Topic: A place for newbies to introduce themselves.

[Jubillee]

Hi, Digeroo,

One of our members had his soil tested. Result very low Nitrate.  Ph 2-3 which is apparently very acidic.

You are right about the raspberries, they did very well last year but nothing much else did apart from potatoes.   I have a brown Turkey fig which is struggling but I'm not sure if that is because of the soil or the exposed site.

The blood fish and bone sounds as if it's worth a go.  Someone else has suggested watering with Epsom Salts, think I will try that also.

Many thanks for the advice.

[Digeroo]

That is very acid.   Sounds as if you need some garden lime.    Woodash is alkaline as well.

And beans lots of beans.  They add nitrogen to the soil.

And blue berries you can grow lots of blue berries.

I am on a windy site and it is a problem.  Suggest a row of tall peas.  Planted now along the western site they keep the wind off.  Courgettes in particular hate the wind, so I grow those behind straw bales.  I dig a large hole and fill it with manure or recycled compost and they love it.

What is your tap water like?  is that alkaline, good watering might help.

[Jubillee]

Hi, Digeroo,

Don't know what the tap water is like, ours at home a mile away is very hard with limescale.

Keen to hear about the beans and will try the lime and the other suggestions also.

Thanks again, feel that at least I have some ideas to tackle the problem.

[Digeroo]

I suggest you start a thread about coping with acid soil.

[Bonsai Si]

Hi all.

Stumbled across this little Gold mine while using my Google Kung Fu looking for Rotavator advice.

Just a little background, I got into gardening a few years ago when I moved into a property with a garden that was mostly 4 foot high in weeds and the housing association had sent a letter requesting it be "tidied up".  I moved in with (my now ex missus) who wasn't interested in gardening and used the garden mainly as a dog run which is why it was in such poor state.  So I set about tidying it up and got bitten by the bug, not long afterwards I also started collecting Bonsai as it was something I had always had an interest in.

A few years down the line the garden started shaping up nicely and my Bonsai collection had grown to a large scale production facility with the full intention of starting my own Bonsai nursery in a few years.

I split up with the missus at the tail end of last year and I moved out a few months ago into a flat with only a small balcony, managing only to salvage a small portion of my Bonsai and next to nothing of the hundreds of hours of sweat, blood and tears, let alone effort and hard work of the decent sized garden I had built up from nothing.

I caught a break when I asked the local council if they had any plots available on the local allotments when I was informed they had several available.  I now have my first plot of land and around 250 m2 of land at my disposal!  It's still very much in dog order as moving house and starting a new job recently has taken up the bulk of my time, but once things settle down I intend to start investing time and effort (No doubt a decent chunk of cash) to get myself back up to speed and where I was prior to having to move with my Bonsai interest.

The allotment will mainly be used for Bonsai cultivation, but I will keep a section for the veg and flowers I liked eating/growing.

Thanks for the great info, tips and advice I've read so far. =]

[Bonsai Si]

Front garden after weedkiller and strimming...

Bye bye 4 foot tall weeds...

[Bonsai Si]

Many hours removing weeds, rocks and other detritus that had been buried and more backbreaking time spent humping rocks around and planting...

[Bonsai Si]

Taken last year, a few years after I started and when the front garden was close to it's peak before the breakdown of the relationship with my ex missus and a run of health issues that stopped me in my tracks for most of last year getting stuck in with the garden (Trapped nerves in left arm, they hurt!)

[Bonsai Si]

I now am left with this to play with and many years of fun ahead!

[Gooner326]

Hi all, I'm Doug and with my wife Jo we will be taking on a plot in Liss, Hampshire. I will post a picture or too later but just wanted to say hello as we are both beginners in terms of fruit and veg gardening . Ordering a couple of books and have a very knowledgable father in law but happy for all the help we can get. The plot is very overgrown with weeds and nettles so thinking the priority is to clear those and sort the soil ready for next year? The neighbouring plot is also overgrown so that will be an issue? Thanks.....

[caroline7758]

Welcome to the site, Gooner, and good luck with your plot. Unfortunately the weeds are all growing super fast at this time of year, so try not to get downhearted. Clear a small patch at a time and maybe buy some veg plants to put in to give you something positive to look at while you move on to the next bit! If it's a council plot maybe you could ask the concil to clear the next plot?

[Jayb]

Hello and Welcome to the forum Doug
Congratulations on your soon to be new plot 
Caroline is spot on weeds are in hyper drive mode at the moment. If you could get your plot strimmed and rake up the weeds you will be well on your way. Covering the ground with cardboard or something like mypex to stop them growing works well. You can remove the covering a little at a time as you start to dig and clear the ground underneath.

The overgrown plot is likely to shed weed seeds your way and perhaps harbour mice and voles, which can be quite troublesome as they like chomping veggies!

Good luck to you both and look forward to your pictures and hearing your progress.

[bigandyderby]

hello all I am Ilkeston in derbyshire

[Jayb]

Hi and Welcome to Allotments 4 All 
I just googled Ilkeston, it looks a lovely town, interesting looking buildings, canals and countryside around. Have you got an allotment or are you doing a bit of veggie growing from home?

[Silverleaf]

Hello, fellow Derbyshire person! Welcome! I'm from Chesterfield. :)

[littleshallot]

Hi,
I'm new to the forum. I have owned an allotment for about 1 year now. Always looking for help and ideas so decided to turn to the internet for this :)

[Jayb]

Hi and Welcome to Allotments4 All 
Congratulations on your 1st lottie year  Hope it is going well, there are lots of lovely helpful and knowledgeable  growers here so please jump in on any of the threads that interest you of start your own  :happy7:What so far,  are you enjoying growing the most?

[Gui Ross]

Hi all,
I have been growing my own vegs since last May! So I am still quite new to it. However I have managed to get quite a few crops off the dirt so far. I am quite adventurous, I love to try unusual crops-oca, wonderberries, and rare varieties. I am trying to get some blue potatoes from America right now . I grow mainly to be more self-reliant but I do confess to enjoy my gardening a lot.

I am located in Bristolm so far I have been growing crops on my rather large garden but I am on waiting list to get a plot in a nearby allotment, shouldn't be too long now.

Best,

Gui.

[galina]

Welcome Bonsai Si, your front garden looked a picture!  Looking forward to allotment pictures when you have got started.  As you have a large plot, are you planning a range of veg as well?

[galina]

Welcome to Gui Ross in Bristol, littleshallot, Bigandyderby and Doug.  Sorry it's taken me so long to welcome you and wish you all a really productive and successful growing season this year.  Welcome to A4A.