Anyone with an allotment?

Had a good afternoon today. Shallots in & extra onions to fill gaps in the winter planting. Made a start on clearing the next bit to be made useful, the dumping corner!

Might well be fully utilising the available space by the end of this growing year.

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^ first job was emptying that builders bag of weed compost so I can make a permanent home for dealing with weeds, based in the shady corner.

Scored 3 large and 4 small pallets today, and a roll of carpet off-cut. Result.

Cleared some junk ready for the tip, put some of the pallets to use. A good few hours spent today.

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Made some decent progress at our plot today – first bed on the flood-prone side (double height), first glass in the greenhouse, first direct sow seeds in the ground

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Dug up this massive amount of couch grass root from a patch of about 1m square :(

Was supposed to be a no dig bed, had covered it with cardboard and manure then black plastic for about a year to give everything time to die off. Loads of worms and bugs in there which is good but annoyed I've gone and broken up the soil structure completely.

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I wouldn't beat yourself up, unless you're able to leave something for about 5 years, or have no weeds etc then no dig is not that viable intially.

We are two years in and after a ton of digging are at a stage where we don't need to, but if we had left the plot as it was with no digging would still have nothing but bindweed.

I had a fight with some buried plastic sheet and brutal cherry roots today. The cleared space is now much more compost bay looking than before. Also made a hobo cold-frame.

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Finally built the tunnel. A momentous day.
Glad I bought a ton of sponge tape(enough for the whole frame and door) as there’s a few bolt heads/tube edges that would work thru the cover pretty easily I reckon.

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This is the initial structure of my homemade hot composter. It’s a water butt surrounded by 50mm insulation board. I have braces it with wood for the time being but it get a layer of chip board as the outer skin. The lid will also go on a hinge so make access easier.

I’ve followed a YouTube video to get it started. At some point I’m going to create a hatch to remove the compost. But this is all I had time for today.

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Do you keep fireworks in stock? That is a level of garage contents I aspire to

This is the cleaned version

2 x Cider Apple trees planted today at the NW end of my plot, so they will cast minimal shade on the rest of it, although will eventually shade the fruit bush cage. They're kind of squeezed in so i'm hoping they'll be ok whilst they establish themselves. One is between crate beds which should help suppress weeds, the other side I still need to decide what to plant around it.

I've got permission to cut back the Cherry from another plot which will allow my tree room to grow.

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First mini-haul of the year yesterday.

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Am a novice to gardening. Last year planted quite a few purple sprouting broccoli plants as it’s something we love as a quick snack or side dish - roasted or just raw in salads.

I was rather disappointed that we had no results last year until someone gently explained I’d have to wait for this spring. Lo and behold the triffid stalks are now bearing purple sprouts.

I have also been mixing leaf mulch compost with manure for the further experiments in no dig cultivation. The manure came from a local farmer and needs a little sorting as it clearly contains a lambs carcass or two and last year our dogs excavated the bones, wool and rotting fat and were very sick when they ate it. Thankfully 12 months later it appears the soft tissue has completely decomposed.

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I’ve given up frowning any leafy greens at our allotment. They just get eaten. The frustration every year got too much and I can’t spray with chemicals.

Yep, I’m always tempted to try purple sprouting especially, but leafy greens (chard/spinach aside) never get far growing before the pigeons/caterpillars/locusts get them. Gave up a few years ago. That’s a great effort Dancing James.

Southwark council is currently going through an allotment expansion scheme. Apparently if 5 or more people are interested in an allotment the council have to provide one which is essentially the barrier for entry into this particular scheme. If anyone from Southwark is interested let me know

They got utterly attacked last year by cabbage white caterpillars - there were two really bad phases of them. But they survived and seem to have over wintered rather well.

Last year was terrible for our brassicas and getting eaten, but we didn’t do anything to mitigate it. This year, and with an allotment rather than just at home, we’re building some big-ass netting cages

My plan is to have one or two beds caged off with that felt material.

I already have plastic fence netting around the beds - this is because my dogs have been known to eat the manure and try to find any partially decomposed food in the compost, plus the fuckers eat carrots - last year they ate all the fancy coloured ones. Also I think the deer occasionally hop into the garden and are the brussel sprouts just before Christmas.

But the butterflies will need a different barrier.

I Recently tried to get an allotment at my local place in Peckham and was told they closed the waiting list 4 years ago as it was so long.

We've got a big roll of debris netting that scaffolders use, on recommendation. Will stop butterflies for sure, but I'm not sure about the badgers...

Where did you get it? I had been thinking of getting that translucent synthetic felt stuff.

Ebay apparently (my OH sorted it) – it's a dark green 2m wide roll with eyelets in key spots

It’s some ancient law like it being legal to shoot someone with a bow and arrow over a fence at midnight on April 1st. but apparently if five individuals want an allotment the council has to provide a one, new or old. Anyway the Southwark thing is slightly more legit and the council has an active interest in it so no need to invoke medieval law