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

[bookbook]

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

well, I got there this afternoon - the site was busy , everyone keeping apart , but such glorious sunshine .
Felt a bit sad to be putting up signs to keep the gates locked , but needs must .
I have been too busy to actually get any work done down there ,, so tomorrow morning it is for the peas , fingers crossed!

I fell off the thread again, it's good to read what everyone's is up to.

I'm at mine now, I've had to move twice to allow people along the path at 2m but that's ok. I've got a lot of work on here, the couch grass is invading as it does every year.

Afternoon all!

I’m after a bit of advice- after languishing on the waiting list forever I’ve finally been offered an allotment! Woohoo! And handily it is on the site directly across the road from where I live . I’ve never had an allotment before or even a garden of my own, so I’m so excited to have been offered one. In an ideal world I would grow fruit and veg in one half and cut flowers in the other. However...

The plot is 5 rods, which apparently works out as 125m²? I went to have a look and it looks pretty massive... it doesn’t appear as the anything has been done with it in quite a long time. There are masses of brambles, a lot of grass and weeds, and the remains of what used to be a greenhouse.

Would taking an allotment of this size be biting off more than I can chew? I also have a 4 month old baby to factor into the decision- although at present we only have a small patio and a little communal garden so this could double as a garden space for him.

Any thoughts?

Our council has confirmed that the allotments count as exercise thankfully! My top soil arrived just before lockdown so I need to get it up there now!

Angelo I've only had my allotment a year and this will be the first time I grow stuff in it but although it seems a huge task, just break it up into chunks. Don't bother growing this year, too much going on getting anything done will be hard.

If it is really overgrown get the council to agree to strim and rotovate it then cover it in tarp to prevent regrowth.

Most of mine is still covered, I've just installed the first bed and I'll only be putting a couple of crops in. it really will be tiny bit by tiny bit.

@AngeloMysterioso congratulations!

There is a man on a plot near mine who has been bringing his DS since he was a baby. He never came to any harm though when he was a toddler he would get quite grubby!

A 5 rod plot is fine as a starter plot. If you can, do a survey of your plot. Measure it out and sketch it out on a piece of paper. This will help you to get an idea of what you have room for.

It is worth finding out what you are allowed to grow. Some come with quite strict rules. Mine is an allotment and smallholding association so we are allowed to grow anything (except weeds and drugs with stricter rules about the weeds) and keep livestock.

Check round the greenhouse for broken glass. Horticultural glass is notoriously fragile so with a small child coming with you to the plot you may want to see if you can get toughened glass if you choose to restore the greenhouse.

You dont need to get it all sorted all at once. Clear a bit and plant it up then move on to the next bit. If you can, cover what you arent working on as that will help to restrict the weeds.

Here in Melbourne I haven't posted for ages. I spent the part of the day not marking essays or wrestling with Teams/Zoom clearing one of my veggie beds of the rampant warrigal greens and rocket. I now have masses of leaves to make pesto and bag up the greens for freezing.

Successful stuff has been the for-a -larf Turk's turban pumpkins that has gone bonkers. The summer was far too hot for the runner beans, though it wasn't especially so, I needed to plant earlier. Tomatoes useless and cucumbers simply would not grow. Courgettes are enormous. I'm clearing the bed for broad beans and snow peas. Rainbow chard is racing way, as usual.

The experiment to wild-sow warrigal greens as underplanting and also as container plant has been very successful, so I'll no longer put them in the beds as too rampant. Parsley and, weirdly Asian greens have self seeded in the mulch.

It's been a dry summer, much marred by smoke haze and the autumn lacks the rains of the past and has been oddly cold, though cheering up a bit now.

Finding seeds has been hard as CV19 has turned everyone into a veggie gardener.

Oh, and thanks for the new thread, bookbook

My sweet peas have just started poking their heads through. Yippee! A bit of joy on an otherwise depressing day.

Planted some Gooseberry bushes today and some strawbs, first seeds going in the ground too... really lovely on the plot if only I didn’t have 3 children with me...

You've just reminded, me, elephant, I've missed the traditional Aussie day for sowing sweet peas, St Patrick's Day.

I'll get on it.

Just wanted to share my backsaver planting system. You will need:

• spade handle
• plumbing pipe

Make a hole in the ground with the pointy end of the spade handle. Put one end of the pipe in the hole then drop whatever you want to plant down the pipe.

I have been using this method for a while now. It works with garlic, plug plants, peas, broad beans. Basically anything which can slide down the pipe without getting stuck on the way down.

