4m x 3m Omlet pen, cube, new auto door still boxed and coop light

[Falkor]

Well as some of you know I live in a cul de sac and have an average sized garden....with six chooks soon to become 12 maybe 14 for a short period I have not been able to grow as many veg as I would like.

 

Well, the lady that has my chook poo for her allotment has broken her arm and has offered me a share of her allotment! (dance is for me....... and get well soon wishes for nice lady!)

 

I am going to have a look at it with her tomorrow although I am 99% yes already!

 

I have only ever grown toms and beans really......this year I have been experimenting in the back garden but would really like to be able to cancel the veg box order and keep me, OH and the chooks in fresh veg for most of the year.

 

But with all my plants sown in my garden already what can I sow now and in the coming months for the lottie.

 

Em

Edited July 25, 2009 by Guest

[Egluntyne]

What a fab opportunity. I'd jump at it.

[Lesley]

For immediate continuity you could plant seedlings - we use http://www.delfland.co.uk - they have packages and also individual plants.

 

What a wonderful opportunity - and I hope the allotment lady is soon better

[Redwing]

Wow thats exciting

 

Be sure to clarify what will happen to the arrangement when the ladys arm has mended though as you dont wnt to be let down later

[Falkor]

Wow thats exciting

 

Be sure to clarify what will happen to the arrangement when the ladys arm has mended though as you dont wnt to be let down later

 

Good point Tasha!!! Will do!

[Falkor]

Well I went and had a looky loo tonight and there is a fair bit of weeding and digging to be done!

 

And she said that she is happy for me to have my own slice of her lottie until March 2010

 

Going to sleep on it tonight and see what I think in the morning.......currently I think it is a GREAT idea and opportunity

[Cooks]

I 'think' I might have a wheelbarrow if you want it matey, might help you on there moving stuff over to the composter etc??

[Falkor]

Well I have woken up and it still seems like a great idea! so i am going to go for it!

 

Even if I only have a little slice until March next yeat at least I have a bit for a bit!

 

Maybe i will move up the waiting list and have my own by then!?

 

Thanks Cookie....a wheelbarrow would be really handy as the compost heap is at the other end of the plot! BUT....currently there is no storage for it so it might get stolen

 

Also water is a problem........there is no supply....no shed to attach a waterbutt to...suggestions?

Edited July 16, 2009 by Guest

[Redwing]

could you get some plants that don't mind a bit of heat eg pumpkins and rig uo a couple of sheets of corrugated plastic on legs over them as 'protection' while craftily putting a length of guttering up with a bucket/tubtrug at the end, it will collect a surprising amount of water

[Valkyrie]

You can sow chard now, still time for last lot of peas and french beans. Carrots, all sorts of lettucey things. Spinach grows quickly. You can do mini turnips or mini beetroots - they will take about 6 weeks, some mini beets can be left to grow into big beets - but check the package first otherwise they could get woody. Or normal beets. You can do green manure in the soil that you aren't ready for - phacelia is good for bees too when it flowers. You can have a bash at winter onions from seed (not sure when they start off) or later towards autumn you can pop in winter onion sets. Still lots of time for lots of things. Cabbages, swedes too. You can always give the cabbages to the hens if they don't perform. Mine love munching from the seed trays. Won't touch the big uprooted ones though! Enjoy your share!

[craftyhunnypie]

get yourself a caravan / camping water carrier & take some water with.

Other than that a large container to collect rain water in.

 

Emma.x

[Falkor]

Bloomin weather!

 

I got all excited and ready to go down to the allotment to satrt digging over my patch and it has rained all day!

 

Had to cheer myslef up by popping over to Redwings and checking out her chicks hatching and get a tour of the field!

[Tina C]

Ooh Emma - where is 'your' allotment? I had one down by the river about 20 years ago but it was so big I never really got going with it.

[redhotchick]

As well as the suggestions above you could try your luck with a sowing of leeks, maybe?

 

Carrots, a late sowing of peas, turnips and dwarf beans (tendergreen).

 

Herbs.

[Falkor]

OOOOOOOOUUUCCCCHHH!!!

 

I have been weeding my bit of allotment and I am being attacked by brambles! scratches all up my arms ........

 

BUT! in addition to your sympathy I am after advice please....

 

All the weeds I am pulling are going into my bucket.....can I put them on the compost heap or will that just mean that the compost will be full of weeds so when I spread it all the weed will reset?

 

Brambles...what is the best way to "weed" them. I am thinking cut them to the base with secetares so nasty thorns are out of the way and then use fork to uproot?

