First Beds Ready

[Cue the Toms]

Well done Andy. I'm not sure about being fitter lol... I'm sleeping like a baby at the moment!

Nice looking plot. Good luck for Saturday, the weather forecast here is very good for the weekend.

Chris

[Samurailord]

Good luck for Saturday, the weather forecast here is very good for the weekend.

Chris

Thanks Chris

I am certainly getting fitter, and losing loads of weight - 13 pounds in the past four weeks.

Unfortunately our local forecast is light showers in the morning followed by heavy showers mid afternoon and thunderstorms late afternoon (just after we will have packed up, hopefully)

Then again, it's only Wednesday and the forecasts have a habit of changing dramatically within a couple of days.

Andy

[Samurailord]

It looks like my lack of faith in the long range weather forecast may well be justified.

On Tuesday the prediction was for light rain on Saturday morning, heavy showers in the afternoon with thunderstorms about 4.

I have just looked again - now it will be dull but dry until 4 when we can expect some light showers.

If it keeps improving like this, by tomorrow I am expecting to see a mini heatwave predicted

That would be very nice and encourage folks to come and see us for our Willow Weaving and Open Day event, but I'm not holding my breath for obvious reasons

Andy

[Bigmallly]

Whatever the weather, I'm sure a good time will be had by all and you can show off your pride & joy. How you are feeling now, I can remember feeling the same way 12 months ago (Baggered but proud). It only seems like yesterday.

[Two_Sheds]

All I am using is loads of rotting cow manure.... I am burying it deep so it can rot down completely

It's more likely to just sit and stagnate. You need to get oxygen to it, so the beneficial bacteria can break it down

[Samurailord]

It's more likely to just sit and stagnate. You need to get oxygen to it, so the beneficial bacteria can break it down

The plan is to leave it where it is until late autumn/early winter then turn it all over ready for the winter rains and frosts to do their thing with the soil.

Hopefully we should have loads of great soil by next year

Andy

[Samurailord]

Thought I would post a quick update on my plot, with a few pics of course



This is looking from one corner of my plot down towards the pond. The tall plant you can see is a yellow flag iris and it marks the boundary on that side.



This is taken from the same corner but looking at right angles towards the road. You can see the first muck pile and it's two pumpkins, plus some of the raised beds on this one.



I have now moved to stand behind the pond and look towards the road. The second muck pile is hidden behind the flag iris. The pile of junk in the foreground is what is left of the cardboard that I put down originally, plus all the bricks and wood used to hold it down. This is scheduled for removal this weekend, if the weather is nice enough tomorrow.



Now looking diagonally across the plot - you can see the problem I am having with standing water quite clearly here.

[Samurailord]

More water problems - we have dug a channel to try and encurage the water to flow away from the plot, but aftew last night's downpours it seems to have been a futile attempt.



This is the channel I dug to the edge of the allotment - as you can see it has filled up almost completely so I obviously need to dig the far end quite a bit deeper to get the water to flow away.



Not all bad news though - most of the crops I have put in are doing well, in fact some are starting to swamp their neighbours so I will have to de a bit of harvesting tomorrow to make a bit more space.



Leef beet, cabbages and chard have been making the most of the sun and rain combo recently and are coming up wonderfully.

And, more importantly, I now have a couple of fruit on my pumpkins that I hope have set.



Andy

[Two_Sheds]

Just wondering ... did you follow the planting distance advice for the chard ?









(it gets big)

[Samurailord]

Just wondering ... did you follow the planting distance advice for the chard ?

Hi TS

The chard is planted on it's own in a rectangle 1 foot by 1.5 foot. I have tried the square foot gardening method with the bed it is planted in, but as the inner measurements of the sides are 4.5 foot by 9.5 I had a few 'oversized' squares that I have used for planting things like courgettes, chard, peas and beans that need a bit more space.

I know how big it can get as I have some at home that have reached over 4 foot high, but they didn't spread much sideways (until they flopped over, that is).

I intend on keep harvesting baby leaves from the one at the plot to try and keep it under control - it will be interesting to see how that works out.

Andy

[Two_Sheds]

they didn't spread much sideways (until they flopped over, that is).

That one in your fourth pic has bolted ... but you can still keep on picking the leaves of course. That'll certainly restrict its width, and you'll have leaves for months & months.

[Feral007]

It all looks so, so, well, so greeeeen! It looks great, I have green envy!

Where we live things are only green for a short while (except in drought when it's a long while) the benefit is that when the grass hays off it feeds the animals well without giving them problems. It just doesn't look picturesque!

You're doing a great job, really enjoying the process from here (and no back problems involved here)