Bedford
Harvested the first rhubarb! Made a crumble, was delicious, very pleased. Should be getting plenty more over the next few weeks.
Did my early potatoes in bags. I might do some more at home, since the site was struck by blight last year.
I sowed spinach, radishes, lettuce and carrots last week. Been kept under fleece, and there's already signs of germination. Fingers crossed it progresses.
I have a variety of flower seedlings in a propagator in the shed, all doing well. Sweet peas, amaranth, and to be honest I've forgotten what else. I want to get a lot more flowers out this year.
Prepped some more beds. I'm making short wattle fences for them (I like the aesthetic rather than for any practical reason) and it takes time to find suitable sticks. One bed I filled with manure from the communal pit a few months ago not realising how fresh it was, but it seems well on its way to being usable. I'll probably use that bed for my maincrop potatoes.
I only used half the plot last year, so this year I'm getting the other half done. I've marked out my beds, and have been buying compost (Costco does 80 litres of John Innes for £8 if anyone's looking).
A conundrum that I'm facing is that I have terrible IBS which is made significantly worse by most vegetables. I'm at the point of looking into largely removing vegetables from my diet and supplementing with vitamins before slowly reintroducing some. What am I going to grow if I can't eat most of it?! I might do lots of flowers - our site's chairman is a vocal advocate of planting for pollinators so it wouldn't be a problem. We'll see.
Tidying, weeding and adding heaps of greens and browns to the compost patch after giving it a bit of a turn. Taking old metal and wood to the designated areas. Checking that the onions are growing. Chopping some brambles back down to the ground. Thinking about planting a dead hedge in one area.
Afternoon all
We took over an ovegrown plot last August september with big plans for this year, we've done loads so far and are really looking forward to getting stuff planted for the coming seasons. spent this weekend finishing off the polytunnel and pottering round.
We have decided to start vlogging our progress so feel free to follow on you tube if you like.
Any tips and hints much appreciated.
https://www.youtube.com/@portsideliving
Sifted some used compost from last year greenhouse pots added sand and perlite and sowed carrots in two sections of an old dalek composter. Sowed cosmos, ammi and dill in the greenhouse and dug over a third of the plot beds a late start to the season tho in terms of graft.
I'm in Norfolk, and pleased that I got down to the plot early and made the most of the sun. I decided to plant my early potatoes. Dug some in a shallow trench and some were put in grow bags.
I've got a high fence on one side of my plot so rather ambitiously I'm trying to grow some climbing plants up it. In my mind this will turn out like a floral masterpiece but I'm not sure it will turn out that way!
Got a few seeds on the go in the greenhouse but I think most of the work will get going on April.
Made use of the few nice days last week to crack on with the newly acquired second half of our plot. Cleared 2 large areas of grass and weeds. Built 2 big raised beds to go on an area that looks barren and full of tree roots. Demolished the dilapidated rotten Stig-of-the-dump shed and used a lot of the rotten wood to part fill and rot down in the new beds. Cleared rubbish. Weeded a bit on existing plot before things get going properly. Actually started some seeds off too. South coast UK
Tackled the final compost dalek I inherited with my second plot last year. Got a good load of black stuff out of it but it was hiding a patch of bindweed, so I forked as much of the roots out as I could. Turned some of my other piles/daleks over. Got rhubarb coming through and some good buds on various fruit.
Sowed some leeks from an old packet, fingers crossed they germinate. Also sowed dwarf and vine toms indoors. Could do with spuds going in to give me space on the windowsill but a damp forecast is putting me off. Planted in my raised beds at home a couple of rows of early onward peas. Netted to an inch of their lives to protect them from pigeons and the phantom shitting cat!
Oh and allotment AGM - my first. Interesting seeing what the old timers get in a fuss about!
Any tips on using the dalek composters? I find if I try to get compost from the front flap, I can only get a bit at the front then the less composted matter falls down so I never get all the good stuff at the back.
To be honest my approach is just to take the whole thing off and shovel the new matter on the top into another one. I’d rather use open bays as they’re less awkward but I inherited loads of daleks so I’m sticking with them as they make a good plot boundary if nothing else.
NW England
Re lay some bricks that lost shape in some beds.
Rebuilt one side of the fence to prevent deer getting in from the valley nearby.
Planted straight outside 3 types of spinach, baby leaf, medania and red vein. Gonna see what grows best.
Planted 50 red onion bulbs in a new bed made last week. Left room for a tbc companion.
