Penellype's Allotment

[Mr Bones]

Nice one Pen. When I first took on a plot I was told by a veteran with 60 years under his belt that good gardens are made in winter.

[geepee]

I am now in possession of 9 5 inch deep 3ft by 6ft 6in raised beds and one 3 tier bed of the same size which will be a hotbed. Huge thanks to Geepee for sourcing the wood and for loads of help and advice.

The beds are roughly in position but still need some proper lining up, which hopefully I will have an opportunity to do over the weekend. I also need to lay and properly secure the weed matting for the paths. Then it will be all systems go filling them with rotted horse manure and other bits and pieces.

I didn't take my camera today as I was worried it might get damaged while I was moving the wood and beds around, but I will take some photos soon (although not tomorrow as I have a very busy day).

Thankyou........your just too kind...

[geepee]

I am now in possession of 9 5 inch deep 3ft by 6ft 6in raised beds and one 3 tier bed of the same size which will be a hotbed. Huge thanks to Geepee for sourcing the wood and for loads of help and advice.

The beds are roughly in position but still need some proper lining up, which hopefully I will have an opportunity to do over the weekend. I also need to lay and properly secure the weed matting for the paths. Then it will be all systems go filling them with rotted horse manure and other bits and pieces.

I didn't take my camera today as I was worried it might get damaged while I was moving the wood and beds around, but I will take some photos soon (although not tomorrow as I have a very busy day).

Seems like Every day is busy for you......you wont rest until youve turned an ordinary day
into a VERY busy day....you pack 3 normal folks days into 1 and then still look for something else to do just to fill time ..!!!!.......DYNAMO springs to mind...

[Penellype]

Seems like Every day is busy for you......you wont rest until youve turned an ordinary day
into a VERY busy day....you pack 3 normal folks days into 1 and then still look for something else to do just to fill time ..!!!!.......DYNAMO springs to mind...

Not really - "busy" can cover a multitude of things. On Thursday I was stuck in a meeting involving a group phone call to the bank which took up a large chunk of the day. Yesterday my main problem was that I needed to work with someone on a problem at work - this happens fairly frequently. So I message them on Skype and sit and wait... and wait... and wait. I can spend hours "tied to" the computer, and I can't get away until the person I need to speak to has responded. I can get other things done while I am waiting, but going to the allotment is not one of them as I need my computer, not just a phone with internet.

Over the years I have got very good at slotting jobs into little bits of time while doing other things. It becomes a habit after a while!

[Penellype]

Today I wanted to get as much as possible done as I have a feeling tomorrow is going to be a write-off, with a hard frost over night followed by snow turning to rain eventually.

I started off by levelling the ground where the hotbed is and measuring and straightening it so that it lines up properly with the opposite bed. I then put down the weed matting on the paths around it and put some wet cardboard in the bottom. At this point it was time to go and muck out my horses, which formed part of today's plan.

Having finished that job and accumulated a car full of fresh horse muck, I then started to fill the hotbed. After collecting another car load of muck I have now filled about 1/3 to 1/2 of the hotbed. Weather permitting I hope to do the same again tomorrow, which might, if I am lucky, fill it up.

After lunch I levelled off the rotted horse muck in the first of the raised beds to be filled and added layers of part rotted leaves, grass, paper and finally another layer of rotted muck from the sacks and buckets I filled a couple of weeks ago. The bed is now full and I will leave it to settle then top it off with used compost from home. I will either put onions or early peas in this bed.

The other job I wanted to finish today before the ground freezes solid then gets saturated was weeding the rhubarb, so I got on with that and finally put away most of the miscellaneous stakes and pieces of wood that were lying about.

I'm happy that I have achieved what I set out to do, and I should be able to add some more muck to the hotbed unless the weather is really appalling tomorrow morning.

[jackarmy]

I tell you what Pen , i wish i had half your energy i really do

[Penellype]

I tell you what Pen , i wish i had half your energy i really do

I do seem to be getting a little fitter. Less tired and sore than I was this time last week.

[Deano's "Diggin It"]

^^^^^^ Likewise! ...........

Although I am nursing a frozen shoulder at the moment which is proving very uncomfortable and holding me back slightly!

But you go "Lady P"

Your making "Great Ground"

[Deano's "Diggin It"]

Oops! You beat me to it!

[Penellype]

^^^^^^ Likewise! ...........

Although I am nursing a frozen shoulder at the moment which is proving very uncomfortable and holding me back slightly!

But you go "Lady P"

Your making "Great Ground"

Ouch - hope the shoulder gets better soon Deano.

[Deano's "Diggin It"]

Cheers "Lady P" Me Too! as I have things to do!

[KevinM67]

I tell you what Pen , i wish i had half your energy i really do

It's because she is not really real - she's a fricken machine !!!!

[Penellype]

The snow helpfully held off until about 11am, allowing me to get another 2 car loads of horse muck into the hotbed. That was enough to fill it full enough when trampled down. I now need to add some of the used compost from last year's plants and find a large piece of bubble wrap to cover it with, and leave it to heat up.

There was just time for a couple of photos before snow stopped play:

[Newt]

Looking very tidy indeed!

[Penellype]

Current plan (subject to change) is to complete the hotbed as soon as possible and plant it up in early February with beetroot, carrots (apparently you can do this, it will be interesting to see if they fork in all that muck), spinach and salads. This lot will probably be followed by courgettes, but I might change my mind later.

The bed next to the hotbed will grow runner and climbing french beans and sugar snap peas (the variety I have says it grows 7ft tall) - these want to be at the north end of the plot so they are only shading the rhubarb.

The 2 beds down from the hotbed near the tunnel are not at all level and need some work, the path between them also needs levelling. The one nearer the hotbin is earmarked for tomatoes, which should give me plenty of time to sort it out. The other may end up with buckets of potatoes, meaning that it doesn't need to be filled with muck this spring.

The bed that is already filled will grow early peas and possibly some beetroot, the next one down (with cardboard and bricks at the moment) is the next on the list to be finished. The rotted muck that is currently in the blue tubs and sacks near the hedge will go in here with some leaves, paper and any grass, nettles etc. I can find, and this will grow onions.

The next pair of beds are not too far off ready. These are earmarked for things like leeks, parsnips, carrots and baby fennel.

The 2 beds nearest the hedge need lots of work digging out grass and perennial roots as these are going to grow fruit. This is going to take some time.

Now I just need to finish planning what I am going to put in the tunnel. I have 8 metres length and 3.3 metres width, so I can have 2 beds about 2ft (600mm) wide at the sides, 2 paths 2ft wide and a central bed about 2ft 10 in (900mm) wide for taller plants. That gives me getting on for 24 metres of growing space

Current possibilities include: PSB, calabrese, brokali, cabbage, cauliflower, kohlrabi, kale, swede and turnips, all of which I was intending to grow at home this year, but can now free up some buckets for other things. I might also try romanesco. There should be plenty of room for more carrots - the horses can eat them if I end up with too many. I might find that I can cover one side of the tunnel with weed suppressant and leave it like that all year without being short of space.

The tunnel seems an ideal place to put a cold frame or cloche for hardening off and a water barrel to save me having to walk all the way to the other end every time I need to fill a watering can. How I fill the barrel is of course open to question.