Update

[lottie dolly]

well done you lass

[cariann88]

Wowee, Carrie! That looks fantastic. You've done a lot of work. What's the first thing you'll be putting in?

I am not sure yet. I am waiting until the frost has past before planting out. I have done a planner of where things are going. I am running out of space in my sewing room with the plants growing.

[Nicos]

^^^^ bedroom windows next then?

[Peanut]

Well done! All your hard work is paying off, your plot looks great!

[Andraste]

Well done cariann88 - you've really made a massive difference since taking on your plot I remember ours looking similar & appreciate how much hard work you've done.

I'd love to see more pics as the season goes along - I hope you have a great growing year. x

[cariann88]

^^^^ bedroom windows next then?

I would but the sun is more in the back than the front.

[cariann88]

Not been on the plot for a bit, got tendonitis in my right wrist so struggling to do things. Hoping to get on today and try and do a bit of hoeing.

A couple of days before my crappy blow away greenhouse fell down in the bedroom and all my plants was all over the bedroom floor. I could have cried. Manage to sort it but now all my toms are mixed up.

[bramble]

Sorry tohearabout your tendinitis, it's very painful, take it easy with the howing, it won't help with the pain.
Mixed up tomato seedlings, my OH knocked mine over and same thing, all mixed up but still got a crop.
It's early yet, so take it easy.

[Andraste]

Sympathies from me too - for your hand & the blow-away *hugs*.

It's great that you were able to save your Toms (I've lost stuff myself in the same circumstance - they really need a good weight in the bottom/tying to something to make sure they stay upright)

As Bramble says, take your time & don't worry. The only annuals in the ground at our plot are onions at the moment so there's no rush.

I'd recommend covering any bare ground with cardboard (weight with stones) or something else that will block the light to hold back the weeds until you're able to plant out (saves all the digging/weeding/hoeing of empty earth). x

[Peanut]

Ouch tendonitis is not nice, hope it eases up soon.

I always end up with mislabelled, lost labelled plants, mainly tomatoes, every year.
Each year I think I have labelled the seed tray modules in a sensible, logical way, but each year when I come to pot them up I have no idea what's what, I've already done it this year with my peppers! Or worst case, pigeon attacked seed module brassicas, the feathery feind pulled them all out of their trays last year and what he couldn't be bothered to eat, left strewn around the floor, I saved and potted what I could but had no idea what any of them were for months!

Having your blowaway collapse where you must have been certain everything was safe, I can understand your heartbreak when you discovered them. Fingers crossed they will all be fine and you'll be playing guess the tomato with me and probably a few others!

[cariann88]

I went down to the allotment last week and felt very disheartened by the amount of bad weeds I have on my plot. I know I aint been on for a while because of my wrist but going down there and seeing the state it's got to since I sorted it all out has really put me off. Ive been ill this weekend and hopefully going to go down Tuesday morning when I finish and see what I can do and how I feel. At the moment I feel like just giving it up. I did ask if they had any half plots but there is none on the site at the moment.

[Nicos]

Sorry to hear that Carrie. If it’s any consolation, my plots are sprouting weeds like bonkers.
Easy to pull out though as they aren’t too established. Hopefully yours will be the same?
This past 2 years we have been concentrating on mulching and it’s finally starting to make a noticeable difference. Maybe something you might consider?

Years ago, when we had a full sized allotment, we worked out we needed to allocate an average of 1 hr a day to maintain it and pick produce. Not sure if that helps?…but 3.5 hrs each for two of us each week was certainly doable . Are you working the plot on your own?

[Peanut]

I know what you mean, after we had some rain the other week for the first time in months suddenly weeds grew like triffids overnight!
All my beds are no dig, so I just hoe'd off the weeds, added mulch and then will hoe again as and when needed. I find I have a fewer weeds with this approach, and lots more worms!

[cariann88]

I am working the plot on my own.
I think I am feeling like this because I had got everything sorted and was on top of things and then ive not been on the plot for a week or 2 due to my wrist, I go down and feel overwhelmed.
I can hoe when out but I have bindweed, horse tail, that colts plant all over and in cracks of the pavements.

I will go down Tuesday after I finish my sleep at work and see what I can do. I might feel better after a few hours there doing to weeding.

[bramble]

Cariann...don't lose heart..devide it into sections and work one at a time.
Its not too late to put in potatoes which will use up a good section of your plot.

Just get a bulb planter, make a hole with it, and drop in a potato.
Potatoes are a good crop for breaking up the ground.