Hobbit Allotment!

[horticultural_hobbit]

Having been to the lotment, with the best of intentions. Armed with a dibber, more red and white onion sets, more garlic. The lotment is in the processing of thawing out. Squelchy in places, rock hard in places. Also need to get pea support sorted. Did have some fiddly pea netting, but not the patience to attach it to canes. Might create a cane trelli and try again when my brain is a little less crammed. And the curcurbit patch still hasn't been poo'd.

[rustylady]

Haven't even been to mine since just before the snow Hobbit. The snow has only just melted, and now we have rain so it will be too wet and cold to do anything productive.

[ladylottie]

Haven't even been to mine since just before the snow Hobbit. The snow has only just melted, and now we have rain so it will be too wet and cold to do anything productive.

Same here although I did pop up one afternoon last week and harvested the last of the leeks. Ground too cold and wet to do anything else. Certainly wouldn't risk my onion sets yet. And still haven't got the manure on the plot yet either!
Don't panic - we will all catch up soon.

[snohare]

And the curcurbit patch still hasn't been poo'd.

Don't forget, mulch = status quo. Stick poo on top of soil that is still cold, it will stay cold under the insulating layer. It will also stay wet, but cold is the last thing you want, so you need to wait until it is actually warm anyway.
If you know of anyone who has a spruce tree growing on their garden or other land, I can recommend the bare lower branches, particularly sitka spruce, for pea stakes. But what I have now is a simple piece of planed wood about 5mm by 1cm, screwed at either end onto uprights of the same, a piece of netting suspended from it. Works like a charm, easily stored/moved/disassembled and most importantly of all, cheap.
We obviously have it a lot warmer up here, I have been able to dig (in theory, haven't had the oomph) for weeks. I have been building a proper compost heap with pallets, a real proper job it looks, I am so proud ! (And the compost I was making in my builders bag has rotted well in a matter of months, so come spring out it goes.)

[Two_Sheds]

still haven't got the manure on the plot yet either!

Me neither ~ I've been allotmenting for 16 years, and still haven't used FYM

[horticultural_hobbit]

Don't forget, mulch = status quo. Stick poo on top of soil that is still cold, it will stay cold under the insulating layer. It will also stay wet, but cold is the last thing you want, so you need to wait until it is actually warm anyway.

I hear you, Sno. Thank you its just that the bags keep looking at me....Will wait a while then, till we have more milder weather. According to Ma- who pays
Very careful attention to the midlands today weather forecast since I gained a plot-the weekend brings more wintry weather.

Ventured into p*^undland today, and came out with poly tunnel cloches, spring and summer flowering bulbs. Some of the bulbs on the plot are coming through, and I feel optimistic. But many many of the bulbs planted in November, I fear have been eaten by the clay. And I found a W^lkos bulb planter to help put spuds in. Have to shoe
Horn lotment playtime as school returns next week.

[snohare]

Bulbs in clay...I seem to mind seeing a TV programme once that showed planting bulbs on a little bed of leaves/leafmould with a bit of sand mixed in to improve the drainage. Mark you, I cannot remember which bulbs they were - probably daffies - but it is worth thinking about. If they have sand rather than clay next to them then I would expect that they would be that much safer from rotting, to judge by my memories of dibbing in many hundreds of bulbs at various castles and stately homes.
As for being impatient...well, one of the best bits of advice I was ever given was "plant according to the conditions". Find out the germination temperature/optimum growing temperatures for the different seeds and plants, and go by that, not the calendar. I know, easier said than done !
Ars longa,
vita brevis,
occasio praeceps,
experimentum periculosum,
iudicium difficile.

I hope when I die, I get to meet Hippocrates in Heaven. He was smart...

[horticultural_hobbit]

Was pleasantly surprised, and needn't have worried so much. There are quite a few bulbs sprouting. The only thing that hasn't, are anemones and hyacinths. Can't remember what I planted where, I clearly wasn't feeling pedantic that day. Am looking forward to it blooming. Now i'm just wondering where all the marigolds are going to go, i have enough seeds to sink a ship. Haven't sown any yet, and the packets all suggest they go in a heated prop; when all I want to do is to sown in modules and leave in the wendy house or 4TB. I have other things I want to be keeping warm in the magic seed grower. At this rate, there's gonna be a lot of fleurs, and not a lot of veggies.

Ma did however, take great pleasure in dragging me to the chitting potatos in the garage, and indicating the sprouts. That was after, she had opened a T&M catalogue, and said "''Sparagus, P-". "Takes two years to grow, mum," said I. There were faces pulled. Off went I to, to find the magazine, having been reminded by a fellow grape tweet....

[SarrissUK]

I ordered some asparagus crowns from Pennard plants, 1 year old, but when they arrived and they had to ring me to charge my account, they said their actually two years old. I have never seen asparagus crowns before, but a fellow allotmenteer said they're the best he's ever seen. Not too pricey either. I'd say go for it. The years go by so quickly that a year or two of waiting for the spears, is well worth it
I saw a few bunches of five or six spears in a supermarket yesterday and they're a quid each minimum!

