Anyone with an allotment?

That’s a proper allotment!

Ta.

I love watching the plot start brown, then green, then a riot of colour. Before back to brown again

I take photo from same position every visit, I need to stitch them into a timelapse at some point....

Your leeks look good.

Ta, some are nearly big enough to eat already.

I’ve had leeks in since October not sure if they’re ready to pick yet

You planted leeks in October ?

Tried to get the arty panoramic view..

I had a go ...

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Spent most of last week lifting the Raspberries and replanting them somewhere bindweed free. Where they were was riddled with the stuff so I've painstakingly dug over and removed every little fragment of it (I hope) .

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Mine went in the ground around then too iirc, plus a few look to have popped up as self seeded from some I had left & let flower - I moved these last week to fill gaps in the current Leek bed. They're pretty hardy.

Looks ace.

Re: raspberries & bindweed good effort, I'm too lazy to move mine so another summer pulling bindweed is assured.

Plots looking good folks. I’ve still got to rotavate most of my plot and dig in some AD and manure. Then portion it up to convert it to no-dig. Getting covid has slowed me up a bit. Threw in some wilko garlic yesterday though.

rotavate most of my plot… Then portion it up to convert it to no-dig

Sounds a little incongruous. If you’ve got the material/compost/manure, just pile it up on the beds you want to have as no-dig.

https://charlesdowding.co.uk/faqs/

Yeah, i appreciate that. I just have a lot of stuff I need to plant this year which won’t work with the time a no-dig bed will take to establish and I also don’t have enough FYM and compost to really make it work right now. When this year’s crops done I’ll cover with cardboard and compost. So the partitioning starts now but the prepping of the beds starts Oct/Nov of this year.

If you’ve got the material/compost/manure, just pile it up on the beds you want to have as no-dig.

In an ideal world but if your soil is home to tough perennial 'weeds' such as couch grass , horsetail, bindweed etc it doesn't always work and often requires years of patience by which time people can become a bit disillusioned with the idea.
Mind you rotavating land riddled with perennial 'weeds' just cuts them up and spreads them around.

If you mean transplanting the leek 'seedlings ' (as in those from normally seed sown in early Spring) - yeah they are hardy but they aren't going to do much growing over the winter months are they ?

I’m no expert. In the link I provided, Charles Dowding specifically mentions how to deal with things like couch grass. The only thing I’ve had to do more often since going ND is get the hoe out, but that’s little and often, just the very surface.

Sound like you’ve got a plan. Hope you have a good growing year.

They do grow a bit, it has been relatively mild winter which has helped.

Half a day today and the first two plots are shaping up. Bagged some hazel for beans, etc. from the coppicing. Just the third half to sort now. Tired now.

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Put some more onions in tonight. I’ve been doing a sort of nd. I cover the area with pond lining and wait for anything underneath to die so I’ve got clear soil. I pierced the soil with a bamboo cane insert the onion then cover with some compost. Then add a thin-ish layer of woof chip. Just enough to cover the ground but not so much that the onions can’t grow.

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Interesting technique. If you use old brown cardboard you can have the same effect of killing off the weeds and it will just rot down so you don't have to keep piercing it.

Sound like you’ve got a plan. Hope you have a good growing year.

Thanks, I have a plan but whether I fully carry it out is another matter :)

The one no-dig bed I've done has been so productive/easy to manage I need to convert the whole plot to it really. A bit at a time as I get the materials/compost.

It’s worked on an onion bed I’ve planted a few months ago. So we shall see come harvest time.

I have access to cardboard but I have to go collect it (miles away) pull all the tape off and staples. Then drive it to the plot.

I do use the cardboard a lot on beds and paths. But the wood chip is at the allotment. There’s always tonnes it so it’s just easier to throw a couple of loads down.

Sooo after covid restrictions lifted we went and got a social life towards the end of last year...
Yesterday was my first visit to the plot since October. Disgusting form I know.

Luckily the 2 biggest beds had already been cleared, mulched and tarped over so they’ll be getting onions and garlic sets in the next week or two.

Cleared and redug the salad/spinach bed. Missed out on the most recent manure delivery but our soil looks great.

Have just started chilli and tomato seeds at home.

Aside from getting my arse in gear clearing and redigging beds what else should I be getting up to at the mo??

what else should I be getting up to at the mo??

I’m trying to make a bit of an effort to plan what goes where, when. Have organised my seeds. Will start to plant a few bits soon.

Edit: you want to start chitting your early spuds soon if you’re doing them.

I've added a couple of pics to show what I've built to go in that cleared space - post 2556 -
8ft x 4ft x 18 in high.

Going to have to give up our plot as we have moved house and aren't able to get down there as often, good news is we have just been offered a new plot in the place we have moved to! Now is the time to dig everything up and transplant anyway, right?