What to do down the allotment now?

[charlie]

What is everyone else doing down their allotments?
Me, i'm busy building raised beds and trying to get rid of as many roots as possible!

[Cheezy]

Yep I'm on the last set of raised beds, which will also if I ever get the materials be the beds inside of my polytunnel.

Other jobs, I spread manure on my raised beds that are for brassica's and legumes, spread spent mushroom compost on the others.

Weeded a couple of beds.

Planted some fennel seedlings, cima da rapa seedlings. These are for an early start if they survive, it's an experiment.

You can still plant aqua dulce broad beans right up to end Jan I've got another set to put in over Christmas, as well as some early peas. I find early planted peas avoid the attention of the bleedin mice. Any thing after Feb tend to get dug up and eaten so I resort to bringing them on in cold frames.

Once it drys out a bit I'm also digging a small wild life pond at the lowest part of the plot that floods.

Also I turfed out a rat from my shed which had decided to tunnel in and build a nest.

So pretty busy at the mo.

[bluensm]

I'd love to be spreading some manure around right now but haven't managed to find a cheap source , I'll keep looking though and hope to find some too! Was at the allotment yesterday tidying up the strawberry bed, bit late maybe but now have two beds each about 2 m square each. Can't wait for the summer

I planted some broad beans about a month ago and thought they'd been eaten (or rotted away in all the rain) but was pleased to see them poking their heads up yesterday. Really should get some more stuff done though, there's so many weeds

But... it's nearly Christmas so think I'll relax a little over and enjoy the nice tasting veggies

[Flo]

I've a compost heap to turn and one to move. Hope that someone has bought me a shovel - especially if they want courgettes and marrows again this year.

[Jandra]

Ah, what to do at the allotment now...

Please tell me I'm not the only one who looks at the overgrown plot with some puny winter veg and plenty of weeds and ... despairs?

Oh well... I think I'll dig out the dandelions and have it rotovated next spring. Otherwise I don't know how I am going to get the plot weeded and dug for the new year.

Jandra

[becks77]

Yeah me too, but had some lovely leeks for Christmas dinner yum,
Just need to get sorted and get the broad beans in and the weeds out of course, LOL

[Helsbells]

Just spent about 2 hours throwing manure round my allotment plot.

Doesnt seem to matter how much I get though, its never enough.

I'd love to be spreading some manure around right now but haven't managed to find a cheap source

Why not ask someone near by with a horse. I get mine from a lady with 2 ponies and its free.

[Flo]

I've turned one compost heap with the new shovel, moved part of one to this one and turned the rest of the now seriously smaller one. I've composted an area that seems to never drain properly and will probably have to do it again to make it really effective but turning the clay soil at the moment isn't easy.

Next job is to sort out the pile of wooden planks next to the hedge. They really are in the wrong place when it comes to cutting the hedges. There are some tubs to wash if the weather is ever warm enough to do this in the near future and there's a large piece of plastic sheeting to scrub.

There's the plant pot stock to stock take and clean. Then I could start on digging out some of the creeping buttercups to save on the spray when the growing season starts.

[bluensm]

Why not ask someone near by with a horse. I get mine from a lady with 2 ponies and its free.

excellent idea but I can't find any . I know a couple of people with horses but they keep them on wood shavings rather than straw. Don't think you can use it for veg patches? Anyway, they don't even keep it, just burn it as no-one wants it.

I agree it's sometimes a bit demoralising on the veg patch this time of year. To cheer me up I look through the seed catalogues and figure out what to grow. Doesn't make the digging and pulling out weeds seem so bad then .

[Cheezy]

I'd love to be spreading some manure around right now but haven't managed to find a cheap source , I'll keep looking though and hope to find some too! Was at the allotment yesterday tidying up the strawberry bed, bit late maybe but now have two beds each about 2 m square each.

Most allotments will have ties with farmers. I asked one of the old boys where he got his manure from and he gave me the number of a local dairy farmer who delivers most of the manure to our allotments.

I paid £20 for 3 tonnes!, that was 2 1/2 years ago , still got some left. My god it was hard work moving it onto my plot mind!.

One thing you have to make sure is that it is not contaminated with a hormone-type herbicide used to control pasture weeds. There have been a lot of problems recently with the herbicide aminopyralid. As the grass is eaten by the animals and the herbicide is left in the manure. It effects tomatoes, potatoes , legumes, causing fern like growth and leaf curling. Produce from infected plants is said to be OK to eat, but currently the makers have withdrawn the herbicide pending further research.

see here for further info:

http://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profiles07 ... manure.asp

[Flo]

The pigeon fanciers and chicken keepers have a lot of friends on our allotment site - we are all willing to take our wheelbarrows for such a local walk.

Still got that pile of wood to move as it rained, snowed and froze in that order overnight. It's not been warm enough to clear things yet and there have been sleet showers on and off all day.

It would be nice to get the odd jobs done before the onset of spring (all right - who else remembers the snow last Easter which was just at the start of spring? ).

[Mal]

Struggling (as always) for the time to get down to the allotment - the stork is coming to visit again in April so Mrs Mal has mandated that at least 2 more rooms need decorating before then, which will really slow me down. I need to get down and build some raised beds, and I still need to find some compost as our friendly farmer has stopped supplying. I haven't even ordered my seeds yet for this year so time is running out there as well.

I'm planning on taking a week off in March to try and do a final push to readiness for the summer, but bear in mind that when I submit the holiday form, the weather books itself in for a nice long rain (that was November), or snow (that was last Easter)!

More hours in the day, that's what I need. Preferably only at weekends though!

[BonnieT]

Hi,

I am intrigued by the broad bean thing - I have never grown them at this time of year. Do you mean that you can sow them now (maybe under a cloche) and they will germinate?

Will definately give this a try if so. I am extending my veggie patch so face the revolting task of clearing turf and double digging, but plenty of home made compost to dig in.

Thanks

[eccentric_emma]

I would definitely give it a go with broadbeans. I sowed mine last November and the plants are looking very healthy and strong despite the frozen solid ground.

[Cheezy]

Hi,

I am intrigued by the broad bean thing - I have never grown them at this time of year. Do you mean that you can sow them now (maybe under a cloche) and they will germinate?

Will definately give this a try if so. I am extending my veggie patch so face the revolting task of clearing turf and double digging, but plenty of home made compost to dig in.

Thanks

So long as you get the right variety of broad bean (Aquadulce Claudia) you can sow them right up until the end of January. After that it's too late and you can choose a different varity, I like Imperial Greenlongpod, and these you sow Feb through March.

And no you don't need a closh, you just plant them straight in. Aquadulce are hardy enough.

You can also sow early peas as well I've tried Douce Provence this year sow Oct to Nov then Jan. I find early sowing s USUALLY avoid the attention of the mice, but in the Spring I sow in cold frame Hurst Green Shaft as the mice get active and eat them all.