A new allotment

Thank you lixy, that was exactly what I needed to know. I have a lot of bed space so can give it that big bed to itself. I think I will put 9 in with 3 of each variety. I am going to put that friable compost in today and the decent spacing will allow me to keep a good eye on the weeds that will come up, especially if there is bindweed

I am hoping to finish that bed prep today and that reminds me to take weed fabric to the plot, the type that lets water through. I only have 2m x 5 m sizes so will not cut it as it will do for somewhere else next year

It is going to be another full-on day today and I did order 4 stabiliser grids, the path inwards is quite slippy as it is clay

It is tipping down and a thoroughly miserable day but my bocking- 14, bare roots, all arrived yesterday, far too big to put into temporary pots, even if I could be bothered. I kept them cold in the car overnight and there are 12 good big roots and 3 small root portions, all of them will take off

I also ordered 4 bags of horse compost from my very good supplier, closed bags and are retailed. It is a drive to get them but tbh my car needs a run after countless short journeys. They are for the potato bed, to help build up, this is the last bed to fill but I am not doing any more soil transfer until it is a dry day

I am taking those and my roots straight to the plot, new clean gloves and spare clean trowel and wearing overtrousers and waterproof pac a mac. I will be tip toeing over plastic to try and minimise claggy clay on my shoes. I have used bocking 14 for 14 years and never worried about spacing, these 15 will get as much as possible and then I will leave them to it. I do have to gingerly roll plastic back and re-pin

New cheaper lighter and maneuverable single-wheeled allotment wheelbarrow is ordered and a border stainless steel fork. The tines on my other fork, sneeboer digging fork are pointing every which way after years of use. I need to bring my `posh` 2 wheeled barrow home and also my tools next week. Everything is covered in manure so I need to be very careful with hygiene when washing everything. No more manure use again, not ever

I am glad I worked so intensively, now that conditions are almost impossible

Do it quickly Karmalady we are having snow here in Oxfordshire, admittedly wet, but if it freezes you won’t get much done. I think we are on a similar level to you.

You can then sit at home and dream of your plot next Spring, sitting in your potting shed with a cuppa looking over your bountiful veggies.

Our new allotments have to get planning permission for any sheds they want to put up, ridiculous I think.

PS, you can tell they are newbies to gardening as all of their equipment is shiny and new, without sheds they have to wheel it all back to their homes each time.

We have allotments at the top of our road, my DH applied for one a few years ago and got one pretty quickly. Unfortunately he fought a losing battle with mare’s tail and when his hip began to be a problem he gave it up. My Dad had an allotment then a very big garden and got a lot of satisfaction from growing fruit and vegetables so I know the pleasure they can bring to the whole family.

I did it, planted all the bocking 14 and future plantings will just be from bits I dig up from my own diddy garden.

It was so easy to see the terrible patches of unworked clay, only around the shed fortunately. I am going to have to wait until it is dry, lever soil up a bit and put bark down, for now. It will help in time and I will be marking the area with builders string. That area was like a pond, a future project

I did 30 minutes in the freeze this morning, opened up 4 horse manure composts, spread some old raised bed soil over and that last bed is covered. My bright, expensive wheelbarrow is home and washed as are my six pairs of very dirty gloves. I know that barrow is expensive but I bought it for transferring heavy items from my car to garden and 2 wheels is more stable. Allotment barrow is in my hall waiting to be assembled, one wheel, it needs to be maneuverable

My shed held well after all that rain, still damp inside but definitely no new rain patches. I want to clear the shed, to put preservative on the floor and inside walls and put up some tool storage hooks. I will be clearing as soon as this cold wet blast stops. My garage is temporarily overflowing

The exciting bit for me, I have ordered 2 types of potatoes, two different asparagus plus onion sets, garlic and shallots. Honestly I never thought I would manage to this stage

I need to cover the alliums because from past experience, the birds pull them out so have ordered 3 square pop up cages, just 1 x1 m each, I don`t know the measurements of that wooden bed but I will be able to get two on and buy a 1.25 square raised bed that I can cover for something else. The extra space is good for pegging the pop ups down

I absolutely have got to get myself a gardening notebook, I have no idea of rotations as the beds are higgeldy

karmalady

I did it, planted all the bocking 14 and future plantings will just be from bits I dig up from my own diddy garden.

