Maltby, Rotherham

Hi craig. I think perennials. Berries and dwarf fruit trees. Are you still there? How is the fishing?

 

Hi all,

Its been quite a while since my last update. Quite a bit has happened:

I managed to get around 75% dug over leaving an existing path running through the middle. I have gone with the 4 bed rotation option as mentioned above.

In the drawn plan above, i have planted 300 Sturon onion sets into bed 4. I have started some leek seeds at home which have just sprouted about a week ago. These will also be going into that bed when they get to around 20cm tall. I also have some red barron onions which i started from seeds a few months ago which are ready to be transplanted down there.

In bed 3, i have planted 5 rows of potatoes. 3 rows of Desiree and 2 rows of Maris Pipers.

In bed 1, i have planted 50 strawberry plants infront of the rhubarb. I purchased an offer in gardeners world magazine. 24 plants for £5. I was then given another 26 from a guy down the allotment.

At home, i have caulies and cabbages which i think are ready to be transplanted down there. I have just ordered a 2m x 50m roll of scaffolding debris netting for £24. I'll be constructing a cage of some sort around the brassicas. I'll be making the main frame out of 19mm water pipe. I got a pack of this for free from a plumber mate. I need to buy some 20mm joints to fix it all together. It will then be covered in the netting.

I was given some sweetcorn seeds from a lady at work. I planted 20 of them quite a bit back but only 5 sprouted. Is it too late to start any more of should i bite the bullet and buy some ready grown?

I have lettuce, courgette, cucumber, sugar-snap peas at different stages at home.

I will be planting swede and turnips direct when i sort out my brassica cage.

A family friend of mine has replaced his fence running down the length of his house. I have managed to retrieve 13 panels and about 10-12 posts. I think its enough to go down the length of my plot. I'll only need a few more to fence of the bottom. I'll then need to source a gate and my plot will be fully secured from the rabbits. The fence is currently in a pile on my plot.

The big disappointment about this experience so far is the weeds. I spent about 3-4 back breaking weeks turning the soil over and removing any weed roots. I went down for a visit a week ago to pull some of the rhubarb and the whole plot is covered in weeds again :-(

All this sun, rain, sun, rain, sun and rain is causing havoc!!

Hopefully when i start planting things down there, the weeds will be overcome a little. I should be able to keep on top of things a bit better.

Im still sourcing a shed.

The first compost heap is full. I've been filling this up with kitchen scraps, tea bags, cardboard etc.. I'll be turning this over within the fortnight so i can start filling up bin number one again. Hopefully by this time next year i should have some nice compost.

Colne - in terms of fishing, i havent been this year yet. Me and my dad usually go around fathers day as my birthday is around the same time. We will then fish until about September. We both bought a new pole at xmas. We got a 8.5m Diawa power margin pole. I cant wait to use it!!!

http://www.anglingdirect.co.uk/store/team-daiwa-margin-power-pole?gclid=CMXboLnXpL4CFZMQtAodYU8AQQ

I'll be getting a new carp landing net for my birthday too

 

A 25 foot long pole! I have a 35 foot long pole which is 1 inch PVC pipe that has a cap on the water end and a fishing yoyo tied to that. The pole is pushed out off my dock and floats on the water wile the yoyo is set to about eighteen inches depth with a live minnow (it is a stainless spring loaded reel with a release trigger when a fish bites.); the point is it can fish wile I am doing stuff. It does not catch much fish, but over time I have gotten dozens of nice ones. It fights the fish keeping the line tight. When the pole is jiggling or bending side to side you have one on. Fishing is not great off my garden but I have caught fish up to 20 pounds but mostly one to four pounds. (and mostly you catch nuisance fish)



Amazing progress on the allotment! I love the way you salvage your materials, keep posting pictures.

 

Good job

 

Which site are you on, I am looking to get a plot on Rotherham Road site, spoke to one of the plot holder today and he took my name and number and said he would talk to the site secretary tonight, so should her from them soon, apparently there is not a waiting list at the moment, so should be quickly

 

Hi Christopher, i am on the Rotherham Road site. Took me about 2 months to hear back. The annual fee's start in march i think. They made me wait until then to get the plot. Everyone down there is friendly, theres an onsite shop where you can order spuds, onion sets, garlic cloves etc.. It also sells weedkillers and fertilisers.

Quick update:

Weeds have been a real issue. I cant believe how fast and vigorous they grow! If you turn your back for one week, they are up and romping away. I have just sprayed a load of weed killer down there, i'll be raking up the weeds and burning them on thursday i hope. I really need to keep on top of these better next year. Im hoping to source some paving slabs to create nice paths and borders and also some scaffolding planks for the bed edging. Im hoping this will help me out with keeping on top of things (even if it is just phsycological)

I have been swamped with courgettes! my highest picking was 16 in one week. They are still producing around 3 to 4 a week. These have been a real pleasure to grow. I'll certainly be doing these again. My plot neighbour has half of his plot full of pumpkins, i'll be trying a few of these too along with some melons as they look great as the grow. I'll be building a cloche fo the melons.

The spuds have been hit and miss. I was informed by an experienced plot holder that i had signs of blight over a month ago. I cut back any infected leaves and tried to retain as much of the plant as possible before chopping every plant down about 2 weeks later. The Desiree's have been good. Nice size, untouched by slugs but not yielding many. The Maris Pipers yielded loads! however, only a third were any good. They were demolished by slugs. I wont be growing these again.

I currently have around 18 cabbages in the ground. I built a 'cage' using steel rods and scaffolding debris netting. These have some nice hearts growing bigger each day. My runner beans have been decent. Not had as many as my neighbours but still a fair few. A tip i have been told is to plant sweet peas in between each runner bean plant. Apparently this helps with attracting the beas and produces a higher yield.

My sweetcorn have been pants! I think i got them in too late. The pumpkin neighbour has some fantastic plants. He put his in the ground in April/May as he was going on holiday. The risk has certainly paid off as his are twice the height of mine and are full of cobs! I will be getting mine in the ground a couple of weeks earlier next year!

The onions were a dissapointment. They were hit with Downy Mildew. I had to lift the lot and leave them to dry out. I have hundreds of onions but they arent very big. They are inbetween a golf ball and a tennis ball. They'll be used still however. The other plot holders either dont bother with main crop and just use over-wintering onions (got mine on order) or start the sets off in early spring in trays in the greenhouse to give them a head start. That way, when the mildew comes, their onions are a decent size and they arent bothered.

Two things i have found i REALLY need and advise anyone wanting an allotment to try and source them is:

1) A shed! Having to load the car up and pack it all away again is a real pain. Also, realising you have forgotten to bring something is a nightmare. If i had a shed, i only have to pack myself in the car.

2) A rotavator! digging is back breaking! I spent two weeks trying to turn over the entire site. The blokes down there can do their full plot in a day with a rotavator. Also, if you are wanting to plant parsnips and carrots, its great to rotavate the soil and add sand at the same time. Doing this several times creates a fine soil!

 

The problem with rotivators is that if you use it on ground that has 1000 weeds it will chop them into lots of little pieces do you end up with 100, 000 weeds