Wahey, Offer and contracts were sent out to me yesterday for my Allotment

[Jamesy_uk]

Finally got down to the plot today for the first decent bit of work since the middle of December. Dug up half dozen leeks to make a batch of soup and then got to work on finishing the last half of my newer plot which is the biggest job, lots of couch grass and some dock. Got halfway done when it started raining but spied the beginnings of loads of PSB florets as I walked out so that gave me a smile, gonna attempt to get over tomorrow and finish the job.

[Jamesy_uk]

Ooops, I might have gone slightly overboard on potato purchases, so I got 60 Sarpo Mira and 60 Desiree and then 20 Charlotte..... I never really looked at the recommended planting distances before and it seems like I could fill one of my 2.5 rod beds and still only use 80 at most spuds eek.

[Jamesy_uk]

Not hugely exciting but I just about finished digging over my second 5 rod plot so took some pictures to remind me how it looked before the weeds of summer started rampaging!




Going to head back tomorrow and dig over a bed on my first 5 rod plot, I was planning to direct sow peas in it but I am not so sure now as they seem like a lot of faff and space to have at an allotment, whereas as home I can just pop them right off the plant into my mouth or the pan.

[Jamesy_uk]

Started off the day potting up hanging basket and large planter with crocus and bluebells then sowed 12 cells worth each of Brussels, Romanesco and Cabbage. Had a spot of breakfast and headed to the lottie for a small fire, dug over last of the new bed then raked one bed to a fine tilth and put in another 2 rows of onions ( 8p bargain from homebase). I was there for 4 hours so you would think I got a lot done but I ended up helping 2 new allotment holders get an idea what to do and giving them clumps of scallions as a first planting gift.

[Jamesy_uk]

Everything is coming up trumps on the windowsill at home 90% plus germination on everything now everybody just needs to will the sunshine out of hiding before they get leggy!

[snohare]

You are weeks if not months ahead of me, Jamesy, around here we still have snowplough drifts in corners with sleet coming down this morning !
I am so envious...not least of the fact that you have neighbours of a similar ilk. Gardening on a dreich day is a lot less fun without anyone to talk to. It seems I am doomed only to meet fellow veggie gardeners only online... well, until the Midlands Grapefest !
Good luck with the windowsill seedlings; I don't fancy your chances, but then again my expectations are shaped by the fact that I live in the dreich dark North.

[Jamesy_uk]

I have been known to gamble with planting times
I know what you mean about the company, it was like Wednesday we had sun and nearly 19'c so I spent from when I got home from work until dark at the allotment and saw one other person and that baffled me I'd have expected people would be making the most of it.

[Jamesy_uk]

Rhubbbarrrbbbbbbbbb, here's an example the difference forcing can make.

Normal -



Forced



On the forced picture I had actually harvested the 8 biggest pieces as well.

Needless to say I have been looking up rhubarb recipes.

[Feral007]

Sounds really good. Hope the weather keeps up for you.

[Jamesy_uk]

So much for a nice relaxing 4 day weekend, It was dry and occasionally sunny if not bitterly cold.

I started off at home transplanting my lettuce into a raised bed along with Pak Choi and weeded out the area. I then moved to the allotment and spent about 12 hours over the next 3 days clearing up, weeding out the couch grass, manufacturing bird scaring devices and making sure once the weather improves everything is ready to go. I am taking a chance on my sweetcorn area and spread reasonably fresh manure/bedding over it as a mulch weed suppressant as I am sure at this rate the sweetcorn wont be in the ground until mid May/June by which time it will be pretty safe to plant through without a risk of burning the corn.

I also came to a decision I needed to build a fruit cage of sorts after I got almost no currants last year due to the birds (multi coloured bird poop everywhere!). I just have to decide whether I will use chicken wire or pea netting as the cost difference is pretty big due to a cheap endless supply of pea netting from poundland.

P.S Full writeup and pictures on the blog.

