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

[veggiechicken]

Instead of a tarp, could you use clear plastic - like polytunnel covers, then it could be in place permanently - you[d have a shleter and so would your plants.

[Jamesy_uk]

Instead of a tarp, could you use clear plastic - like polytunnel covers, then it could be in place permanently - you[d have a shleter and so would your plants.

I like the way you think.

My next door plot neighbour Barney likes to cook at the allotment with fresh bits so he is building a covered food prep area! I must admit there is something appealing about lugging a pot and pan down with me and cooking up some fresh food within minutes of it coming off the plant.

[Jamesy_uk]

Cleared another 5ft length of my 4th bed and planted out 1 row each of 'Marathon' Broccoli, 'Minicole' Cabbage and 'Trafalgar' Brussels.
Planted out next batch of 80 cell grown 'Kelvedon Wonder' peas along with another 150-200 direct sowed to make 2 rows now of approximately 250-300 peas each.
Planted out another 10 'Iceberg' lettuces.
Soaked overnight and potted 35 'Lark' sweet corn seeds.

Plot neighbour Barney gave me one of his parsnips to take home, you could feed a family of 3 on it and it was longer than my forearm....... will do a picture to add to thread tomorrow.

[Jamesy_uk]

Parsnip is from my plot neighbour Barney that man grows amazing sized swedes and Parsnips I have a lot to learn from him.

The other picture is my first proper Cauliflower, I had a bolted one last year but this one was perfectly formed and I couldn't resist any longer! Good Job I have another 9 all hearting up yum.





p.s

Just had some of the parsnip with my belated Sunday roast as I was too lazy to cook yesterday and it was lovely, not woody at all and I steamed some cauliflower which was also pretty nice but I don't exactly have a refined palate .

[Jamesy_uk]

Just been told an old hand is leaving the allotment and I can have his shed, I ummed an ahh'd as its 8x6 which is a lot of room to give up I could grow on but in the end decided to go for it. Now I need to work out how to move it without taking it apart lol, one guy has a trailer and offered me a hand so I was thinking get one end up on the trailer and then a wooden beam under the back end and 2 people holding the back up while the front guy pulls the trailer or uses his car.
.

[Two_Sheds]

It'll be much easier to flat pack it, honestly. If you drop it off the trailer, it won't bounce

[snohare]

I was thinking get one end up on the trailer and then a wooden beam under the back end and 2 people holding the back up while the front guy pulls the trailer or uses his car.

Depending on how far it is, what slopes and other obstacles there are in the way, it might be easy enough to just push it using round fence posts as rollers.
I've done that with rather large heavy sheds before now, and it was remarkably easy. Absolute duck soup compared to brute force lifting and carrying. You need one person to shift the rollers from behind to in front, one at least to push, and preferably another to steer/push/ guide clear of obstacles.
Either way, the golden rule is not to lift any more than absolutely necessary, as it is the picking up and letting down that are likely to do all the damage, to shed and humans !
Presumably you are thinking of a lateral beam under the back end, with a person on either side as you walk along. That's a bit dodgy as setting it down for a breather would be difficult, and it means that if someone trips or has to let go suddenly, the other person is likely to end up taking much of the weight on a bent back. I'd think of using the beam to lever the shed onto wheelbarrows, that greatly reduces the risk of back injuries.
Both risk and hazard are relatively high in this sort of task, you really want to take your time planning it and make sure there is effective communication between individuals to prevent accident. I did a job like this once that went wrong, my friend will never run, bend his back or do anything vigorous again, he can barely walk...so you can see where my caution springs from.
I've suddenly got shed envy...oh, what you can do with a fine big shed jamesy, particularly if you add some glass or perspex to it !

[Jamesy_uk]

Well, I had intended to get the shed moved last weekend but it seems someone had other ideas when they heard the plot owner was leaving and decided to take it themselves without asking if it was spoken for. Honestly I'd have taken it up with the person who took it but it just isn't worth the hassle as I go there to relax and grow and I don't need a sour atmosphere ruining things.

Well I got plenty more done at any rate as all my Sweetcorn 'Lark' at home are 6" or so now and I direct sowed a 15ft row of Dwarf french bean 'Ferrari' last night with a little help from my son. I feel it will be an interesting row because he may have not quite kept to 1 seed every station lol, the seeds were only 79p half price in wilko's so I won't feel guilty thinning them out.