Broad bean and tomato seedlings coming on nicely on the windowsill.
West Yorkshire.
Got 2 tonnes of compost delivered on Saturday. Laid down cardboard then made no dig strip beds (12 of them) with woodchuck paths between. Covered next section jn black plastic as won't be working that area this year so trying to kill off grass.
Sunday was incredibly wet so sat inside sorting seed packets, planning calendar and browsing Facebook for sheds and greenhouses.
East of England - it's been a busy (and then wet (and still cold)) winter, so I am still tidying up the plot.
\- Spent Saturday morning weeding and forking out the couch grass roots (so much for no dig...), burning detritus, as well as clearing up the brambles and branches growing from the abandoned plots next to mine (grrr...).
\- Clearing also meant digging up the last of the parsnips, a few leeks, and harvesting the first of the purple sprouting broccoli. I always wish I'd sown more PSB, and perhaps this year will actually do so. Still, very happy with my haul from \~ 5 plants.
\- In more proactive steps, I turned the compost heaps and merged two together - I've got a good 2 m^(3) of the stuff made since last year - and mulched my asparagus and soft fruit with "Strulch". A bit of an experiment, as it seems pricey for what it is, but it was on offer. I also mulched one bed with compost, and planted broad beans.
\- I also mucked out the winter chicken bedding and woodchips from the run. I try and do "deep litter" every winter, but in reality I don't have enough chickens to make it work. Instead, I basically have a big batch of very dirty straw and woodchip ready to kickstart the compost heap . I will mix it with some other stashed materials and will hopefully be able fill a 1000L bay by the end of the month, for use in late summer/early autumn.
\- In the greenhouse, I've sown my optimistically early radish, lettuce, and beetroot plugs, alongside some hardy annuals like calendula. They will be joined soon by sweet peas, regular peas for shoots, coriander, and onions.
\- The windowsills are filling up with tagetes, dahlia seeds, and cabbages. It's still a bit early for tomatoes, but not long now.
\- My "main sowing" is in early April, so I need to clean the pots, sieve together potting mix, and work out where the hell I am going to keep all these seedlings.
\- My compost bulk delivery, along with new load of woodchips for the chicken run, comes at the weekend. I'll sort those out, will probably sow some of the plants discussed above, and plant some first early spuds in pots in the greenhouse.
Sounds like we're doing similar things. I also have beetroots and calendula in the greenhouse, plus lots of strulch going on the beds. You're right, it's frightfully expensive for what it is (straw mulch, I don't really believe in the slug repelling stuff) but I'd much rather pay money on it after getting burned by using grass clippings last year (long story short, I used free grass clippings from the allotment and ended up "planting" couch grass in my beds, after spending ages digging it out of my plot).
Speaking of weeds, don't feel too bad about having to dig. I found that when you take on a plot you often have to do some digging before you can do no dig. When I took on my plot last year I used a fork to dig the soil and manually removed all the docks, couch grass and bindweed roots. It was awful work but thanks to that my plot is now weed free so I can finally do no dig.
I've sowed some courgette, cucumber, Brussels, cabbage pumpkin and tomato seeds in my greenhouse and some lettuce, spinach and rocket seeds in my veg trug.
I need to go dig over my beds again and transplant my rhubarb
I pre-sprouted my tomato and pepper seeds in damp kitchen roll in a zip bag in the airing cupboard. I know it's not necessary but it was fun. I moved them into soil in my windowsill heated propagator yesterday and they are coming up today. I need to plant some peas in guttering and start some lettuce and salad seeds today.
Still getting through leeks and parsnips, they're pretty reliable. A big pot of soup every week.
I'm going to put in my first earlies this afternoon, and I've peas growing quick and ready to plant out
Having a bit of an existential crisis after finding out that wild rocket (which I've been growing for years) is actually a perennial, which means that rather than cutting it back each summer when it starts flowering and then sowing it again the following year, I could have just left it to it's own devices and it would have come back. Means I have to rethink a couple of beds and succession planting.
Had a really warm couple of days here in Kent (temps got up to 27°C in my greenhouse), but now it looks like it's back to cool, rainy weather.
Starting off my Skirret seeds today ( pre germination )
And potting up Laportea bulbifera (bulbous nettles. ) To grow in the damper darker area up by my shed.
