Hobbit Allotment!

[horticultural_hobbit]

Wise words, Sno, wise words.

Yes, i do think the notion of French drains was mentioned somewhere on this thread. I'm sure it's logical, my aversion is the digging. I know it's an inherent part of the 'lotmenteering; i just wish it wasn't. My brain will get there eventually, and you can all do the 'I told you so' thing with pleasure.

I was sat here thinking-whilst watching a fairly bad movie-that I don't have to newspaper the whole lot as I had been thinking. I can pull up the weeds, and green manure. They are sat in Dad's shed where all my tools have been stashed. You know how it sometimes takes a penny to drop...was that sort of moment. I could also most hear Aunty two_sheds, 'weigh the newspaper down with weeds."

As for the topography of the plot, well, i know that one end is sodden through. Has beautiful friable soil; and because there's nothing in it to keep the soil together, it bogs up. (That makes sense in my head, like deforestation. I know what I mean.) As you move up, it gets less and less boggy in the middle. But the top end, where I had garlic and onions did get more squelchy. The notion of mapping does resonate.

I got home, from the plot, and was turning it over and over in my head furiously. Raised beds, raised beds, raised beds, cheap, value for money, got to last for a while. Make this plot work. I'd had an email some place that informed me of a sale. So I looked into it. Given how low the land lies, raised beds are probably the most pragmatic if not perfect way of doing things. All being well, they'll turn up during the summer. I will raid Dad's tool box for a screwdriver. I want make one for myself for a change.

Docks. Cover at least a third of the half plot. Damned things are every where, and lotment secretary suggests I dig them all out

Pansies. Are due August-september. A whole load, so it would be nice for there to be space to put them in! That would be a carrot for me, since I couldn't actually cultivate some real ones. I think the Dahlia's that I sunk, have met their maker.

I'm not the only one, who's had their plot poo-pood by mother nature. One of the lotment neighbours, beckoned me over, and was actually stood in a waterlogged trench up to half way up his wellingtons. Everyone, has been effected. I just wish it wasn't my first season as a lotment holder!

But something else made me laugh. Aunty Tish, went and bagged herself a half plot in Nuneaton. She plans to take my grandad down there. Oh, I could have keeled over. Seems I've inspired her, and since grandad used to GYO when Aunty Tish and ma were kids; she'll have some fun

[snohare]

Six inches of water ! Jings, and I thought our local park at Lumphanan was boggy !

I think I have a vague plan of action, and all is not lost. This is all about learning, isn't it.

Well, good to see the fight you have in you, Hobbit. You are absolutely right. Failure is merely a lesson in how not to, as long as you don't give up !
As I and my fellow Conservation Volunteers say when doing footpath work up a hill in the dinging-doon rain, now is the ideal time to find out exactly how the drainage works. (I know, you're going to say "It doesn't !" )
But seriously, make a note of where exactly the puddles and muddy bits are, and where the deepest water is; take photos if you can, that will let you spot these bits even in winter. What this does is highlight the relief of your plot - the contours if you like, although they will only be inches apart - which of course lets you know where water in any future floods will want to go, and where you must build up and by how much, in order to keep growing ground above waterlogged level.
(I am hoping devoutly that there is some ground lower than you nearby, which you can somehow divert groundwater to via French drains or suchlike.)
No doubt you have thought of all this as you waded miserably between puddles, but it is worth repeating I think.
As for cost, you might be pleasantly surprised, and you may find that this nasty black cloud has a silver lining. Asking your lottie neighbours for their spare stones is a great way to get free base material for French drains and raised beds, and will show that you are keen enough to be doing something hard !
My other suggestion would be to contact a tree surgeon, and see what kind of cost a lorryload of wood chippings would be. (Note: not bark chippings. They'll cost a fortune.)
Granted, you would not be able to use them for some plants eg, the first year's root crop bed. You'd be best to to try to get some that have been sitting out for a few months because of the way fresh ones rob nitrogen from the soil: but assuming that tree surgeons down your way have the same waste disposal problems as they have up here, you might find that they would be falling all over themselves to give you some. (I know of one company up here who have a 3000 tonne pile sitting out in the middle of nowhere, simply because the landfill tax is so high.) And of course, you can think long term, and stick a heap to rot down in builders bags (one tonne per bag) - instant raised beds for salad crops if you stick some topsoil on top.
Once nicely rotted down, this sort of stuff is a wonderful, humus rich basis for improving your soil and raising your beds; and of course, it will improve the drainage of your clay no end, even supposing you just use it as a base layer underneath clay topsoil for your raised beds.
Given the predicted heatwaves for future years - yes, I know, that sounds like a sick joke this year, but when the climatologists talk about climate change leading to "increased variability of weather events" they are really not joking - a nice deep humus-rich layer under your clay is exactly what you want. http://http://www.newscientist.com/a...html?full=true
If you want to steal a trick from permaculture (I always think that should be something about art and theatre) stick some waste deadfall wood and scrap brashings from hedge cutting, pruning etc into the middle of mounded beds, and leave it to rot down naturally. It will take a while longer than getting wood that has been through a shredder, but it will certainly raise your ground level and won't risk suddenly robbing your soil of nitrogen; plus a mound has more planting area than a flat surface.
Keep it up Hobbit, out of this hard work will come bigger, better, more disaster-proof veggies !

