Allotment/Veg Patch Thread 15 - will winter ever end?

[bookbook]

Hi everyone , just putting this up quickly , will add on later
Everyone welcome! :)

Glad you're back safely Book.

DH went to the field today to survey damage. We have lost some panes of glass from the greenhouse but the polytunnel survived unscathed. A few sheds on the field got blown over and a few tunnels have lost their covers.

How was the flight bookbook? DD described hers as very bumpy

Checking in (and joining in with the seed catalogue browsing!)
Dug over a bed today and pulled out the weeds-how deep should I be digging? I only went one fork depth but think maybe I should be going deeper?
Also decided I have room for a couple of smallish fruit trees-maybe a plum and a pear... any thoughts? I already have a cherry on the plot and apple trees at home.

My start to spring plans was to random my but a ginger plant to grow this week!
Not yet been to see if any storm damage ... hope everyone’s plots have survived.

I've never seen a ginger plant @RhubarbFizz! I bought some spinach and some kale seeds, much less exciting...

I just want it to be spring already!!

I have Japanese hardy ginger but haven't quite worked out how to use it! Really must take the plunge this year...

Whattodowithaminute I think pears need a pollinator just as apples do.

I just want it to be spring already!! No!!! I'm busy with other things, I can't start getting out propagators and sowing seeds just yet!

I just want to stop having to retrieve the cold frame from the end of the garden. I've done it four times so far, and my nice little sketch of what potatoes were chitting in what tray is now completely worthless as they all got scattered. It's going to be a bit of a lottery with the whites now...

well hello properly!
Gnome - actually not a bad flight in the end - we got put up overnight on Sunday , and flew early Monday morning . Just a bit bumpy when we hit the jet stream , and the pilot took us down a couple of thousand feet to reduce it .
Welcome Fliberrtyjibbit , Tangelo , jiskoot and OneMoreForExtra :) join the clan

Parnsips - I personally don't grow them , but they are slow to germinate , and it is easy to sow too soon . They don't like damp and cold . Also , you need to use fresh seed each year too. One of my allotment neighbours germinates them on damp kitchen towel , and sows them when they have just sprouted.
Catrescue and Mazyka welcome back :)
cathpot - tricky with plum flowers , isn't it . I fleeced a couple of years ago , barely had a plum , last year just left them to do their thing , even though it was really cold , and had a bumper crop . I would just leave - the odd warm day the insects will find them , but won't hurt to hand pollinate I guess , if you have the patience!
Pears - I have a conference at home , a full standard, and that is self pollinating - in poor years , they may be a little less good , and odd shaped , but it crops well. I think others would need other varieties though , so best to check
Well, finally got to check the plot over this morning - the winds are fierce , sorry to hear that polytunnels and glasshouse have taken a beating .
Our two big polytunnels are anchored into the ground by about 2 foot, or as far as we could drive them in ( steel pipes driven in to the ground , hoops threaded into the pipes and backfilled )
The fruit cage door had come loose , and a few bits of fleece over hoops had managed to escape a few bricks , and a bit of net has torn on my brassica cage ( easily repaired) but other than that all is good . I dug up a couple of slightly sorry little caulis ( autumn ones which hadn't curded in autumn) and cut some sprouting broccoli .
Onward and upward . The broad beans have germinated in the greenhouse , the rhubarb is being thuglike as usual , and I must start planning my seed sowing

Morning! As the ground is so absolutely awful in our new allotment (friend and I are sharing) we’ve been making raised beds. Don’t want them too tall as they seem to dry out. Our allotment has manure and wood chipping delivered very regularly (amazing!!) so we’ve been adding manure to each bed. I’m wondering if this is wise?! Will it be too rich for some veg/flowers do you think? Do certain veg/flowers love it?!
I have ordered dahlia’s and sweet peas as our flowers, tubers and seedlings (cheating know!) and hoping they will like these beds?
Want to out in broad beans, garlic (too late??) and onion sets soon, will they cope?
One bed is going to be asparagus so think I’ll work with soil we have and add garden sand to loosen it, don’t think they’d like it too rich. Same with carrots?
Potatoes - would they cope? Although the chitting doesn’t seem to be doing much?!!
So many questions!!
Thank you!

You do have to check pollination with pears. Conference and Concorde are self fertile but some varieties are self sterile. I think that conference is considered a universal donor so worth having along with anything else!

Janus raised beds look very impressive. Traditionally horse poo is supposed to be well rotted but in my experience you use what you can get! Not too late for spring planting garlic. Most things are happy in rich soil. The exception is carrots who get overexcited and start forking.

One thing you could try is piling up a mix of horse poo and wood chips in one of your beds, cover it with weedproof matting. Leave for a while then plant through with courgettes who will love the warmth and richness.

Thank you Gnome - one thing to ask is someone said be careful with your woodchips because something (pine???) maybe toxic to add to your plot. Anyone else heard of this?? I have no idea what’s in the woodchip as it’s all brought in by tree surgeons and left in a massive pile!

