Allotment News

having taken over an abandoned allotment 6 weeks ago. my estate manager (father) my daughters and I have worked none stop to prepare the ground ready for planting.

we now have

 a brand new shed

2 small raised beds for the girls to tend

5 large raised beds for general purpose growing

a double compost bin

and a fruit tree section (but no fruit trees just yet)

My estate Manager has called a meeting on the allotment this Sunday. As we are ready to 'plant' So its all systems go!!!!!!

What could we possibly be planting at this time of the year?

as you may well have guessed i truly do not have a clue about any of this stuff image

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Comments

  • WilkieWilkie ✭✭✭

    Wallflowers?  I know you plant them at this time of year, so that they flower in the early spring.

    And spring bulbs like daffodils, crocuses, etc.

    Maybe onions, I'm not sure.  And things like spring greens and cabbages?

    Sorry - that's not much help, is it?

  • mtbrDotmtbrDot ✭✭✭
    jerusalem artichokes
  • you know, i'm going to tell her you called her that  image
  • BB ✭✭✭
    Kwilter has an allotment - hopefully she will be along later to share her expertise - I haven't got a clue image
  • BB ✭✭✭
    Good luck with it though - it sounds like a great thing to do image
  • Bit late for onions, but certainly do-able. Make sure they're specific winter onions, which should be around in the garden centres now. Broad beans, something like Sutton, will over winter well and give you a head start in spring. See if your local garden centre has winter cabbage plants on sale, but FGS net the buggers or the pigeons will love you!

    If you have anything like a cold frame (plastic sheeting and somthing to hold it up off the ground, salad-y stuff is quick and easy, will give the kids someting to see growing quickly.

    I'd recommend "Grow your own Veg" by Joy Larkcom as a really good down to earth book. Tells you about each vegetable type, when to plant etc. She also gives ideal planting suggestions for different needs.

    Get your potatoes ordered from a seed merchant (we use Marshalls) then you can set them chitting in egg boxes. Get lots of seed catalogues to fantasise about what you're going to plant next spring.

    We tried green manure from Suffolk Herbs (or possbly Organic seed company) but the Hungarian Rye Grass was a pain in the a$$ to dig in.

    If it's a neglected allotment, you'll probably benefit from loads of horse manure too.

    Well done on getting so far in 6 weeks!!

  • cheers 'B' - it has ben fun so far and it will be nice for the girls to palnt something and watch it grow, then hopefully cook it!!!!!!
  • cheers 'B' - it has ben fun so far and it will be nice for the girls to palnt something and watch it grow, then hopefully cook it!!!!!!
  • Am very jealous, have been on the waiting list at the local allotment society for 2 years - am now 31st on the waiting list.

    I think my dad used to put broad beans in at this time of year.

  • and as if by magic... image

    Oh about fruit trees. We've got raspberries, strawberries and currants, which the kids (13 and nearly 9) love. They have full scrumping rights on them as long as they keep the fruit area weeded.

  • kwitter - thanks!! thats brilliant. the horse manure was dug in last weekend image most of the work has been done by my father. it has given him a new lease of life.image

    Mrs G - i filled out a card at the spring watch show in may. thinking it would take 2 yrs before i would hear anthing. they contacted me 8 weeks ago.

    Haile  - yes she does, just a little too much for my liking

  • All i want is an apple tree...
  • Are there other apple trees on the allotment site? Most of them need another variety to pollinate. You don't necessarily need 2 types yourself if there are other apples nearby. Bramleys need 2 other trees to polinate them.

    Does your dad do home visits? I could do with someone digging where my sweetcorn has beenimage

  • I phone the secretary up about every 6 weeks to see how things are going - I'm hoping that he will move me up the list to stop me harrassing him.

    I have however got an apple tree in my garden - its a 'cox' type thing and the apples are lovely.  Ma in Law has a cooking apple tree that overhangs her garden so we 'scrump' them.

  • Mrs G, my friend has been on the waiting list at our site for 3 years and is 21st on the list. They're contacting people now to see if they still want their plots, and if any are given up, the council split them in 2 and get 2 people off the waiting list.

    We waited 3 years, but I applied just as the council closed our site due to heavy metal contamination image, then dug all the soil out, sorted the contaminants out and revamped the whole site.

    If anyone's a Fetch member, my pic (same user name) includes some home grown produce from around 4 years agoimage

  • there's not much in the way of veg that's worth planting at this time of the year bar broad beans, garlic and jerusalem artichokes as these are happy underground in winter........

    too late for much else although you could try some quick growing salad leaves (rocket, mizuno etc) whilst it's still mild - but don't expect much if early frosts hit - better in a cold frame if you have one

    this time of year is good for getting the structure right - trees etc - and planning what's going where

    some green manure would also be good
  • Kwitter - that would explain why my dad said we should plant 3 apple trees, thanks again. No you can't have him he is my 'estate manager'

    first day we went down to pick up the keys, the weeds were waist high and as i was signing bits of paper, my dad walked the girls over the plot and found some potato's, he got the girls to pull them up. they went home with about 20, walked in and proudly announced to their mom

    'look what we ave grown, this allotment stuff is easy'

    they then cooked them for dinner image

  • Apart from garlic and chinese salad stuff I'd not bother now. Put your energy into planning and preparing your soil.

    We tend to let the chickens loose on our veg patch in winter, where they have a fine old time killing off all the slugs and doing some free manuring.

    Then in spring I run over it with the tractor and harrow.

    Dont forget not to manure where you're going to sow root crops, otherwise you'll end up with carrots that look like those ones you used to see Esther Ransen gurning at in Thats Life.

  • cheers FR,

     run over it with the tractor and harrow. image

  • Can you fit a harrow on your Chelsea Tractor M1?
  • oh god yes!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    i already checked image

  • Then in spring I run over it with the tractor and harrow.

    not your average plot size then FR??
  • Have just had the man from the allotment society on the phone - would I be interested in taking on half a plot? 

    Apparently the lady who has the plot at the moment is struggling to keep the whole thing going as she is now on her own and wants to share.

     The man from the allotment society thinks she and I would get on so am going to meet them on my way home from work at the pub - her suggestion not mine.

  • go for it !!!!!!!

    mine is only half a plot and it is more than enough to keep me going

  • Yes, garlic and broad beans would be best.

     Possibly try some japanese onion setts and see whether they work.

    Plus put bits of old carpet over weedy bits to save on work in the summer. 

    best veg to grow:

    Spuds

    Peas

    Sweetcorn

    Leeks

    Onions

    Rhubarb is a good investment as v little care needed.

    Tomatoes - gardeners delight is v good. 

    I always found brassicas tough except for sprouts, and carrots and beetroot were beyond me. 

  • ooh mark

    grow sprouts

    i love sprouts

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