[horticultural_hobbit]

Went down to plot 2A today, feeling a bit b***dy minded. Needed to ascertain what the plan would be for the summer holiday.

There are no crops down there, so that affords me the opportunity to think about things and get it all into perspective. And it was akin to a boggy mess. The one side of the plot is under half foot of water Adjacent to the plot is a patch of wasteland that is covered in horsetail that is basically the same time as me; some of it had bent over and covered my pathway. So I literally had to wade to get my pathway cleared .At one point, i put my welly booted foot down squelch and felt myself sink.

I have eight beds, all which are 12m square, but you wouldn't have thought so with it all carpeted with weeds. So I started on the one bed, where my garlic and broadies had been. Luckily, I was able to just pull all the weeds out. Before long, I had a wheelbarrow full. Then I put down newspaper on top. I don't quite know when I am going to be able to plant stuff onto it. I will slowly but surely get the plot tackled in small chunks.

The mission for the summer holidays, is to just get rid of the weeds.If that means a carpet of newspaper or green manure, then that is it. The one main thing though, is going to be raised beds. In the words of the 'lotment secretary, I have the worse patch of the lot. The lowest point on the lotment, with water draining onto it from the waste land adjacent to it. Apparently, in his 30 years, the lotment secretary has never seen things this bad. I wanted to chat with him, just to make sure that I wasn't about to get thrown off. Apparently, he only boots those off who don't do anything, and I have been doing bits and pieces.

The raised beds, i think are definitely the way to go. To raise the level of the growing space is not going to be cheap or easy. I've yet to fill the ones I already have! I think I have a vague plan of action, and all is not lost. This is all about learning, isn't it.

[horticultural_hobbit]

Definitely not going to give up, Aunty Two_Sheds! Have wanted to play too much. If it wasn't for the horrible weather and Ma being poorly, it wouldn't be so bad i don't think.

Will definitely chop down, if not strim; as well as newpaper over. There are weeds that can be just hooked up. Will be shoe horning time with the summer holidays only a fortnight away

[Two_Sheds]

When it was me:

- strim the weeds and cover with *something* (newspaper, card etc)
- or if they're easy to pull, pull out the weeds then immediately sow/plant something (green manure?)

I know that lack of time is an issue for you HH, as well as the awful weather. Don't give up now, but get on top of those weeds. If you don't, it'll just be even harder next year (if the committee don't take it off you, that is).



I'm green manuring a lot of my ground right now (instead of Oct), because July is forecast to stay wet, so I'm not going to kill myself trying to urge the pumpkins to grow: they just won't.

[horticultural_hobbit]

Oh, I've been studying the various clay improving threads; trying to get my head around it. When I first got the lotment and established the soil type off I went to dig in organic material and FYM. There's even a builders bag of leaf mold that has another year left to cook. I even put in fenugreek, and that did actually work on one bed.

The half plot is waist height in weeds in places. Specifically where all the onions, garlic and shallots were. I won't have any spuds, 95% failed: rain and slugs. Carrots and parsnips never happened, as didn't the turnips. Cabbage are netted but still slug sandwiches. Tomatos are confused, but flowering.

