Eeyore's Great Allotment Thread

Rhubarb fresh off the plot and into a crumble last night ;)

Not going to tackle the heap of rubbish down the bottom end of the second plot just yet, still got to get our spuds in. At least the second plot doesn't seem to be too bad, just surface annuals and a very few dandelions. I always seem to be one of the last on our site getting potatoes planted but I just can't see the point of getting them in early and then getting the tops nipped by frost.
 
Mrs Eeyore picked some rhubarb at weekend... Hate the stuff. I just use the rhubarb section as a marker for where I should pee.. :eek:;):D
 
I must have about eight or nine established crowns and for the next three months I'll be giving away armfuls to neighbours.
 
25x bare root Pinot Noir vines ordered this afternoon.. just in time as well, last orders for deliveries this season was 3pm today. Gives me two or three weeks to complete preparing the ground.

With any luck the first limited vintage from these vines should be 2017.
 
I have a couple of apple trees.. might be a while before i get a pint of cider out of it tho
 
eeyore said:
I have a couple of apple trees.. might be a while before i get a pint of cider out of it tho
Click to expand...
I brew about 100 pints of cider a year ;)
 
Last year got about 20, got myself a good press and scratter.
I just need more trees!
 
I've currently got a good source of apples from a friend's mother who has a small established orchard. The main reason I've taken on a second allotment this year is to create the vineyard in the top third (top is relative, this is Norfolk - 6" elevation differece over 30 yards counts as precipitous mountainside), an orchard in the lower third and some more conventional rotations in the middle.
 
There used to be a juggling team who went by the name Norfolk Mountain Rescue Team.

Our rhubarb has only been in for 12 months so apparently we shouldn't harvest any this year. Tempted to pull a few stalks though - easy enough to get another crown if it objects strenuously!
 
Best to leave a new crown for the first year, although if this it now going into it's second year I'd probably pull a very few to test the taste! - just one crumble though.. And even with established crowns, I never pull any stems after about mid-year (usually the end of June rather than midsummer which was the traditional stopping date). By that time there should be true fruit coming available. They are greedy though, they'll take as much compost and muck as you can give them.

There is a Norfolk Downhill Skiing Association, but I believe they mostly compete in away competitions..
 
Well another few days work have cleared out another shed and half of another one.
Unfortunately we also had a theft to too. Mainly of stuff we found, tools, fertiliser and bits of metal. It looks like they did a lot of allotments sadly :(
 
Another good day working in the sun. We got rid of the old greenhouse without breaking all the glass.. And only one proper oh poohbear moment when I dropped a sheet of glass and it shattered and hit my leg.
 
Last edited:
I hope you get your stuff back @eeyore - touch wood we've been lucky although others have had stuff taken on our site in the past. As a committee we're currently looking at security and figuring we probably need to go to the expense of changing the site lock as over the years there have been too many keys gone astray.

I'll hopefully get my tatties in over the weekend, managed to get a bed forked over for them this week on the new plot. I've inherited a rather natty looking shed on the new plot, with a well established vine growing around it..

 
Not holding out for the stuff back. The police and council have said they will pop in more often so that's better. The council need to replace the only 2 sections of wooden fence panels on the site. It's surrounded decent metal fences for the site bar these 2 little sections.. Guess where they got it...

The shed look good. We have cleared the sheds on our plot so we start looking to repair or replacement of bits
 
I managed to get out in the garden over the bank holiday week. We've got 15 8'x4' raised beds and we managed to get 5 planted up with potatoes, 1 of onions and dug another over ready for salad. It really feels like we starting the year off on top of the garden for once rather than playing catchup.
 
Now there are a few more leaves on the crowns, I've pulled one off each of the 4 apparent centres of growth - just enough for a small crumble each for pudding later. Apart from the topping, the thing will be as far as possible organic and home produced - or as close as can be since the sweetener Mrs Nod's used is honey from a Greek friend's bees. Drooling slightly since I can smell it cooking as I type!
 
