Anyone with an allotment?

Thanks it's taken about 3 years to get to this stage.

Thoughts on what to do with the shady back corner of the plot? A lot of the soil seems pretty contaminated with rotting carpet and plastic. I’ve started levelling off today and reckon it’s a 2.5m x 7m strip along the back fence so fairly sizeable. Will need to add one compost heap at least.
Doesn’t get sun til afternoon during the winter and late morning at the mo.
I doubt I’ll be clearing along the side of the building any time soon but that’s also pretty shady.

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Perennial kale like Taunton Deane or Daubentons fares pretty well in shade.

Wankers. That really sucks.

Flowers?

I always thought an allotment was for fruit and veg but there are plenty of flowers to attract bees that like shade.

Growing asparagus from seed/preparing an asparagus bed; I’ve just got my first seedling appearing from some asparagus seeds I picked up cheap in the dobies sale last year, sowed them a bit late. Anyone grown it from seed? Got any tips?

Be patient and keep them indoors during the winter for the first year or two.

Crowns are the way forward with asparagus

Bastards, hope they stub their toe a on a doorframe today.

Just been up to water and no further thefts overnight but looks like more or less everyone had at least something taken.
Two sheds broken into, nothing stolen apart from my mates beer stash but they ripped everything off the walls and smashed a load of terracotta pots as well.
They must have been in for at least an hour or so considering the amount of work they did.

Rubbish. Hope they're caught sometime. The perpetrator always returns to the scene of the crime ...

The perpetrator always returns to the next available car boot sale.

When I had a spade stolen from my plot someone suggested I could always pick one up at the local car boot so there was always the opportunity to buy back my old spade.

The shed I’ve nearly finished building got a lick of paint today

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Fine sunshine right now

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Very nice - reminds me of gaily painted beach huts 😀

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What seeds should I be sowing now?

Got any cauliflowers in?

Lifted some garlic on Sunday, much better than last year, huge cloves on some of them.

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No. But I could do

When do you know when to pick garlic? I have a load in but have never grown it before.

I’ve always gone by stop watering once it starts yellowing/dying back, pick once completely died off.

I just lifted a couple, as they were yellow/dying back. Then I noticed a few had started to open which means they won't store well so lifted all of them now

+1 once the leaves die back a bit.

I’d say it’s ‘early’ compared to when I’d usually expect to pick garlic though - would be expecting to start thinking about it late June into July.

Yeah, I wasn't expecting to pull it until the end if this month, they were ready though so up they come.

Made some banging garlic bread yesterday!

I can fully recommend confit-ing some - keep for ages in a massive jar and just smash onto bread whenever you feel like it.