[snohare]

Ah yes - spring has arrived, the treacherous season when things start growing and everything is warming up nicely - until it all gets thrown into furious reverse gear.
Today here the sun is beating in my window, I am even thinking of taking my fleece cardigan off - a bit blustery, but gorgeous sunshine, white clouds scudding past in the distance. The forecast for this evening - heavy snow and high winds (ie blizzards) !
Just keep an eagle eye on the minimum temperatures, if they drop low for long enough even spuds in a garage can get damaged if it is unheated. Blackening on the shoot extremities is the sign, hobbit. (I'll bet you knew that already, but no harm in reminding. )
Pennards, eh...

[horticultural_hobbit]

Tis the postage only 'free'asparagus that was advertised on the mag that ma will be playing with. To me, it's an altogether curious veg. Lovely to eat, and we do when we can. Wouldnt know the first thing about it.

Down right miserable here in Birmingham. Ma and I took a walk to the lotment for a general gander and the heavens opened. Ma wanted to make sure that she has a bit to play with, and it's hers. There is no point arguing to the contrary. Tis the first thing I am asked every Saturday, as whether i
I am going to the lotment. At the moment, She comes a long for the walk. I'll have a look at what needs to be done or just looked at. "I'm going now," she say "I got your house keys," adds Ma, and scarpers. However, I have visions of her sticking around as the growing season starts and moving me out the way. I'm already under instructions not to sow mooli without supervision.

[Matt94]

ooooooooooh ive got some mooli seeds, but haven't got a clue on how to grow em, i know they grow pritty long, i wonder if you could grow them in tubs?

[horticultural_hobbit]

I grew radishes both red and white in pots. Were very small and thin. This year it's all about open ground. That includes the mooli's. They get fairly long and thick in theory, but it's anyone's guess for having a go. Will be well chuffed if they come off.

[horticultural_hobbit]

Had a productive morning today. Ma came with me, transferred some spinach from one bed to the one designated her patch. She has to have a patch, else no one gets either fed or some peace. Once Ma had scarpered, clutching at the valdor lettuce harvested for her and pops, I weeded the onion, shallot and garlic. All very delicately, that was my intention. But I may well have decapitated a few shallots in getting annoyed with volume of weeds. Damned couch grass.

That took a while. Then I looked at the curcurbit patch. That needed poo'ing.

I looked at it for some time. Walked around the plot, looked at the corden trees.

Went home, a girl on a mission, to get my magic spade. Went back to the lotment, and added the FYM that had been looking at me since before Kismet.

Had a lovely chat with the lotment legend. Oh, his plot is beautiful. So well tended. Had such fabulous words of encouragement. Specifically, that no one can tell you how to do things; that you do what you want how you want. Admonished the prospect of good carrots, due to carrot fly. But highly recommended parsnips. He has a full plot and with age and rheum is hoping to reduce it to half. He was rather taken with the valdor lettuce on the plot.

Had to go home, to do some work. With that done, I took Pops to wi**es to get some sand for carrots. We both then dropped the bags off. Pops has been down to the lotment only a handful of times. Today, he thought one of the other plots was nice.

The trick with pops, is to rocket. And plenty of it. I'm working on it.

My next big job is put the sand in. Any advice how?


At home, I have a handful of toms, some chillies. There are peas and beans in the 4TB along with beetroot. Maris pipers and king eds are chitting, and won't be planted til April with a bulb planter. The clay, is not my buddy.

Talking of bulbs, lots of spring flowering bulbs coming through. Hyacinths and anemones are not my friends neither. Also need to start something with marigolds.

[snohare]

My next big job is put the sand in. Any advice how?

Guess what, Hobbit...I have the exact same problem !

There are a couple of ways, depending on how deep you want the sand to go, how much there is of it, what tools you have...and how much you are willing for your back to ache.

The easiest is to scatter a layer a couple of centimetres thick on top of your soil, and then fork it in. By this, I mean driving the fork through that layer into the soil below, at an angle of maybe 45 degrees, with a bit of a waggle. You'll soon see what the right techniques is; suddenly the top layer starts to disappear below the surface. This drives the sand only as deep as the tines go, of course, and you can only do so much at a time; but you can repeat the process every week or two until you have as much as you want.
Alternatively, you can lay out a tarp and dig out the soil to the depth you want sanded, putting it onto the tarp. Then either add the sand onto the heap on the tarp and mix it (just twisting a fork around, or turning it over with a spade) before replacing, or use a fertiliser sack to mix whatever ratio of sand and soil you want; eg, add one spadeful of sand, three spadefuls of soil, then hold the bag closed and shake or roll it about - it doesn't take long for very effective mixing to happen with this technique. (Easiest way to handmix cement or mortar mix, by far, if you ever need to.) As with all major mixing of materiels, best done on a platform at just above knee level.
Of course, if you are digging out an area of say, five metres by two, to a depth of thirty centimetres...that's an awful sore back you are going to have !
Once upon a time I would have used the latter technique in one big blitz, and done in one or two sessions. With my current bad back and low oomph, I have been going with simple forking in, which seems to be taking forever but it works better if your sand only arrives in penny amounts anyway.
One idea I have been thinking of is strewing sand on the surface after sowing the carrot seeds, to hopefully help deter the slugs and snails; a sand mulch is worth a try I think.
I am saving my bulbs in little pots, hope to donate them to an Easter/Spring Fayre type thingy. It's the Aberdonian in me, loves the idea of making money with no outlay...