SheilaT's Allotment Diary.

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SheilaT.

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Well I have my allotment. I went down this morning for a couple of hours, had a good look round and measured up.
The plot is 82ft long, 16ft wide at the top and 25ft wide at the bottom.
I have inherited 3 well established Blackcurrant bushes, some Rhubarb, an out of control Raspberry patch, Horseradish and a few strawberry plants, as well as some winter veg.
The soil is a little on the heavy side of loam but not in the least bit difficult to work and certainly not clay. It has been well cared for and I have been told the lower half was manured and double dug last winter.
I wanted to get some of it ready for planting Garlic and Broad Beans to overwinter so I took a fork down and started digging before I knew it I had more or less dug half the bit I wanted done and as my back was starting to protest, I stopped there.
I'm really pleased with my progress and weather permitting I should get the rest of the bed dug tomorrow and then I can get the Beans and Garlic in next week.
Someone once told me when starting a new garden, get a small area cleared and planted up so at least you have something to look forward to. I've started many gardens over the years and I have always adhered to this one piece of advice. Once I have a crop of something in the ground, than I will start clearing the rest. I would like to have the plot dug over before Christmas and the Raspberries under control. Then I can leave it alone til spring.

The sun is quite low at this time of year so there are only a couple of photos that look any good.


Plot from th bottom.

2016-11-05 10.38.44.jpg



Area dug over for Beans and Garlic.

2016-11-05 12.06.04.jpg


I will update as things progress.
 
That is looking good! You are so blessed with that soil that it can be dug so easily. . . it has taken years to turn my clay soil into something acceptable to plant in.
 
Well I have my allotment. I went down this morning for a couple of hours, had a good look round and measured up.
The plot is 82ft long, 16ft wide at the top and 25ft wide at the bottom.
I have inherited 3 well established Blackcurrant bushes, some Rhubarb, an out of control Raspberry patch, Horseradish and a few strawberry plants, as well as some winter veg.
The soil is a little on the heavy side of loam but not in the least bit difficult to work and certainly not clay. It has been well cared for and I have been told the lower half was manured and double dug last winter.
I wanted to get some of it ready for planting Garlic and Broad Beans to overwinter so I took a fork down and started digging before I knew it I had more or less dug half the bit I wanted done and as my back was starting to protest, I stopped there.
I'm really pleased with my progress and weather permitting I should get the rest of the bed dug tomorrow and then I can get the Beans and Garlic in next week.
Someone once told me when starting a new garden, get a small area cleared and planted up so at least you have something to look forward to. I've started many gardens over the years and I have always adhered to this one piece of advice. Once I have a crop of something in the ground, than I will start clearing the rest. I would like to have the plot dug over before Christmas and the Raspberries under control. Then I can leave it alone til spring.

The sun is quite low at this time of year so there are only a couple of photos that look any good.


Plot from th bottom.

View attachment 6290


Area dug over for Beans and Garlic.

View attachment 6289

I will update as things progress.
I like your motivation plan. I like to split big projects into stages too to keep from being overwhelmed and motivate me to keep going too. The existing plants are a really nice perk. I'm looking forwards to seeing it his spring!
 
Well, the best laid plans and all that. I did get that area finished and I managed to tame th Raspberries, but then the weather turned and I have been unable to do much else since. So I resorted to planting the Garlic in trays and it has romped away! Once I can get a few dry days I hope to get it planted out. I got a compost bin a while ago so I will take that down.
 