Morning all!
hi echt - all well with you I am glad to hear - I will wish you good growing weather :)
Welcome AngeloMysterioso. Well, you have pros and cons there! - first you are close , so you can maybe pop each day on your allowed exercise . At 4 months , baby will not be getting too much under your feet , but you can maybe use a sling or a blanket under shade to let them kick. But , it does sound like a bit of work . That is actually a nice size - its about a half of a traditional allotment size . So - first mantra ( everyone sing along ) Its a marathon , not a sprint - do not try to get it all done quickly , you will just end up either fed up or in pain from digging/cutting etc . Have a plan . See where the sun comes up , if you get shade at any time , whether you have water available on site . Then draw a plan . It doesn't matter if you can't do everything , as long as you know where things want to be eventually . It will save extra work in the future . Yes to checking on broken glass- a really good point . Get to know your neighbours ( obviously keeping your distance! ) - they will have a wealth of knowledge and experience and also - only grow what you like to eat
So if you can cover over most of it , then start small -see how much time and effort it is to make a small bed . and one word of advice - when you have cleared a small bed , got rid of the weeds and made it workable - grow something in it , because if you don't the weeds will be back before you turn your back :)
well, it has been totally glorious here , but sadly from my point of view , can't get to the plot for 2 weeks due to SI ( husband had a fever Wednesday night)
So I am sowing some peas in plugs , so that by the time I can go , I can hopefully plant them and get an early start .
In the meantime , I am sowing my next succession of leeks , as they have all nicely germinated. I will need to prick out brassicas in the next few days , so will be getting out my little mini greenhouse as a hardening off space , and basically just doing what I can at home . Just watching to see if tomatoes/peppers and aubergines are germinating yet - I realised I used an old packet of my San Marzano , so am ready to re sow with fresh seed if need be .
Keep safe everyone .

Thanks for the advice @bookbook and the warm welcome. I’ve planted my potatoes in large buckets and sown my carrots and peas under the cold frame. I have my tomatoes and broccoli in small propagators inside and have woken up to my broccoli already germinated. Feel so please with myself

Things popping up nicely here. Only one thing I can't identify after my labelling mishap they look suspiciously like Brussel sprouts but I'm sure I didn't sow any, especially not 11 of them!

I’ve extended the veg patch massively this year, I’ve got lots of various tomato and chilli
Plants growing in the conservatory. I’m now trying to figure out how to fit everything in. How many butternut squash plants to an 8x4ft bed? Xx

yay at germination - brassicas are eager beavers .
tiz - all the brassicas look identical until they are much , much bigger :)
Victory - truthfully ? 1 , but at a squeeze , with lots of watering and feeding 2 at best !

Hey can I join? This is my 3rd year on my plot and I can't wait to get plants in!

What are peoples jobs for this weekend?

I want to plant broad beans outside and clear a side bit of my plot to maybe plant wildflowers/ wildlife encouraging plants.. I have a small comfrey patch there atm and going to put borage..

Any other suggestions?

Also.. Is anyone else a bit sad about the garden centres closing.. I just want to go browse plants and seeds

I already bought lots of my seeds and tubers and have seen online lots of places out of stock/delaying orders..

Has anyone got good recommendations for online plant sellers?

Hi Lemonn Yougarden is proving to be quite a good site.

Brussel sprouts are the only brassicas I have seeds for, so if they're not sprouts they're not brassicas. Time will tell!

I’ve mainly been weeding today. Trying to hold off planting things outside due to the cold weather forecast this weekend. I’m still waiting for seed potatoes to be delivered and raspberry canes which I suspect I will never get. Does anyone one know if Lidl or Aldi are selling raspberry canes/plants? If so I can plan my weekly food shopping trip to one of them.

My seeds are germinating, peas are shooting, started carrots off indoors this year, hopefully move them outside in a week or 2.

Not had much success with tomato seeds, only 3 have germinated and my cauliflower seedlings look leggy.

So the 8 plants I've grown won't fit then 😂

Going to get as much as possible into the ground this weekend. Feeling a bit nervous that we are moving to a full lockdown situation so dont want to lose what has already started.

So plan for this weekend is to get peas, onions and shallots into their final beds.

Just ordered a little plastic greenhouse for the patio so we will be bringing home seedling trays from the allotment.

Feeling a bit nervous that we are moving to a full lockdown situation Yes, I'd agree. Even my shelf-stacking son has been issued with a "key worker" letter so either employers know something we don't or there's a lot of paranoid employers out there.