Edited July 25, 2009 by Guest

[Valkyrie]

I'd like to know too because the blasted things keep cropping up in my garden!!! Some of it is down to the birds munching blackberries and depositing the fertilized seeds in my garden - the rest is down to me not getting at them properly! I was caught on the leg this morning, then impaled my ankle on netting prongs - had a near miss when the plug prong penetrated the sole of my flippy flop things when I had power hosed the cube. Just waiting for the last third injury so I can relax for the rest of the day!

[Redwing]

Perennial weeds (those that come back every year) should not go on the compost heap but the others can

 

If in doubt get yourself a bucket/tub/barrel with a lid, put your weeds in there, cover with water and slap the lid on (tight) let the weeds go to mush (about a week if left in a sunny spot) pour the liquid off in to a bottle and put the top on (tight. I cannot stress this enough it will make you up-chuck if you get a whiff) and put the slops on the compost heap, the soaking will have broken down the structure of the weed so it cannot re-grow, use the stuff in the bottle diluted as a good plant food.

 

Brambles are best burnt/incinerated (in one of those dustbin type deeleys with the lid) your method of getting rid of them seems sound

[Falkor]

Thanks tasha!!

[Lesley]

I put most weeds on the compost heap - or feed them to the pigs, who have to fight the hens for the Fat Hen weeds

 

I put the perennial ones on the bonfire - I will try Tasha's method but I'd still be worried about bindweed.....the bane of my life We didn't have bindweed here but we have to import all our topsoil.....and we've imported bindweed

[Olly]

sympathy ... my friend took an allotment that was covered in brambles. She cut them down with a petrol-driven strimmer, however they're not so easy to come by - secateurs/loppers is the next best method, as you've said. Digging up the roots is hard work, if you can cover them with old carpet/black plastic for a few weeks (or months) it weakens them a lot. Someone on another allotment nearby cut the ends of two plastic bottles and used them as 'sleeves' for cutting back brambles! You do need some really tough leather gloves though, as you've discovered.

 

good advice above regarding the weeds, specially the 'break down in water' one.

[Falkor]

Stopped in at B&Q on the way to lottie today and purchased some thick thorn "resistant" gloves.

 

Much better today and I have cleared a good 2m of my bit

 

Have asked friend with factory for one of those big blue barrels with lid to use to drown my weeds.

 

I have been reading that I can also just leave the pulled weeds to dry out and once dead can put in the compost. Won`t any seeds blow about?

[Yorkshire Pudding]

Yes, if they've set seed they will. Don't leave them lying about.

 

My golden rule is never to compost anything that will re-grow, like seed, runners, dandlion roots. Seed goes in the household bin I'm afraid, the landfill site must have a good crop of dandelions by now! Other bits and bobs are mostly fed to the guineapigs or chickens.

 

Redwing's method sounds interesting though, although I bet it does smell vile if you open it too soon!

 

Some weeds will take years to get rid of by manual means - even a tiny piece of root left in the ground will re-grow. We have a patch with creeping buttercup and couch grass in it, and I have been trying to get rid of them for two years now without success, even though he whole patch has been cleared, deep-dug, and sifted to remove bits of root, stolon and runner. No joy. I might have to resort to using glyphosate weedkiller on this patch - at least it is biodegradable and won't harm the animals or children. I don't use any other sprays at all - in the two years we've been here the number of insects and birds has increased massively and we're sure that's down to the lack of chemicals. Sadly I think the weeds have beaten me on this bit though!

[Valkyrie]

My mum heard that vinegar will act as a good weedkiller - successful on thistles at any rate - she would like to try on the buttercups, but is worried that her lawn will consist of brown dirt with a few blades of grass rather than a sea of green with flowers. Dandelions can be killed by a teaspoon of salt poured onto the crown slap bang in the centre. Works like a charm.

Be careful with vinegar though, it can kill plants that you want to keep. I think I'll try it too. I wonder if it works with bindweed - my girls don't want to eat it, so other methods will have to be tested!

[Daphne]

Interesting advice here - I didn't know the dandelion one so will be trying that.

 

I've successfully dug out brambles but only single ones. The ones in my garden I chop down whenever I remember and this does weaken them, but still some always regrow. If I was clearing a patch to plant something I would use glyphosate because of the time it will save; I use this on bindweed and it works. Its not ideal but digging just doesn't work, at least not in my lifetime.

[majorbloodnock]

For brambles and nettles, I resort to a sharp sickle and a cleft stick for what's above ground, then a fork and spade for the roots that are left.

 

As far as weeds are concerned, I've seen some success with the Inca Marigold (Tagetes Minuta). The roots secrete something into the soil that has an inhibiting effect on nematodes (hence combatting pototo/tomato blight) and slugs as well as bindweed and ground elder. None of these are "killed" as such, but certainly fare far worse as a result. It takes about 3 months before the effect is in full swing.

 

The spin-off benefit is that you can use the Tagetes leaves as a tea or a culinary herb.