Took a few photos of the Garlic. I use old Mushroom trays to grow things in, these trays are very robust and Free!. They are perfect for seeds and bulbs that need a bit of depth, like Garlic or Beans, Corn and Squash. I just prod a few holes in the bottom and fill with compost. There are three trays in total

DSCN0186.JPG
 
I knew garlic was a cool weather plant, but will it grow all winter? I have room in the greenhouse now after picking potatoes so was thinking what to plant again.
The outside garden is just resting now. I'm picking up all the leaves from the back half of the property and putting a bed of them about a foot deep all over it. This spring I will mulch with the mower and till it all in before planting. I'm getting all the organic matter I can mixed in with the clay. I figure that by the time I die I will have the soil perfect.:confused:
 
I knew garlic was a cool weather plant, but will it grow all winter? I have room in the greenhouse now after picking potatoes so was thinking what to plant again.
The outside garden is just resting now. I'm picking up all the leaves from the back half of the property and putting a bed of them about a foot deep all over it. This spring I will mulch with the mower and till it all in before planting. I'm getting all the organic matter I can mixed in with the clay. I figure that by the time I die I will have the soil perfect.:confused:

Yep, Garlic will grow through the winter. Usually I plant it the end of October and it starts growing as soon as there's been a cold snap. It seems to need a frost to get going. Harvesting takes place july time.
The other thing you might consider are what we call Broad Beans but I'm not sure what you call them, they will also grow when it's cool and produce a welcome early crop in late spring. I really look forward to Broad Beans as they are generally the first of the 'summer' veg to produce a crop. I try and sow them mid Novemeber and reckon on the harvest starting end of May but as you are groing in the greenhouse, you would probably do even better.
 
Yep, Garlic will grow through the winter. Usually I plant it the end of October and it starts growing as soon as there's been a cold snap. It seems to need a frost to get going. Harvesting takes place july time.
The other thing you might consider are what we call Broad Beans but I'm not sure what you call them, they will also grow when it's cool and produce a welcome early crop in late spring. I really look forward to Broad Beans as they are generally the first of the 'summer' veg to produce a crop. I try and sow them mid Novemeber and reckon on the harvest starting end of May but as you are groing in the greenhouse, you would probably do even better.
That might explain why the garlic I planted last summer died and rotted. I'll try planting garlic around late October this year before the snow starts falling. Building a greenhouse is on my list for 2017 too. We have a fairly short growing season here. Last frost is usually mid June and first frost is in September. A greenhouse should help us get an earlier start on many plants.
 
I do the same here AD. Getting a lot of veg started under cover means bigger and better harvests and less losses. The last frost here is only a couple of weeks before you but the first frosts are a bit later, usually towards the end of October. We don't get the tremendous heat the USA gets in the summer, the average is about 70-75 with maybe a couple of weeks in the 80's.
 
I do the same here AD. Getting a lot of veg started under cover means bigger and better harvests and less losses. The last frost here is only a couple of weeks before you but the first frosts are a bit later, usually towards the end of October. We don't get the tremendous heat the USA gets in the summer, the average is about 70-75 with maybe a couple of weeks in the 80's.
Last spring I installed a weather station at our garden site in order to get an accurate account of temps and rainfall. Last summer was hot and dry with the highest temp being 91 for only one day. Most of the summer was in the low to mid 80's. Rainfall between May and October totalled around 7". Most of our moisture comes during the winter in deep snow.
 
I end up planting my garlic in Oct when it starts getting cooler outside. The first time I tried years ago was in Jan. It just didn't have enough time to grow before it got too hot. . . once the heat and humidity came it died back and I was only able to get 1 or 2 bulbs on each. I ended up buying garlic bulbs at the grocery store cause the only time my area sells the bulbs at the feed store is late winter or spring which makes no sence to me.
 
That is strange. You start to see Garlic for growing in the seeds section in september. Offspring got these from a specialist grower for me as I wanted a particular variety to replace the ones I normally grow. This year I should be able to save my own.
Maybe you could buy some online this autumn DG.
 
I think I planted in early spring once. Needless to say it didn't grow well. Wish I had allready planted garlic but will try this fall.
 
Nice day today so I took the compost bin to the allotment and had a bit of a tidy up. Going to sow Chiilies, Peppers and Tomatoes his weekend to grow on the windowsill until the weather is better to plant out.
As I was walking round other folks plots today, I'm glad I have my plot on the edge. The middle of the field must have a bit of a dip as the central plots were under an inch of water.
 