Nod said:
Now there are a few more leaves on the crowns, I've pulled one off each of the 4 apparent centres of growth - just enough for a small crumble each for pudding later. Apart from the topping, the thing will be as far as possible organic and home produced - or as close as can be since the sweetener Mrs Nod's used is honey from a Greek friend's bees. Drooling slightly since I can smell it cooking as I type!
Click to expand...
How was it then?
 
A bit of bottling this morning, the first vintage off the allotment from the three Muller Thurgau vines planted a couple seasons ago.. slightly over three and a half bottles of very quaffable white wine - smooth, dry, a little bit grassy. You've got to have a wee taste when bottling no matter how early in the morning ;)
 
Well we have progressed a lot more in the allotment. We have still been hampered by not having enough space in the skips that come on site. But this is a sort of good thing as we have been forced to do more garden type activities.
More turf has been removed and the spuds have sprouted so the ground had been built up around them. We also have onions, garlic, celery tomatoes and other stuff growing. Most are almost ready to plant out.
Oh and the rhubarb patch is going mental with new shoots. We pulled 6 kg out got wine and we still probably have 3 times that growing!
Rubbish wise I have started to stack wood up for removing in whatever I can... barrels to Bath tubs. I also have 2 wheely bins full of broken glass and a stack of wooden window frames.
 
Another good weekend working. Carrots are sown in an old bath tub and the sunflowers are in.
Finally seeing some blossom on the trees too.
One of the other allotment holders told us we have a plum and apple tree near the sheds. Also we have a grape vine growing in the shed!
 
Looking good, eeyore! Hard work for a season or 2 but should be worth the effort in the long run. Our miniscule patio plot is coming along slowly - runner beans almost ready to go out, courgettes at a similar stage as are the Nasturtiums (a food crop for me but they look pretty too!!!) Tomatoes and cucumbers doing well - just need the window sill space that the beans etc. are taking up in the conservatory.


Julie1979 said:
How was it then?
Click to expand...

As droolworthy as it was smelling!
 
We have a load of seeds to go in.. Best get to work on making the plant beds
 
I also have a load of wood working to do. The bath tub is getting a wooden frame to sit in. Round the front of the shed we are having a patio with some wooden planters for herbs... I need some new power tools..
 
A busy weekend has at last got the spuds in, but the bloody mice have been eating the broad beans.. ..
 
I'm on the council waiting list for an allotment. I moved to Farnborough last November and put my name down straight away.
I have noticed there are quite a few not being used/overgrown so hopefully the wait won't be that long.
In the meantime in my flat I'm growing chillies and tomatoes on my windowsills.
 
I have a potato question. I read in my book that I was meant to cover the shoots with soil as they appear until the risk of frost was over. I forgot and the leaves look a little frost bitten. Am I best just scrapping this plant considering it's early enough to try again?
 
They'll recover - don't dig them up, just earth them up as they grow for the next few weeks. If it looks like frosts will be frequent or hard you could lay some fleece over.

ITTT (if this then that) is a useful app for frost warnings.


The 25x Pinot Noir vines were delivered this morning, so it looks like I'll have a busy weekend planting out the vineyard :)
 
Alastair said:
They'll recover - don't dig them up, just earth them up as they grow for the next few weeks. If it looks like frosts will be frequent or hard you could lay some fleece over.

ITTT (if this then that) is a useful app for frost warnings.


The 25x Pinot Noir vines were delivered this morning, so it looks like I'll have a busy weekend planting out the vineyard :)
Click to expand...
That's what I hoped to hear as buying one seed potato isn't really possible. The one that was showing through is now reburied.
 
Another wet day today but managed to finish the task of removing all the grass from the first set of veg beds. All the grass is now being turned in to compost.
 
Today we got... More effing rhubarb. Lol. More soil got sieved out from the compost pile to fill some of beds and the loos...
We got cabbage planted out and the fruit section got a load of wood chipping down on it.
 
