Topic: Be Selective Or Broad Brush

[b1ackcr0w]

I have taken on a new plot today, and am taking the weeds to task at the moment. We've been given a really nice roomy plot, and my first order of business is to just get some stuff in the ground.

There seems to be two schools of thought on this one. My missus, who's a natural born gardner, seems to think that you should follow the seasonal information on seed packets etc. But then the secretary of the allotment club, who ( has been so welcoming and helpful to us I should add) seemed to think that with climate change you can pretty much bung anything in at any time. I'm inclined to think that bunging in a bunch of different stuff and finding out for myself what goes well in my ground might be better than waiting for the ideal season to come around again. I read some where that squash and pumpkin will compete with thistle/bindweed/bramble. If so, I'm thinking something deliberate might be better than letting the weeds take over.

Any thoughts?

[fuchsia]

Hi B1ackcrOw
The best advice I can offer you is to look around your allotment site and look to see when other people plant crops. The reason why seasonal advice is on the back of seed packets is because some crops need a lot longer time to develop and also climate change has still not got to the point where we are are still hot in November unfortunately lol. Squash and pumkin need a long time to develop and can be wiped out at the first frosts.
The quickest way to clear ground if you have a lot, is to cover it in black plastic until you are ready to weed it so the weeds die off underneath or to plant potatoes in it when the season is right.
If you just bung stuff in, you might be wasting a packet of seeds and get disheartened nothing is happening. Just clear a small patch thoroughly and start with salad crops which will have time to give you a crop before Autumn. You could also put in a late crop of runner beans now along with beetroot. Ask your neighbours if they have some spare leeks, winter cabbages and brussel sprout plants that you could put in. They may not crop before Xmas but definately after.
Sorry your missus wins this one lol.
Good luck and don`t do your back in weeding !

[1066]

Well I guess it depends on what seeds you have, where you are in the country, and how much moeny you have to burn  :)
I think I'd have a look and see what to plant at this time of year, what you want to grow, and try a few things out.  In terms of where you are would affect what you grow and when - i.e. Jersey or Aberdeen!! Also there are loads of different varieties - early or late peas, spring cabbage etc

In other words listen to your "Missus"  ;D

1066  :)

ps congrats on the new plot  :)

[cornykev]

Bunging in anytime is deffo the wrong advise, as said most plants need a long season in certain temperatures or germinating in warmer or colder conditions. Your missus is probably on the right track but some packets can be a bit misleading, for example parsnips will read mid Feb- May, but it would on most occasions be far too cold in Feb and I personly would leave them until the back end of March, you have watch the weather, or as said see what your neighbours are doing.
On this forum we planted a few spuds for a bit of fun really early trying different ways of keeping the soil and plants warm, but even when most people had their spuds in the frosts come and burnt the tops of the plants. A bloke on my site always puts his runners in early and gets away with it most years but again the frosts wiped out his crop. At the moment where I live my runners are struggling because its too hot my fellow lottie holders tell me, hopefully with the missus's experience common sense will prevail and you will have a great time on your lottie, carrots, spring onions, swede and salady stuff can go in now. I've just seen your other post, so your fellow lottie holders are probably all looking at each other for advice.  ;D ;D ;D

[Jeannine]

Squash will compete with weeds to a point but the weeds often win if the squash are too close, too young and the ground is not fertile, plus bunging squash in anytime is a waste of seed as it needs, heat and a long growing season. I would ignore the advice fro the plot holder and start clearing the land for next year,if some is already cleared the by all means grow a few winter and fall veggies that will do well now. Read more on the forum, there is a winter gadening post which you might find helpful, or pick up a book or two from the library.
XX Jeannine

[Robert_Brenchley]

Plants need warmth to germinate or grow. Don't plant anything unless you can sit comfortably on the ground with your bare bum. A lot of things need more warmth to germinate, and are often better started under cover.

[b1ackcr0w]

Thanks for the advice everyone.

Reading your posts carefully, they make a lot of sense. We've decided to go with the following plan. The majority of the area is going to take a lot of work. Even when the weeds are clear, 4 inches or so beneath the surface, the heavy clay is solidly compacted that might need a lot of work. So as one poster has mentioned, we've settled on spending quite some time doing that. We have a little area at the front of the plot which we've called our "experimental area" it's only a few square meters. The idea is to put a wide variety of different types of plant in there. This is for two reasons. One, just to have some thing growing and feel like we've made a start. Two, to try and find out if there are any kinds of plant that thrive in the conditions as they are.

BTW - did I mention this is a completely new allotment that's just been reclaimed from wasteland?

http://www.thewestonmercury.co.uk/content/twm/news/story.aspx?brand=Westonmercury&category=news&tBrand=westonmercury&tCategory=znews&itemid=WeED27%20Jul%202010%2011%3A51%3A29%3A180

We're the fat couple to the left of the picture with the dogs!

[1066]

 We have a little area at the front of the plot which we've called our "experimental area" it's only a few square meters. The idea is to put a wide variety of different types of plant in there. This is for two reasons. One, just to have some thing growing and feel like we've made a start.

I think that is a great idea, I remember when I first got my allotment I took great pride in the few bits and bobs I had planted. And I think it was Digeroo who said she went and bought some parsley (in pots) from a supermarket and planted those, just to have something to look at and growing :)

Good luck with the new allotments, it's nice to hear about new ones being opened up

And don't forget to take progress pics - a great way to remind yourself of how things change and beside we love photos on A4A  ;D

[Tee Gee]

Meant to point to this article which is the wiki link above;http://www.thegardenersalmanac.co.uk/Data/Allotments/01-Introduction.htm

The article and the relative links should cover most of the things a newbie may need to know.

Have fun!

[pigeonseed]

Very exciting - brand new allotment! And no brambles!

It all sounds like a great plan. In a way, if you let yourselves have a few months to prepare the plot, that will be a weight off your mind.

If there's enough useable space you could put in overwintering onion sets in say, October, and then garlic could go in in maybe November. And so already you would see something was happening in winter (you can't actually see anything happening I hasten to add, but you would know you had something planted!). And they're really no trouble to plant.

Even with global warming, it's funny to imagine now, but in January, you'll look round and wonder how anything could ever grow again!

Luckily the magic starts up again every spring.