Topic: What should I be doing this month?

[LauraB]

Bear in mind, my allotment is new and hasn't been cultivated for about 7 years. I am a vegetable growing dunce (as you can tell)

My plans are;

Clean the greenhouse and shed
Clear the plot of big weeds and debris
Measure up, make a plan and start to mark out beds with string to dig one by one (will dig gradually over the course of the year)
Order seeds, potatoes, and onion sets
Get compost bins and water storage in place
Get fruit bushes in (I have these already)


What else should I be doing? Should I be adding anything to the beds which I intend to plant this spring, or is it too late? Is it ok to wait until spring to start sowing? Should I be sowing anything in the greenhouse between now and February?

Feel free to add anything you can think of to my 'to-do' list  :)

[manicscousers]

wow, you are well organised, the best thing is, you have a plan , just work to it and enjoy yourself, we tend to add stuff when planting, i.e, lime and rooster chicken pellets, also, a bit of bonemeal when planting fruit,  :)

[kitten]

Hi LauraB, i'm a newbie too & have just taken on an allotment! Your list sounds quite enough to me to keep you going til the end of Jan! I'm planning on doing the following this month:

making a plan of paths, beds, parking space lol, where fruit bushes etc will go
peg out above & put paths in place (prob cardboard covered with bark chippings or similar)
order seed for spring planting
sort shed out
source some tools lol and maybe look for new shed (the one we've inherited is horrible!)

That'll keep me busy i'm sure! Good luck with your plot, look forward to seeing some before/during/after pics as you go along! kitten x

[LauraB]

Hi LauraB, i'm a newbie too & have just taken on an allotment! Your list sounds quite enough to me to keep you going til the end of Jan! I'm planning on doing the following this month:

making a plan of paths, beds, parking space lol, where fruit bushes etc will go
peg out above & put paths in place (prob cardboard covered with bark chippings or similar)
order seed for spring planting
sort shed out
source some tools lol and maybe look for new shed (the one we've inherited is horrible!)

That'll keep me busy i'm sure! Good luck with your plot, look forward to seeing some before/during/after pics as you go along! kitten x

Oh, that's something to add to the list. Take photos!

[kt.]

Check shed for holes that need repairing caused by vermin. Ensure roof has adequate felt and drainage system is in place on shed for your water storage you are planning.

Have you got manure yet? If not a delivery will keep you busy a few hours barrowing it into your plot from its drop off point. ;D

[LauraB]

I haven't got the manure yet - wanted to clear some space and get something to cover it first  :)

The manure I'm getting is freshly laid, so I can't use that until autumn, right?

[supersprout]

Lottie neighbours used to snigger at all that pottering about with string :D until they tripped over it coming for a nosey :-[

I haven't got the manure yet - wanted to clear some space and get something to cover it first :) The manure I'm getting is freshly laid, so I can't use that until autumn, right?

Laura, I get fresh pony poo in bags, little and often, on a regular drive to the country. I tip it out of the bags on to the plot straight away - just not on the beds that will be growing roots next year - and take the bags back on my next trip.

Jan to mid Feb it goes into the straw hotbox, will cover with 6" of compost, top with plastic sheet over alkathene pipe frame, then early spuds will go in end Feb - first experiment with hotbox, so we'll See What Happens! ::)

Between Feb and April manure goes on greedy feeders' beds - spuds, squash, beans.

After April it goes on little and often all over the plot, as a mulch, between rows of greedy feeders, fruit bushes and perennials (e.g. Globe Artichokes (except roots - parsnip, beet, carrot). BUT not touching tender stems.

If my manure came in a heap, or was mixed with woodchips, I might do it differently. But because I get manure little and often in bags, it's mostly nuggets with a few whisps of straw, IMO manure is fine added fresh to the mulch, suppressing weeds and leaching nutrients into the growing areas, and I don't have to shovel from a daunting heap :P

See this from Lilacsplash in another post:

As for wireworm DO NOT USE HORSE MUCK IF THEY ARE BEDDED DOWN ON WOOD SHAVINGS. As this is a big source of it and becomming more common these days as horses are increasingly bedded down on this to stop respiritory problems.

Quiet month in prospect:

Harvest from plot and store
Move rubbish from 'scary bits' and reclaim them for more JAs, burn woody bits when the rain lets up
Clean and sharpen tools
Wait for jostaberry, blackcurrant, raspbs to arrive and plant out
Look for a Kelly Kettle ;D

[Blue Bird]

Hi LauraB
Just got my allotment 1 week before Christams - have up to now planned on paper what I thinks I need in way of raised beds
Made 2 compost bins and 1 manure bin (get horse poo as swap for pallets from the lady in the plot next but 3)
Harvested all that was left on plot and met some of the others who have plots.

Would like to see your photos of before and after - Need to do some myself though.

BB

PS :- thanks for the seeds got them Sat morning with some onion sets I had ordered.

[OliveOil]

You should be sowing Ailsa Craig onion seeds, Alpine strawberrys and sweet peas... thats what i'll be doing this week anyway!

I do wonder what the weather will bring us with everything being sooooooooo out of kilta... hope its not too much of a nightmare.

[Mrs Ava]

Tried to think what I will be doing over the next few weeks.

Rebuilding fruit cage - the fruit outgrew the old so have had to enlarge it by 6 foot.
Plug holes in the shed - rats are becomnig a little toooo bold
Clean guttering on the shed
Oil locks and hinges on shed
Edge allotments to keep the couch grass paths back for this coming season
Sow chillis, aubergines, onions in the conservatory
Sow a few carrots and salad leaves in large containers in the greenhouse
Dig runner bean trench and start to fill with wet wripped newspaper/cardboard/leaves/organic kitchen waste

I think that will do me for now.  I still have a small area to dig, but at the moment it has cavalo nero kale growing in it, so it will have to wait a while longer yet.

[supersprout]

Sow chillis, aubergines, onions in the conservatory

I'm growing chillis and aubergines for the first time this year EJ. I can use compact plant trainers on our windowsills - when is the right time to sow please - middle or end of the month?
Thank you :)

[Mrs Ava]

SS, I do it when I have the time, so it will be anytime from now onwards to be honest.  Time is currently sparse in this household so it may be a couple of weeks yet. :-\