Gus
Posts: 464
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Posted At: 12/10/2008 21:06:24
Well I have looked for an Allotment topic and I expect I have missed it.
Have spent a lovely morning on my half plot rough digging the ground ready for winter cold to break the clods of soil into that lovely fine tilth in the spring, I just wondered if anyone else had been enjoying the Autumn weather in a similar fashion...
Oh, got your garlic in yet and what about the strawberry plants you promised yourself?
Happy digging
Gus
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theothermarg
Posts: 634
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Posted At: 13/10/2008 16:34:15
threads on this pop up now and again and then vanish cuz we are all too busy diggin  and thats what I have been doing before the rains come again. got some overwintering onions that have been grown from seed and some spring green plants to put in!
marg |
Goldenlily
Posts: 1702
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Posted At: 13/10/2008 20:19:08
Allotmenteers seem to join in with us sharing a common interest. We are all trying to grow something.
I have just planted out some purple sprouting broccoli and put my garlic in between the plants. I did this by accident last year, lack of space, and had no trouble with caterpillars, so thought I would try the same ploy again.
My main crop peas have pods on them and I am at last feeding off my runner beans. The broad beans are thick with flowers so hopefully there will be a crop later.
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Saga Web Editor
Posts: 72
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Posted At: 14/10/2008 11:49:57
Hello allotmenteers,
Terry Walton, our allotment blogger, wants to know if anyone has any thoughts on the following:
1. Do winter vegetables really taste better if they are harvested after the first autumn frosts or not?
2. Has anyone had any success with a Victorian-style 'hot bed'?
This week's allotment blog
Thanks
Web Editor |
Goldenlily
Posts: 1702
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Posted At: 16/10/2008 01:24:43
Parsnips definitely taste better after a frost on them. It converts the starch to sugar so making them sweeter.
Heligan Garden down here in balmy Cornwall run a traditional hot bed and grow pineapples etc. in it quite successfully.
I have rooted a pineapple top which is on my window sill at the moment. Does that mean a hot bed will be my next project I wonder?
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Gus
Posts: 464
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Posted At: 15/11/2008 15:54:55
3 hours of digging in the autumn sun and a cup of tea in the shed....
Garlic is starting to show, leek and caulifower cheese for dinner tomorrow with grilled butternut squash all non conformist sizes of course...
Parsnip is there but as Goldenlily has said, need a cold snap to make them sweet... Could use the freezer to chill them but I will wait.
Happy digging
Gus
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annabelle44
Posts: 2531
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Posted At: 15/11/2008 16:04:47
I didn't know about this thread! Gus you make me feel very guilty, my plot is festering under a carpet of demolished runner bean wigwams. I'm hoping togo up tomorrow and have a bonfire!
The strawberries are Ok, but raspberries rampant still! No berries left - we ate them all!
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Jemima Puddle Duck
Posts: 929
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Posted At: 16/11/2008 15:31:22
I shall be watching this thread with interest. I have a small patch of land next to my garden that I would love to turn into an allotment patch. Right now it is just lawn. What a waste.
Jemima  |
Gus
Posts: 464
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Posted At: 17/11/2008 20:19:22
I didn't know about this thread! Gus you make me feel very guilty, my plot is festering under a carpet of demolished runner bean wigwams. I'm hoping togo up tomorrow and have a bonfire!
The strawberries are Ok, but raspberries rampant still! No berries left - we ate them all!
And I hope the raspberries tasted nice, I had a few for breakfast on Saturday... Off the cane into the mouth.........  Was also eating Mooli, made one a little windy Saturday night, don't know about you but the good thing about cutting a Cauliflower is the stalk, chop it off the root peel and crunch away... Kohl Rabi ? not a patch on Cauli stalk...
Hope the bonfire went well... Damn good therapy in a bonfire.... |
Gus
Posts: 464
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Posted At: 17/11/2008 20:32:45
I shall be watching this thread with interest. I have a small patch of land next to my garden that I would love to turn into an allotment patch. Right now it is just lawn. What a waste.
Jemima
Hello Jemima....
Do it a bit at a time, cut the grass off in turfs and pile it up grass down, it will rot down a treat. If you can rough dig now with spade, just turn over and leave in large lumps for the rain and colds to breakdown, it will also allow the birds get at any bugs,, like chafer grubs they normally thrive in areas with grass. A light hoe in the spring and away you will go... In the spring you could plant a few early potatos as they need a deeper dig for planting but can handle new dug land... In no time at all you will be looking for more land.. Those flower beds will end up full of beetroot, garlic, cougettes...