@Janus you might find this worth reading

Nice beds Janus... happy planning!
We have mainly raised beds, but sadly no easy free pile of manure. We have clay soil mainly and find carrots are better if shorter varieties. Parsnips have rarely worked, nor Brussels for some reason. It is fun to see what you have success with and what you enjoy. We grew lots of chars this year which nobody really liked and the spinach we like was a disaster for some unknown reason!

Thank you gnome, so seems chippings should be used more as a mulch, we may do that in the long bed with the fruit trees in as that can just lay there and be topped up as it rots, thank you.
We too have clay soil rhubarbfizz, hoping growing potatoes in a couple beds for the first year may break those up! And one bed of dahlias and one bed of sweet peas who both seem quite resilient in clay! I’ve looked at what other people have growing already in the other plots and sprouts look good (luckily I like sprouts!) and broad beans are in a lot of people plots and leeks look magnificent!
Broad beans - should I grow these at home first to get them going? I remember them being easy to grow in a pot (kids have all grown them at school over the years!) or do I direct sow?
Is anyone growing anything at home yet, other than maybe chitting potatoes?
Oh chilli plant, someone said they’ve started that, I have some seeds so will try them!

Rhubarb I'm also on clay. I find about 5 years of adding home-made compost in a 4-6 inch layer on the surface totally transformed the soil.

"chars" = "chard"? Yes, I can grow that. Parsnips no, despite having had no trouble with them in Kent/Sussex.

Janus Broad beans are usually direct-sown, as they are more cold tolerant than runners or french. I grow them in pots because I have a huge slug problem.

Evening!
great looking raised beds there Janus . Try to get some top soil if any is available . Manure is great , but needs topping up regularly as it rots down . It does encourage carrots and parsnips to fork .
Broad beans - I do a mixture of both - direct sown and some in plugs , mostly as above due to slugs .
Sprouts - along with most of the brassicas benefit from some lime - reduces risk of club root too .
I'm okay with mine as I grow on chalk :)
So DH and I I went down to the plot this morning - mended the brassica cage net , and was offered some manure from another plot holder so went and fetched 3 big barrowloads back to our plot . Some of that will go on as a mulch on the asparagus , the rest mixed in on the area I haven't already done .
Picked sprouts and leeks ( a couple which had sent up flower stalks) for tea . At home , finally got around to sowing sweet peas in the greenhouse .
Will need to go and check everything over either tomorrow or Saturday before storm Dennis arrives , and put the bench in the shed ( again ) .

Oh bookbook I love sprouts!! I definitely need to grow these. What do you make with sprouts and leeks? I do like a leek and potato soup too.
We have 16 beds so we would need so much topsoil, I am seriously thinking of having a tonne delivered to home and taking down about 2 sacks at a time but even a tonne of topsoil is well over £100. I fear it might not even go that far either.
I only found out today that asparagus likes manure so that and a bag of sand will be thrown in that bed, should get my crowns in the next few weeks.
We made 2 more beds today, we now have 10 of the 16 we need to make so at least we can say we are over half way!
We also had an allotment inspection (didn’t know this happened?!) and the lady said she had to email to tell us how impressed she was! It’s a plot that has gone through several hands but no one sticks with it as it’s the end plot on a gentle slope so becomes a bog at this time of year! That’s why we’ve put in raised beds and double dug, to get them out of the bog! In fact everyone keeps coming down and saying ‘oh you’re brave’!! We’re trying to convince ourselves that it means that our plot won’t be so dry in the summer!!

Janus yes our potatoes have worked well and have helped a lot with the soil. Leeks and onions we have done well with in raised beds. Also strawberries. I hope the summer proves that you don’t have to water too much! Our plot seems to have more clay than others due to its location so great for summer fruit and squashes as I do not water daily or more than twice a week except in exceptional heatwaves and it all survives!

Mere yes sorry chard - typo! That is encouraging about the home grown compost. I have 2 bins now so am producing more.

Going to get out potatoes tomorrow to chit at home,

@Janus well done on your allotment inspection!! I really need to have a good look at mine, when I'm finally feeling better!

The DC have enthusiastically planted anything and everything they can get their hands on at home (including pine cones ), we'll see if anything comes up... the seeds we planted indoors are sprouting, which they find fascinating.

We grew some chard last year too, but no-one liked it

A tonne of topsoil is about a 1m cube. so if you want it 6 inches thick, ie 10cm, your 1m cube can be sliced into 10 10cm slices, so 1 tonne will cover 10 sq m (ie a bit more than a square 3m by 3m) at 6 inches deep.

I have 2 bins now so am producing more. Three bins is the ideal, then you can be adding to one, leaving one to mature, and using the third. Then when you've emptied the third, you tip the unrotted stuff from the second into it, and start using the second. The first can be left to mature once it's full and the third is now the one you add to. And carry on cycling like that.