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

[bookbook]

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

Ordered 12 strawberry plants as I think mine are past it Do they not produce runners? Usual way is to pot up some of the runners and use them to produce new plants.

So people reckon it's worth sowing these anyway? The one that may be a problem is the dill, because it's in the carrot family, like parsnips and parsley - they all seem to have seed that goes off quite quickly.

Mere I stupidly gave a load of runners away last year, I have had my strawberry plants since I moved in 9 years ago 🤣, last year the fruit was pretty dry and tasteless.

@mere Ah, thanks for that re. The old dill seeds. I have sown a few seeds but won't hold out much hope then. Just used some old toilet rolls cut in half so no big deal if they don't come up.
I did a fair bit today. More mulching with manure, cutting back lots of conifer and overgrown box honeysuckle to make space for veg and herb growing. Then sowed a few old comfrey seeds near the compost bin and a couple of broad beans to grow up an old conifer trunk.
Also sowed 3 types of radish , also ancient seeds. If nothing comes up after two weeks I'll give the trough up to beans.
Tired after a day of heavy work in the garden - love it

Still planning to get some strawberries, seed potatoes and salad seeds and need to get on and order these online

I am hoping my strawberries come today, I ordered through amazon. Ordered raspberries on eBay and they have not been despatched so I’m not sure when or if they will turn up.

I’m spending today trying to cut the grass in my garden, it’s like a jungle and my mower keeps clogging up.

So far I have planted..

Red onions
Beetroot
Parsnips
Carrots
Peas
Chillies
Aubergine
Cucamelons
Cauliflower
Tomatoes

Waiting for potato seeds which I ordered yesterday and I need to find some lettuce seeds.

I really hope hope we get nice weather through April so everything grows and produces a early crop.

Did you get your strawberries love?
I managed to get to the plot today and planted 3 blueberry bushes-now thinking I should have put them in the garden instead... anyone know whether allotments will be classed as exercise???

I was wondering the same @Whattodowithaminute!

We planted some shallots today in pots in the garden... glad we stocked up on compost. I'm hoping to get a few more bits outside in the next few days, the weather seems nicer (fingers crossed!) and I just don't have the room indoors.

At our site , we are ( at the moment ) going on the 'once a day to go out and exercise '. As we have gates the thoughts are to keep them shut to stop non plot holders using it as a useful space for dog walking , so I will need to take hand sanitiser to use the locks .
We have big enough plots to beable to distance ourselves from one another .
I haven't been down for a couple of days - am due to go tomorrow or Wednesday to pick veg and sow some peas , so will keep my ear to the ground . If people flout the rules , it is possible it may be added to things you can't do , but lots of plotholders have chickens which need tending .
I have spent the last two days sowing seeds - tomatoes/peppers/aubergines /spinach/perennial spinach , beetroot and some flower seeds too .

I am not sure about ours. The plots are small (about 10x7m) and close together. I was up there yesterday and so were loads of other people. It is possible to stay 2m apart but the long side of my plot adjoins the narrow main path, so I'd have to move away from the top third of it for anyone to pass by, then if my neighbours in the plot behind were also on theirs I'd have to watch out for them too.

We too will be taking our exercise on the allotment. We have a gate which is kept locked normally. Plots are generally quite large so social distancing hasn't been a problem so far.

I’m lucky that my veg plot and chickens are in the garden.

Local small holders fb group is talking about chickens being stolen. So I think this and veg stealing could definitely be a thing.

Michael Gove just said it’s fine to go to an allotment and garden.

Someone steals our red gooseberries, pears and many of our strawberries every year anyway. They have not been interested in beans, onions, gooseberries or blueberries thus far. Am wondering if stealing will be worse and if it is worth bothering this year, sigh. Especially if our 2 plot neighbours are there as they would be too close for comfort!

On a positive I bought 2 grow bags in case allotments were not allowed. What can I grow in them at home for maximum gain or fun for the children? We have a small greenhouse at home and two raised beds as well. Seed sowing has begun and our small front garden will look lovely this year as I will have time to plant flowers and weed!!

I always grow my early potatoes in grow bags and they do really well. if you want to keep children interested then you can plant in a small amount of soil and continually top up as shoots appear.

Radish are good if you are looking for quick results.

Thanks for that Beaver... any chance you could link that as i’m worried About getting stopped. I live 10 mins walk from mine, and have been going daily with my son since school broke up on Friday.

I’m lucky my plot is in my garden so I don’t need to go out. You are allowed to attend your plot and/or live stock.

Planted potatoes today. Never do this early but decided to plant, earth up and leave the allotment for now.

@Thistly no link sorry but was Gove talking on bbc news this morning.

We’ve had it confirmed we can still go to our plot. Will head over again this afternoon for a therapeutic dig I think.

We’ve had it confirmed we can go to ours too. If anyone has a Manchester City Council allotment and hasn’t had the notification, you can go for one short visit a day, alone, and don’t visit anyone else’s plot. They are visiting all sites today to put notices on the gates.

www.nsalg.org.uk/news/covid19-information/

Thanks Beaver. The above is the best i can find. I did search. Our plots are not very managed so don’t expect to hear anything personally.

chockaholic72 do people visit other plots? On my field we socially distance at the best of times!

It is looking like there will be supply problems for fruit and veg through the summer as so much of Europe is locked down. While I dont think any of us produce enough to solve the problem at least if we can keep ourselves well supplied then that will mean we arent adding to the problem.

I'm still unsure. Social distancing is an issue on ours as the plots are so small and the long side of mine is next to the main path which is itself less than a metre wide. People walk past me as I work there all the time.

Oh and we are a very chatty bunch normally.

@GnomeDePlume - not that chatty but people will always say hello, and there’s a fair bit of seedling swapping going on at this time of year. Have attached notice in case anyone doesn’t have a landlord and wants to use something similar.