I think I will module sow my Cosse Violette and Cobra climbing french beans tonight to go in the ground in 2 weeks or when they turn into triffids whichever comes first (My bet is on Triffid status).
Having said that It would be so much easier to direct sow but I am always worried about pest attacks, maybe try half and half as an experiment as we have seen maybe a handful of slugs/snails this year so far at the lotty.

[dandalady]

great - its exciting isnt it.

[Jamesy_uk]

Well now, been a while since an update purely because I have had about 3 days in the last month down the allotment at most due to a combination of bad weather and my fathers ill health meaning I have been doing his list of job at my parents house including the garden and painting.

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/phot...eat=directlink
Onions at folks above.

I picked up an electric strimmer today from homebase and they didn't have the one I reserved in stock like it said on the website, instead they gave me the next model up at no extra charge to make up for the hassle which was nice. It is an Art 26 Li Bosch cordless electric, I really wanted to go petrol but its just such a hassle transporting one from home to lottie and back all the time and the car started stinking of petrol as well which would of hacked off the wife.

I have noticed my Brassica's seem to have hardly developed at all in the last month raising concerns about soil fertility or maybe some disease like club root or soil Ph being wrong so..... I got hold of a soil Ph tester and it came out at about 7 give or take a small amount which is about right as far a I know which rules out that. I next tested fertility by giving half a row some blood, fish and bone last week but despite the decent weather they don't show much of a difference (I know BFB ideally needs to weather in) and lastly I dug one up to check the roots but the roots seemed clean and healthy although still quite small.
https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/phot...eat=directlink

I am really at a loss now, all I can think to do is give them a good dose of nettle tea which I have brewing and if that fails to help them along I may just pull my hair out followed by the plants and try putting in something from a different plant family and see what happens.

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/phot...eat=directlink

On the plus side my strawbs are doing well.

[Jamesy_uk]

Well it seems like either the feeding worked or because it has been warmer without the bitterly cold wind sweeping across the allotments my brassicas have jumped into life and they seem to be putting on some noticeable growth.

[Jamesy_uk]

Well I just got back from 10 days on the Isle of Wight on Monday with mostly great weather so I was in a good mood but had a nagging dread when I got to the allotment it would be a nightmare tangle of weeds.

I got to the allotment expecting a shock at the weed growth only to find as it had been quite dry that it wasn't too bad at all so Bonus!

My first harvest was of 2 Rocket first early plants which I got almost 2kg from, not quite so 'new' potato anymore but regardless they tasted great then I got 1kg of shelled peas (Kelvedon wonder) that took a lonnnnggg time, we have had them every night since we got home with tea.
This was followed quickly by 300g of mange tout (Golden sweet) and finally this morning I picked a fruit medley from our plants, I will look up recipes for a kind of open tart I think as they should really be done justice with a decadent dessert.
All in all worth coming home to I think, although I will say my main crops have suffered somewhat from the lack of rain lately an need a thorough soaking.

[Jamesy_uk]

Pulled my overwintered onions and garlic today, had another weird one in that my garlic plants only made 3 large cloves each and didn't split properly I forget the variety but maybe it's a quirk of the type. Onions are o.k, not swollen as much as i'd have like but not bad considering I don't eat them just my wife.

[Jamesy_uk]

Although I had a good start to the year it was a mixed bag as a whole and that's just the way gardening goes sometimes.

Squashes are almost finished ripening before they go out into the garage.



And I just started digging over the lottie in preparation for my manure delivery which I hope will address some of my shortfalls in crop size this year.

Squash types as requested -
Eggshell - Crown Prince
Yellow/green - Sweet Dumpling (cheap seeds 39p from homebase basics)
Orange - You got me, they are pumpkins 'spooktacular' variety
Yellow -Butternut Squash - Harrier

It is funny as there aren't that many Squash and I was disappointed but I worked out for the 2 of us and our son it would take a week to use the larger Crown prince squash if we ate it every day. If you look at it like that then we got enough to get us through winter and I was considering using the pumpkins to make curried pumpkin and parsnip soups which are nice and warming.

[Jamesy_uk]

Spot of luck Today , I went to see if my manure delivery had come at the allotment as a builder was dropping off 10 pallets so I grabbed some to make myself a leaf bin/compost bin. should be able to do 2 side by side now.