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dpack



Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 45374
Location: yes
PostPosted: Fri Jun 28, 19 5:57 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

up is good to avoid carrot root fly, mine are on first floor window sills

if you have a couple of feet it is often enough, they look down the fools

no prob re the lotty advice stuff that folk taught me.

best advice for this time of year is get your deep litter pig manure ordered from somewhere nice, book it now, have it delivered when the styes are cleaned and re filled.
source rotten organic hay or straw that is being cleared to make barn space for new stuff, avoid anything that might have had herbicides or neo nic/ op's used

as a lotty group you can source a lot of useful stuff, have you a cold frame? my cousin barry replaces windows etc etc.
it can be informal but a lotty meeting/online chat can identify needs and resources.
i did stuff like plastic pipe and sheet and coppice poles and trout , somebody did carpet ( pure wool ) another did good dung etc etc

work as a team to source stuff and knowledge

looking from here my world is very green but quite small , suits me i quite like using whatever is available that i can cope with

dpack



Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 45374
Location: yes
PostPosted: Fri Jun 28, 19 6:27 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

a good ice breaker at such a meeting is for folk to establish a wish list , working out how to fulfil it follows

on the hudds lottie we had a shed for "spare " stuff like 1000g polythene a 50m roll is as ceap as enogh for a few cloches, stakes , wire, etc etc . enough folk added their spares to make it work well for everyone

sgt.colon



Joined: 27 Jul 2009
Posts: 7380
Location: Just south of north.
PostPosted: Mon Jul 01, 19 12:30 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Thanks again DPack for all that.

The pig manure, what is that used for? Is it just for going on the beds once everything has been picked?

Oh another question, sorry. My garlic and onion beds, should I plant something in them or just cover them in manure and leave it to rot down ready for next years planting?

Thanks.

dpack



Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 45374
Location: yes
PostPosted: Mon Jul 01, 19 1:25 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

stye litter is ace rotted down ( grow pumpkins or similar on the heap) and used as a top dressing or dug into trenches under rows of beans etc.
un rotted it can be added to compost heaps or mixture.

it is high in k and p as well as n but the straw/fibre components are also ace for giving a good soil texture and worm food

horse n cow have less nutrients but still improve soil texture as does waste hay or spent mushroom compost

i would be wary of anything that was not organic standards, some folk use herbicide treated crop stems as bedding etc etc

horse is usually easiest to find but not many folk check bedding for herbicide residues, if you can be sure the bedding is ok it can often be got for the bother of turning up with a fork and trailer and composted your end, some folk do their composting at the stables but they often charge for well rotted stuff

an organic mixed animal midden is brown gold but finding one that is available can be tricky

hence my suggestion to source manures collectively at allotment scale, even one plot can use several tons a year in a soil building program.
imho you can't have too much crap on an allotment

in one garden i had for a few years i started by adding 2 tons of well rotted mixed farmyard manure to about 15 sq m dug into the top two spade depths.
it went from dust to wonderful very quickly

dpack



Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 45374
Location: yes
PostPosted: Mon Jul 01, 19 1:52 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

i have found garlic and onions are best in a fairly mature but open soil, fresh manuring seems a bit much for them, if i have a rotation going they go in as the crop after the heavy feeders have had a go

as you are starting a soil building program, yeh you are putting the garlic in the least promising looking soil and boosting soil condition elsewhere ready for say overwintered beans ( aquadeluce in cloches ) on top of nice warm fermenting manure in a double spit trench or early spuds before later beans and then brassicas and then alliums

this 4 year system is ok but with clever use of plant types early /late/fast etc etc the 4 year thing can be compressed to a shorter rotation but the same sequence and more crops per year.

the ideal situation is that something is growing everywhere at all times. if it isnt time to plant a crop you really want even a month is long enough to get some green manure/weed suppression done

even if you need to solarise a patch to kill off weeds you can pop tubs etc on top

sgt.colon



Joined: 27 Jul 2009
Posts: 7380
Location: Just south of north.
PostPosted: Tue Jul 02, 19 10:01 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Thank you again for all that DPack. So crop wise what would be good to follow garlic and onions? I think I'll poo it over winter.

Thanks

dpack



Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 45374
Location: yes
PostPosted: Tue Jul 02, 19 1:29 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

it depends when you harvest the onions and garlic but something that likes a heavy feed that will restore the bed for the next crops such as spuds or beans is usual.
finding a type suitable for planting at the relevant time ie just after harvest is a big part of getting the most from a plot.

with beans leave the roots in as the nitrogen fixing nodules will feed the next crop

my rotation at the mo is a bit different as i move the soil rather than put a new crop in the same place due to containers, tomatos only grow in some places and need clean soil so the used stuff moves to herbs and salads etc in other spots.

sgt.colon



Joined: 27 Jul 2009
Posts: 7380
Location: Just south of north.
PostPosted: Wed Jul 03, 19 8:28 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Thanks DPack.

Half the garlic has come up due to rust, the rest will come up in the next couple of weeks, along with, I'm guessing, my onions. Though the bed that the onions are in I'm thinking of rotating 90 degrees.

So much to think about.

sgt.colon



Joined: 27 Jul 2009
Posts: 7380
Location: Just south of north.
PostPosted: Mon Aug 12, 19 9:40 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

I've grown carrots in a big tub this year and I was wondering how long I can leave them in there before I need to pull them?

Thanks

gregotyn



Joined: 24 Jun 2010
Posts: 2201
Location: Llanfyllin area
PostPosted: Thu Aug 15, 19 2:35 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Try one and see!

dpack



Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 45374
Location: yes
PostPosted: Thu Aug 15, 19 11:34 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

if they are in clumps tis best to take a whole clump rather than one in the middle and upset the rest/ attract vermin.

even tiny ones are delicious and the extra space is better for getting bigger ones.

re that have you checked thinning carrots ?
which is part of the game

sgt.colon



Joined: 27 Jul 2009
Posts: 7380
Location: Just south of north.
PostPosted: Fri Aug 16, 19 8:44 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Thanks DPack.

I have read about thinning carrots but then I didn't do it this year because I'd read somewhere that if you didn't thin them it helped stop carrot fly.

dpack



Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 45374
Location: yes
PostPosted: Fri Aug 16, 19 11:08 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

if you do it carefully and mash a couple of carrots and tops as a distraction some distance from the carrot bed.

not a gnt of no root fly interest but alleged to help

the sacrificial distraction can also help when planting out tender young things.
use normal slimey hoard measures but a bit of shredded lettuce or better still hostas placed so they find them before they get to the plantlets does help keep them off

sgt.colon



Joined: 27 Jul 2009
Posts: 7380
Location: Just south of north.
PostPosted: Mon Aug 19, 19 8:24 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Well I got down to my allotment yesterday and something had ransacked the carrot tub. I wish I'd have asked your advise after I'd pulled the one carrot. Doing that obviously gave the critter the thought that it had carte blanch to have a yummy and health meal on me. Buggers!

Mistress Rose



Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15539

PostPosted: Tue Aug 20, 19 7:04 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

That's a shame Sgt. Colon. I assume you mean something dug them up and ate them. Rabbit perhaps?

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