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Allotment Gardening

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  • WilderbeastWilderbeast Posts: 1,415
    Well after polishing my own little halo yesterday i have a come down today. My early carrots appear to be bolting, all of them 😭😭 does this class as a disaster ? in my world it does but in Mrs Wilderbeast' world it's just a chance for some ribbing 🤣. 

    Thinned my multi sown leeks as they were way too thick. Picked my 1st ever mange tout they were lovely. 

    What's latest I can sow carrots ? 
  • Allotment BoyAllotment Boy Posts: 6,774
    Just back from a little session at the Allotment.  Tied in the outdoor tomatoes,  the rain has bashed them about a bit. Did quite a lot of hoeing &weed pulling,  sore fingers now even though I was wearing gloves.  I know they say you should hoe on a dry day but it was beginning to look like a jungle. Picked more broad beans and strawberries,  then persistent drizzle drove me home. 
    AB Still learning

  • GWRSGWRS Posts: 8,478
    Hello , full day at allotment weeding , lots of beds done 
    Cabbage growing well 
    Even took a disposable BQ , used charcoal to burn rotten pallets which I cut up for fire bin 
    O/H picked a another tub of strawberries 
    Was given some broad beans 
    Forecast for tomorrow not good 
  • Allotment BoyAllotment Boy Posts: 6,774
    Yesterday's damp start turned into quite a good day. Spent most time strimming and grass cutting,  continued with the weeding,  rain today means it's unlikely we will get anything done today. 
    AB Still learning

  • purplerallimpurplerallim Posts: 5,287
    The veg beds are ticking along nicely, so not much to do but water the greenhouse ( and a round of hand pollinating the toms)
    While outside took a look at the apples, appear to be fruiting well. It's a dual tree with Golden Delicious and Elstar 

  • barry islandbarry island Posts: 1,847
    Can I ask how you hand pollinate tomatoes?
  • purplerallimpurplerallim Posts: 5,287
    I use a child's paint brush, others just tap the plants to distribute the pollen. I find it very therapeutic to gently dust each flower, at which time I also notice if the plants need other forms of care ties, nipping out, ect. 
    I don't keep any seed so cross pollinating doesn't matter to me @barry island 😁
  • barry islandbarry island Posts: 1,847
    That sounds great I usually just tap the string which the plants are growing up as the flowers pollinate themselves.
  • GWRSGWRS Posts: 8,478
    Hello , nice morning spent in Garden , not so nice in the afternoon , a bit of drissly rain and very over cast but had a Bowls club meeting any way 
    Bought a pot of Basil from s/m this evening will repot into 4 pots as per last year which worked very well 
  • Gardengirl..Gardengirl.. Posts: 4,172
    I will be keeping the two little trees, one is a deep maroon coloured apple and the other is a pear as far I can tell, will see when the fruit gets a bit bigger. I'll also dig and move when dormant the really strangely planted redcurrants, even if I'm not their biggest fan I hate to waste plants. Will move them at the back of the plot and plant some autumn fruiting raspberries. 

    I have been thinking about layouts and not sure I'd like my space to have a boring central path. I'm working on the assumption of beds being 1.5m wide so they're easy to reach across for planting and weeding and with having long beds across the 10m width of the plot. In my mind it allows for a bit more flexibility to increase and reduce allocated space to specific crops by moving the small path across when needed. 

    Here's a schematic of what I'm thinking. Feel free to be honest from your experience if it seems a silly idea. Just thought since there's a grass path both sides it made sense as a way of navigating my beds instead of a central path. 

    Would it make sense to make the width 2m? Will use some string to see if I'm happy with the paths I've left between beds and decide on it then. 




    I have some raised beds for veg in the garden that are square 130cm by 130cm and find that hard to get to the middle area with out leaning over really far, I also have one at 120cm that is better, my few beds at allotment with pallet wood edge are 2 metres long and 1 metre wide, other than that I just have big areas where dug and then put paths where I want between plants changes each time. I have some paths with free bark chippings and some with free paving slabs from gumtree
    Some plots just dig all then just put paths between veg others put path down middle and have smaller rows of veg or flowers each side, some with beds and some people plots random layouts

    Site rep (temporary) and council lady went around today inspecting plots
    I did a little weeding as have a few beans need planting from nextdoor neighbour at home

    still looking at strimmer /trimmer thinking Ryobi
    Hampshire Gardener
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