Topic: Have I bitten off more than I can chew?

[wardy]

Hi    You could plant Japanese onions sets which will and brassicas (Dobies are selling a collection for about £8 for 50 plants)  Peeps on here are putting spuds in between now and Sept for spuds for Christmas.  Have a browse through the seeds catalogues and there's all sorts which can still be grown, eg spinach, carrots, brassicas, spuds, lettuces, chinese leaves etc

[Rose.mary]

I had a little chuckle this evening. I was just comming away from my plot and met a man who got his allotment about the same time as me (Jan.)
I have had such a lot of good veg. and have given a lot away also. This man's allotment is a real tip and I asked him why he hadn't been down. He said Spring and Summer had got in the way ::) ::) ???. I asked him if he realised that that is the time you are supposed to plant things ??? He said he would be down in Autumn to clear his weeds :o
Words fail me.

Rosemary

[the_snail]

Get sowing your spring cabages and think about winter/Japanese onions :)

How about some winter greens, very green and very good for you in salad or steamed. (Later u pick the more you may need to steam or cok them?)

And work as stated in this thread and forum, little and often. Too much to soon my make you think hey why am I doing this? Especialy if you are doing it in the horrible weather of winter!

Steady work now in late summer early autumn is buteiful, you can also get some radish, and late lettuce in now. I am trying for some late beans.

A little at a time this year means alot less next year :)  And the key is to enjoy it! Its your pleaseure not a chure. You do not need to have a perfect plot but a plot that gives you the produce that you want. Enjoy

The_Snail

[timmyc]

We had just taken over an allotment and were chuffed to have done nearly 1/3 of the plot when we got a rude letter from the town council telling us to make significant improvement or we'd be "turfed" off the plot - 2/3 was covered in 5ft grass and goodness knows what - one cordless strimmer later and the plot was cleared - It then rained at just the right time to enable me to get a fork in and I basically just dug over the remaining part of the allotment once I'd raked up the strimmings. Leaving the ground looking all nice and ready to plant (which of course it wasn't but the allotment lady couldn't tell come the seocnd inspection)

so in the space of 2 weeks I managed to clear about 600 sq ft (yes the allotment is huge - 15ft by 100ft - just big enough for a 5 a side footie game over the winter!!)

If only I'd then covered it all up until next year it would have all been alright - but having spent 2 hours every day for 4 weeks slugging my heart out I took a break rather than finish the job - I now have a nice lawn across 50% of the allotment!

Still I manage to reclaim a little by little of it and it certainly looks much less depressing!!

[Robert_Brenchley]

Not yopu've got it knocked back, either black plastic it, or at least keep the vegetation cut regularly. That alone would be enough to kill a lot of perennial weeds in time.

[wardy]

We're keeping some of our weedy grass mowed short and using it as a leisure area for entertaining  :)  If we ever need more growing room then we'll nick a bit more of it but til then we just keep mowing it.  It looks lovely and we're planning on putting some fruit trees and bushes round it..   Lotty folks kept telling me to get it rotovated but why just dig for the sake of it.  One of the chaps that told me to do that (and he also wanted to come and nuke all my weeds in one go) has been back socially to spend time on the plot with us (He and his wife bought with him fish, chips and lagers) and we all sat round my husband's home made lotty table and enjoyed our tea on the "lawn"   He thought my social area was lovely after that and that it was a good idea after all  :)   So we're having another get together this weekend but a barby this time and lots more lotty folks.  It's catching on  :)  Growing your own doesn't have to be a completely serious affair  ;D

[the_snail]

Its looking good wardy :)

Allotments are not only for growing veg :D

[Roy Bham UK]

 ;D That's not a bad idea and looks quite welcoming, may consider that myself. ;D

[Heldi]

I love the look of your lottie Wardy. I want a social area in mine too. I think it's nice to have a place to sit and just contemplate. Even better to have a few bevvies and a good natter.

I've read through this post and am going to peel back some of the plastic on my lottie and start to plant. Dunno what to pick first yet,there are so many suggestions!

