A new allotment

Jaxjacky, I need something with height, about 2m tall. I have ordered. I did love the look of the buddlea but all those seedlings over all the plots!

No time to waste at my age so 3 plants in 3 litre pots. Cornus alba miracle. Loads cheaper in 9cm pots or bare rooted, which would be fine if I were 20 years younger

Which leaves the area in front of the shed bare, never mind, I will bide my time

Should look rather lovely with the fargesia.

You can get dwarf buddlea karmalady not invasive and no seedlings yet.

oh heck, big mistake getting buddlea, it is very invasive and will produce millions of seedlings. I have 5, not yet planted and they won`t be. I need to think again

Ahh, thank you LadyG, it is just the way I am, tenacious capricorn with plenty of energy

An update: no storm damage for me from darragh but I was working there on monday and noticed that the winds were coming from N NW and there is a band of tall trees, giving shelter. Several other people had damage, many poly tunnels are bare of cover or leaning, two sheds damaged lots of crop covers are torn off. It is still quite a mess. It is the SW wind I fear

Lots done with lots of aching but the bulk of rotten heavy wood has gone to the tip. I had to saw almost all of it to fit the bags yesterday, good job my car is a skoda workhorse

Just about everywhere is covered, I still have paths to do but the weed fabric, covered in composted bark and masses of weeds, is extremely heavy. I am aiming to just roll it up when I get the chance, then either clean it or dump it

One of my 6 water butts had a leak from a badly positioned outlet hole, I am having to replace that and re-do the hole. I have re-distributed the total water and when I have finished, all 6 will be 1/2 to 2/3 full with a floating ball in each. I disconnected the diverters yesterday, I don`t want full butts being frozen over winter

I am putting in the last of my wind shelter, the fargesia rufa at the front, closest to my shed, they are gorgeous. I did the 3 weigelia today and that was tricky, so many roots to still deal with and it was so muddy, I popped grit and rootgrow into each hole. I have 5 various buddlea left to plant tomorrow, 3 on the windbreak area and 2 in front of my shed, south. I can easily keep the buddlea under control, pruning branches before spring

I don`t have much left to do and will be finished by tuesday, depending if the water butt replacement arrives. Tomorrow I am going to take the components for the final raised bed this year, 8 x 4 feet. That gives me 4 rotation beds ready to plant plus an asparagus bed. Any more beds will wait until next summer

Having an allotment is a lovely thing, meeting people and just pottering in contact with nature and the little robin which has befriended me

karmalady, Have you thought of following the ‘allotment hints and tips’ page on Facebook? They’re a mix of novice and experienced allotmenteers who share advice, post queries and pics etc. It’s a good community group.

Heavy rain here this weekend so the ground will be hydrated at last. I will complete the mulching early next week and then putting the garden to bed is complete for me too.

I’m looking forward to reading the seed catalogues over the Winter, and reading up on how to prune roses properly.

Happy hibernation!

You’re an inspiration to me karmalady!

I read all your posts on the new allotment forum and the daily one, I wish I had your determination and energy.

last post from me for a while, time to have a break

We have another storm coming over 3 days. 3 supportive water butts are set in place but I have been up and filled them, bucket after bucket, that was never my intention but now full, each one weighs 90-100kg and will be supportive

The ground is pretty well covered all over and I have managed to place level slabs in from of the 3 butt positions on the east side. I want to do the other three and install 3 more butts, as and when I get the opportunity

I am just about to start planning for growing and that includes the wiegelia and fargesia rufa. Wiegelia on the east side and fargesia on the west. They will have plenty of room to grow

I moved some bog standard thicker shiny black plastic, not weed fabric and it was good underneath, surprisingly dry and not claggy. I quickly changed plans this morning and did more covering, inspired by that result

There is very little to do now, just the 3 slabs and the water butts and from then I will leave the plot to its own devices

Hibernation time, for all of us

I have done a lot of work on the shed but one thing was keeping me awake. No point in having a tidy shed, now supporting gutters, hangers and goodies, if the felt blows off or even worse if the roof blows away

It came to me in the night, heavy slabs etc are a no no, potentially damaging and dangerous. I got up at 4.30 and went straight to my bag-making waxed canvas, tubes containing ballast are the answer. I bought bags of grit and my ballast is made

I borrowed some ballast off my weed covers at home, they are now hanging on the waterbutts too. I made 2 hefty ballast tubes, one for each end of the roof, apex at centre. I then decided I should put two lighter ones at centre. Up high on the ladder, I noticed that the felt nails are a bit popped up, that felt would have undone again

I made a total of 8 ballast tubes today and filled them with over 2 bags of grit. Last tubes I made were 2012 and they are still good today

Next I need to decide how to form paths and where to place them

Clothes. I needed suitable cheap clothes for the muddy allotment. Lands end sale, I have bought myself a thin layering roll neck top, a warm fleece with a half zip and best bargain of all a good wax jacket, roomy with hood and pockets. The colours are very suitable ie moss green and mud. The jacket cost only £35 instead of £158 and is 100% perfect

Ptfe tape, it is brilliant when a drip drip leak is getting you down. That and a tight jubilee clip sorted the entry joint from the diverter, the little drips were rolling down the outside of the first butt. Fixed that. The other joints will be tested in due course. Belt and braces, amazon do a small tube of silicone sealant, my standby

Being at the plot and pottering, doing maintenance, it is so good for my well-being, any small reason to go and I go.

