Impressive. A lot of hard work, but it sounds as though it's been enjoyable, and is starting to pay off in terms of produce. Have you got the one plot, or two ?
one ,but im taking over another and converting this one to perennials (and space fillers ).
3 year plan , first year /clear /plant / reduce weeds / bag up contents of ex glasshouse .second year /finish weeds /plant more perenials (and space fillers ) re build glasshouse . third year / plant more perennials(and space fillers ) .
i spose it has been lots of hours and physical effort but some folk pay to go to the sports centre , my exercise feeds me .
i am starting to buy much less food .
i think with 2 plots and some planning i will be ok for fruit n veg for me and some over .
carbs and meat and fuel is a different matter.
maybe i could rent a field to grow carbs ?
what carbs will grow in west yorkshire ?
what does it cost to sow a rented field with barley or wheat or buckwheat or millet (wont be that hot and dry ) ?
will the birds eat it unless i employ a small child as a scarecrow ?
grow your own grain.
i like this idea .
sparrows ate my wheat last time
how much space do i need ?
Penny Outskirts
Joined: 18 Sep 2005 Posts: 23385 Location: Planet, not on the....
Posted: Wed May 03, 06 9:43 pm Post subject:
I love before and after pictures - very inspirational, thanks for sharing dpack
i hope it helps this years crop of new allottmenteers ,this thread and site has helped me lots , ( not just with the allottment ) .
downsizer does seem to be producing some good "how to" threads .
oi it isnt after it's during
Penny Outskirts
Joined: 18 Sep 2005 Posts: 23385 Location: Planet, not on the....
Posted: Thu May 04, 06 6:53 am Post subject:
dpack wrote:
oi it isnt after it's during
Dig Dig Dig
Joined: 06 Feb 2006 Posts: 20 Location: Sunny Sussex By The Sea
Posted: Fri May 12, 06 11:24 am Post subject:
I am realy starting to enjoy this . There are seedlings popping up through the ground, the fruit garden is in bloom and the suds are over a foot high which is very encouraging. I have spent most days this week on the allotment in the last of the evening sun hoe ing (thanks for the advise about leaving a hoe width between rows), watering and planting. That allows me time this weekend to try my latest idea of transfering heat from the compost bins to the area where the green house will be situated.
Tomatoes looking a bit poorly - I think they may need a feed.
Herbs doing ok
Some of the lettuces eaten by slugs but some eaten by us, too!
Cabbages looking nice ...
Beans doing terrible
Peas reasonable
Corn needs planting out (STILL!)
Did as you suggested with the carpet and the heap of compost and the courgettes dpack, and the slugs took 35.678 seconds to demolish the whol bally lot. I am the only person on the planet who will have a dearth of 'gettes instead of a surplus this year!
Spuds looking nice after what seemed like a very slow start.
my weeds are pretty fine ,i am converting to useful weeds but it takes time
i have snaps but im too tired to be bothered to load or post them tonight .
how many of last years crop of new allottmenteers are still enthusistic regardless of progress (i can see where my efforts have profited me but not all has worked )and i have the last 15% in area ,80%in effort to clear and get into production .
a fine activity ,today i gave a hot (cherry n ash ) smoked trout to my allottment neighbour, with a home grown salad ,as it was ready and i had plenty .good game ,good game .nice people (mostly )and as i like getting things to grow it suits me very well .
and it makes me strong with exercise ,discipline and real food .
at £15 a year per plot it is a good bit cheaper than buying a house with a bit of land
i have courgettes , not marrows but courgettes .i dont much like them but at 15cm they are getting the steam n butter treatment .only a couple of days to go
allottments are well worth any effort put into their upkeep .
:arrow:
Bernie66
Joined: 14 Jan 2005 Posts: 13967 Location: Eastoft
Posted: Fri Jun 02, 06 10:13 pm Post subject:
dpack wrote:
at £15 a year per plot it is a good bit cheaper than buying a house with a bit of land
i have several pounds of garlic flower stems ,jamal signed to snip them so i did ,
even the prunings can make good food .
tommorrow i will use them in something and freeze it in lumps .
i am going to get a bigger freezer space (the sporting autographs will sell for about 2 new freezers and are going to auction soon )
my only big expense from becoming an allottmenteer is for freezer space (and i want to buy meat in proper amounts from reputable sources -you know who you are )
allottments are good so far , not quite like a garden , not quite like a farm .
if you like good work , good folk and good food , get one and dig
so expensive @£25 :arrow: the bank
daft me though .i thought i wanted to buy a place to suit my needs but this is so much easier .and i can choose the assets to suit the needs and adjust them easily
however in some places it seems to be that you need to be god's godfather to get a plot
dont even ask just plant
be a digger
you may lose a few but you will win a few
plant food
it makes sense
i cant really follow that pro grow rant .