Nice day today so I took the compost bin to the allotment and had a bit of a tidy up. Going to sow Chiilies, Peppers and Tomatoes his weekend to grow on the windowsill until the weather is better to plant out.
As I was walking round other folks plots today, I'm glad I have my plot on the edge. The middle of the field must have a bit of a dip as the central plots were under an inch of water.
I pulled and tilled the greenhouse, and got some more carrots and beets planted. I still have 2/3's of it ready to plant, but need to wait till we're a little closer to spring. I've got more than half the leaves from the back of the property in the garden now. Every time I drive the mower up to work on the house I take a tarp and rake up a load of the leaves onto it, throw it in the cart on the back of the mower and bring it back down the hill to the garden. I have the leaves blown in rows from the mower, and they are somewhat mulched allready. I could just go do it all an 4 or 5 hours, but figure it's more efficient when I'm allready making the trip. Hopefully I'll be done before spring! I am going to have to test the ph of the soil after adding all those leaves, but can adjust it if it gets out of wack easily enough.
 
I pulled and tilled the greenhouse, and got some more carrots and beets planted. I still have 2/3's of it ready to plant, but need to wait till we're a little closer to spring. I've got more than half the leaves from the back of the property in the garden now. Every time I drive the mower up to work on the house I take a tarp and rake up a load of the leaves onto it, throw it in the cart on the back of the mower and bring it back down the hill to the garden. I have the leaves blown in rows from the mower, and they are somewhat mulched allready. I could just go do it all an 4 or 5 hours, but figure it's more efficient when I'm allready making the trip. Hopefully I'll be done before spring! I am going to have to test the ph of the soil after adding all those leaves, but can adjust it if it gets out of wack easily enough.

I have several bags of leaves to take to the plot, I will have to wait til we can ge some transport to move them I want to hire a man and a van to move the polytunnel and a few other bits so hope to take them then. It sucks not having transport sometimes!:rolleyes:
 
I have several bags of leaves to take to the plot, I will have to wait til we can ge some transport to move them I want to hire a man and a van to move the polytunnel and a few other bits so hope to take them then. It sucks not having transport sometimes!:rolleyes:
At least you Brits can survive without a car over there. The large cities here have public transport, but here in the country you would be screwed. The closest grocery is probably 6 or seven miles, each way. Walking there is doable, walking back with groceries, I'm not even going to think about it!
 
I went out and looked at our garden spot. My wife is going nuts wanting to start stuff in the greenhouse, but winter isn't finished just yet. I suppose I should think about garden tiller maintenance soon though....
 
I have been working my soil periodically all winter. . . . since my tomatoes and peppers sucked last year, I am trying out a recommendation on something Ginger posted. Laid down some cardboard, threw on some kitchen scraps, hauled out some old trampled hay with all it fertilizers to throw on top of that, then mulched it down. Even though I do raised beds, we had a LOT of rain. Everyone had issues but still thought I would try something else. I do still have canned goods in the stockroom, but if this year is another bust, we will be in trouble for those items.
 
I have been working my soil periodically all winter. . . . since my tomatoes and peppers sucked last year, I am trying out a recommendation on something Ginger posted. Laid down some cardboard, threw on some kitchen scraps, hauled out some old trampled hay with all it fertilizers to throw on top of that, then mulched it down. Even though I do raised beds, we had a LOT of rain. Everyone had issues but still thought I would try something else. I do still have canned goods in the stockroom, but if this year is another bust, we will be in trouble for those items.
I'm out of pickeled okra as we had a bad season here too. Luckily I got enough to save the seeds, but not enough to can. I'm pretty good with most else for now at least. I got so desperate for the stuff that I resorted to pickeling green beans. There ok but not the same...
 

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