New Allotment

[Sheneval]

Good idea - a cool wash is where you put the item in the machine and watch John Travolta in Grease whilst its working.

[Sheneval]

Good couple of hours at the allotment today clearing the sweet corn stalks and decaying rhubarb - the compost bin is full to overflowing - did a bit of weeding and edged the both plots - also planted 50 daffodil bulbs round the edge of some of the beds. The sun shone non stop - a lovely day

[Hazel at the Hill]

Good idea - a cool wash is where you put the item in the machine and watch John Travolta in Grease whilst its working.

I'm afraid that dates you somewhat, Shen!

.... - the compost bin is full to overflowing ........

Yes - I'm having that problem too - I have 4 dalek composters on my half plot, nearly all the winter tidy up to do, and no-where to put the debris. Unless everything has miraculously rotted down to nothing in the past week.

[Sheneval]

I can go a lot further back than that - Dead End and Angels with Dirty Faces - no music but All Time Classics

[Sheneval]

Hazel,

I have two daleks at the house but I really need another one or possibly two at the allotment. I am trying to compost everything and it is amazing how much there is and that doesn't include grass cuttings which amount to a bin every time and I'm still putting paper in the blue bin every day.

[Two_Sheds]

I have two daleks at the house but I really need another one

looked on eBay? gumtree? freegle?

Also, you could move them as soon as they're full, leaving the pile to continue rotting where it sits while you start a new pile. Don't wait for it all to be rotted before you make a new pile

. I am trying to compost everything

Are you doing surface composting? aka mulch composting: foliage etc can be roughly chopped with seckies and just dropped on the ground, as a mulch. It very quickly stops looking "untidy" and just looks like soil

Then you can use the daleks just for tough woody stuff, kitchen peelings etc

grass cuttings which amount to a bin every time

I don't put mine in the daleks very often:

grass clippings are a great mulch, esp on spuds, onions

they also can go in sacks of autumn leaves, to speed up the leafmould

[rary]

I can go a lot further back than that - Dead End and Angels with Dirty Faces - no music but All Time Classics

I remember my mother telling me about they pictures

[Sheneval]

Shows your mother had great taste

[Sheneval]

4 hours at the allotment yesterday collecting all my spare netting for cleaning - this time I'll use the power washer to prevent any damage. Also did a bit of weeding and had a chat to a couple of fellow allotmenteers - together we put the world to rights

Did a bit of weeding but will do a lot more on Sunday.

Today I collected 5 large bags, about 500 litres, of leaves and filled the builders bag, which already had about 150 litres in it, to the top. The one I filled last year is quite well rotted and about a quarter of the size it was when filled.

[Sheneval]

Another useful few hours on the allotment today in lovely sunshine - clearing up all the canes and covering bottles and digging over and clearing weeds from my daughter's plot - two very large bags of weeds to the dump and compost bin topped up. Daughter picked quite a lot of Brussels sprouts leaving the smaller ones for Christmas and New Year. It seems that those that were completely covered in debris netting were larger than those that were merely in a debris netting cage - note for next year.

If weather is decent tomorrow I'll collect some seaweed for covering the cleared ground.

[Sheneval]

Collected 3 containers of seaweed and spread on 1st bed of daughter's plot - despite being a decent amount it only covered 3/4 of the bed. If weather holds I will get more tomorrow

Little bit of weeding on the borrowed bit of plot to get it ready for next year - will need to give it a good load of compost as daughter advises potatoes from this plot were not as good as the potatoes from mine. I intend to grow peas and beans there next year. Also need to cover both of coming year's potato beds with seaweed as this might be the main reason for the difference in taste.

She also advises that Brussels she picked yesterday were delicious - she normally does not like Brussels as they taste a bit 'irony'? to her but she says these tasted sweet and eldest grandson who has never eaten Brussels before also likes them - now I need to try and remember from whence they came?? His range of veg has expanded greatly this year.

My daughter swears the veg from the plot/s taste completely different and much better than the shop bought stuff and that includes the onions, beetroot, red cabbage and sweet corn - I must remember to get my share of them all, but particularly the sweet corn next year, instead of the solitary one I got picked and eaten fresh on the site.

I shared this with my friend Jim who, having given me great advice since I got my allotment, claims he cannot grow it

[Sheneval]

Another 2 lots of seaweed collected - finished daughter's bed and topped up next season's potato bed on my own plot which had been done in October?

[Sheneval]

Another 3 lots of seaweed today - one lot on top of next year's potato bed - the others topping up this year's pea/bean bed - noticed that the lot on this year's potato bed needs topping up.

Guestimate I will need another 6 trips to fill all the beds.

Also noticed phone had some dirt on face in one corner which has affected pics.

[Hazel at the Hill]

I would have thought that when the seaweed dries out, it would blow away - or is it too substantial for that? Or does it never get dry enough before it rots down? Also, doesn't seaweed add an awful lot of salt to the soil?

The questions are a bit academic as far as I am concerned as I live just about as far away from the sea in any direction as you can in this country, but I am curious, nonetheless.

[Mikey]

Hazel, here's a link for the benefits of seaweed.