Major major re-think over the summer, in terms of infrastructure. Invest in raised beds, I still haven't filled the ones that are sat there lined with newspaper. Dig over and green manure some how. It took 45 garden bags to clear the thing last year, I envisage the same thing happening again.

[snohare]

Aye, I think raised beds could become incredibly popular in areas with lots of flooded allotments. The difference in drainage times is very marked - although I am not sure that it helps any when you have had nonstop rain for weeks on end, or four feet of water on the ground !
Have you looked at the old threads on improving clay soils ? There was some very knowledgeable folk, including one Grape whose job it evidently was to know such things, who knew all about how to make clay soil less sticky, more free draining; the word "kieselguhr" springs to mind for some reason, I think that might be the stuff that helps make it more crumbly. Much discussion of exactly which sands to add, and why. Needless to say I have forgotten all the important nitty-gritty details which I was so interested in !
Still, I think your allotment cannot be any worse than mine. I must post some photos on Facebook to show what happens when you neglect to go for the whole month of June...didn't manage again this week, and I am half-expecting to see blighted tatties when I go on Monday.
It's all a learning curve. We may take comfort that even the slugs have their problems, what with this Spanish slug that is invading...

[horticultural_hobbit]

For the moment.

Don't worry, I'm not giving up. Just trying to think of a game plan.

The wall to wall wet has kiboshed everything. I don't think there are going to be any crops to be had. The garlic has done well, a success story, yes. But not a lot else.

Patch is a boggy, swampy mess. The clay is lovely but horrible at the same time. All i want to do, is to start again. See if I can clear some of the weeds over the summer. Sow some green manures ( I have clovers, fenugreek and grazing rye) perhaps and learn some lessons for next time.

[horticultural_hobbit]

Vamp killing equipment

Look what I dug up today

https://www.facebook.com/search/resu...type=1&theater

https://www.facebook.com/search/resu...type=1&theater

[horticultural_hobbit]

Tried that too, drip trays, sat in newspaper lined plastic trays. Not allowed that neither.

[rustylady]

I'm banned from window sills as it effected the non tiled painted surface of the kitchen; I'll only get told off again. Apparently, having seeds pots inside on the sill borders on unhygienic. And that's that according to the kitchen gaffer that isn't Ma.

Use plastic drip trays under the pots.

[snohare]

Oh I see where the gaffer is coming from, biological materiel invites biological contamination. Basic kitchen portering hygiene.
But there are reasonable standards; I've seen potted plants safely out of the way on a windowsill in a commercial kitchen. My indoor plants always sit in a gravel tray or one of those deep plastic dishes mushrooms come in, so that all poured water and any plant debris cannot escape. Just to be doubly safe, I put a piece of lino (well, it might be that fake PVC Poundland lino tiling) underneath, so that in the case of a swinging curtain or careless elbow any soil marks will still not go onto the sill itself. Being a tenant, I don't fancy having to cough up for revarnishing etc. (Found out the hard way, carpet tiles and newspaper can both leave well-nigh indelible marks; although blank paper under the carpet tile would probably have been great, carpet looked really nice and was easy to hoover.)
How about an upstairs windowsill ? If they want the food, well it needs to start somewhere...a couple of feet, it's not much to ask, is it ?
(You might find of course that the whole help-the-scrumptious-food thing is easier to do when they are eating some, so in future years when you need less help...)

[Two_Sheds]

having seeds pots inside on the sill borders on unhygienic.

Compost is sterile
Seeds are sterile

You could argue that the only unhygienic thing is the untiled under-window area

[snohare]

How long should the garlic be dried for in the Wendy house?

...until it's dry !

If you find a better way, do let me know, I'm new at this myself. (My first year with garlic for myself.)

GQA (Granny Quality Assurance) - you can't beat it !

[horticultural_hobbit]

I'm banned from window sills as it effected the non tiled painted surface of the kitchen; I'll only get told off again. Apparently, having seeds pots inside on the sill borders on unhygienic. And that's that according to the kitchen gaffer that isn't Ma.