Hobbit Allotment!

[endymion]

Question, for you. I've got some Thyme, that I had in a pot. Have harvested it, and the pot now is mostly stubble. Will that survive and be viable for next year?

Should do, it's quite tough.

[snohare]

Thyme alone will tell...

[horticultural_hobbit]

Two-Sheds was right...

Have done an awful lot of daffodil-Ing; the whole stop and stare thing. Looking at the plot as though waiting for it to talk to me.

I'm not turning into a Jedi, still pacing myself. It's autumn winter.

And what was two sheds bang on the money about? Swiss chard. I was walking home from my plot and I saw a funky shade of red and orange from the corner of my eye. Turned around, clutching the thermos mug. It was pretty in the generic green and grey.

Might consider it. Might go into onion bhajis.

[snohare]

Might consider it. Might go into onion bhajis.

Careful you don't become too wildly experimental young 'obbit, it could result in "cress stupidity" !

I wouldn't be without chard now, it is so reliable.

[horticultural_hobbit]

Hobbit tales

Evening, my lovelies.

Well, it's been a quiet week. The clocks changed, and getting darker means that I get to spend less time at the plot after school. That and the rain, been very soggy this week. All hallows eve, saw Bruno have a reprieve for a few days. When Bruno did meet his maker later this week, Ma made short work of it. There is photographic evidence, that I was shown to my amusement.

Pops ate it, Ma ate it and I did. Hobbit siblings weren't convinced. Ma battles with us anyway when it comes to Bollywood dinners. Ma was adamant that since it was going to be sweet, it would need alot of spice. Fair enough. And boy did I know about it afterwards. Again, Ma was fine, as was pops. I ate it all like a good girl. Since I had grown it. But not so much red chilli next time >_<

The recipe is on the season to taste boards.

Think my wormery had shut down for winter, the poor babies. Still trying to fill up the compost bins.

I got mushrooms! About a dozen. Three big massive ones that are normal white ones, but look like portobello. And how? Through negligence. I left them for a week, and didn't water them. Dinner tomorrow, perhaps.

Er, onions sprouting, shallots too I think, and garlic.

Home broad beans are one and a half foot tall. Lotment ones still diddy.

And I'm hoping to add more farmyard manure to the beds.

Got all wide eyed yesterday; saw an ad in the GYO mag for Corden trees. Can't plant them direct. Quite fancy them in pots as a hobbit sized orchard.

[snohare]

Bruno ? You ATE A BOXER ? !! Cor, you live in a tough neighbourhood...

Why can't you plant a cordon tree ? Careful and not get one of those dwarf varieties (no joke intended) that are advertised as "perfect for the patio" - and give about two apples a year.

Everyone I've spoken to in person about growing mushroom says the big problem is the little fungus flies that lay eggs in them, which turn into little worms...check carefully before throwing into the pan, young Hobbit ! Commercial growers have a posh airlock system for entry into their sheds, you might just want to have some polythene dust sheeting over them on a little frame. Maybe not needed at this time of year ?
I pick wild mushrooms - chanterelles and hedgehogs - but one of these days I am going to try the dowels idea. This is a proposed World Heritage Site for mushrooms, no shortage of the right wood here - hard to find a tree that doesn't have mushrooms ! (Flying reindeer/A&E/neolithic firelighter types mainly.)
Envious of your broad beans. I spent three weeks away housesitting, came back and all my peas and beans had stopped cropping - no one picking them.
Feed your soil all you can now, this is your best chance. Once it all starts getting used, it will be much harder to find a chance to dig in leaves and FYM or grow green manures - wish I had put a lot of leafmould into my soil the first year, but it was only going to be for a year I thought, so no need to bother.

[horticultural_hobbit]

Noted about the mushrooms. Will get sliced and diced properly, any protein might scare folks.

The broadies are at home in poundland tomato grow bag things. They have really come on, in comparison to the ones sown at the 'lotment. Those are only a couple of inches high, the four or so that have grown.

Think there are allotment rules that say that trees can't be planted. Not entirely sure, was hearsay from 'lotment neighbour. I'll check, when I can. I like the look and sound; novice naïveté and frivolity are at play!
Have some mustard down; simply to contest the fact with my mum that it's like spinach. And there is fenugreek as well. So that's two out of eight beds. Have three beds, each 8x3 that I can poo poo between now and February I guess. I say Febraury as that is near enough time to think what to sow and sow seedlings.

It's depressing, with the darkness and miserable weather; and feeling defeated by it. However, I'm bouyed by the fact that it might all be easier after Christmas and with Springtime.

[snohare]

"Sow according to conditions, not according to calendar." So garlic in winter..probably too late for overwintering leeks unless you can get half-grown ones, but you seem organised enough on the 'ingin front.

It's depressing, with the darkness and miserable weather; and feeling defeated by it.