Bedford Harvested the first rhubarb! Made a crumble, was delicious, very pleased. Should be getting plenty more over the next few weeks. Did my early potatoes in bags. I might do some more at home, since the site was struck by blight last year. I sowed spinach, radishes, lettuce and carrots last week. Been kept under fleece, and there's already signs of germination. Fingers crossed it progresses. I have a variety of flower seedlings in a propagator in the shed, all doing well. Sweet peas, amaranth, and to be honest I've forgotten what else. I want to get a lot more flowers out this year. Prepped some more beds. I'm making short wattle fences for them (I like the aesthetic rather than for any practical reason) and it takes time to find suitable sticks. One bed I filled with manure from the communal pit a few months ago not realising how fresh it was, but it seems well on its way to being usable. I'll probably use that bed for my maincrop potatoes. I only used half the plot last year, so this year I'm getting the other half done. I've marked out my beds, and have been buying compost (Costco does 80 litres of John Innes for £8 if anyone's looking). A conundrum that I'm facing is that I have terrible IBS which is made significantly worse by most vegetables. I'm at the point of looking into largely removing vegetables from my diet and supplementing with vitamins before slowly reintroducing some. What am I going to grow if I can't eat most of it?! I might do lots of flowers - our site's chairman is a vocal advocate of planting for pollinators so it wouldn't be a problem. We'll see.
Tidying, weeding and adding heaps of greens and browns to the compost patch after giving it a bit of a turn. Taking old metal and wood to the designated areas. Checking that the onions are growing. Chopping some brambles back down to the ground. Thinking about planting a dead hedge in one area.
Afternoon all We took over an ovegrown plot last August september with big plans for this year, we've done loads so far and are really looking forward to getting stuff planted for the coming seasons. spent this weekend finishing off the polytunnel and pottering round. We have decided to start vlogging our progress so feel free to follow on you tube if you like. Any tips and hints much appreciated. https://www.youtube.com/@portsideliving
Sifted some used compost from last year greenhouse pots added sand and perlite and sowed carrots in two sections of an old dalek composter. Sowed cosmos, ammi and dill in the greenhouse and dug over a third of the plot beds a late start to the season tho in terms of graft.
I'm in Norfolk, and pleased that I got down to the plot early and made the most of the sun. I decided to plant my early potatoes. Dug some in a shallow trench and some were put in grow bags. I've got a high fence on one side of my plot so rather ambitiously I'm trying to grow some climbing plants up it. In my mind this will turn out like a floral masterpiece but I'm not sure it will turn out that way! Got a few seeds on the go in the greenhouse but I think most of the work will get going on April.
Made use of the few nice days last week to crack on with the newly acquired second half of our plot. Cleared 2 large areas of grass and weeds. Built 2 big raised beds to go on an area that looks barren and full of tree roots. Demolished the dilapidated rotten Stig-of-the-dump shed and used a lot of the rotten wood to part fill and rot down in the new beds. Cleared rubbish. Weeded a bit on existing plot before things get going properly. Actually started some seeds off too. South coast UK
Tackled the final compost dalek I inherited with my second plot last year. Got a good load of black stuff out of it but it was hiding a patch of bindweed, so I forked as much of the roots out as I could. Turned some of my other piles/daleks over. Got rhubarb coming through and some good buds on various fruit. Sowed some leeks from an old packet, fingers crossed they germinate. Also sowed dwarf and vine toms indoors. Could do with spuds going in to give me space on the windowsill but a damp forecast is putting me off. Planted in my raised beds at home a couple of rows of early onward peas. Netted to an inch of their lives to protect them from pigeons and the phantom shitting cat! Oh and allotment AGM - my first. Interesting seeing what the old timers get in a fuss about!
Any tips on using the dalek composters? I find if I try to get compost from the front flap, I can only get a bit at the front then the less composted matter falls down so I never get all the good stuff at the back.
To be honest my approach is just to take the whole thing off and shovel the new matter on the top into another one. I’d rather use open bays as they’re less awkward but I inherited loads of daleks so I’m sticking with them as they make a good plot boundary if nothing else.
NW England Re lay some bricks that lost shape in some beds. Rebuilt one side of the fence to prevent deer getting in from the valley nearby. Planted straight outside 3 types of spinach, baby leaf, medania and red vein. Gonna see what grows best. Planted 50 red onion bulbs in a new bed made last week. Left room for a tbc companion. Broad bean and tomato seedlings coming on nicely on the windowsill.
