Author Topic: Got my lottie - Hurrah (Read 10914 times)

mitzzy · « **Reply #40 on:** November 11, 2004, 09:46:01 »

great photos

you have been busy.

I went to do some of my allotment yesterday and found my spade & fork has been nicked :( Not a happy bunny ! :'(

I hope they break !!!! >:(

I have to go and get another set today so i have done very little this week .Been very whezzy :(

Moved my carpet on to next weedy patch . I plan to start digging in the manure i had delivered last month , i had wanted to clear out whole plot of weeds but I want to get at least 1 bed dug ready for early potaotes .

Mags

I ment to say great bin I was going to do same but gave up as I thought I'd nail it together ,going to get some rope and tie it together like sugested in earlier post :)

Moggle · « **Reply #41 on:** November 12, 2004, 10:38:10 »

Oh dear Mitzzy, poor you re your spade and fork. My Homebase fork was only about £8 and is probably not that wonderful, but will do ok for now, without a big outlay of dosh. Bad karma will come back and get the theives >:(

No nails in my compost bin, cable ties all the way, and then one edge is tied with string so I can open the 'gate' and empty it. We got the cable ties for 99p or something from a market. I hope to add another bin on to the side once this one is full.

derbex · « **Reply #42 on:** November 12, 2004, 16:29:24 »

Well dome Moggle,

the bin's fine -mine are made of some old bits of stock-fencing & angleiron that were lying around on my plot. Your beds look nice and neat too -not like mine, I've just decided to edge them to tidy them up a bit.

Jeremy

jamie · « **Reply #43 on:** November 12, 2004, 19:57:50 »

I'm impressed Moggle, brings back memories of when I started, although yours looks much more professional. The clods of earth are a good size for winter to take its toll. As for the compost bin, you could live in it! I'm waiting for pallett delivery myself to make a new bin. If you can get any chichester grit to sprinkle over the clods then this will aid the breakdown proces (and prevent the clay molecules from sticking together again).

Look forward to seeing more photos. Are you going to plant anything this side of Christmas? Maybe garlic, broad beans, shallots?

Jamie

mitzzy · « **Reply #44 on:** November 12, 2004, 22:15:37 »

Started to double dig today ,did an hour & a half then had to run off to pick up small child .

found more roots while digging ! but the bit I have done looks much better than the rest of plot .

New spade & fork in my front hall ,will have to nag at dh re my shed.

will not be back til Tuesday as I work at weekends and monday i met friends .

getting cold too :( gritted roads tonight )

Mags

Sarah-b · « **Reply #45 on:** November 16, 2004, 10:32:17 »

OH built similar compost heap from pallets on Sunday. And the children really loved it - think they though it was a new sort of Wendy house (3 sided). So now I'm reluctant to use it for a heap - cos anything that keeps them occupied on the plot is a huge bonus!!

Sarah

Moggle · « **Reply #46 on:** November 16, 2004, 10:57:21 »

Sarah, sounds like you just need to get your OH to make you a second compost bin :) Mine seems almost full already so I may have to be doing the same :)

Jamie, got some garlic in on the weekend finally, felt good to get something in the ground, but took a lot of chopping with the spade to get it fine enough. Would like to try shallots, but don't know if I can use just any, or if it has to be a specific sort. Not sure I can manage the broad beans, as the bed I want to put them in to isn't even dug yet :-\ The peas I got will overwinter too, but I will just have to wait till next year.

Glad your digging is going well Mitzzy, we've finally got the first 2 beds 100% done, but OH broke our chepo B&Q fork while tackling the dry third bed :'( I wonder if i can get my money back.

Next weekend will probably be the last weekend of digging before we start to organise ourselves for our month long holiday to Australia in December. I'll try to take some more photos before then.

Mrs Ava · « **Reply #47 on:** November 16, 2004, 12:42:26 »

You will be amazed how quickly the stuff in your compost heap sinks Moggle, and by the time you come home from Oz, there will be plenty of room to catch up with your digging! ;D

windygale · « **Reply #48 on:** November 18, 2004, 00:12:14 »

Hi Sarah,"helpfull hint" try to build three compostbins if you can and if i can say place a plastic slopping lid on top and guttering to allow you to collect rain water, by building three bins it will help with turning you compost
Hope this helps
windy

Moggle · « **Reply #49 on:** November 21, 2004, 20:40:45 »

Next update!

Bought new fork yesterday with 10 year guarantee :D Have now almost done the third bed, which means that half the plot is clear.

I couldn't believe how much the frost and rain had broken down the soil already, you can see a little of it in the third photo, compared to the same one 2 weeks ago.

Dug in some leaves as we dug over the 3rd bed, and threw a few on the 1st bed as a bit of a mulch, will wait and see what that does.