That's SSSAD, that is. (Sub-Syndromal Seasonal Affective Disorder.) If you get the munchies a lot, sleep pattern goes haywire and your mood heads to dark places, that's it full blown. Due to lack of a daily calibrating dose of sunshine, to rebalance levels of serotonin and melatonin. I get it too - supposedly 10% of the population do at this latitude - where you are it will be a bit less common but still frequent enough. Full spectrum lightboxes are the cure, work a charm they do. (Thank God.) Very cheering, I really like waking up to my artificial sunshine. Exercise is the second best treatment.
If you have to plant your trees in pots, could be some good advantages there. Put in a watering tube, saves a lot of wasted water; and feeding the roots could be easy when you can repot with fresh compost whenever necessary.

[horticultural_hobbit]

Well, I'm quite happy with melatonin and serotonin. Have enough of the Happy hormone, what with being a half a glass full sorta girl i know what you mean though. I've taught SSAD, and then observed it too. It's more to do with not being able to play on the plot as much as I would like; I've made a commitment to it and really want to give it the best shot I can. There's just not enough hours in day! It's not so bad when I'm
On school holidays, and not doing school work.

I just don't like the Autumn term! I do smile though, when things start sprouting.

Trees will be going into pots, yes. They arrive bare root. Not too sure when they will
Come, delivery window is very wide.

[snohare]

If they are arriving properly bare rooted (this being my former field, literally, as an ex-treenurseryman) they will not lift them until the leaves are off the trees, as this is when they become dormant. Also it isn't possible - or at least feasible - to lift a tree from frozen ground without damaging the bark at ground level, which runs the risk of killing the tree.
So the nursery will be looking for days after a period of prolonged frost, but when there is no actual frost and the ground is not frozen, before they start shipping orders. Heaven only knows when that will be.
I too spend a lot of time unable to garden; my allotment is almost thirty miles away, I have no car, can't afford the bus, and often am simply not fit. I spend lots of time researching - not just here but elsewhere, following links, reading books - and I think of that as just as much effort towards the task, as digging is. Not so easy or worthwhile in your first year because inexperienced you cannot relate so much to what you are reading, but worth doing in future years.
Or you could just hibernate, as I do...

[horticultural_hobbit]

Am a little spoiled, Snohare. The allotment is eighty yards away to the gate, and then another 100 to my actual plot.

Took a punt, and then got by chastised my Ma and sister, on a kiwi Jenny plant and a raspberry polka. Had an 'ooh, really?' moment for the kiwi. And it was less than a fiver.

I'm going to try and get to the plot for an hour a day. If only to stop and stare at it. That in itself makes me feel all is well with the world

[snohare]

If only to stop and stare at it. That in itself makes me feel all is well with the world

Yes, that's exactly how I feel.
"What is this life, if full of care
We have no time to stand and stare..."
It maybe doesn't have to be an hour...but then again it rarely has so little to capture my attention ! I have a little foldaway picnic chair hidden there, I sit in it and make notes of everything I do on each visit (use a pencil, keep the paper free of dirt - but I'm sure you with your notebook know that by now ), sometimes I will do a little video memo of how things are going, but most of all, I take photos. That forces me to really look at how things are growing compared to last time, how big things are, how they crowd each other and hog the light, how well the nets are sitting...thinking of how to describe things opens my eyes too, a trick I picked up in my teenage years and never lost.
Sometimes compared to all that, and eating lunch and reading a newspaper in the sunshine, or (whisper it) even snoozing on a tarp, gardening and harvesting are almost secondary. If only the dog was not so disgruntled to be there...! (But a dogchew cures that. )

[horticultural_hobbit]

Am still here

Just haven't got around to playing much
Allotment - Horticulturalhobbit Wiki

Made the most of today, digging over what will be the potato patch and adding poo. So three beds that will be waiting till next year have been poo'd as it were.

Found a kiwi and a raspberry in Wilkos and too pity on them, Was in fact an 'ooh' and then an 'why not moment'. So they are sat on the lotment in pots. There is nothing in the rules to say that I can't plant them, but I don't want to get told off yet again. Still waiting for the apple, pear and plum cordon trees. They too will go into pots that are anticipating their arrival, into JI No3.

Am waiting to poo the curcurbit patch; at the moment it is semi blanketed with mustard seedlings. So I'm not too sure when and how to do that. Mustard was grown to see if it would grow spinach like. Ma could then cook it.

Broadies at home, are romping ahead. Lovely and green. Not so much on the lotment. Garlic and onions are sprouting, yay! Shallots seem to be taking their time.

I also planted some spring bulbs. A few of which are coming up on what will be the root veg bed. There was some changes to the plan, yes, I hear you in the back! The patch that was going to be root veg is lumpy and hard. The patch where the brassicas and cabbages were to go, is lovely and friable. So a straight swap will be done there.

And I have pondered and submit to the idea of having a blowaway walk in greenhouse (allotment sec quote 'what's one of them and it won't be any good if it blows away'). Looks a lot like a Wendy house, and is cheap and cheerful. I had to make sure that it was suitably sized. The trick will be to holding it down some how, and hoping that it makes it through the winter.

As it stands, there is a lots of stuff I want to grow. I may just run out of space...

[horticultural_hobbit]

Wendy house

https://twitter.com/horticulturalh/s...99816316846080

[Two_Sheds]

^ that's going to be of most use to you in early spring, when you're bringing on new plants, and for hardening stuff off

I don't know that you need it at all over winter?