Allotment stuff

Mows or strims!

Allira

What a transformation! Well done.

How do you get rid of weeds?
Weed, weed, weed yet some rain and there they are again! I think the seeds must blow in from everywhere around.

DH is resistant to putting cardboard down which I suggested. He thinks it wouldn't look good but it would be better than weeds. Mulch helps but still they grow through it.

At our allotment the committee arrange for huge amounts of wood clippings to be delivered for paths on the plots. We put down a barrier, could be cardboard and the chipping go on top, replaced as necessary. No carpet or underlay allowed.
Between the plots there are grass paths and everyone mows or strips around their plot.
Yes, kamalady our fellow allotmenters are also very kind and helpful. In fact this summer it’s been a lovely place to be.

Ooh Allira, you must try and persuade him

I have, karmalady, believe me.

Perhaps I'll just go out and do it (before he disposes of the boxes) and see how long before he notices. The trouble is, it's the area round fruit bushes and raspberry canes so not straightforward.
Our raspberries sprout up in expected places too. They didn't do very well this year.

Yes, I know - hoe between the rows is the mantra!
We don't put them on the compost heap any more either.
Anyway, the rain cometh!

It is pouring down, I managed to get a years worth of parsley bagged and into the freezer and quickly threw phacelia seeds down. I have 4 x 1m sq raised beds at home, only 6" tall. Handy by the house

I dug autumn bliss raspberries out a few weeks ago, only 2 years old but they were starting to come up through the path and in my raised beds at home, in fact a nuisance

Lathyrus, I remember your shed saga, congratulations on being successful in sourcing what you wanted

Ooh Allira, you must try and persuade him. The cardboard I put down to the left of shed was incredible at keeping weeds down and I planted 2 crown squash through it resulting in 7 big squashes. That cardboard is now soft and ready to decompose. I too never appreciated how good a cardboard layer is, all the beds had a cardboard layer under weedfabric and obviously that decomposed faster. I will forever be collecting cardboard

Allira re the weeds, you need to pick your moments. Hoeing is best when the soil is dry and there is sunshine, the roots will die quickly. Perennial weeds need my hori hori (darlac tool) and persistence but they do give up over time. If the weeds can be dealt with by end of june, then the remainder of the year is easy. I collect all weeds in a bucket in my shed, never ever putting them in my compost

After years of having a good sized garden I moved into a flat so I was very lucky to be allocated an allotment quite soon after the move.

That’s an amazing amount of work for one person, karmalady. No wonder you are proud of your achievement.
Here’s to next year’s growing season.

That's just reminded me!
I open-froze trays of runner beans last evening, must go and bag them up.
Thank you 😀

What a transformation! Well done.

How do you get rid of weeds?
Weed, weed, weed yet some rain and there they are again! I think the seeds must blow in from everywhere around.

DH is resistant to putting cardboard down which I suggested. He thinks it wouldn't look good but it would be better than weeds. Mulch helps but still they grow through it.

We don’t have an allotment but I grow parsley, mint and other herbs in my garden plus tomatoes and a few strawberries.

We let local allotment holders come and help themselves to very well rotted manure from our remaining horse and they give us nice, fresh produce from their plots. Works well as I wouldn’t have time to tend an allotment now.

Yours sounds really good.👍

It’s been a poor year on my allotment.

It didn’t rain once from May until September and everything suffered though I watered as best I could, it’s not the same as rain.

Last year I had 32 butternut squashes. This year I have 9!

On the plus side, some of you might remember I posted about my problems in getting a shed. At last I have one🎉

Going up to the allotment in minute before the storm😃

What I do find lovely is the caring attitude of many of the allotment members eg they put excess produce on the sharing table. Not everyone is like this, a few bustle about with heads down but most are truly nice people. We just stop for very short chats, mindful that people have work to do

J52 I decided not to have any tall structures here, the site is in a wind tunnel and many polytunnels were shredded but I am doing fine with the raised beds and I have strong stable netting systems. Well done on getting to grips with your allotment

I go to mine regularly; it is a nice cycle ride and I always take a walk around looking for weeds. There are some nasties with thick underground roots like bindweed but constantly digging out is having a very good effect

I bought 5 more bocking 14 comfrey from ebay. Split the roots, potted and waited. I now have over 50 in neat areas and have taken one small cut already. It makes the very best compost and never spreads, also is infertile and bees love the flowers

This autumn I will be moving my rooted strawberry runners, as well as the original 6 plants that I bought. I have drawn a basic plan so I keep a clear head about what I am planting and where. The 60 new ground cover sedums will work their magic as weed suppressors, I have them at home instead of lawn. Left of shed in the photos and I will get them in as soon as I can

What a difference you have made, lots of hard work gone into that. Enjoy your produce.

What an absolutely fabulous effort Karmalady, your hard work and dedication has achieved so much in practical terms and I know from experience that working in my own garden does wonders for my mental health.

There’s nothing more satisfying than cooking something fresh out of the ground is there? My own onion crop this year has been way beyond expectations. Although soft fruits, peas and beans did need extra tlc due to the high temperatures as did the beetroot.

https://signal-corridor.live/uploads/talk/202509/medium-fak1p5-plot-4.jpg%3C/span%3E https://signal-corridor.live/uploads/talk/202509/medium-a2iaqg-plot.jpg%3C/span%3E

Next step is to put many ground cover sedums down amongst some structural plants and intersperse with narcissus cheerfulness

Water butts are full at last, I will have to half empty and re-direct roof drainage, in case of expanding ice over winter. I already have a floating ball in each water butt

The photos are november when I got my plot and feb when the basic work was done

I had to buy some very tough big tools, in order to prise roots out

It’s lovely that all your hard work has paid off. We got ours in April and immediately set to work repairing the raised beds and constructing a Polytunnel. This year has been excellent for produce. In the winter we will prune the neglected fruit trees and construct a more substantial shed.
Enjoy your harvest.