And only doing housework and business admin when it's rubbish outside.

Sorry to have dropped off the thread for a while. Hopefully I'll catch up with everyone's posts. I've been plodding on at the plot, nothing spectacular just trying to keep going with the clearing & tidying. I keep finding more comfrey with roots as thick as my arm, it's really dispiriting. I can't think how I'll be able to dig it all out (most of the root system seems to eventually disappear under paving so is inaccessible). Even if I chop the roots off as far down as I can reach, I have a feeling the comfrey'll be back

I'm still getting some autumn raspberries although they're quite small & don't last long. Very tasty though! My strawberry runners arrived a couple of weeks ago (Mara des Bois) & I've planted them out. This week I've planted my winter onion sets, am hoping to get a few hours tomorrow to rearrange a bed and put some garlic in. I'm also trying to clear 2 huge plastic compost bins which are currently filling the bed at the front of the plot - unfortunately they're full of rubbish (crocosmia bulbs, huge wedges of dry unrotted crocosmia leaves, bits of weed membrane, baler twine) which isn't any good to put on the other beds so I'll have to bag it all up & do a few tip runs. Once that bed's cleared I'm hoping to put some bulbs and perennials in.
My plot neighbours have been very kind this week, they are all on very established & productive plots. I've been given an Alpine strawberry plant, 3 lovely onions and a clump of sedum

Hello. I was just started on my new (to me!) allotment yesterday, I hope you don't mind me joining in?

This is just a giant overgrown beetroot, isn't it? Or is it something else? I wonder if it's edible all green like that?

Evening!
welcome Outing :) - everyone welcome here. That does look like a giant beetroot, though at that size , it may be inedible. Some of mine are white, and there are lots of lovely coloured beetroot. So - have you plans for your plot? ( and being nosey - approximately whereabouts are you - N/S/E/W) Ask away - someone will have an answer to most questions .
Frouby - thats the only trouble, getting the base flat ..- hope its sorted, or on the way to being. And yes, RL does get in the way of plotting.
timtam - no apologies necessary - we all have lives. Beware a bit your alpine strawberry - they go everywhere , almost ( dare I say it ) a weed , but definitely a tiny thug :)
I did manage a bit of time this morning at the plot hurrah! It was a bit too claggy really, and the first cool morning only 4º at 9 o clock. But I managed to get a bit done , and picked leeks, spinach and some dahlias as well. I suspect they are ready for digging up, but they keep throwing out flowers !

I spent a useful few hours at the plot this afternoon. The weather was glorious. I went home for a few days over half term and came back with loads of goodies I was given - a very heavy roll of black polythene, weed suppressant fabric, a huge roll of the white fabric to put on brassicas, lots of brand new canes and frames that fit in grow bags to support canes for tomatoes all those things and the terracotta tiles took many a barrow run. I have started digging the edging tiles in and although they are a bit wiggly I should have used a string line they will do the job. Please feel free to PM me if you want some of the white brassica fabric. I don't even grow cabbages, I have put the word out on my allotment but it is up for grabs if you let me know how many metres you would like.

We have been plotmenting too this weekend.

book the shed and base come a week on monday. Will be glad when it's in.

Yesterday I managed another few meters of rasperry bed. Have 18 plants coming. How much space will they need between them do we think? It's hard work. There have been blackberry and rasperries in before we had it so lots and lots of big, knarly roots to dig out.

Dp has startes digging the beds over in his usual bull in a china shop fashion. Sigh.

Instead of taking the soil/compost/manure that was already in the beds and digging it back in he has lifted each bed, raked the mounds flat then dug the beds. So I have some lovely paths waiting to grow weeds.

Good job I can get unlimited manure to fill the beds back up. Which he can help with seeing as he has basically spread numerous bags about. I know he tries but I just wish he would listen! He creates more bloody work.

I have also moved the contents of my compost bin. And its had a good mixing. Was surprised to see the bottom third was already looking like compost. Only started it june time.

