Hobbit Allotment!

[snohare]

Ah yes, Poundland tools...last about as long as it takes the pound to land in the till...
(Although I have gotten some surprisingly good stuff there, to be fair.)

[horticultural_hobbit]

Will keep you posted in due course about the success and survival of the bulb planter of doom.

[di]

I plant my spuds with the bulb planter too Hobbit but be careful, the Wilkinsons ones are not that strong and mine sheared off at the top and cut my hand. Entirely my fault, I was too heavy handed. I haven't even got particularly clay soil either.

My poundland one did about five holes!

[Two_Sheds]

bulb planter ...the Wilkinsons ones are not that strong and mine sheared off at the top and cut my hand.

Anything they sell should still be of "merchantable quality" ie fit for purpose. I'd have sent a strong letter to head office, myself

I bought loads of their bright lime green module trays one year, and they all split after about a fortnight. I took them all back and left them on the customer service desk.

[horticultural_hobbit]

I plant my spuds with the bulb planter too Hobbit but be careful, the Wilkinsons ones are not that strong and mine sheared off at the top and cut my hand. Entirely my fault, I was too heavy handed. I haven't even got particularly clay soil either.

Sage advice, sanjo. Shall see what happens come April

[Sanjo]

I plant my spuds with the bulb planter too Hobbit but be careful, the Wilkinsons ones are not that strong and mine sheared off at the top and cut my hand. Entirely my fault, I was too heavy handed. I haven't even got particularly clay soil either.

[horticultural_hobbit]

Are you going to rotate your carrot patch every year? You don't really want to be adding sand EVERY year do you? (hard work)

Not too sure about whether I will be rotating. The patch as it stands at the moment, isn't too big. Have been adding sand and digging today. Its about 4sq metres, and I've only used one bag of sand. I'm continually experimenting, so you never know really. There are onions all over the shop, so i'm doomed if the leaf miner and rot turns up.

[Two_Sheds]

My next big job is put the sand in. Any advice how?

Are you going to rotate your carrot patch every year? You don't really want to be adding sand EVERY year do you? (hard work)

You could do what I did really successfully: sow your carrot seed in Morrisons buckets, sunk in the soil. You can put whatever medium you like in the buckets. Sinking into the soil helps to conserve moisture

I do it for spuds too

[snohare]

I would make a joke, about where there's muck there's brass...but folk might think it was in poo'er taste !

[horticultural_hobbit]

Cheers, Sno. Am going with the Forking in a bit at a time method, I think.

Luckily for me, it's not a big area. One quadrant of a 12sqm bed. Pop's was kind enough to help getting a couple of bags of building sand. With any luck, it won't brass me off as much as the curcurbit patch did today.

[snohare]

My next big job is put the sand in. Any advice how?

Guess what, Hobbit...I have the exact same problem !

There are a couple of ways, depending on how deep you want the sand to go, how much there is of it, what tools you have...and how much you are willing for your back to ache.

The easiest is to scatter a layer a couple of centimetres thick on top of your soil, and then fork it in. By this, I mean driving the fork through that layer into the soil below, at an angle of maybe 45 degrees, with a bit of a waggle. You'll soon see what the right techniques is; suddenly the top layer starts to disappear below the surface. This drives the sand only as deep as the tines go, of course, and you can only do so much at a time; but you can repeat the process every week or two until you have as much as you want.
Alternatively, you can lay out a tarp and dig out the soil to the depth you want sanded, putting it onto the tarp. Then either add the sand onto the heap on the tarp and mix it (just twisting a fork around, or turning it over with a spade) before replacing, or use a fertiliser sack to mix whatever ratio of sand and soil you want; eg, add one spadeful of sand, three spadefuls of soil, then hold the bag closed and shake or roll it about - it doesn't take long for very effective mixing to happen with this technique. (Easiest way to handmix cement or mortar mix, by far, if you ever need to.) As with all major mixing of materiels, best done on a platform at just above knee level.
Of course, if you are digging out an area of say, five metres by two, to a depth of thirty centimetres...that's an awful sore back you are going to have !
Once upon a time I would have used the latter technique in one big blitz, and done in one or two sessions. With my current bad back and low oomph, I have been going with simple forking in, which seems to be taking forever but it works better if your sand only arrives in penny amounts anyway.
One idea I have been thinking of is strewing sand on the surface after sowing the carrot seeds, to hopefully help deter the slugs and snails; a sand mulch is worth a try I think.
I am saving my bulbs in little pots, hope to donate them to an Easter/Spring Fayre type thingy. It's the Aberdonian in me, loves the idea of making money with no outlay...

[horticultural_hobbit]

Had a productive morning today. Ma came with me, transferred some spinach from one bed to the one designated her patch. She has to have a patch, else no one gets either fed or some peace. Once Ma had scarpered, clutching at the valdor lettuce harvested for her and pops, I weeded the onion, shallot and garlic. All very delicately, that was my intention. But I may well have decapitated a few shallots in getting annoyed with volume of weeds. Damned couch grass.

That took a while. Then I looked at the curcurbit patch. That needed poo'ing.

I looked at it for some time. Walked around the plot, looked at the corden trees.

Went home, a girl on a mission, to get my magic spade. Went back to the lotment, and added the FYM that had been looking at me since before Kismet.

Had a lovely chat with the lotment legend. Oh, his plot is beautiful. So well tended. Had such fabulous words of encouragement. Specifically, that no one can tell you how to do things; that you do what you want how you want. Admonished the prospect of good carrots, due to carrot fly. But highly recommended parsnips. He has a full plot and with age and rheum is hoping to reduce it to half. He was rather taken with the valdor lettuce on the plot.

Had to go home, to do some work. With that done, I took Pops to wi**es to get some sand for carrots. We both then dropped the bags off. Pops has been down to the lotment only a handful of times. Today, he thought one of the other plots was nice.

The trick with pops, is to rocket. And plenty of it. I'm working on it.

My next big job is put the sand in. Any advice how?


At home, I have a handful of toms, some chillies. There are peas and beans in the 4TB along with beetroot. Maris pipers and king eds are chitting, and won't be planted til April with a bulb planter. The clay, is not my buddy.

Talking of bulbs, lots of spring flowering bulbs coming through. Hyacinths and anemones are not my friends neither. Also need to start something with marigolds.

[horticultural_hobbit]

I grew radishes both red and white in pots. Were very small and thin. This year it's all about open ground. That includes the mooli's. They get fairly long and thick in theory, but it's anyone's guess for having a go. Will be well chuffed if they come off.

[Matt94]

ooooooooooh ive got some mooli seeds, but haven't got a clue on how to grow em, i know they grow pritty long, i wonder if you could grow them in tubs?

[horticultural_hobbit]

Tis the postage only 'free'asparagus that was advertised on the mag that ma will be playing with. To me, it's an altogether curious veg. Lovely to eat, and we do when we can. Wouldnt know the first thing about it.

Down right miserable here in Birmingham. Ma and I took a walk to the lotment for a general gander and the heavens opened. Ma wanted to make sure that she has a bit to play with, and it's hers. There is no point arguing to the contrary. Tis the first thing I am asked every Saturday, as whether i
I am going to the lotment. At the moment, She comes a long for the walk. I'll have a look at what needs to be done or just looked at. "I'm going now," she say "I got your house keys," adds Ma, and scarpers. However, I have visions of her sticking around as the growing season starts and moving me out the way. I'm already under instructions not to sow mooli without supervision.