When its all done you can come and help me, pretty please... 
Take care
Gus |
Jemima Puddle Duck
Posts: 929
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Posted At: 17/11/2008 22:07:02
Thank you for that Gus, now I know where to start!
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Gus
Posts: 464
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Posted At: 24/11/2008 20:43:17
Well I went to the plot on Sunday and how pretty it was.... Like the whole site had been limed...
Still the tea in the shed was nice.....
Seeds have been ordered through the site gardeners association (raise a couple of bob to help keep it all going) gone a bit mad with the shallots too, will have to plant less onions.. Also decided to grow dwarf beans in my borders at home this year, will try some of the small sweet peas with them. Nasturtiums would have been nice just the bl**dy black fly... Grrrr!! More ladybirds
Apart from that Runner Beans, Brussels, Cabbage, Cauli's, trying Fennel, giant Kohl Rabi...Butter nut and winter squashes.... Leeks, Parsnip and anything else we can swop and try....
Has anyone tasted 'Pinkbrandy ' Tomatos? According to the book best flavour... I love a new variety called Hariquin... Thompson and Morgan....  Very few get indoors as I eat them when I am working in the garden
Have you braved it yet Jemima ? Will have plenty of plants for you so no excuses
Enjoy all
Gus
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pattiboo
Posts: 2382
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Posted At: 25/11/2008 07:54:59
Hello Gus I don't have an allotment but we do grow some veg I tried growing Mooli several times but they always seem to get carrot fly and I don't use chemicals if I can help it. I grew carrots in narrow troughs at least 4 feet from the ground but carrot fly still got some of them. I do have fleece and tried something called Agromesh which worked except the carrot tops were huge but the carrots themselves were small.
Anybody got recipes for Swiss Chard especially the stalks? I grow rainbow chard such lovely long brightly coloured stems but apart from steaming them with the tops I can't think how to make the best use of them.
Pat
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Lisabj
Posts: 59
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Posted At: 27/11/2008 10:36:17
Hi,
Swiss Chard is the greatest thing - dead easy to grow and I have made tons of soup with it, I also use it in stir fries - just chop the stalks from the leaf and chuck them in the wok with everything else and chuck in the chopped leaves about 1 min from the end.
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pattiboo
Posts: 2382
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Posted At: 27/11/2008 12:53:14
Hi Lisabj I have put it in quiche cut it up fine and just sort of mixed it in with the eggs and milk we don't eat a lot of soup mostly salads summer and winter. The frost has damaged the leaves and the stems are very stringy now I noticed.
My friends daughter had an allotment in Devon I grew quite a lot of stuff for her in pots or giant plugs but she gave it up this summer because when she went to harvest her runner beans some b****r had stolen the lot and anything else worth nicking.
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Fileyj
Posts: 51
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Posted At: 10/12/2008 11:32:11
Recently aquired our allotment. Slight tendency to flood at the existing level -below the access path level. Planning to dig a soak away for the excess water and currently putting in raised beds, so we never walk on the planting soil and can gradually raise the level in the raised beds over time as manure/compost is added. Thinking long term say 20 years - so not rushing to do everything yesterday.
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TopVeg
Posts: 12
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Posted At: 15/12/2008 13:14:16
Hi
I like this time of year - when it is reaping the benefits - digging huge parsnips, still digging carrots & picking sprouts. The leeks look so good too
TopVeg
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tenderfoot
Posts: 34
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Posted At: 16/12/2008 15:45:00
Sadly where I live there is'nt a cat in hells chance of getting an allotment, so when I retired I bit the bullet and dug up all of my garden and turned it from perenial garden to a Veg Plot which is about the size of a small allotment. I built a large greenhouse and turned the shed into a workshop come brewery (beer and wine). So far it's worked well and since April we haven't had to buy any fruit or veg. Hoping to grow even more next year.
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trevathome
Posts: 196
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Posted At: 16/12/2008 18:31:18
I have had an allotment over two years now and each year my crops have been decimated by slugs and snails. I have tried various remedies but its like trying to hold back the tide, funnily enough they dont bother broad beans, I have plenty of them stored this winter. T  |
Benji
Posts: 1
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Posted At: 16/12/2008 21:16:30
As well as parsnips have you tried swede? Can be dug up a needed in winter and are delicious mashed with carrots.
Benji: |
