New allotment

[Samurailord]

Looking really good Chris - you have managed to beat me to getting plants into your beds.

Hopefully mine will go in tomorrow, weather permitting.

I will get some pics up once it is done, so we can encourage each other

Andy

[Cue the Toms]

Thanks Andy

Day 5 and things are really coming together now. Planted some more fruit bushes today and dug out the rest of my brassica bed.


Broke down some soil in preparation of seed potatoes


This is the lovely westerly view from my plot looking at the South Downs and the Ouse valley, which is now a National Park


And this is Josh, my lil helper for the day

Just sewn some seeds in the propagator at home in the hope that it's not too late for some returns on my labour. Cauli (snowball), Kale, broccolli (not holding much hope out on those) and some more beetroot.

Next stop will be on Saturday...

Thanks to everyone who is following this thread... Do keep the advice coming along please?

Chris

[Jamesy_uk]

I just odered some Giant spinach, Calabrese, Collosal Fennel and Giant Miike mustard greens from Realseeds and will try my hand with those for autumn / winter. I am going to use the giant spinach and mustard green as an edible ground cover as they dont require much looking after they should do the job well assuming they can grow enough before the low light really kicks in during October.

[Samurailord]

I have managed to catch up with you a little bit tonight - got three types of brassicas in, some onions and some lettuce.

Planning on getting cabbage, caulis, peas and some french beans in tomorrow.

Andy

[Feral007]

Beautiful view and a good looking garden.

[Cue the Toms]

Day 6... Blimey, there really isn't enough hours in the day.. Does everyone feel like not much got done today when you've packed up and gone home? 10 hours graft got through today and I am very red.

Anyway, what did I achieve today? First job was to put a gate on my plot rather than just sliding a pallet back and forth to come and go, along with a new compost shelter:


Planted out potatoes (more in hope than anything else) to complete planting the first bed and on the left of the picture you can see that I have put down some weed membrane and covered with chippings:


Transferred runner beans from home.. I thought it might be wise to leave them in the pots that I had started them in. Tell me differently If I should have planted them direct?:


And accepted a kind gift of a tray of kale seedlings from the chairman of the allotment site. Thanks Alan


All in all a very enjoyable day in the warm sunshine but it doesn't feel as if I actually achieved much.. Oh well, roll on Tuesday for some more labour of love at the plot.

Thanks for reading

Chris

[Samurailord]

Looking good Chris.

I had 11.5 hours on the plot today, and it still feels like I have still only made a tiny start on all the work that I know will be needed before the plot is up to scratch.

Still, the first six beds are in (framework only for three) and I have one now fully planted up with 100 different plants, using the square foot gardening method.

I also have a moveable 5'x5' netting cloche to protect my brassicas from butterflies and pigeons.

I have also brought beans from home - mine were 'Blue Lake'French climbing beans and I have put mine straight into the soil - it will be interesting to compare their growth, although mine look to be considerably smaller than yours to start with.

Back on again at 6 tomorrow morning for another 6 hours or so

Andy

[kerryhubbard]

I picked up the key to my allotment yesterday - so I am desparately looking for great tit-bits of advice.... this is great!

I'm afraid mine won't be moving quite so quickly - I'm a complete novice - but I'm making notes and being inspired by the posts on here!!

Thanks guys!

Kerry

[Cue the Toms]

Congratulations Kerry and welcome to the lunatic asylum

I'm happy to be of assistance lol. I'm only into my first year of "proper" growing but so far so good. I will continue to post piccies and report as I go until I get to where I want to be. I have so much to learn about all this malarky too, so don't be afraid to ask the other inmates as you go.

Good luck with your plot

Chris

[veggiechicken]

Hi Kerry and welcome! We're not all as crazy as Chris ^^^^
Why don't you pop over to Introduce Yourself! Tell us a bit about yourself and your new allotment - we're a very nosey lot

[Cue the Toms]

Thanks veggie

My madness has been sent to me via my dog (Stitch). He thinks he's gonna sleep at the bottom of my bed tonight, under the duvet.... Well he can do one and sharp:


And no, that is not his baby bottle in the top of the pic!

Chris

[veggiechicken]

Awwww - He's dog-tired! So Stitch is the Cute bit in your name

[Cue the Toms]

Days 7 & 8 completed..

I don't seem to have achieved that much in the last couple of days but maybe it's just me expecting too much lol.

I have sourced a shed via Freecycle and will collect it on Saturday, an 8x6 complete with all shelving. It needs a new floor so I will have to repair that which isn't a major problem. I prepared a base for it today and at the same time found somewhere to hide all the old bricks and stones that I have dug up so far:


I have managed to train Stitch to keep the compost pile warm by sleeping on it hahahaha:


I also planted out the rest runner beans that I started in the mini poly tunnel just a couple of weeks ago, to go with the ones that I transferred from home. (Hoping to get a few pods before the first frost)


So, from where I was just 3 weeks ago there have been some notable changes

I still have a long way to go to get to where I want to be but so far so good.

Chris

[Samurailord]

Days 7 & 8 completed..

I don't seem to have achieved that much in the last couple of days but maybe it's just me expecting too much lol.

I don't know about that Chris, I have had my plot for six weeks now, and spent almost every spare hour I can down there are I think you are way in front of me.

I have a space marked out for a shed and poly tunnel, but I am nowhere near ready for them as yet.

I have only got one and a half raised beds planted up, the others either still need digging over or need the soil riddling and putting back before they can be used.

Half of my plot is covered in weeds and grass several inches high which I haven't had chance to do anything with as yet.

I look at your pictures and hope that I can get my plot to look as ordered and as good as yours one one day.

I sometimes think I may have tried to take on a bit too much all at once

Andy

[Cue the Toms]

I sometimes think I may have tried to take on a bit too much all at once

Andy

We'll get there my friend... Don't forget, mine is not a full size plot.

I only work on the plot for a bit at a time. I'm not 100% healthy at the mo so when my body tells me to stop for the day then I do. As much as I would like to get it all how I want it to be as fast as I possibly can, I have to accept that it will always be an ongoing project.

I am pleased that you are at a similar stage to me because I do think of how yours is going while I'm working on mine... It does spur me on to do a little more than I sometimes want to, just in case you get too far ahead of me

Thanks for all your kind words and support

Chris