Allotment: Woo Hoooo!!! :) :) :)

[jansman]

On the Egyption bulbs, i'm torn between paying £4 for or £9 for a litre. Probably the litre. (Tight as a ducks )

Cabbage is probably off the menu, but I like the idea of a cutting.

Tomatoes are tricky. Blight put me off last year and the blight resistant ones were F1 Hybrids which are no good for seed saving... But the cuttings idea might work.

Sadly there's no greenhouse. I hope to get some sort of cloche and poly tunnel. Will probably improvise some 5l water bottle starter cloches.

Gotta grow what YOU eat. Nothing else.

I'm still a bit torn on this project. We would not eat a plot's worth of the stuff we might grow.
Can't grow pizza, Spag bol, sweet and sour chicken and boiled rice. Can't grow cows, bacon or lamb chops.
Can grow more beetroot, chard, courgette, parsnips than I know what to do with. Been there, done that.

So it's a bit of a borderline silly project. I admit that. ROI will probably be negative.
Diet WILL be adapted. If I/we grow more greens we will eat more greens. We might try to barter more. Be more neighbourly and social.
It's a 'speriment and mini adventure.

Diet can change. In two weeks ,mine has to vegetables and fruit a LOT. Can you keep fowls there? Eggs are most important to me too. Potatoes are a massive crop,and keep . Dried beans such as Borlotti, French and Runners are fantastic. Spinach and salads. Squashes are a huge favourite of ours too. And so forth…

[jennyjj01]

Diet can change. In two weeks ,mine has to vegetables and fruit a LOT. Can you keep fowls there? Eggs are most important to me too. Potatoes are a massive crop,and keep . Dried beans such as Borlotti, French and Runners are fantastic. Spinach and salads. Squashes are a huge favourite of ours too. And so forth…

Sadly I can't keep any critters there, else I'd be tempted to keep a few. Maybe policies could change as crises develop.
Pulses might enter the 'speriment subject to what will grow in our climate.
I'm not big on Spinach or salads, but don't rule them out.

[Arzosah]

I'm still a bit torn on this project. We would not eat a plot's worth of the stuff we might grow.
Can't grow pizza, Spag bol, sweet and sour chicken and boiled rice.

You can certainly grow contributions to those dishes: tomatoes, onions, herbs, fruit.

Can grow more beetroot, chard, courgette, parsnips than I know what to do with. Been there, done that.

All those veg make great crisps - you could deprive the industrialised agricultural businesses of quite a bit of profit

So it's a bit of a borderline silly project. I admit that. ROI will probably be negative.
Diet WILL be adapted. If I/we grow more greens we will eat more greens. We might try to barter more. Be more neighbourly and social.
It's a 'speriment and mini adventure.

I can't see how it's silly, that doesn't make sense to me!
Barter, yes, very possible.
You could grow Christmas presents, 100% jam takes a lot of fruit.

[jennyjj01]

All those veg make great crisps - you could deprive the industrialised agricultural businesses of quite a bit of profit

I already deprive the crisp industry by not buying crisps, but good idea for using those things. I just harvested my parsnips, so might make a batch later today.

I can't see how it's silly, that doesn't make sense to me!

Silly, maybe as a bit faddish, and the idea of breaking my back to make a glut of courgettes etc gets quite illogical. Also, with money being tight, I really don't need to be spending hundreds on rent, seeds, equipment, unless i can get useful and valuable returns.

Barter, yes, very possible.
You could grow Christmas presents, 100% jam takes a lot of fruit.

This is a big commitment for me and an experiment in my own ( & Mr JJ's) psychology. Can we switch from being townies into Tom and Barbara Good? I don't rule out that this is a symptom of a late mid-life crisis.
But as adventures go, this one is exciting. I woke this morning contemplating my first strike of the machete into the first overgrown corner of the jungle that awaits me.

[Arzosah]

I can't see how it's silly, that doesn't make sense to me!

Silly, maybe as a bit faddish, and the idea of breaking my back to make a glut of courgettes etc gets quite illogical. Also, with money being tight, I really don't need to be spending hundreds on rent, seeds, equipment, unless i can get useful and valuable returns.

Ah, now that, I can get behind.

This is a big commitment for me and an experiment in my own ( & Mr JJ's) psychology. Can we switch from being townies into Tom and Barbara Good? I don't rule out that this is a symptom of a late mid-life crisis.
But as adventures go, this one is exciting. I woke this morning contemplating my first strike of the machete into the first overgrown corner of the jungle that awaits me.

That's lovely! And when it's fun, it's double-lovely

[Mad Scientist]

Really great news about the allotment! If you cut the bottoms off plastic and coke bottles you can use the “body” of the bottle as a mini greenhouse to keep the frost off young or tender plants. When I had an allotment I kept a patch of nettles. Young nettles are nutritionally dense and worth their weight in gold. After many hours of weeding I unearthed a gooseberry bush, rhubarb and some raspberry plants that were put to good use.Lavender is pretty low maintenance, you can cook with it and it’ll attract butterflies and other insects which will help pollinate other things.Shame the people who owned the plot let it go after a couple of years, I had it chugging along nicely and a couple of neighbours had plum and Bradley apple trees, we’d swap things and I’s be coming home with bags of fruit. Keep the brambles but keep them under control. Nice easy blackberries. Enjoy!

[jennyjj01]

Well,
Today I broke ground... Sort of. Just a couple of hours worth. god I'm out of condition/ lazy!