And we had a bonfire which was a waste of time. I think that its all too dense to burn properly now. A lot of it is weeds and brambles from when we took the plot on and is like compost now. Doea anyone know if I can use this on my compost heap? It's had a few dowsings of petrol to get it burning so I suspect not.

Going to pick a burning bin up instead and sort through what will burn and what needs to go to the tip.

We have noticed that our onions and garlic are starting to grow. Youngest DD is so excited! Must admit I'm pretty pleased too.

Hi everyone

First frost here on Friday morning!!!! And another this morning!!!! Glad I got the fleece on last weekend.

Frouby we planted our raspberry canes with around a foot gap between each cane. (we did one row along a fence. Think that was after consulting the RHS pruning and training guide but you might want to quickly google.

owa us too! Just noticed the onions peeking through yesterday along with some of the broad beans but the garlic came up ages ago - it is a triffid!

To answer your question book (scrolling back a couple of weeks), the weather has generally been drier than normal, even up here in not so Green Spain. The water levels in the reservoirs are a little low. We were only a little bit affected by Ophelia and Brian (the climbing beans were nearly over anyway ).

I had some leeks growing in a trug which went to seed before they were fat enough to pick. So I left them to flower and thought I might use them for new seed. Anyway, one of them has done that Walking Onion thing and has made lots of baby leeks out of the flower head. Do you think I should take the individual plantlets off to grow them on, or do you think its better to let the whole head come to rest in a new pot/trug?

HI everyone. I've not been around for a while. Very busy at work and then we were away for half term. Came back to a christmas potato disaster. All hit by blight, probably my fault for not leaving it long enough after it hit the last tomatoes. Should I have changed the soil in the raised beds?

Morning ( well just)
Phantom - what a haul ! and how generous to offer too. I was incredibly lucky to inherit tons of stuff from when I took over the other half of my plot, including brand new rolls of fleece, and the truly wonderful enviromesh .
Frouby - raspberries need to be 18-24" apart - the canes will fill the gaps over time , I promise you :)
we have had a couple of cold nights, but back to mild again.
ig - strange isn't it - you a bit too little water - and here, in East Yorkshire , where it is normally quite dry, it has rained on and off every other day for what seems like weeks. . Personally - I think the leeks depends on how you want to use them . If you split them up to plant, they will have room to thicken up, if you leave them as they are, I suspect they will be more like spring onions/baby leeks. So take your pick!
Newt - how annoying about the potatoes. I think yes, they should have been in different compost/soil - the spores are still there Trouble is , this dank grey weather is just perfect for blight. We all live and learn , but what a shame.
I have managed a couple of hours here and there this week. Today I managed a whole morning. I have finished digging over the bed where the cut flowers were. Today I started on the bed where the squashes have been.
Done some harvesting - a savoy a couple of days ago, today a turnip, some leeks and leaf celery to make soup ( I still have tomatoes ripening at home ). The sprouts are motoring along, so that and some broccoli for tea :). I did dig up a celeriac, but once again they seem to be a rooty mass, no nice globe root to use . I think I may have to give up on them

Nothing much to report here as DH has been ill (fortunately on the mend now) and so time has been taken up with that. We did get more manure on the beds and a bit more cleared before he became ill. I hope to get over there this weekend to do some more work if the weather holds.

I bought garlic a while back and haven't actually got around to planting it so need to get that in the ground somewhere.

Our leeks are definitely in the 'baby leek' category. They are all thin and weedy. But we do have a recipe for fish with small leeks which we like so we'll probably do that.

I think we'll make some squash soup at the weekend. DD will turn her nose up I expect but myself and DH will eat it.

Frouby if you put petrol on it then I wouldn't use it in the compost heap. I think having a metal container for burning things as you go along is a good idea. This is what my dad does on his plot.

