Allotment News

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  • Can I use the water from my condensing tumble drier on my vege? Maybe if I tip it into the water butt first? Just a random musing when I found the butt a bit low yesterday. It then rained last night, but it's still a thought...
  • we put the water from our condensing tumble dryer straight onto plants - doesn't do them any harm at all. it will be pretty demineralised as it's come from condensed steam so don't rely on it for feeding the plants as it won't provide any micronutrients they would get from tap or rainwater like calcium or magnesium (depending on your water hardness)

  • how do you stop leaf miners....  Lots of my leafy stuff is not worth bringing into the house.  Looks like I've got the same problem as you FB.
  • basically - you can't unless you want to spray the veg but at eating time, it's not good to do so natch unless you like the potential toxicity from ingesting the insecticide....and there aren't that many chemicals that are effective against it

    the best way in the short term is to pick off any leaves showing signs of leaf miner and burn or bin it - don't compost them as the grubs will stay in the compost and can re-infect on use.

    you can prevent it to an extent it by covering the veg with horticultural fleece to stop the little blighters flying in and laying their eggs in the first place.

    there are literally hundreds of different leaf miners - some are very species specific so if you have it on one plant, it may not show on another. but beet miners are pretty common and affect spinach, chard, beetroot etc.
  • Well I signed my tenancy agreement yesterday and got my key so there's no keeping me out! Well the spokesman for the site said leave it til the weekend to give the mares tail a chance to grow again after been cut back and he'll get me some cheap glyphosate and help me spray it!
  • that's weird then.  My chard is wrecked and it's next to a load of beets (at differing ranges of maturity) and they are all fine.  image  Most of my chard has gone in the bin - in fact, we've eaten non of it this year.  Ho hum!  Still, it looks nice with it's multi-coloured display!
  • my rainbow chard has also been shit and we've not had a meal of it - maybe it's the phases of the moon is summat stupid. I've just planted some ordinary green chard and hope that will come through for autumn.
  • My beets, on the other hand, have been the thing to have been particularly shit.  A lot of tops on them, though, which we'll eat as greens - I discovered last year that these were quite tasty. image

    I've also decided that I'm not going to bother growing turnips next year.  Apart from stir-fries, I've discovered I'm actually not over-keen on them.  Oh well, live and learn...

    In other news, we have a surprising number of yellow/white onions that are actually now of a reasonable size.  

    The red onions are still rubbish, and I'm still thinking of giving the space to something else next year, but still, much better than expected. image

    Good news re: allotment tenancy, si! image

  • Afternoon all... enjoyed reading everybody's woes and successes. Well done on getting an allotment Si and good luck with it. That's a pretty good size patch you've got yourself!

    FB you should write a book, you are sooooo knowledgeable.

    That's a shame a lot of you have had rubbish beetroot. Mine have done really well..... I wonder why? I've been planting them in batches so I've got a regular crop, think the next ones must be due to dig up now. I've got 3 ripe toms too, and quite a lot of green ones. My garlic is huge, it's done really well. Beans are coming along nicely now, didn't think having the dwarf ones produced as much, but a plentiful crop for 2 of us and they've still got loads of flowers.

    I really wish I'd planted some sort of salad leaves, rocket or whatever. I buy it in bags from the supermarket and once it's opened it doesn't last long. It would be so much better to just go and pick what I need. Is there anything I can plant now for use throughout the Autumn or am I too late? I don't have a greenhouse or anything.

  • "FB you should write a book, you are sooooo knowledgeable."

    nah - just been around for a long time, been gardening for longer, and have a brain that retains useless information.....

    now is a good time to plant things like rocket, mizuno, mustard greens etc for autumn use - they tend to prefer the cooler periods of spring and autumn and some of the hardier varieties will last into winter. and they are best planted outside as they bolt in heat. they also prefer ground that isn't too fertile, so any patch of bare soil is good. scatter thinly and then thin further as they come up.....