There was one patch about 2m x 3m that clearly had nothing of value for salvaging and where the weeds were grassy with shallow roots. So I just scratched a lot of the weedy topgrowth off with a rake. That was about a cubic yard of green compostable weeds which I've started a new compost heap with. I loosened a bit up with a fork, but didn't have the inclination to dig it over. For now I've thrown a tarp over that patch after raking it. I'm going to loosen, rake, loosen rake till it's sowable. It's far, far from cleared just yet. I'm trying to pull weeds out but not end up pulling soil out, because I don't want big holes. No-dig is not viable yet because I'd need an awful lot of new compost bought in.

So..... Am i making harder work of this than I should? Should I hire a rotavator? Should I attack it with a strimmer? I'm thinking no! to both, because my way I can pull out a lot of weed roots. Yes. I'm disturbing the soil. I COULD cover with card and a smattering of compost, but it would be too shallow for my liking.

Between doing that and glugging tea, I went around and snapped off any tall dried out seedy weeds and set that rubbish in a separate pile. I'm going to break that up and drown the seeds in a water butt, which I found.
Right idea???

To be honest, clearing the site is going to be super daunting and if weeds start growing soon, I'm going to struggle to keep up. It's going to be a constant battle with trying to grow veg while trying to suppress weeds. I'm going to throw down some more tarps. I'm not inclined to use weedkiller yet? Am I being silly?

Diving into some random rectangle might look daft, but why not tackle the easy bit first? Trying for max area per hour of graft.

While rummaging around, I found a few labels tied onto 'sticks'. The labels were identifying raspberries. YAYYYYY. I THINK that while the sticks are bare, there's a leafy cluster at the bottom that is the thriving heart of the plant.... Or it could be a weed choking the stick. I'm going to try to salvage them. What's the betting I end up nurturing some weeds.

Meanwhile... Back home, some onion and carrot seeds arrived. Going to sow those onions in a tray this weekend.
Tick-Tock.

Off for a soak now. Two hours. LOL. Pathetic!

[Arzosah]

Jenny, I think you've done really well to do two hours manual work, travelling to/from the site. I like the sound of what you're doing, and I know people have mentioned rotovators here, but I'm against them, I've heard that they devastate the worm population.

Loosen/rake/pull/tarp sounds good - more stuff will grow, but it will be easily visible to you, and easily got up. Great idea about keeping the seedheads separate and drowning them. Ha, take that, seedheads!

I also agree about not using weedkiller if at all avoidable - the carcinogens in so many of them are startling, and you want your food to come from here. Don't give yourself fresh problems.

And definitely tackle the easy bit first but I'm glad you've seen the raspberries - I wonder if any of the people on the allotment generally can remember what perennials your plot used to have? My rhubarb is well on the way now, is yours? I can't remember.

Enjoy the soak! I'm not planting any seeds till the catsitting cat has gone and I've tidied up after him.

[steptoe]

On the subject of rotovators you can not beat one to get an old allotment going again , we had 2 allotments and a kind friend spainish joe as i call him did both ours for us to get us under way , the only trouyble you have is that it does move weeds about ie bindweed but again we poked sticks in when it came up then just let it bush and spray it bingo after a couple of years no bindweed , as to other rotovators mine is a tiller type a mantis 4 stroke tiller and you can not fault it , it takes the backache out of it and what i can do in aan hour will take a man with a fork 7 days i kid you not the mantis is a god send and it leaves the soil so lovely and fluffy you can not get that with hand digging it makes it like bread crumbs .

If you ever get the chance of a mantis tiller jen even and old one grab it if cheap i got my first for £20 and from someone giving up and i cleaned it over oiled and just well looked after it and it servered us well until i got the 4 storke she is so much quieter but does the same job but i got her free so she was loved from day one , you can also get a spud plow and other attachments that make life easier .

[jennyjj01]

Jenny, I think you've done really well to do two hours manual work, travelling to/from the site. I like the sound of what you're doing...Loosen/rake/pull/tarp sounds good...
Great idea about keeping the seedheads separate and drowning them. Ha, take that, seedheads!

I also agree about not using weedkiller if at all avoidable
And definitely tackle the easy bit first but I'm glad you've seen the raspberries - I wonder if any of the people on the allotment generally can remember what perennials your plot used to have? My rhubarb is well on the way now, is yours? I can't remember.

Thanks for the reassurance. I'm probably underplaying the possible use of card and clearly I'm being stupidly frugal. I felt a bit ashamed of my two hours, but the longest journey starts with a single step... Plus I'm not finished with lurgey yet.
I will decide stuff as I find stuff. Might sow the cleared part or I MIGHT move some strawberries into it so i can clear those areas that used to have strawberries and sow there. It'll be a matter of timing. There's a few hints from what I've found that give a clue to the previous layout. There's hints of soft fruit areas and veg areas.. No sign of my neighbours yet.
I still have my planters to work on but at least they are no distance away.... Mind you, the lotment is within a mile.
I have a 'bulkbag' that soil came in. I figure it would make either a brilliant composter, or a pretty good planter. Composter is getting my vote so far. The amount of stuff I'm scooping up I should have a MASSIVE compost heap... or two.

Steptoe, I'm watching FB marketplace, freegle and gumtree for tools. But would rather spend my money on seeds and compost.

Folks... back to the questions..... Before attacking it with my rake, should I strim it? I'm thinking that if I do it will make it easier, but won't do much for pulling roots which are pulling out fairly well..