Got this 2 weeks ago

I aquired my plot in early May.
It was a jungle of couch grass etc etc.
Eager to get plants in this season, i ordered 5 litres of Rosate tf.
Amazing stuff, i mixed up 200 mls to a 5 litre sprayer.
It took around ten days to kill everything.
I've had literally buckets of runner beans from the site and still picking. I've got savoys, beets, carrots, purple sprouting all in good shape.
I probably won't need any chemicals from here, i only use garlic spray to deter cabbage whites flutterbys.. Plus nets..
It's been one of the best things we've ever done getting our plot.
The friendliness has been welcome too during lockdown.
Hope you enjoy yours.

 

One thing that lock down has shown me - I wasn't taking care of my own garden. It's now up to spec. and I'm going to keep it that way. One day a week down the allotment will be enough to get me into a position where I can start planting up next year.

On the subject of weed killer - for day to day at home I usually use a pelargonic acid weedkiller - on the basis that it is a natural product and the weed roots will eventually run out of food and so can't generate any greenery. I also like a weedkiller that act very quickly - so that the area looks tidy as soon as possible.

On the allotment it will be a case of hand weeding around the exiting plants and then weed killing the rest - which will be plucked from the ground in a week or so when they are largely dead. I was going to bag them up for a couple of months and then chuck them in the composter - but as it turns out I'm sorting out the path around the front and side of the bungalow, so have a skip to hand. May as well throw the bagged weeds into this.

 

Today's effort - 4 hours, 1 pair of gloves, 10 bin bags and 15 litres of weedkiller later:

 

Oh it's going to look so fantastic again when it's done (Are they ever done?) Keep up the hard work and have plenty of cups of tea along the way. Weeds are dying off now...and I'm enjoying every minute of that I got my plot in feb and I'm still tackling it...day by day!

 

A scoundrel has been at play down the allotment - stealing brocolli and strawberries. Let's hope they didn't steal anything off my plot - otherwise they would have had a good dose of glyphosate.

Netting unpinned and florets removed:

 

Nooooooo what a cheek!!

 

We've got allotments round here and it's all fenced in with a locked gate.The trouble is that people can't afford food so they'll steal where it's easy.

@clanless hope that it's not yours.

 

Our allotments have an 8ft locked metal gate -




and are surrounded to the front by a high/thick hedge - to one side is a community building with a fence and again a high hedge - to the back and other side is a chain link fence opening onto fields.

The plots which seem to be targeted are on the side with a failing chain link fence - which would be easy to hop over.

I think it's an inside job - school kids are not likely to go to all that effort for a floret of brocolli...

 

Oh i see, ok.

 

Some of our plots have had veg filched,..the seasoned guys advise to plant a lot more than you need to allow for it.
Years ago the advice was 'one for the mouse, one for the crow' and one to grow, but sadly these days you need to allow also one for the rat.

 

Well, with a bit of luck, on 12th March, Mark will lift the restrictions on using a car to travel to a place to exercise and I'll be able to get back down to my plot. It should be easier to get on top of the weeds this time, as I managed to clear most of them before we went into this 2nd lockdown and it being Winter as well.

If all goes well, I should also have had my first jab by the planned return date - week beginning 22nd March.

The poly tunnel is still sitting in the conservatory - it's been there over a year now. I'll post up some pic's when it has been assembled.

Got an e-mail from the allotment secretary the other day - someone had nicked 20 concrete paving slabs that were going to be used at the allotments. They must have had a van - they weren't small slabs. Inside job again we reckon as someone had clocked that the gate had been left unlocked. What is the world coming to...

 

It's looking more likely that I will be able to visit the allotment from 22nd.

Stay-at-home rule could be relaxed in Wales next week. The Welsh Government is set to consider whether stay-at-home coronavirus regulations can be lifted at next week's review of the nation's rules.

Health minister Vaughan Gething says ministers are debating whether to introduce a "stay local" requirement or to allow unlimited travel across the country, as the number of people with Covid in hospitals across Wales is at its lowest level since mid-October.

 

Looks so pretty

Being nosy - what the big tree/plant in the second picture in the grey pot

*** just looking at page 1 and saw we are page 8 lol

 

The tree in the pot next to the shed is an apple tree. It's planted out now - it was a gift from another plot holder.

Might be able to get back there next week - all the signs are that local travel will again be allowed here in Wales..