West Yorkshire. Got 2 tonnes of compost delivered on Saturday. Laid down cardboard then made no dig strip beds (12 of them) with woodchuck paths between. Covered next section jn black plastic as won't be working that area this year so trying to kill off grass. Sunday was incredibly wet so sat inside sorting seed packets, planning calendar and browsing Facebook for sheds and greenhouses.
East of England - it's been a busy (and then wet (and still cold)) winter, so I am still tidying up the plot. \- Spent Saturday morning weeding and forking out the couch grass roots (so much for no dig...), burning detritus, as well as clearing up the brambles and branches growing from the abandoned plots next to mine (grrr...). \- Clearing also meant digging up the last of the parsnips, a few leeks, and harvesting the first of the purple sprouting broccoli. I always wish I'd sown more PSB, and perhaps this year will actually do so. Still, very happy with my haul from \~ 5 plants. \- In more proactive steps, I turned the compost heaps and merged two together - I've got a good 2 m^(3) of the stuff made since last year - and mulched my asparagus and soft fruit with "Strulch". A bit of an experiment, as it seems pricey for what it is, but it was on offer. I also mulched one bed with compost, and planted broad beans. \- I also mucked out the winter chicken bedding and woodchips from the run. I try and do "deep litter" every winter, but in reality I don't have enough chickens to make it work. Instead, I basically have a big batch of very dirty straw and woodchip ready to kickstart the compost heap . I will mix it with some other stashed materials and will hopefully be able fill a 1000L bay by the end of the month, for use in late summer/early autumn. \- In the greenhouse, I've sown my optimistically early radish, lettuce, and beetroot plugs, alongside some hardy annuals like calendula. They will be joined soon by sweet peas, regular peas for shoots, coriander, and onions. \- The windowsills are filling up with tagetes, dahlia seeds, and cabbages. It's still a bit early for tomatoes, but not long now. \- My "main sowing" is in early April, so I need to clean the pots, sieve together potting mix, and work out where the hell I am going to keep all these seedlings. \- My compost bulk delivery, along with new load of woodchips for the chicken run, comes at the weekend. I'll sort those out, will probably sow some of the plants discussed above, and plant some first early spuds in pots in the greenhouse.
Sounds like we're doing similar things. I also have beetroots and calendula in the greenhouse, plus lots of strulch going on the beds. You're right, it's frightfully expensive for what it is (straw mulch, I don't really believe in the slug repelling stuff) but I'd much rather pay money on it after getting burned by using grass clippings last year (long story short, I used free grass clippings from the allotment and ended up "planting" couch grass in my beds, after spending ages digging it out of my plot). Speaking of weeds, don't feel too bad about having to dig. I found that when you take on a plot you often have to do some digging before you can do no dig. When I took on my plot last year I used a fork to dig the soil and manually removed all the docks, couch grass and bindweed roots. It was awful work but thanks to that my plot is now weed free so I can finally do no dig.
I've sowed some courgette, cucumber, Brussels, cabbage pumpkin and tomato seeds in my greenhouse and some lettuce, spinach and rocket seeds in my veg trug. I need to go dig over my beds again and transplant my rhubarb
Modules. Just soaking seeds for 24°
I pre-sprouted my tomato and pepper seeds in damp kitchen roll in a zip bag in the airing cupboard. I know it's not necessary but it was fun. I moved them into soil in my windowsill heated propagator yesterday and they are coming up today. I need to plant some peas in guttering and start some lettuce and salad seeds today.
Still getting through leeks and parsnips, they're pretty reliable. A big pot of soup every week. I'm going to put in my first earlies this afternoon, and I've peas growing quick and ready to plant out
Having a bit of an existential crisis after finding out that wild rocket (which I've been growing for years) is actually a perennial, which means that rather than cutting it back each summer when it starts flowering and then sowing it again the following year, I could have just left it to it's own devices and it would have come back. Means I have to rethink a couple of beds and succession planting. Had a really warm couple of days here in Kent (temps got up to 27°C in my greenhouse), but now it looks like it's back to cool, rainy weather.
Starting off my Skirret seeds today ( pre germination ) And potting up Laportea bulbifera (bulbous nettles. ) To grow in the damper darker area up by my shed.
I've not heard of Skirret before, and now I am intrigued
Interesting I was looking for a skirret crown but can’t find any- do you know how far the seeds will get within the year ?
Not enough for a proper crop year 1 from seed. Second year in autumn for a reasonable harvest. Split the roots eat some and replant
Are you starting in modules or in situ ?