2016 Calendar

[Bigmallly]

Can't wait to see it in Summer NG.

[Guest]

^^^TY. It does make a lot of difference being in the backgarden as all the mins here and there really do add up. Just hope I can keep it up this year.

[Jungle Jane]

January
A few photos of the garden & what's growing here. Brussels sprouts,onions & lettuce in the blow-away,some sprout seedlings also in the ground. There's 2 bags of potatoes that i didn't harvest in the summer,they're re-growing not sure what variety yet. Red onions & elephant garlic in the raised bed & a couple of pots of rocket on the patio table (flea beetle cant climb up there!)

[Bigmallly]

Nice grass Jane.................

[Jungle Jane]

I've been wondering about the grass,always too nervous to dig away at it,but there would be more space for growing everything

[Bigmallly]

You could always place some beds on the lawn & have lovely grassed paths.

[Jungle Jane]

I was thinking of changing the top section of grass where the raised bed is next to the shed,with two square beds & a grass path up to the plum tree in the middle. That would provide a bit more growing space. I tried to do it last year,I cut out a little section,then changed my mind & put it back again.

[Bigmallly]

If you are using raised beds, just plonk them on top of the grass, it will die down.

[Gillykat]

Popped up to the allotment for my first visit of the year today. Pouring with rain (is there anywhere in the UK where it isn't? ) and TBH it's been constantly wet since the beginning of November....hence the messy beds alongside the tunnel which I didn't get sorted in October. As soon as it dries out slightly come March/early April I'll knock it all into shape once more. Neil has some more raised beds to build for me so I've given him the deadline of around then - just to get them in situ so once it warms up I can get my seedlings and stuff out of the greenhouse/tunnel.

2015 was my first ever attempt at growing stuff that wasn't flowers and it was a learning curve....not least of all the realisation that weeds grow twice as fast as crops! Looking forward to this year as I plan to grow a lot more different things and be a lot more organised.

Looking yuck but it CAN only get better...

[Bigmallly]

Everywhere is Yuck at the moment but come Summer........................

[Gillykat]

Everywhere is Yuck at the moment but come Summer........................

Yeah...normally I'm not a big lover of hot summers but since getting the allotment I've become an obsessive weather watcher and am hoping for a hot one this year Just been reading up on growing melons from a couple of threads on this site Got my greenhouse earmarked for those this year

[Bigmallly]

Have you joined us with the Monkey Nut Challenge?

[Gillykat]

No, I'll have to go look at that I'm not a fan of nuts normally (apart from the ones like myself who obsess over their patch of mud ) but I think Neil likes them....or I suppose I could always give them to the birds

Off to check it out now....

[skeggijon]

Not been able to do anything with back garden since moving.
Lots of cutting back to do and clearing beds.

The banties are having to make do with temporary accommodation til I'm able to get out there and clear space for a more luxurious home.
Going to have to invest in a tree surgeon to remove the massive fir tree, but there's a lovely mature Pear tree hiding behind it.

[Gillykat]

Just popped up for my weekly check and it was a nice change to have the track up to the allotments solid from three days of freezing conditions instead of it's usual mud

Plot was crunchy underfoot too, water butts frozen solid, watering cans in poly thin layer of ice on top (so much for keeping them in there so the water is warmer for my young plants ) but everything else looking ok. Temperature outside was 0.1c and in tunnel was 1.4c. Surprisingly, my Passion Flower (P. caerulea) is still looking ok in the tunnel...I thought it would have died back a touch with the cold. I've also got a few nasturtium seedlings coming up which I'll leave for now and transplant into pots or outside once things warm up.