new plot

[Tee Gee]

your making me cry now                            with all the white rot on our site i deffo wont be johnny onion

Nice One!

now as for your age tg you may be advanced but your wit is as sharp as ever

Sadly it is  the only thing that is fast now.

and as for produce I'm not sure thinking of spacing it all out a bit more I'm a bit of ill just fit another row in there kind of guy so I'm going to TRY to give them all a little more room

I tend to work on 15" apart both ways (plants & rows) for most things.

I find it works well with my bed widths which are around 5ft wide.( If you are into metric measurements this converts to around 40cms apart and 1.5m wide)

Plus it allows me to get my rake between the rows to clear the rubbish created after I have hoed.

The reason I work across the bed rather than along the bed is simply because this method  releases  growing areas much quicker for catch cropping after harvesting a previous crop.

Examples:

Brassicas:  7 to 8" in from edge x 15" x 15" x 15" x 7 to 8" (4 plants across)

Potatoes: 5 to 6"in from edge x 10" x 10" x 10" x  10" x 5 to 6" (5 tubers across)

I give these a bit more space between rows to allow for earthing up.

Onions, Leeks, Garlic or similar  4 to 5"in from edge x 7½" x 7½" x 7½" x  7½" x 7½" x 7½" x7½" x 4 to 5"  (8 plants across)

When insitu seed sowing again I keep the rows 15" apart

Working with beds this width means I do not have to walk on the beds again after planting, meaning I can get away with these distances apart!

Plus I can reach the middle of the bed from either side of the bed if I am kneeling to plant out, thin out,or do a bit of hand weeding.

most of my excess produce i donate to a special needs school my wife works at and in return i get all the autumn leaves normally around 50 sacks full  so that's about it 

So I guess you give the leaf mould to the plants that require special needs....nice one!

oh btw I'm trying Mr fothergills Guinness record runner beans this year will let you know how they go i reselected my benchmaster this year so ill put them up against each other 

I don't grow runner beans any more I prefer climbing French beans in particular Cobra.

I usually grow two successional crops of these in my greenhouses which keeps me in fresh beans for a few months during the growing season. Any excess is frozen and used out of season.

In your part of the world I guess they would give a good account of themselves outdoors.

Once you have eaten these then you might go like me and give up Runner beans.

[Tee Gee]

[johhnyco15]

i do grow them along with hunter a flat french bean which is the tastiest of them all   also pea bean and bollotti  for stews and soups cobra i use for warm bean salad with a blue cheese dressing

[johhnyco15]

digging digging and digging today couch roots by the black bag loads 12 so far this part of the plot has not been dug for around 5 years done a bit on the other two today also

[johhnyco15]

a little break in the weather today however got a bit of manflu so didnt do much today nearly all done now week 3 now lost 5 days due to rain and birthday celebrations should be finished by the end of the week

[Tee Gee]

should be finished by the end of the week

Now you have another reason to buy some cup cakes.   


Its looking good....what is that object front right?

[johhnyco15]

should be finished by the end of the week

Now you have another reason to buy some cup cakes.   


Its looking good....what is that object front right?

its a concrete hedgehog in a bed i found it in the weeds there is also an owl with no base they have both seen better days not really my scene but ill aint got the heart to get rid

[galina]

I remember a little while ago we had a thread on allotment 'finds'.  A concrete hedgehog is definitely benign and might even attract the real ones or perhaps frighten your slugs! 

Fab progress Johhny, when you got the bit between your teeth, you don't hang around.  This is impressive.  Do you get these neat edges by eye?  Can't see any rope. 

[johhnyco15]

galina i do use a string line my eyes arent that  good anymore lol  think i might call the hedgehog hetty

[pumkinlover]

It looks really great now 

[johhnyco15]

got a new plot number for my birthday it came today  how can i say it was quite a talking point at coffee lol

[johhnyco15]

as my new plot has not been cultivated in the last 5 years  i thought id bite the bullet and put some onions and garlic in to test the water for white rot its rife on our site  some plots however have managed to stay rot free ive my fingers and everything else that i could  possible cross that my new plot is one such oasis in a desert of doom

[johhnyco15]

it was first frost of the year time today here on the sunshine coast

[galina]

it was first frost of the year time today here on the sunshine coast

We have had several already, last night -4.2C   c o l d  and it is only November

[johhnyco15]

put my bean trenches in my new plot today next week will manure the plot fill the trenches  then apply leaf mould over the top

[Tee Gee]

One query?

I presume you plant into the planters so how do the roots get into the manure?

Or are these " watering troughs" and you plant either side of them and they act as reservoirs?

[galina]

Thanks TeeGee for asking.  I wondered too but didn't want to appear stupid in case it was obvious    and I was the only one who didn't 'get it'.   

[johhnyco15]

i use them for reservoirs and  fill the trenches with various green waste along with the manure or soil is so light it needs all the help it can get the troughs sit on cardboard with the sides drilled so the water and liquid feed waters the bean roots rather than just the top 1" or so  i find it really helps and as its a new plot and not been manured in the last 5 years that i know of it all helps the structure of the soil  and galina you can always ask me anything its the different methods that make this site so rich and diverse hopethis helps

[Digeroo]

My curiosity had been getting to me.
I have very well draining soil so keeping moisture is always difficult.  I might give this a try.   
The nice thing about this site is that people have experience of a number of growing conditions.
I get very frustrated when I see people using techniques they see on the television which were designed for poorly draining clay soils. 

[Tee Gee]

I must be blessed as I do not have to go to such lengths to grow my outdoor stuff as I never water them at all. They get a good soaking as I plant out but that's it,nature does the rest!

I put this down to my initial preparation, my manure is in, it will soak up the winter snow and rain and come planting out time the ground will be moist and friable thanks to the worms my manure  has nourished over the winter.

I wished the same was the case for the stuff in my three greenhouses,although is not too bad as again I prepare my beds well in advance and let nature do its thing, usually a couple of times a week does the trick for me,in other words it's up to nature I.e. Warm,cold or a mixed bag like we have had this year.


But as they say: each to there own!

[johhnyco15]

I must be blessed as I do not have to go to such lengths to grow my outdoor stuff as I never water them at all. They get a good soaking as I plant out but that's it,nature does the rest!

I put this down to my initial preparation, my manure is in, it will soak up the winter snow and rain and come planting out time the ground will be moist and friable thanks to the worms my manure  has nourished over the winter.

I wished the same was the case for the stuff in my three greenhouses,although is not too bad as again I prepare my beds well in advance and let nature do its thing, usually a couple of times a week does the trick for me,in other words it's up to nature I.e. Warm,cold or a mixed bag like we have had this year.


But as they say: each to there own!

i suppose thats one advantage of having a shorter growing season up north i only took my outdoor toms out 6 weeks ago as i clear i manure my two other plots are all done however the new one has no humus in it hardly at all so its all in to try and get the soil in decent shape for the growing season but as for beans i always trench them and water via a trough and people always comment on my yield and healthy plants its just something ive always done also put a wind break around them at planting time to give them a head start it must be tg that our southern softie beans are not as the tough northern ones lol