  • See.... you're a genius! Thanks FB, I'll give it a go. I've just dug up my garlic so would it be okay to grow in that spot? I'm running out of room with my sprout plants and remaining tatties and beans!
  • Another idiot question:

    How do you know if compost is ready to use? I've got one of those dalek shaped black bins that hides in one corner. I seem to pout loads of stuff in it, it's been brim full off stuff several times, but it's obviously doing something, as there always seems to be room in it a few days later. Would I expect to leave the whole bin to compost down, or is it OK to use what I can get at through the catflap at the bottom, and still keep adding studff to the top?

    On a more productive note, I've had cauliflowers. Only the cauliflowers I bought turned out to be purple. Tasted not too bad, but looked very odd, and even more odd when cooked! Sort of went a dirty grey colour on the stem - not sure I'll be growing them again!

  • I would have thought that as long it looks browny and granular rather than veg peelings it should be ok to use.  I'm sure someone more experienced about compost will be along soon.

    Finally my beetroot is doing sometime.  Yey.  Although the runners have been a bit of a disaster.  I planted them in pots as I ran out of room in the garden, they don't seem to have enjoyed being there.  Similarly the courgettes have been very disappointing.  Had about 10 courgettes off about 7 plants.  But in all honestly, the plants look very weedy and pathetic.  Not sure what happened there.

    My tomatoes look amazing but still haven't had one red one yet.  I think we'll be eating green tomato chutney forever.

    Purple/grey cauliflower image

  • I started my elderberry wine today. image
  • Morning all!

    I used to just have the one compost bin, HL, and did exactly as you do - digging what I could through the 'cat flap' and letting the rest rot down on top.  If it looks 'composty' i.e. not veg peelings like Happychap suggests, it should be fine to use. image

    I have to say, though - it's much easier having more than one bin.  I found we were filling out single bin up very quickly so I bought a second one, and then ended up with another when the nextdoor neighbours moved out.  Three compost bins is a little excessive for a small garden and a household of two people (soon to be three, but not for a bit...), but it does mean I have compost in three stages of development, and I can leave it a really good, long time to rot down, and also turn the heap with a garden fork to aerate it.

  • I have two other compost issues though:

    1) middle compost bin has an ants' nest in it.  When I turned the stuff yesterday I discovered loads and loads of pinky white pupae image and loads of ants crawling about.

    *shudders* 

    How the feck does one get rid of that one? image

    I've tipped a couple of kettlefuls of boiling water on the heap, but I don't really want to kill all the useful creepy crawlies while trying to kill the ants and their young... image

    2) What do people do about composting weeds?

    I tend to put them, along with potato plants (to avoid bringing potential blight into the compost) into our green bags, which get collected once a month or so from spring to early autumn.  I'm reluctant to let any weed seed get into the compost.  But am I being over-zealous?

  • LP has it right on compost - best with more than one bin. the black ones with the cat flap are OK but things rot down at different rates and you may find stuff coming out of the bottom that isn't really usable. having a 2nd bin means you can turn stuff over and into existing compost so it rots quicker. you can also use composting aids - urine is supposed to be useful for this but you might upset the neighbours when peeing in the bin...image (recent evidence seems to show that it's a urban myth though and isn't that useful!) good composting aids include things like borage and comfrey plants, or ammonium sulphate

    "But in all honestly, the plants look very weedy and pathetic. Not sure what happened there."

    courgettes/marrows/squash etc are greedy buggers - they like lots of feed and water - maybe it's that? the best marrows I've ever seen was at my last place when I had an allotment - the old fella's next to mine was amazing. he'd had it for over 20 years and had dug loads of shit into it in that time so it was superb. he grew his marrows and courgettes straight off his compost heap so they had loads of nutrient to feed off - they were amazing croppers
  • Have just Googled the ant thing...