Looking good there @eeyore

A decent weekend on the plots yesterday and today. Had to round up all the fabric membrane I'd carefully laid last weekend as the wind had got under it and all but one strip had come loose and gone sailing down the plot to get wrapped around the fence. All laid back down again, pinned and ballasted with every brick and length of wood I could scrape up. Then measured and marked out, and the Pinot Noir vines planted through the membrane. Four rows of 6 vines, the vines planted 3' apart and the rows 5' apart. Going for a tighter "old-world" (as the Californian vineyard websites describe it) spacing than seems to be the norm in the UK. It should help with ripening - quality over quantity.



Also got a row of eight sea buckthorn planted (Hippophae rhamnoides) which I've been raising from seed in pots for a couple of years. This is an experimental crop, I need to bring the plants on a bit until I can sex them and take cuttings from the females. The ideal ratio is one or two male plants per six female plants to give good pollination. The fruit is very tasty - almost like a tropical fruit drink when made into a cordial/squash. But it's almost completely sugarless, so you need to add a fair bit to draw the flavour through the natural bitterness.

 
Last edited:
I too know the fun of pining down covers for the 2nd and 3rd time :)

We got some peas in today and the soil trommel was tested... Only after ripping my arms to shreds with sharp edges from the steel mesh.
It works OK, so now I need to make a frame for the barrel and some sort of hopper setup to catch the soil and not make a mess.
 
Do any of you expert gardeners use a petrol strimmer for cutting the grass round raised beds? My battery powered one is starting to get old now (about 5/6 years old) so I'm looking for a replacement, but I'm not sure whether to go with another battery one (small, light, quiet) or petrol (no charging issues, heavier, noisier). But would it have too much power?!
Whether battery or petworl, I'm planning on getting a multi-system so I can get a pole saw attachment to help take the top of the stupid leylandii hedge which I wish I didn't have!
 
We use a petrol generator and a normal strimmer on a lead.

The generator is the Lidl one (just coming back in this week I think) which is a bit heavier and noisier than a more expensive Honda, but it fits nicely onto our handcart and has plenty of generating power. We figured one petrol motor was enough for everything - we can then run any of the following: strimmer, hover mower, shredder, water pump (we have a river a 100 yards or so from our plot and the site has no mains water), chainsaw, power tools, etc. It means each individual tool is a little cheaper and easier to maintain/replace.

In theory it also means we can keep the freezers running in the event of a power cut (and the neighbours, it's got plenty of capacity). Typically we haven't had a power cut since we bought it, but a few winters ago we had a spate of power cuts.
 
And a quite plot update..
  • On '59 all the Pinot Noir vines are all showing signs of life despite their extended run around the countryside in the delivery van before they were planted, most have leaves unfurling and the slowest couple are just breaking bud. Potatoes are now getting earthed up.
  • On '60 the Mueller-Thurgau and Perlette vines are all well on with bunches-to-be forming nicely. Brassicas are all in as are some courgettes, beds prepped for the rest of the winter/summer squash and sweetcorn to go out later this week. Fruit cages are all netted. Strawberries are well on, could get the first fruit ripe by next week looking at the long-range weather forecast.
I can recommend Vine and Wine (http://www.vineandwine.co.uk/vines.htm) if you're looking to try your hand at viticulture, but they only deliver April/May so you're waiting until next year now and they only do bulk (25+ vines). But they are the best price per vine I've found.


Alternatively, if you want to take pot luck in the Autumn/Spring I've got cuttings coming on nicely in a bucket. They're a bit muddled up though as these were just snippings from the pruning pile over winter - they'll either be Mueller-Thurgau or Perlette.
 
Some new updates... We are running out of planting space!
Peas, corn and some other stuff in...
 
The "dump" is also looking a lot smaller. We have 8 doors and about 10 crowd control fencing in there... oh and I'm sick of finding car radiators. I found another 3 so now the total is around 12!!!
 
Some more recently taken shots.
We have started to remove more turf and have planted courgettes in. We also have a patch for pumpkins on an old compost heap.
The last big pile of rubbish is slowly going. A lot of what's left is going to be fire wood when it's chopped up.

I also stood on a rusty nail so I'm limping around a lot.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top