Topic: 2 weeks in first allotment ever!!

[greenfinger]

Hi!

signed up for half a plot in leeds 2 weeks ago and since then we've dugged and tidied, met the locals (some of them anyway, bit chilly still).
we're also getting a cheap glass greenhouse and making foundation this weekend (supposed to be cold though...)

ordered some seeds and got some spugs but I was wondering about potatoes:
do you put manure at the bottom of the trench or not?

anyone grown pak choi before? is it easy?
how about tomoatoes in the greenhouse is it better in grow bags or in the soil?

thanks..

I hope everything's gonna grow!

[Lauren S]

Hi Greenfingers,
Welcome to A4A.
Congrats on your lottie. Exciting isn't it?  ;D
For my potatoes I will be digging a trench and adding some well rotted manure and then on top I will be putting shredded newspaper to retain moisture and keep the potatoes cozy and hopefully dry. No soggy bottoms  :o

[Lauren S]

Oh don't forget to take loads of photos and post them on here. We love to see pics and your progress  ;D
Good Luck and Happy Digging, weeding and sowing.

[manicscousers]

hiya, greenfinger, nice to meet you..we do similar to Lauren with our spuds, also earth them up with comfrey leaves and grass clippings..pak choi, we grow it , quite easy, if you can keep the slugs off it  ;D
happy growng

[calendula]

Hi!

anyone grown pak choi before? is it easy?

thanks..

I hope everything's gonna grow!

pak choy is easy, sow later in the season, i.e. late summer and it will be a lovely autumn crop, fabulous for stir fries, soups and raw and much more - is a brassica so include that in your crop rotation and protect from pigeons etc

[silverbirch]

Hello, Greenfinger, welcome aboard.

I can't grow pak choi, mind you I can't grow radishes either, so I've given up.

I tend to maure around spuds, mixing with the backfill rather than laying them on it.

See, that's typical allotments for you.  Two pieces of advice - totally different!!

My greenhouse has bot a concrete base, so I have no option but to use grow bags.  If you are planting in to soil, you'll have to dig it out and replace every couple of years - or maybe every year - to stop diseases building up.  Blight spores are a particular problem, as they can overwinter.

Regarding the greenhouse, it may be worth having a look around the other plots.  We have problems on our lottie with glass being smashed.

Hope you enjoy it anyway.  Allotments are great places.

[saddad]

Hope you enjoy it.. whereabouts in Leeds?
Flea beetle can decimate Pak Choi, and Radish! Mine was doing well but...
 ::)

[franklynn]

Hi Greenfinger

This morning we signed for our new plot. This afternoon we started clearing it. It dose not seem too bad though it has deep rooted nettles which need to come out. There was loads of glass in two areas; it looks like there were two greenhouses that were just smashed to pieces where they were.

We managed to clear about 3m square, which is just about ready to be dug. The soil looks good there seems to be sand mixed in, its crumbly even though its wet. there is no time to add manure this time but could do with some advice on what to use as fertiliser (organic).

We were visited by Mum & Dad which stopped us for a while then once they had gone our daughter and her partner turned up. Nether of them thought about bringing a hot drink!! (More training needed there)

I am working all weekend but have Monday and Tuesday off  so ill be down there then we have lots of offers of help ewe will have to wait and see who turns up.

Looks like you are a cpl of weeks ahead of us

Thanks Frank n Lynn

[calendula]

Hope you enjoy it.. whereabouts in Leeds?
Flea beetle can decimate Pak Choi, and Radish! Mine was doing well but...
 ::)

you need to fleece or net and sow as late as you can  :)

[arphamoe]

I had great returns from pak choi last year - did successional sowings in small pots then transplanted to plot in stages. Still cropping some! Taste great as well.

[nuthatch]

has deep rooted nettles which need to come out.

Nettles are not really a bad thing. It shows that your soil is quite fertile. Can attract beneficial insects as well.

[nuthatch]

Note to self.

must remember how to use the quote facility

[Carls3168]

Greenfinger - congrats on your new plot, I'm just down the road in Halifax.

Ive grown tomato's outside and also in the greenhouse - last year outdoor ones got blight though!  >:( Year before they were good though, and dont take half as much watering as greenhouse ones!
Dont forget to think about how your going to ankor your greenhouse down - with the winds were having at the mo it'll def need it!
With regards to the spuds and manure I normally just scatter some chicken poo pelets in the trench

Franklynn - leave a patch of nettles for wildlife, also you can pick it and soak the leafs in water for a month to create a great (if smelly) fertiliser for your toms/cucumbers etc etc

[caroline7758]

Welcome, Greenfinger- I'm just up the road in Tadcaster!

[Thegoodlife]

Yeaaa up the yorkshire!! im in donny ;D, yes pak choi very easy to grow & happy growing, will be posting some more pics of my plot see the "get orf my land 2 " topic & you will see how large it is ;D

[cornykev]

Hi to all the newbies, loads of horse poo in the trench and I keep a patch of nettles but if your digging them up don't put the roots in the compost.  ;D ;D ;D

[kt.]

As above with some shredded newspaper too. ;)

[greenfinger]

Thank you all for your good advice! we're in Gipton allotments in leeds.
I hope it's not too cold tomorrow as we need to make concrete foundations for the greehouse.
maybe next weekend!!
it doesn't look like we've got glass smashing problem but it wouldn't surprise me

Franklynn "Nether of them thought about bringing a hot drink!! (More training needed there)".
we have thermo flask of lemon & ginger tea, very warming!!!
 ;D
we'll take some photos this weekend

[franklynn]

Well greenfinger

we have  small gas burner that we will take down wher we have storage for it so we can have our own hot drinks seeb we are learning already