    Aparently ground dried polenta and cornflour are good, as the ants are quite happy to carry it to the queen, who then explodes when she eats it as she can't digest it properly. imageimage

    Things like vinegar and sodium bicarb are also recommended, but I'm reluctant to put stuff on the compost heap which will alter the chemical balance too much... image

    Have also just read that they don't like disturbed compost/earth, so maybe more frequent turning would also help.

    If anyone has any other suggestions, though, fire away.  image

  • Definitely feed and water your courgettes/marrows/squash generously - they thrive on lots and lots of nutrients and drinks. image

    Ours are doing really well at the mo. image

  • LP

    best put up with the ants if they aren't actually causing any damage - they'll disappear in winter. saying that, I had a nest in my worm bin earlier this summer and was concerned they might damage the worms so put an Ant Stop Bait Station straight in the top of the bin - took about 2 weeks to get rid of the ants and it's stayed clean since. this is the stuff - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Home-Defence-Stop-Bait-Station/dp/B00187TTK6 - also sold in many garden centres. absolutely brilliant for controlling ant nests.

    as for weeds, it depends on the weed. most will compost down but I would avoid putting the more invasive ones like ground elder, bindweed, mares tails etc in as they are buggers to compost and the roots even worse so. put them into landfill unless the green waste that's collected is subject to high temperature to kill them - you may want to check with the local council about that.
  • Local council composting is very high temperature, FB - I've asked them about that in the past as wanted to be sure I wasn't going to be causing problems. image

    Thanks for the advice.  Will compost the less invasive weeds, and stick to other methods of disposal for the real nasties.  Luckily we've never had any mare's tail...

    Re: ants, I guess they aren't really doing any harm.  I was just a bit grossed out by it - I'm not very good with creepy-crawlies (although much better with them now after four years of gardening. image)

    I've read up a bit and am more reassured now that they aren't actually doing any damage.

    But thanks for the suggestion.  image

  • I've a lot of good bulb sized spring onions that I'm going to pickle. 

    Any advice as to whether this will work or not.

    I will let you know the results in the coming months. 

    I was out foraging yesterday afternoon...blackberries are there for the taking...loads of pies in the freezer for the winter monthsimage

  • I think the problem with pickling spring onions is the soft flesh compared to standard pickling onions so they won't last long and would be very soft to eat. I always pickle shallots rather than onions as they last better and have more crunch. perhaps worth a go and see how it goes though.

    yep - blackberries abounding at the mo, plums are past their best, although wild damsons are about to get picked. a local fig tree is getting some raiding as well at the mo.

    every year I am amazed how much free food just gets missed and goes to waste. what's wrong with people??
  • fb...I agree that spring onions are probably too soft to leave too long after pickling but I will let you know how things go.

    I have some shallots ready for pickling...last years were really good so fingers crossed for this crop.

    The fewer people that forage the better to my liking...leaves more for us that make the effortimage  

  • the autumn mushroom season is also nearly here - in fact some ceps are around now......
  • I have a problem with my compost bins - slow worms. So I just have to leave them be.

    Right now I've a compost heap. I'm sure that's home to more than a few slowies as well.

  • haha, I had a dream last night I found a whole field full of mushrooms that hadn't been purged.

    The courgettes and beans have been watered daily and fed weekly but guess it wasn't enough.  interesting I've got a whopper of a courgette plant that rooted in the compost heap and is thriving so if I run out of room next year I may just plant straight in there.

    Got a freezer full of brambles as well image

    And had a compote of blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, rhubarb and apple last night for dinner.  All home grown.  Yummy, yum, yum.

  • Blight!! :0( <deep sigh>
  • toms or spuds?? rip anyone affected plant up pronto and hope it hasn't set into others....

    ref: mushrooms - saw some cracking parasol mushrooms while on the bike yesterday pm - must remember to drive back and pick them before anyone else gets to them
  • Shredders are a great help for composting stuff. Put it through the machine 1st and it also shortens the composting time if you compress it and add water to soften it.
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