Just taken on an allotment

[Two_Sheds]

I'm only going to dig and sow just over half of it this year

Had you thought of starting some pumpkins/squash in modules or 3" pots? Then as you clear a metre, plant it up with a pumpkin which will rapidly provide ground cover for you, helping to suppress weeds, while the roots will get down and "dig" the clay for you a bit.

[DonSpillacy]

Hello Scarlet & Two_sheds.

Some more pics. As you can see I've got 3 rows of pots in (plus a bad back to prove it!) It rained a lot over the weekend so I didn't get the 4th row in that I wanted to. Hopefully this weekend will be drier. I've also tidied up half the strawberry bed, managed to save quite a few plants although some have huge stems on them (an inch thick) so I guess they're really old ones.

My broad beans have started to come up, and the onions are growing, which is nice.

None of us like eating pumpkin or squashes, but I get the idea of growing them to help churn up the land. I could always give away the pumpkins in october, I'm sure someone would want them.

[rustylady]

Looking good Don.

How do you cook your squash and pumpkins? I made spicy pumpkin soup with some of mine and it was delicious.

Strawberry plants will last for about five years producing well. Small crop for first year, better in second, and really good third year. I don't think I've ever seen one with stems an inch thick.

[DonSpillacy]

Hello Rusty

It's not something we usually cook. My sister roasted squashes a while ago, but we didn't really take to it. I might try pumpkin soup.

Stem's probably the wrong word for the strawberry thing. It's almost like a root, but wasn't underground. I'll take a close up pic at the weekend.

[Stan79]

Great pics. What will you use the sunken bath for?

[DonSpillacy]

Hello Stan79

It came with the pitch so I'm going to keep it this year. I cleaned some sludge and grass out of it the other week but there are what look like lilies in them, but they look half dead to me. I'm hoping to attract a frog or two to hoover up the slugs (I've found a few dead frogs about, so hopefully there's more that are hiding at the moment.)

[rustylady]

You mean the base of the plant just below the leaves?

[DonSpillacy]

I'm not sure if it's the base or not rustylady. Only a few were like it and they were the most overgrown. I can't remember if it was underneath the base or was the base, at a guess I'd say the base? The plot hasn't been tended for 2 years but I'm not sure how long ago the plants were laid.

[rustylady]

Hello Stan79

It came with the pitch so I'm going to keep it this year. I cleaned some sludge and grass out of it the other week but there are what look like lilies in them, but they look half dead to me. I'm hoping to attract a frog or two to hoover up the slugs (I've found a few dead frogs about, so hopefully there's more that are hiding at the moment.)

Put a plank of wood in the bath, resting on the edge, so that anything that falls in can climb out.

[DonSpillacy]

Put a plank of wood in the bath, resting on the edge, so that anything that falls in can climb out.

Good idea. All the stones I'm digging up (which appear to be a lot) I'm putting to one side to try and create steps leading into it. A plank sounds much easier though!

[Two_Sheds]

there are what look like lilies in them, but they look half dead to me.

They're still dormant at the moment (mine are the same, half dead-looking). They'll come to life if it ever warms up

[DonSpillacy]

They're still dormant at the moment (mine are the same, half dead-looking). They'll come to life if it ever warms up

Thanks. Good job I didn't throw them away. I know nothing about aquatics, I just hope the (what I thought were) weeds and grass I did bin weren't actually plants!

[DonSpillacy]

Finally laid 4th and final row of pots at weekend. I also built a compost heap (which I'm now paying for in terms of back ache)

I've also put up two photos of one of the strawberry plants with the nearly inch thick stem/root/body? Is it just too old or do they normally grow like this?

[rustylady]

I would say they are older plants. See if they fruit this year, and then dispose of them. You can propagate new plants from runners produced by your strawberries this year.

[DonSpillacy]

Thanks Rusty. I think I will pot from runners then move the bed in autumn to somewhere else as the soil underneath can't be too fresh.