I am needing to slowly get back to status quo wrt my garage, so today I will be taking my remaining preservative, to slosh inside and outside the shed. I want to lift the inside slabs and also do the floor before I replace them. Over glasses and long rubber gloves today, the preservative is runny like water and splashes all over me

I bought 2 keter city boxes the other week, just £25 each from amazon, I have several in my garden and they are completely waterproof and so handy for a potting surface. I am going to build them soon and will keep them in my shed, I have weed fabric and staples, rubbish bags, sundries etc, easier than stashing loose in a corner or having to build shelves. Big enough to hold a bag of compost and more

Progress is good, the mud is bad and I know I am ruining soil structure when I walk on the clay, this makes raised beds so worthwhile

Three months to march, not long at all

I am waiting for daylight and holding the horses until 9 ish.

First butt is drilled and spouts attached. waiting to take with the stand. A list is made as usual, so I dont forget anything

In 2011 I made weights for allotment beds, metre long wax canvas tubes that I put small gravel in. I think I will make similar, long tubes for small stones, they will only be half full of stones so I am going to bring them home to machine sew the open end. I still have the original filled tubes and one of those will drape nicely over each butt lid, for now. They are very useful for holding covers down

If you ever drill holes for fittings, the hole borer is far easier to use than the drill cutting bit with a middle point, that type slips

The piping is difficult to put onto the spouts, hot water helps to soften the end, I am going to take a flask with me. Obviously, the diverter end is more difficult wrt accuracy when cutting and a strip of paper taped at the right place will help to keep the saw straight, two cuts needed, exactly 30mm apart

Re costs, the water butts are £23 each and the stand £9, they are all removable if needed

4 angle braces done on one side and 3 on the other. The other side did not have much concrete slab showing and the drilling broke the edge of one slab into pieces. The hammer drill worked well, the driver was more tricky, I played around with the numbers and eventually got enough torque to push the concrete screw in

I stayed to sort my water butt slabs, it was daunting at first but tbh the lump hammer was very useful. Key was getting the first slab absolutely horizontal, bearing in mind this was on top of claggy wet clay bolstered with stones. I now have 3 x 45cm slabs touching each other and the whole is perfect wrt the long spirit level, I used a short one for individual slabs

The slabs on the broken big-slab side are up as tight as I could get them and I will install three water butts on that side asap. They will be 4` tall in total, so will help if there is another storm. The first 2 butts are arriving today and I will put the taps in and pre-drill holes for diverter and butt linking. Diverter takes 26mm hole and linking is 32mm hole, easiest to do in my kitchen

Ptfe tape is already out and will be used on all screw threads, going in the correct direction so that it will act as an effective seal

Phew, all this plotting and planning, I so hope it is worth it

Thank goodness, I am almost at the last pre-winter stage. The path to my plot runs parallel to my shed, it is horrible and claggy and full of stones. I am going to make a new easy path, further into where the old fruit cage was and I will overplant the present path with sedums, same as I have at home for ground cover. The sedums will be low enough to easily access the water butts on that side and they like acidic clay soil

The new path will allow for the 1.5 diameter of the weigelias, which will be between new path and sedums

All I want now is successful butt installation, so I can stop thinking about wonky unstable shed. At the moment I feel as though tail is wagging dog but the end is in sight, to be followed by sheer enjoyment

Good tips Casdon. I half empty my water butts at home and float a ball in each one, which gives frozen water the space to rise. A concrete slab, I wish but my water butts are only just over 30 cm diameter. Water weight is going to help keep them in place. I am thinking maybe also some bricks on each lid but all might change if we get another bad storm

I finished the second guttering this morning and put the downpipes in place ready for diverters. I am thinking of joining water butts together sooner rather than later, while I can still reach inside them. I will make sure they are only half full and then disconnect the diverters and use shaved corks to act as temporary bungs for winter. Excess rain will then go straight down to ground

Tomorrows plans: first the angle braces, the drilling and fixing. Then I need to use my spirit level to make sure the slabs are as even as I can get them for the water butts. I will take my heavy lump hammer, it will help to get the stones bedded down under the slabs. The rubber mallet for the slabs. I don`t want to be buying and transporting heavy sand for bedding

I like that I am managing to get back at lunchtime for the day

Sorry, forgot to say I lay an old concrete slab on each one so they don’t get blown away.