Also got given bags and bags of leaves from work that the site manager had collected :) Some went in the soil as above, and 4 bags have been watered and left to rot down on their own.

Took more photos too:

That will be it for this year I think, we leave on Dec 2 for Oz ;D

Wicker · « **Reply #50 on:** November 21, 2004, 20:57:31 »

And you'll deserve your break, Moggle!! What energy - sometimes wonder if I ever had as much energy as you, EJ and some of the other young 'uns have - guess I must have had. Now everything is "paced" a bit more but still satisfying to see the results.

It will be like leaving a child at home when you go away - you'll fret and worry a bit that "she" is o.k. and no ahrm ahs befallen her!! ::) :-\

Moggle · « **Reply #51 on:** November 22, 2004, 13:56:47 »

Actually Wicker, i think I'll enjoy the rest from battling with the clay soil, and start digging up my Mum's and my Granny's gardens instead. I'm already considering growing and giving all my family tomato plants for Christmas.

Several of my family are great gardeners, and I'm sure they are very pleased that I have become a gardener too :)

I will have to check on the lottie as soon as I get back though - jet lag or no jet lag ;D

aquilegia · « **Reply #52 on:** November 22, 2004, 14:03:10 »

Wow. You sure have been busy. Most impressive how much you've down. And you certainly deserve that rest down under! Have you got fitter and stronger?

The seeds arrived on Friday - thanks. But again I totally forgot to sort yours out. I didn't remember until I was going to bed last night. I will try tonight if I get a minute. Maybe if I... I've just written seeds on my hand, so as long as I don't wash it off, I might actually remember!

windygale · « **Reply #53 on:** November 22, 2004, 20:06:26 »

Hi Moggle, just seen your pics -you have been battling, it's looking better, keep up the good work as it will take some time to sort your soil out,(good luck) have you any idea's on how you will do this,as clay is a pain - REALLY WET in the winter and BONE DRY in the summer.
I have about 2hrs work left on my plot and then it's all dug over, i'll leave it over winter to kill the weeds (hopefully)then start sowing seed's around feb in my small greenhouse at home,not sure if there's anything i can grow now (have to look in my book's or look on gardening website's.
Have a good holiday, take some pic's to place on here and make us all jealous or if anyone in your group back's out i'll go HA!HA!HA! :) 8) ;D 8) :D 8)
Catch you later
Windy

Moggle · « **Reply #54 on:** November 30, 2004, 15:50:04 »

Thanks everyone for your nice comments.

Aqui, I think I have got fitter, just a bit, shame I seem to have put on a few kilos at the same time though :( Must measure myself, perhaps it's muscle and that weighs more :P

Well done with your digging Windy, I plan to tackle my clay soil by digging in either some leafmould or some manure, and probably some sand as well, in the late winter or early spring. I will ask the site secretary to flamegun the top part as soon as he can, and dig that when I am able, with the aim of getting the lot dug by next May.

Wicker, you were right in the end, went down on Sunday to drop off a couple of bags of leaves, and felt very sad as I left and locked the gates, that I would not be back there for more than a month :-\

Muddy_Boots · « **Reply #55 on:** December 04, 2004, 20:07:50 »

So pleased for you Moggle. After your balcony efforts we sit back to be amazed as you are let loose on the lottie!

Very best of luck and I hope you get huge enjoyment out of it.

All things come to those who wait and keep growing in the meantime!

Wombat · « **Reply #56 on:** December 05, 2004, 06:13:12 »

G'Day Moggle,

My veggie patch is composed of good old Sydney clay. If you dig in some Gypsum (Calcium Sulphate) or Dolomite (Calcium/magnesium sulphate) the calcium replaces sodium in the clay and they break up easier. It's worth a go anyway! ;)

Wombat · « **Reply #57 on:** December 07, 2004, 10:23:04 »

Sorry, it was late our time when I typed this - Dolomite is Calcium/Magnesium CARBONATE not sulphate - so this will raise the pH of your soil, no problem if it is acid, a problem if it already alkaline :P

Wicker · « **Reply #58 on:** December 07, 2004, 23:39:21 »

Oh, Wombat, just don't say the sun was shining in your eyes and you had to sit in the shade to keep out of the heat while you were posting message!!! - Green smiley needed as envy rears its head here! ;)

Moggle · « **Reply #59 on:** December 15, 2004, 23:47:25 »

Thanks for the tip Wombat, I will look in to it. I bet you can grow some lovely tomatoes etc in Sydney, with all that heat.

I am originally a Tasmanian, and we can be a bit limited in what grows here. I think the climate here is not that different from the south of the UK. They certainly grow some decent spuds in Tassie!

Starting to really miss my lottie while on holiday here in Tassie, but eating lots of lovely berries and other summer produce to console myself, and decide what I'm most looking forward to growing in the spring :)

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Author Topic: Got my lottie - Hurrah (Read 10914 times)