Newt as bookbook says the spores from blight stick around in the soil. The wisdom in my gardening book is that you should wait around 6 years before trying to grow potatoes in soil that has blight in it. We cheerfully disregarded this for tomatoes this year and grew them in the same place as last as they always get blight anyway, but I don't think I'd risk it with potatoes because whereas with toms you can take them off the plant and ripen them and still get a good crop (if they've grown enough) with potatoes if they get blight too soon they won't grow large enough and they don't store very well anyway.

Cedar that's what I thought about the petrol too. Sigh. Am going to have to try and split it up a bit to burn and have a dig through and see what's in there. We will definetly have a metal bin but this is mainly rubbish from when we took the plot on.

And if we had used a metal bin we would have had to have fires every day and it backs onto a housing estate so we have to be careful.

Dp was going to use the remains of the fire to level a big dip off. The area where that is will probably be either where the chicken run will go or possibly the polytunnel. Might have to have a rethink.

Will see if it still smells of fumes when I start digging through it. And possibly try and get a decent fire going and reburn it all this weekend.

Going to try and get up there this afternoon ànd dig some more rasperry bed. Hitting the bramble roots massively now and it's hard work.

Will work up an appetite for wine and curry night tonight!

Morning all, sorry to have been away from the thread so much, just been catching up with you all. I've had a busy autumn with my youngest starting secondary school (different school to my oldest) so the allotment has been neglected somewhat, but after storm Brian I noticed the forecast was for a long settled spell and vowed to get up there and do at least half an hour of weed clearing a day. I have managed about 10 days out of two weeks so far, doing about 1sq m each time, mostly in the sunshine which has been lovely. We had a mild frost the other night (could see it on next door's flat roof) but not a proper ground frost, so I still have some summer flowers growing. Still picking autumn raspberries too, although only a few left now, just enough to eat as I work.

I have realised I made a mistake when planting out my celeriac. I have been comparing it with that of my neighbour who gave me the seedlings, hers are massive. I planted mine on the north side of a row of PSB seedlings which about the same size (at the time). Of course the PSB has grown and grown and is under dense mesh so it has completely shaded the poor little celeriacs which are tiny and pathetic compared to their cousins in the next plot. Oh well.

Not a lot happening here, picked some sprouts this afternoon to go with the roast dinner. Despite all being planted at the same time some plants are way ahead of the others, and the one plant that ended up in the flowerbed and remained unprotected by netting is the healthiest looking of them all!

Morning!
I managed an hour or two yesterday morning, we had a cold start . Was going this morning, but a fairly heavy frost is still on the ground so no go.
Cedar - hope DH is carrying on getting better -
Frouby - Cedar is right , and also you don't even want too much ash in any one place either - not good for the soil. Its okay thinly sprinkled around, but not good in quantity.
WhoKnows - I have no excuse for my celeriac - it is looking lovely on top - thick green leafy foliage. Just no root .....
tiz - its all winding down now - but my sprouts are a bit the same - I have one that I am picking with good size sprouts, all the rest still need a bit of time , a bit small, or downright tiny. I do have two varieties, so I have some for Christmas /January, but they need to get a move on!
I just forked/weeded yesterday. Dug up my dahlias and brought them home to dry off for over wintering in the greenhouse, and picked sprouts and kale.
No plot today now , with a bit of luck the rain will hold off tomorrow and I can get down in the morning , fingers crossed

Morning all

Just sat watching my lovely new shed be finished off!

It's a gorgeous day here too. Should really be doing housework this afternoon but coming back here with ds after nursery so he can see it. And then I can organise my tools etc.

Feels like a proper plot now

Evening !
Hope everyone is okay
Just plodding on here , forking over and weeding, picking sprouts .
Frouby - Hope you are happy with the shed :)
Had a couple of pretty cold nights here , hoping it kills some bugs

I'm still weeding away, a square metre or so at a time. Determined to clear as much as possible and not leave it till the spring but the nights are drawing in. We've had a proper frost this week which finished my Cosmos so I pulled them all out today, they were huge and no weeds underneath so an easy bit of clearing done.