I keep my butts empty over the winter because I’m worried about them freezing and expanding to crack the plastic, so I disconnect them and lay them on their side behind the shed until March. I’ve never had a problem with them not filling up by the time I need them. If you get the guttering ready now, would that be an option for you?

Merlotgran, thank you, I forgot that I have ordered 10 asparagus,5 early and 5 late and the bed is ready and covered.

Ahh skydancer, how nice, I am getting such good benefit from being focused outside of my immediate home. Big advantages to me, a new acquaintance on the site said `you live in the moment and forget all the stresses and worries of life`

A bit of apprehension for today, I did not find it easy to get the first guttering done, I did eventually get the flow correct but it is a tight squeeze under the roof overhang. I am going to straighten the pile of stones on the other side, put 3 slabs on temporarily and get the second gutter done. Up a stepladder for the last time today, I hope

I think the first 2 water butts will arrive tomorrow and the floplast diverters today. Important jobs for me over the next couple of days but first the strong angle braces, to give me some peace of mind when the wind blows, I am excited to get that job done. The shed weight plus concrete slab strength together. The metpost suggestion is still in my mind.

The water butts will be empty, I need to find a way of weighting them until they fill up The solution might come to me overnight, it usually does.

karmalady You are an inspiration. Please let’s keep this thread going.

karmalady

To make life easier as I get older, I am thinking about investigating perennial vegetables. Starting with jerusalem artichoke { fartychoke}. I found two shorter types, not invasive. I know that people sometimes cannot keep up their maintenance and production but the dwarf varieties seem a lot easier

I could grow these in 4 x 4 ` beds. Also perennial kale, collards, leeks, walking onions and so on. I have never grown perennial veg but it would be helpful for the future. Has anyone any experience with them?

Esmay, I feel that I am being too single-minded at the moment but I want to do it. The outdoors stuff gives me a purpose and a feel-good factor

The strong braces have just arrived, they are heavy and perfect. The concrete screws fit and I am just waiting for the torx wood screws. One concrete screw and 2-4 wood screws per angle brace

Asparagus is our most valuable crop and in my opinion worth the wait for it to establish and the short season. We also grow globe artichokes and rhubarb.

Hang the expense, all the tools will be inherited by my AC and dgc

I will ruin the makita drill/driver if I give it prolonged use on concrete so have ordered a cordless makita hammer drill, all my tools are makita and I have several batteries. I bought a makita corded hammer drill when I had to do several jobs on moving to my new home. My AC can borrow it anytime and will do so

The cordless drill just hammers and is not a driver so I will need to take the drill/driver and the new drill and goggles and ear defenders

I will be able to do this job on saturday, thanks to amazon prime delivery. I am excited tbh

To make life easier as I get older, I am thinking about investigating perennial vegetables. Starting with jerusalem artichoke { fartychoke}. I found two shorter types, not invasive. I know that people sometimes cannot keep up their maintenance and production but the dwarf varieties seem a lot easier

I could grow these in 4 x 4 ` beds. Also perennial kale, collards, leeks, walking onions and so on. I have never grown perennial veg but it would be helpful for the future. Has anyone any experience with them?

Esmay, I feel that I am being too single-minded at the moment but I want to do it. The outdoors stuff gives me a purpose and a feel-good factor

The strong braces have just arrived, they are heavy and perfect. The concrete screws fit and I am just waiting for the torx wood screws. One concrete screw and 2-4 wood screws per angle brace

How wonderful .
It sounds like a great deal of hard work ,but gardening is such fantastic mental and physical therapy. And many useful ideas have been posted .
Do enjoy it .

Lixy, yes definitely, I am looking forward to relaxing in a comfy deckchair

Very cold up there today, I did saw through rotten wood and have taken 2 car loads to the tip. Bought some more 45cm slabs and now three are on the shed floor, over the central 2 bearers. All the guttering stuff is in there ready and waiting for a nicer day

Good experience this morning, I met some landscapers on site, fixing perimeter fencing. They said yes they would clear the shed and build a new one if it blows over again, so that is now one worry less ie who could I contact, just in case

I did a little recce and will plant the 3 fargesia in a triangle shape SW of my shed, certainly that will have some impact on the SW wind that prevails here. The 3 wiegelia will simply be planted s of my shed. The fargesia will be ideal and I will be able to take my 570 litre keter box up there to build later. Fargesia will be behind the box, I was wondering where to put it. The plants will arrive in a month

Wood hardener is coming today, I want to soak some vulnerable edges when that arrives, lower edges and upper edges. Right now I am home, in the warm and going to have a relaxing afternoon

Good idea to grow your own bamboo canes as that can be a harvestable crop.
Hope you will also invest in a properly comfortable deckchair for when you achieve your calm place.

We weren’t allowed flowering shrubs etc on our allotment but I know regulations are different everywhere.