It was so easy to see the terrible patches of unworked clay, only around the shed fortunately. I am going to have to wait until it is dry, lever soil up a bit and put bark down, for now. It will help in time and I will be marking the area with builders string. That area was like a pond, a future project

I did 30 minutes in the freeze this morning, opened up 4 horse manure composts, spread some old raised bed soil over and that last bed is covered. My bright, expensive wheelbarrow is home and washed as are my six pairs of very dirty gloves. I know that barrow is expensive but I bought it for transferring heavy items from my car to garden and 2 wheels is more stable. Allotment barrow is in my hall waiting to be assembled, one wheel, it needs to be maneuverable

My shed held well after all that rain, still damp inside but definitely no new rain patches. I want to clear the shed, to put preservative on the floor and inside walls and put up some tool storage hooks. I will be clearing as soon as this cold wet blast stops. My garage is temporarily overflowing

The exciting bit for me, I have ordered 2 types of potatoes, two different asparagus plus onion sets, garlic and shallots. Honestly I never thought I would manage to this stage

I need to cover the alliums because from past experience, the birds pull them out so have ordered 3 square pop up cages, just 1 x1 m each, I don`t know the measurements of that wooden bed but I will be able to get two on and buy a 1.25 square raised bed that I can cover for something else. The extra space is good for pegging the pop ups down

I absolutely have got to get myself a gardening notebook, I have no idea of rotations as the beds are higgeldy

Good grief Karmalady I’m exhausted just reading that 😂

karmalady have you taken pics of the plot before hand, its' so good to look back and think (how the heck! did I do that)!

I have had to take over my dad's plot allotment, it is massive!

It belongs to the Electric board.

We have had to removed and chop up a caravan, a massive shed and have two BIG skips.

Managed to grow few tomatoes and onions.
No pesticides etc.

Have had to buy a petrol chainsaw to chop the shed up. my dad has had it for 40 yrs and he is a hoarder.

You sound like you are really pulling all the stops out and doing good. I bet you sleep at night lol.

Ooh Bikergran, what a lot of work but definitely satisfying. Your dad must be so glad that you have taken it on

I did another 30 minutes today, short and sweet. I assembled the new wheelbarrow at home, it is so much better for the allotment and is very much lighter to use. 3 bag loads for the tip and I have now brought most of my tools home, all the good ones. I need to be in the mood to clean, sharpen and oil them and anyway it is too cold just now

I will be able to make the batons soon, to screw the tool hangers onto the side of the shed. I will have to buy 2 x 1 softwood and screws. I found some seemingly good hangers on amazon, it comes in 4 pieces with good reviews. I want to be able to hang all my tools up plus my gloves etc. I need to take measurements, cutting will not be a problem, I have a vice

I am not leaving my special ball and burgon tools there, nor my wolf-garten click-on ends. They can be transported by bike. I do want some tools to be there permanently and have been browsing amazon deals for spear and jackson, again I have bought stainless steel

Amazingly the shed roof is drying nicely and I will be using preservative inside as soon as the batons are up

The whole of the right side, inside, is covered with a loose clear plastic sheet which I am reluctant to remove. There is no damp behind it and I am thinking perhaps it was put in place to deter wasps. I filled in any holes in that wall. The sheet is fastened at the top and down the ends. Maybe wait and see is best for now

All I did today was buy 2 x 1 timber and make batons to hold the tool storage from amazon. The tool storage is very good, 4 sets for around £25, They will not be screwed direct onto the walls. I have made two units so far and they are ready to screw onto the vertical batons. It will be so nice to be able to hang tools rather than have them all over the floor

The weather is frustrating and I also have visitors next week. I am itching to get those two units up and then slosh preservative onto the floor as well as get the alliums into the ground.

I am debating about which bed(s) to put the alliums when they arrive. The original idea will not be suitable as it is more shaded. A notebook arrived today, I am going to have to be scrupulous about what and where, the plot and beds are not coming naturally to me yet

kamalady you sound soooooooo organised, had I been nearer I would have loved to have watched your progress.

It is so therapeutic and you sort of absorb oneself in the surroundings. Very hard work but makes you use muscles that we don't normally so also a good workout lol.

Are you allowed a little fire, like in a metal dustbin, lovely for keeping the hands warm when your there.

We have a large old oil drum and put any wood on the greenhouse to dry before burning ( we have been known to put a grill over and have sausage butties)

Well done to you you sound like a grafter.

