Anyone with an allotment?

The waiting list for a plot where we have moved to in Kent is decades long apparently.

We've joined a community garden instead, it's incredible, everyone pays £15 to be a member and you essentially work a giant plot together, and can take what you need, means we are growing so much and on scale and have loads of different people and skills involved.

Day 1

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Unusual veg-growing-with-kids question. How do you deal with slugs and snails in front of a small kiddo?
Mine is nearly two and I don't want her to watch me stamp on snails, but I also don't want all my peas and beans and lettuces eaten. I can't really get out in the garden much without her tagging along. And I'm not really in the market for a more hi-tech solution to the pests

Chuck em over the neighbours fence. It’s the traditional method.
I launched at least a dozen slugs onto the abandoned plot opposite today, felt good.

Found out today that Denny, one of the old heads passed away a few weeks back just before his 90th birthday which sucks. Honestly assumed he was only in his early 70s. The charming old sod spent as much time chatting up all the women as he did working. A couple of folks went over his plot today and have saved as much seed as possible to distribute around, he was a master at growing gourds and Caribbean greens that I’d never seen before. His sons are bringing their bbq up for jerk and beers next weekend. End of an era, he tended his plot for well over 50 years.

Anyone else get sunburnt to fuck today? I didn’t really notice the sun because it was so breezy up my end and figured I was hot because I was throwing the rotavator around for a few hours.
Main crop spuds in, couple of rows of kohl rabi and caulis in as well, hoping the slugs don’t fuck them over tonight as I don’t have any more kohl seedlings to replace them with.
One of my neighbours was handing out massive stacks of raspberry whips as well today, I didn’t need any but a good few people got sorted.

Decided to sack off my fire pit area so gonna turn that into another bed tomorrow.

Will do pics tomorrow, it’s starting to look pretty solid.

I like the sound of Denny

He was a good egg, proud owner of 4 chest freezers as well.
Nice to know his family will be dining on his final harvests for some time yet. I might go dig up one of his monster spinach clumps tomorrow.

I’ve got a blight related question. Last year towards the end of the season some of my tomato plants got blight. I have 2 raised beds in my green house where the tomato’s go.

I know I need to clean the greenhouse but do I need to replace the soil? It will be an utter ballache. But it’s less of a ball ache than everything getting blight

Jay’s fluid to clean the greenhouse?

New bed at the front instead of the fire pit that was there previously. Soil seemed pretty good once the turfy top bits removed. Rotovated the bejesus out of it and stuck a few spuds in and chucked manure on top.
Aside from that it was mostly just repotting seedlings and sprinkling a few flower seeds on the edge of the beds that have been planted.

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Are the chippings to keeps weeds down between beds? I need to do something but not sure on how effective it is, unless deep.

Reminds me to get some spring onions to bang in.
Not much here, potatos in and salads good. Plus some Jake and brocolli seeds. Loads of seeds coming on in their pots to go in the ground in a. Few weeks.

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The chip is what we use for paths, I just happen to not want the hassle of strimming them, have already done in one window on the shed with a flicked stone.
It’s not foolproof at keeping weeds at bay, especially dandelions and depending on time of year the chip varies in quality- this winter stuff is ace for paths as it’s dry and no leaf in there. Summer chip tends to be a bit claggier and good for mulching plants more than for the paths.
We just had some good stuff delivered so want to get them all topped up. You’d be amazed how much chip a path can absorb annually. Will be ace soil one day so might shift the beds in future.
There’s membrane underneath the path along the side of the building and in front of our compost bays as they’re going to be chip permanently.

Grass paths are nice too but not for me.

All looking very good people, doesn’t it make a difference when the sun’s out and stuff is actually growing.
I planted those onions which I put in the root trainers (mistake) and potted on all my toms, peppers and chilli's. The little guys are gonna have to fend for themselves against the cold as I want my work surface back…
Oh and as @edmundro said, watch out for the sun, especially when you forget to sunblock a vagina shaped section of your forehead. 👍

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Thanks. Yeah I'd need a good bit

Talk to me about brassicas. Put some cauli and kohl seedlings in yesterday.
Last time we tried to do caulis a couple of years we made a knee high bamboo cage with fine mesh but even so they got absolutely mullered by insects after they started forming heads and not done them since.
Another one of those things that seem to be foolproof for others but elusive for us.

We get it delivered regularly by the council tree boys. There’s always a big pile to help yourself to.
Chip is usually considered a waste product to most small tree surgery companies so if you call round a few local firms they’ll probably do you a tipper load in return for some beers/diesel money.
Every tree company I ever worked for had a deal with multiple allotment sites to just drop chip at whenever you’re in the area.

9 star perennial broccoli has cropped super early. Quite surprised, was expecting it in June.

Alliums doing alright, could get a nice early crop again this year, and the apple blossom looking lovely.

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Germinating squash seedlings, does "on their side" mean lying horizontally or vertically? And is there a correct end to put at the bottom?

(Have been fine without an actual answer, but struggling to get some to germinate this year so wondering what the "proper" way is)

I always stick the seed in vertically, pointy bit down, rounder bit up. That’s how the root/cotyledons are oriented. However I sometimes find that the seed casing sticks to the seed leaves as they try to own and is hard to remove and I wonder if the seed had to turn a bit more then it would break off easier. Not sure this theory has any substance to it though. I still grow plenty of squash.

We always get them started on a damp paper towel in Tupperware in the airing cupboard. Then stick them in a small pot once they've sprouted.
Can see what has worked easily this way.

Is this garlic ready to harvest? I know it went in last winter

cant see the pic but pretty unlikely to be ready now. Needs till late summer I think.

Managed to score some horse shit

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Garlic unlikely to be ready for a couple months still.

Awesome. I also need the hive mind on this project.

I’ve got these pipes which I want to attach to these posts for strawberries

Give it take 12 feet long probably weight 20kg each and I’d say 6” diameter

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Anyone got a good source for a large(like 1.5m long) and relatively deep planter? Preferably dirt cheap.
There’s a dead space in front of the building, right next to my plot that people keep using as a dumping ground. Figure that a good planter with a help yourself sign with some peas or other fast easy veg might keep the scoundrels off.

Get a plastic builders tub?