Allotment: Woo Hoooo!!! :) :) :)

[Yorkshire Andy]

To any here who would judge me in my negligence, I'll accept that I ought to do more, no ifs, no buts. I won't beat myself up over it.

Points jennys way and tutts loudly

It's been a sh... poo year .. can't even hoe the ground it's that baked i weeded with the giant strimmer / bush cutter

[jennyjj01]

To any here who would judge me in my negligence, I'll accept that I ought to do more, no ifs, no buts. I won't beat myself up over it.

It's been a sh... poo year .. can't even hoe the ground it's that baked i weeded with the giant strimmer / bush cutter

The ground that I painstakingly and thoroughly weeded and then sowed with assorted spuds, onion sets, beans, peas and root vegetables just sat there... Tick Tock, Tick Tock and then suddenly exploded with weeds. I have turnips and carrots 3 inches high, intertwined with weeds a foot high. I REALLY can't get how commercial growers can sow a field with corn or spuds or whatever and get a crop of that with no apparent weeds in between. Just a hundred yards from me I see fields with 3 or 4 foot corn and the weeds never got a look in. If I sowed corn, it would be choked off within a week
Obviously I can't hoe anywhere around sown seeds. And even seedlings that I'd pre grown could not prosper.
The spuds that I sowed had grown to about a foot and died back. I dug them out this week and hardly any bigger that an inch diameter. The onions died off at just over an inch diameter. Even my courgettes got killed by critters and weather. Disheartened. I did better than this in year one.

[Arzosah]

Just catching up after getting lurgified on holiday ... Use It Or Lose It sounds bad! Your post is from a fortnight ago, so I hope you've been able to turn things around. That lot certainly keep you on your toes.

I've thrown myself at it for several 2 or 3 hour sessions, concentrating on clearing weeds and laying down some cover. Popped a few veggie seedlings through holes in the cover. I reckon I should be ok, if showing willing is the test. I have another week and a half, during which I should get in another 6-8 hours or so.
I've decided that since I'm rubbish at hoeing, my approach will be to sow and grow through holes in membrane.

I've been re-assessing the way I work, and I've realised I'm terrible at regular maintenance type stuff (eg, weeding regularly!). It doesn't suit my way of life, my way of thinking, my energy levels, nothing at all. Knowing what works for you is such a big part of the battle. I'm trying to make the garden lower and lower effort: the foxes like that! I've also got a plan for sprouting/microgreens/whatevs which need a bit of care for about 10 days, in the house of course. I reckon I can do 10 days, even in my current situation. The other thing I'll try is lettuce - like you, I don't currently eat it, but as I use preps more, I'm used to having, say, a portion of bottled beetroot before my meal that I've just cooked. I could use lettuce in the same way, literally because it has micronutrients that are valuable, I'm big on micronutrients

To any here who would judge me in my negligence, I'll accept that I ought to do more, no ifs, no buts. I won't beat myself up over it.

I really hope you don't get any judging like that on here, I think supportiveness is crucial in prepping terms, learning it or living it or both. And I know that your living situation isn't the absolute easiest either, though I also know you're private and don't blather the way I do so kudos to you for keeping going.

[Mad Scientist]

Growing food can be a really big battle. Must admit I’ve just got a couple of tomato plants and some cut and come again lettuces in pots on a garden table. Things get too hot/ too cold/ wet/ eaten by slugs and aphids so I’ve moved some things around several times. I’ve got a bumper crop of two tomatoes .
It’s far better to muddle along now and learn what works for you while things are ok then should the time come you really need those crops, you’ll be more successful. I do think some people might wait until the brown stuff hits the fan before growing their own food, have crop failure for whatever reason and run into serious trouble if they have no stored food/shops have ceased to function. Keep going. Finding and getting over setbacks is all a learning curve and part of prepping.

[jennyjj01]

Thanks folks for the encouragement. Yes, I'm pretty rubbish at the Routine maintenance. I'll get there one day.

[Yorkshire Andy]

Thanks folks for the encouragement. Yes, I'm pretty rubbish at the Routine maintenance. I'll get there one day.

That's life most holders near mine are retired so they have all the time in the world...


Bit of good news looks like a great crop of potatoes

Moved some self set marrow plants from the ridges to a bare area of the plot so that's now cultivated (read turned the weeds in with the rotorvator) it'll disturbed 3 plants in the process got a big plant pot full and been 2nd early Nichola version no slug or eel worm damage

Next week or so they'll be getting lifted and bagged i think

[Adjee]

I've decided that since I'm rubbish at hoeing, my approach will be to sow and grow through holes in membrane.

To any here who would judge me in my negligence, I'll accept that I ought to do more, no ifs, no buts. I won't beat myself up over it.

Forget others and concentrate on what works for you.

We grow and raise virtually all our own food and we do it our way.

Close planting (against all advice) to prevent weeds growing and many pests, companion planting works a treat also utilizing plants, growing beans up sweetcorn/sunflower stems etc.

We have had disasters, Colorado beetles destroying a full potato crop (we beat them every year now), carrot fly lowering our yield (close growing prevents this), too much ash turning to lye and killing all our raspberries, our fruit trees wiped out by a tornado but it is all a leaning experience especially as previously we had only managed to kill house plants!

Stick with it and forget what so called experts say forge your own path, there is not just one way to grow/raise your own food to sustain yourself.

[jennyjj01]

Bit of good news looks like a great crop of potatoes

I just harvested the random spuds from my TARDIS composter.
Got 2.74 kg of assorted size from grape to large fist size.

Some have slightly scabby skin but most are perfect.
Oddly, some of the spud plants seemed to have no spuds attached.... Unless I didn't dig deep enough. I only dug with my bare hands.

What, if anything should I sow at the allotment now.

That composter yielded more than my entire allotment

[Yorkshire Andy]

Bit of good news looks like a great crop of potatoes

I just harvested the random spuds from my TARDIS composter.
Got 2.74 kg of assorted size from grape to large fist size.

Some have slightly scabby skin but most are perfect.
Oddly, some of the spud plants seemed to have no spuds attached.... Unless I didn't dig deep enough.

What, if anything should I sow at the allotment now.

That composter yielded more than my entire allotmentIMG_20250723_194318.jpg

Mine are getting dug up this weekend

[Medusa]

This year has been better for me, although I have reduced the amount of different things I grow. Carrots are doing great, wonky as always but taste just as good. Courgettes have done well again, most will be given away to friends at work, tomoatoes, 2 different kinds are doing great as are the fruit bushes, although we did have to replace a whole bed of strawberry plants because the vine weevils got them (forgot to apply nematodes). Bell peppers seem to have been slow flowering despite the weather and being in the greenhouse, so we will see. Beetroots are huge, cucumbers are going great. Broccoli has been a disaster this year, tiny heads which went to seed way too quickly. Rhubarb has been amazing. We talked about applying for an allotment but didnt fancy trekking backwards and forwards, mostly time related so grow what we can in the garden in tubs and raised beds. No potatoes this year because I hate the bags we used to grow them in being everywhere. We seem to have a bumper crop of eating apples, bramleys and plums this year too. Lovely!