Yes Bikergran, we are allowed a fire in a dustbin but tbh I do not like spreading smoke or burning wood particles, so it all goes to the tip. I have a large pile of wood, all initially been tantalized and now rotting. I took all the screws out and there it lies, on top of plastic, until it dries and weighs less, destined for the wood bin at the tip

I have a huge pile of stones that had been dumped and were stuck in the clay around the shed, wondering what to do with them. These awful winds last night and this morning gave me an idea. I will make waxed canvas bags and take them to the plot, velcro or string on the open end. I can fill them with stones to make useful weights. Would have been reassuring to put some on top of my compost bin lids this weekend

I cannot go today, we are having torrential rain all day. The alliums have arrived and are in my very full garage. Maybe monday morning to get them planted but I want to get net over the onion sets and shallots, birds pulled them out at my last allotment. Garlic will be fine, they go 2" down. I will only be planting the fattest cloves, the bulbs will get bigger every year

Picking myself up, dusting myself down. My shed was lying on its side on the soil this morning. My roofing felt had also come off and I felt like giving up

I was chatting with some nice man when I was on the way out, he went down to have a look and between us we got the shed up again

I re-did the felt but put wafer -

head screws around the edges, the wind won`t blow it off again. The felt nails had no traction in the soft wood, the screws will hold

Make do and mend after that, sopping wet shed now, I put 3 slabs in there, went home got my drill driver and re-purposed a shelf and backing board to make braces as the whole shed was wobbly. Nailed some more wood down which was loose, again. Moved the bolt and keeper as they had torn off

I need to stop the shed moving on the slabs when the wind is very strong, I think the wind pushed it along and it tipped over the edge. Now I have to learn how to fasten it to the slabs it is standing on

Hard luck, karmalady. Storms are an allotmenteer’s nightmare.

Investigate met posts to shore up your shed. The ones you can bolt into slabs. They may help.

Grrr, precious little shelter on an allotment site when the wind blows I suppose. Tough to take the setback on the chin all the same.
Hope the timbers dry out and the renovations go well.

merlotgran

Hard luck, karmalady. Storms are an allotmenteer’s nightmare.

Investigate met posts to shore up your shed. The ones you can bolt into slabs. They may help.

Brilliant thanks, I have been wondering what to do. That is a very good idea

I think the large overgrown fruit area that I dug out and covered on the west side was likely being a windbreak. I want to replace with windbreak flowering shrubs. So much for plans to suppress bindweed and ground ivy with plastic. I will have to roll back and do more digging out

Water butts ordered, just the 100 litre slimline type that I can fit on 45cm slabs. I dithered about the 227 litre butts but I cannot move the bigger slabs and could end up with a sharp dip that does not support the water weight of a quarter of a tonne. I put guttering up on the east side yesterday, wishing the butts were in place. I am going to use a diverter and link water butts together. Two are already dispatched. I also want them on the other side, the west side. Collection length is only 6` on each side. I can get 3 butts each side, eventually

Strong angle brackets are ordered and concrete screws but really the extra weight inside will have most effect. The angle brackets will just help prevent the shed sliding, I hope

I think today I will buy more slabs and more guttering and prep for the west side, might as well do two diverters at the same time and there is no point linking until the first butts are half full. There is a big pile of stones on that side, I can make use of the weight in trugs in the shed. On top of the central bearer

Thinking about windbreaks again, I can buy weigelia at a reasonable cost and am thinking about bamboos, there is plenty of space and they grow quickly. I need to stay at maximum of about 2-3m high. I cannot be doing with anything prickly and those two will be easy to identify when the brambles, ivy and bindweed grow again

If you’re making a windbreak out of Bamboo plant it in a trough such as those very large black storage boxes. If it’s planted in the ground it will quickly spread over your allotment and others. You won’t be thanked.
The larger plants cost a fair bit.

Just to add, laurel is probably a better plant for a wind break hedge. They are cheaper to buy, grow very quickly, don’t have runners that spread and are easily pruned when they reach the height you want.

I have ordered fargesia rufa, clump forming and non invasive also weigelia bristol ruby. Both will reach a maximum of 2m tall and a final width of 1.5 to 2m

J52 I am aware of invasive bamboos and have been very careful

I should eventually have the basis of a lovely calming patch, I will underplant with daffs and narcissi this year

I have a lot of heavy raking to do this week, all the plants are in 2litre pots so I don`t need to plant immediately

The allotment cost is adding up but the pleasure is beyond price

I didn`t want anything to prune btw, being up a ladder is no good to me at my age and I could not even prune down to 2m at my short height

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.

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

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

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 .

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