Anyone with an allotment?

We have some friends who co-work our plot. They’re on the paperwork and have their own key etc but our system doesn’t involve dealing with the council directly so that was all straight forward

As its the path it'll be the best soil on the plot after all these years. I should invert for a year sometime and grow on the paths only.

@Tonts the woodchip is free as hedge trimmers can't get rid of it otherwise. Our manure is £1 per level barrow, bulk buy a few years back came in at 50p a barrow but took a lot of shifting from gate to plot.

Cool, I just can’t be arsed to involve the council quite frankly ;) the plot will be better for it and she’s far more upstanding and respectable than me anyway.
Maybe we’ll make it official in the autumn if she gets into it. Her garden is immaculate so I’m sure it’ll be fine.

We share our plot with friends - I don't think the council know or care, we have just one name down for the payment of subs. As long as the plot is being worked no one seems to mind.

I’m sure it’ll be cool - at our site it seems like you can generally do whatever as long as you don’t attract the wrong kind of attention. Though a mate if mine had a plot in Walthamstow that he’s given up due to the way the site was run, so maybe the London vibe is different 😂

Quick yay or nay - Plant early potatoes in pots today with a couple of -2 nights ahead?
Never done pots before so not really sure.

They'd probably be ok, but why not wait until next week?

Yay.

Its not the next couple of cold (frost ?) nights but the chance of late frosts in say 2 or 3 weeks time when the tops are emerging - knocks them back a bit.
Early potatoes aren't necessarily named for early planting but for the shorter length to harvest.

These "Ratte" (maincrop) are itching to get going ...

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Looking good. I left my second earlies and maincrop in their packing too long and they chitted hard 😩 going to be on the long chits again this year.

going to be on the long chits again this year

So how did they go last year ?
Any 'boulders ' ?

Boulders? Not really. It was a poor year for spuds as there was so much blight about. The Apache long-chits didn’t yield a huge amount. The Sarpo Mira long chits were actually much the better of the two maincrop potatoes I did, they are blight resistant though - Desiree really didn’t do well. In general I didn’t care for them as well as I have before and lots of weeds grew up due to the weird weather. The Sarpos did really well considering, though. Probably the best maincrop I’ve tried. Tasty too. Worth saving some for seed.

Yeah those Sarpo varieties are excellent - not included in this book I got in 1993 but worth getting hold of a copy if just for the illustrations ...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/STORY-POTATO-through-illustrated-varieties/dp/B005GDUE16

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Can I afford not to buy it?…

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what pigmeat said 😀

As if this book even exists

Just ordered some more asparagus crowns. Very excited.

I’ve bought some onion sets but already have quite a few in the ground. Is there anything Is there anything I can do to pause their growth

Keep the sets in the fridge might work?

Trying a new method with spuds this year.

Cleared weeds, rotovated (so probably only a 3” real dig), covered with a manure-y straw mulch.

Left that for three weeks.

Got the tatties chitted and the planted them by dragging back the mulch, digging individual holes (rather than trenching and mounding). Used a stiff rake over the gaps between rows to slightly mound with rotted manure, and then re-covered with the mulch I’d dragged off.

The soil beneath where the mulch was is gorgeous - really moist and seething with worms compared to the other areas which I’d traditionally tilled which are very dry.

Also expected to find a lot of weeds under the mulch - but almost none.

Feeling quite hopeful that this approach will work well.

Sweetcorn and pumpkin seedlings sprouting like good‘uns in pots too. Need to get onions ready to go.

Anyone tried carrots in really tall and thin raised beds? I was thinking of trying that approach this year - last year mine disappeared into weeds and it took back breaking work to free the plants.

Why would you want to pause their growth?

I’ve been putting in 50 onions everything months in different beds and I’m concerned I’m going to have too many.

Just bought another 100 because they were so cheap. Couldn’t resist

How big is your plot?

I think it’s 8x10.

I’ll just slot them into other beds I think. Just wonder if I could stagger them in some way

Just wonder if I could stagger them in some way

Keep them cold & dry & (dark?) might delay them, but I have no experience of trying to do this.

Whacking them in amongst everything else might hamper other things growing?