[snohare]

Crikey, I feel tired just looking at your posts Jamesy ! Well done indeed. I'd say you were getting on like a house on fire, but it sounds like you are lacking enough heat...
Chicken wire is horrendously expensive if you are doing a large area. (Although, it is one of those things you buy rarely and then hoard greedily because it is so useful.)
If you only need to protect a smaller area, you might try asking on local Freegle/Freecycle forums for old trampoline safety nets; you know the round trampolines you see in gardens, with zipped-entry netting walls around them to stop kids bouncing off ? The zips go, and then people buy a new one, and have an old one to get rid of; and believe me (only judging by my sample of one, admittedly ), they last years on the lottie, have tie down points galore, reinforced edges, and keep birds out no problem. I wish I had more of them.
Or maybe you could try places like Argos etc, see if they have any returns with faulty zips they cannot sell ? (The trampoline materiel itself is also excellent mulch matting, pain of a shape though.)
One traditional enemy of fruit cages has always been the snow. You need to make sure both the timber and the netting will survive the weight of the snow on it; once it distorts or breaks the timbers, if you have nailed or stapled the netting on, it can be a devil of a job to fix. Better to use cable ties, buy a pack of a thousand and you will never regret it. (Unless you drop them on a cold muddy day.)
Oh, here's another thought; how about using builder's debris netting, as used to prevent droppages from scaffolding ? Again, very, very useful stuff.
Last idea of the evening: try some forestry/fencing contractors if you have any in your local phone book, see if they have any offcuts of old deer fences. The mesh is a foot square, but it lasts a long time, and you can put cheapo pea netting over it no bother, take it off each winter to prevent snow damage. It's easier stuff to make a decent door with, too, if you need that.

[Jamesy_uk]

Some good ideas there Snohare, I might actually be in luck on the supports for the cage as a fellow allotment holder constructed a cage last year and still has 6 posts left over and they are old motorway fence posts that are guaranteed for 35 years. I intend to use some kind of wrap around the bottom of the posts or maybe a glossy paint to keep them from touching the soil as I would assume being guaranteed for so long they have taken on some serious creosote or anti fungal treatments.

[snohare]

Well, you have really lucked out on the posts, getting good ones is generally the biggest problem for making any kind of upright structure.
Shipbuilders trick: stick a knife into the wood, if it doesn't sink in more than a fingernail's depth it will last donkeys. If it does, it needs replacement.
You're right enough to be concerned about the protective chemicals, arsenic is the most commonly used one, and in previous times it would leach out into the soil. (Not so with the modern, green-coloured tanalised wood, which is extremely inert chemically.) If you do a search, in the distant past we have had some very informative posts on the Vine about using treated wood in raised beds, posts etc.
I don't know if glossy paint would last that long really when buried; and ironically enough, it is likely to be more toxic if it does last - full of antifungals etc.
I have seen several methods used to protect buried post footings, one is to simply wrap it with something like a fertiliser sack: yes, it will leach out plasticisers into the soil - sometimes you can't do right for doing wrong ! - but it will last ten or twenty years, and it would do that anyway in a landfill; at least here it is being of use. Quick and easy, the workman's favourite, and if you use postcrete it also means that when the post comes to be replaced eventually you can just slot the new one back into the hole more easily.
Alternatively, use a slit-open plastic drainage pipe, to wrap round the post where it meets the soil; it is always the bit exposed to repeated damp and dry that suffers most, so as long as you keep a gap between it and the damp of the topsoil you should find this works well. My favourite however is simpler, albeit not so easy in practice: that is, to simply have a large selection of wedge or square shaped stones handy - including some nice big ones - and drop them into the hole round the post. Pack down hard using a pinchbar or sledgehammer, check the post for straightness and adjust (if you are a stickler - I get told to, but tend to use a jamjar of water as my level ) backfill level with soil, then add another layer of wedged stones, fill the gaps with earth, and so on. You will never get the gaps properly filled with soil, so drainage around the stones will always be good and the wood will not stay wet long enough to rot or contaminate.
Tautness is half the problem with netting getting damaged with snow, if you make sure there is a nice pointy/tightly curved top to the cage it will make things easier...just make sure that the snow slipping off isn't going to bury your winter brassicas !
I like your blog, I have galvanised bucket envy !
(Not that I have rhubarb to force at present.)

[Jamesy_uk]

Haha, why thank you Snohare. That is certainly a lot to think on, luckily being half term and working in a school I have some time to kill as it's peacefully quiet there . I was thinking on the fruit cage design today and almost a munty frame affair came to mind, if the back of it was towards the currants then they don't need much height 4ft or so and then it could be a slope up to the front raspberry's which go about 6ft high. It would be a bit of a chore picking from the currants but then again I'd probably be on bended knee anyway getting the lower ones and it would take less material to construct and cover meaning it would be stronger due to lower surface area.

[Jamesy_uk]

Amazing how things come to you all of a sudden, I could add some hooks to the posts as well so when it rained I could put a Tarp up. sit in the cage under it nice and dry being as I don't have a shed!.