Newbie

[Hodgepig]

Thanks Susie, It is what I have always called hedgehogs, not sure why hahaha!

Oh I can imagine, my 8yr old would probably rather stay in on his tablet! Luckily he is too young to put up a good fight and once he is there he forgets all about the gadgets for a few hours.
I am really pleased with the shed, we tried the wilko outdoor paint and it was a lot more vibrant than we expected!

[ESBkevin]

Hello and welcome.

You seem to have got it right and landed a nice plot too. On the additional plot I would recommend you cover as much as possible with something to kill/stop weeds. Black plastic is fine, old carpet works but can leave plastic/nylon fibres if left too long and breaks down. Favourite is cardboard and cover that in mulch. If left the card/mulch gets eaten by the worms and the lack of weeds makes future digging much easier and sometimes unnecessary as you can plant through the mulch and you’re good to go. Anyway covering with whatever stops weeds developing and spreading so giving you time to work on it as and when it suits you.

[Snoop Puss]

Your plot looks great. And the shed is a wonder.

Who on earth would pinch top soil?! That really is a bit much. Anyway, sounds like you're going about things the right way there.

Hope you enjoy your plots and here.

[sparrow100]

Hi Hodgepig and welcome from me too. Really nice looking plot you have there, though nicking topsoil strikes me as a bit bonkers! Hope your site has manure deliveries!

[Bren In Pots]

Hello and welcome to the vine Hodgepig

[Scarlet]

Bamboo canes make good swords do watch out☺

My kids acquired fly swats there was no way anyone could bend down

[Hodgepig]

Thanks all 
Apart from the strange topsoil pinching ( I have my suspcions on who had it.....he has raised beds waist high lol, ) everyone is fantastic, they are sharing plants and seeds with us and we have come home with arms full of rhubarb a few times ☺We are learning lots from the old timers and two of them took me aside and in hushed tones shared a fab place to by very cheap plants so I think we have been accepted into the fold haha! They all seem happy to see the children too, although once they have had enough I tend to take them home so we don't ruin the peace and quiet!

Hello and welcome.

You seem to have got it right and landed a nice plot too. On the additional plot I would recommend you cover as much as possible with something to kill/stop weeds. Black plastic is fine, old carpet works but can leave plastic/nylon fibres if left too long and breaks down. Favourite is cardboard and cover that in mulch. If left the card/mulch gets eaten by the worms and the lack of weeds makes future digging much easier and sometimes unnecessary as you can plant through the mulch and you’re good to go. Anyway covering with whatever stops weeds developing and spreading so giving you time to work on it as and when it suits you.

Great advice, thank you

[PyreneesPlot]

Hello and a belated welcome from down here.
Enjoy the Vine

[Hodgepig]

Hi all,
Sorry for the lack of updates, I have been too busy digging lol! Both plots are really coming along, over autumn we hope to finish fixing the (huge) fruit cage that we inherited so I can get planting lots of fruit! We only have about 1/4 covered now, the rest is fully up and growing we go home with a full bucket of produce every week, everyone is so lovely that we often go home with lots of things we haven't even grown! I have now started sowing for winter and have plains for 4 trained fruit trees, I want to take my time choosing exactly what to get and I am reading lots of info on sizes/rootstocks at the moment tomake sure I am confident in my choices. It is my big 30 in October so family will be helping me with the purchase of the trees, what a great gift!!!

[Muddy_Boots]

Hi there

A very belated welcome to the vine, afraid I've been busy with my second plot so not been on here for a while. This is the thread which I will be updating shortly just here, I just wish my second was as overgrown as yours (you will see what I mean from the pics on my thread lol).

Like you I was given advice from a couple of the more senior plotters when I first started 3 years ago, always take on board what they tell you as its usually good info. Just last week my main source of useful info told me that when your peas reach a foot in height you can uncover them from the bird netting as the pigeons leave anything alone that is higher than they are for some wierd reason. Never thought that would happen as they will decimate new pea plants the moment they appear.

[Hodgepig]

I have just had a look muddy boots and I see what you mean you are making fantastic progress though! I love that you are finding so many gret treasures. We just just found an old holey hose pipe and lots of buried panes of (now broken) glass haha!
The advice I have had so far has been invaluable, trouble is I spend far to much time stood chatting

[Knight of Albion]

A very warm welcome to the forum, dear soul