[wardy]

Ooooerr Heidi - going to peel back some plastic.  Go carefully, just a bit at a time  you don't know what you might unleash  ;D  If you free up a bit that's kind of weed free you could get some brassicas in or overwintering onions.  I've not thought where I'm going to put mine yet  :(  Think I'll put the brassicas where the spuds were but where do I put me onions ?  No space free yet and I'm not contemplating digging just yet  ;D

[supersprout]

Just cheated a bit to get Senshyu yellow onions in without digging last week:

Marked out another veg bed with a path on virgin soil
Scraped the topsoil off the path and slung it on the bed so  :o there's a new raised bed (took out most obvious roots)
Station sowed onions in furrows a good hoe's width apart (home made seed tape (great tip from this site  ;D))
Covered the seeds in their drills in seed compost (weed free for the time being)

The theory is  ::) that when the weeds arrive I'll be able to keep them down between the rows by hoeing, and next summer when the onions come up (I can dig in muck and prep the bed a bit more thoroughly. Hope the seed tape trick works, I have never tried overwintering onions before ...  :P!

[wardy]

Sounds good to me.  Your onions will be fine.  You don't get too many weeds over the winter (I didn't) My onions were covered with a frame I made of canes and netting to keep the birds off and I didn't have to take it off to weed for months.  Good luck with yours  :)

[supersprout]

Thank you for encouraging words wardy, will take your tip and cover the onions should they surface ::). I will try out trendy bendy recycled Pandastix to make supports for a trial cloche (http://www.ericthepanda.co.uk) with plastic mesh. Has anyone else out there tried Pandastix and got comments? ;)

[chuff]

I have just taken on a full plot full of long grass, weeds, house hold rubbish and some asbestos for good measure. :(
I bought a big roll of black plastic from a local farm suppliers (8m x50m for £45) I plan to cover the majority of the plot with this to kill off the weeds and then I shall lift it a small section at a time and work that piece until all is done. not in any hurry to grow anything just yet, I'm just going to spend the winter getting everything ready for next year ;D

[windygale]

Hi Chuff, best way to go (LITTLE and often ) better than getting a bad back, and fed up with it, a good chance to look for some Farm yard manure, to place in compost bins, a water butt, plant soft fruits, plan out on paper what seeds and plant you want for next year, but most of all enjoy your self
all the best
windy

[ellkebe]

Chuff, mine was just the same back in May, with the rest of Spring and all of Summer for the weeds to get ahead of me  ;D  But a bit at a time is absolutely right, as everyone here will tell you.  Plus, try and get something planted so that you have something to look after come Spring, other than yards of plastic! - and something to eat to pay you back for all your hard work  ;D  Mine is very much a work in progress, with lots of near misses and outright failures, yet it's a source of great pleasure to me - and even from time to time of some fruit and veg!!!

[wardy]

Chuff   Having just taken on a plot I thought you'd be fired with enthusiasm and want to get growing RIGHT AWAY  ;D  How you can't want to get some food in is beyond me  ;D  Lottie = food = now! You need to eat food in the winter or do you hibernate?  ;D

Sorry, I realise that not everyone is as impetuous as me but hey you have a big piece of land just sitting there with no food in it.  It's  perverse.  Are you nervous of sowing/planting etc?

[chuff]

Chuff   Having just taken on a plot I thought you'd be fired with enthusiasm and want to get growing RIGHT AWAY  ;D  How you can't want to get some food in is beyond me  ;D  Lottie = food = now! You need to eat food in the winter or do you hibernate?  ;D

Sorry, I realise that not everyone is as impetuous as me but hey you have a big piece of land just sitting there with no food in it.  It's  perverse.  Are you nervous of sowing/planting etc?

Hi wardy I'm not perverse just want to get it right, Ive walked around the allotments where my plot is and noticed that a lot of the plots suffer from weed regrowth, especially the plots that used a rotivator.
The plot that I have taken on hasn't been cultivated for a very long time and was in quite a state. :(
There is food on my plot, some apples with a very high meat content, yummy ;D

[wardy]

I'm not rotovating either!  Not digging come to that but doing well without at the moment  :)