Topic: A place for newbies to introduce themselves.

[Jayb]

Hello Malcolm Brown, Welcome to the forum 
Glad you found us and joined. You must have had such fun over the years looking after and spending time with all those lovely animals. 1.25 acres is some plot  Good luck and look forward to reading more in your posts.

[Digeroo]

Welcome from me too.

1.25 acres sounds huge.  Pity you did not get that boar to sort out your brambles.  Since you are into livestock, I suggest a couple of weaner pigs to sort out the nettles and other weeds for you. 

[Malcolm Brown]

In there day the pigs were fantastic at clearing the ground - there are some photos - but it has grown back now.  I have beaten nearly half of it into shape but it is very rocky, very sandy and very acid.  When we took the site in 1985 ADAS came and checked the land and found that the pH was 4.5.  It has improved with working and adding lime but most of it is pretty rough.  We do have lots of proper English bluebells which are beautiful in the yard and the woods but a weed in the garden.  Christine dug up quite a lot which I have healed in so if anyone wants some let me know.  Coming from the garden rather than the woods/yard they are quite legal.

[galina]

Malcolm Brown,

Thank you for giving us a picture of the garden you and your good lady have.  Sounds idyllic, apart from the hard work ahead and that ph.  Perhaps re-measure and get a more up to day figure.  It certainly is very acidic.  Hope you like blueberries, as they would like do well.  But maybe the ph has come up to more normal levels by now. 

Glad you joined, good to have you here and looking forward to reading about your progress. 

[caroline7758]

Welcome from the North of God's County! Great pictures and a lot of places I recognise. Looks like you've got plenty to keep you busy!

[Paul_D]

Hi everyone

Got my first allotment last November after a 4 year wait in sunny South Manchester.
Stumbled across this site (from a pinterest link i think) and been reading through some really useful post and thought i'd sign up.

Our plot is 220yrd² according to the tenant book. Its triangular and on the border of the site with high trees/hedges all down the west edge so a lot of the plot can be a bit shady. Inherited a nice big shed that desperately needs a new roof, 6x4ft greenhouse and a long abandoned chicken coop.

Managed to clear pretty much all of it apart from the constant popping up of raspberries, potatoes, bind weed and mares tale and now got a random selection of fruit and veg planted which seems to be not dead yet. Hopefully our enthusiasm remains as our inevitable disasters mount up.

Looking forward to learning a whole lot more from you guys  here.
Cheers

[galina]

Welcome Paul D.  glad you got your plot after a long wait and that cultivation is well underway.

I sympathise on the bindweed.  At the moment it seems to pop up one day and is over a foot tall the next.  If you leave it a third day, it binds around other plants.  Nightmare.  You have to stay on top of it.

Looking forward to hearing more.  Happy Gardening 

[johhnyco15]

welcome paul d hope you find this site as much fun as i have

[caroline7758]

Welcome, Paul- I've been battling bindweed for about 10 years now! Digging it out is actually quite satisfying, even though you know it's probably not gone! If it winds round plants I just snap it off at the ground and leave it to die off.

[Paul_D]

Thanks for the welcomes.
I think we are stuck with the bindweed for a long time to come.
We inherited a 1m³ compost cage that has all sorts of weeds growing in it including bindweed. I think we will just have to leave it for a couple of years and hope it turns into something usable so we can empty it and move it to a different area.   
Luckily our plot is very close to the house so we can try and keep on top of things.

[Jayb]

Hi Paul_D, Welcome to A4A 

Congratulations on getting your plot, apart from the obvious weeds you mention it sounds like you have some useful extras. Being close to home must be a bonus too. Good luck with your first year on your allotment, look forward to your posts 

[Paul_D]

Hi Paul_D, Welcome to A4A 

Congratulations on getting your plot, apart from the obvious weeds you mention it sounds like you have some useful extras. Being close to home must be a bonus too. Good luck with your first year on your allotment, look forward to your posts 

Thanks
Yeah we got really lucky. About 100yds from our front door to the gates and then the same again to our plot. My only worry is the shade from the tall trees.
We only had to pay £50 to the previous holder for the structures he left but we have saved many many times this by not having to buy them ourselves plus there was what we thought was a load of junk which turned out to be really useful junk. 

[ElizabethB]

Hi! Just found this site, was with another but going to windows 10 it disappeared, and I cannot remember name (age doe's that to you,  We, sister in law and self took over half plot on May 7th 2014, so in to 3rd year, it was is a bad state, and the other person on the other half was not very nice but they have gone now and we got all the plot. It is on a hill, but look to the left and you see the A48 Severn Bridge and to the right the River Wye. When I can work out how to, I will post a picture. We did have male help for 4 days but the rest was left to us, we even had a 6 week marrow (my baby) we try to grow every thing except sweet corn as the badgers love it. As we are old girls we can visit the plot any time, usually for many hours, weeding, planting, mowing or sitting in the pergoda! having tea/coffee, and sometime lunch, get visitors when the pink kettle whistles, not down today as it is quite wet and being on a slope! so hopefully tomorrow will be better. I will stop now as I can gone on a bit.

[tricia]

Hello and welcome Elizabeth B  . You've come to the right place if you like to chat or need advice. 

Tricia

[galina]

Did your Windows 10 start to install itself ElisabethB?  Mine did that and I am still struggling to find my way around and also how to do things.  But at least my groups were still there.

Your plot (and the pink kettle) sound a haven and a little bit of paradise after the hard work and difficult start with the plot neighbour. Glad you found us and hope to read more about your growing successes.  A marrow in 6 weeks?  How did you manage that?

Welcome to A4A.  Attaching photos is not hard.  Underneath the message window where you type a message is an attachment button.  The picture does not appear straightaway, but takes some time to upload.  You'll get the hang of it.   

[pumkinlover]

Welcome ElizabethB. Hope that you enjoy joining this forum 
Your plot sounds lovely 

[ElizabethB]

Thank you all for lovely welcome, I do go on a bit about plotting but enjoy it so much, want to there now but it is raining, we (sister in law Linda) have a posh pergoda but the roof leaks, will try photo's then you can see what I am rabbiting about.

[ElizabethB]

Did your Windows 10 start to install itself ElisabethB?  Mine did that and I am still struggling to find my way around and also how to do things.  But at least my groups were still there.

Your plot (and the pink kettle) sound a haven and a little bit of paradise after the hard work and difficult start with the plot neighbour. Glad you found us and hope to read more about your growing successes.  A marrow in 6 weeks?  How did you manage that?

Welcome to A4A.  Attaching photos is not hard.  Underneath the message window where you type a message is an attachment button.  The picture does not appear straightaway, but takes some time to upload.  You'll get the hang of it.   

Hi! windows10 was started by Mark last year, it appeared months later but as mentioned took a lot of stuff off and cannot get it back, will check the marrow date again sure it was 6 weeks be then ld person dreaming x

[sunloving]

hi elizabeth , welcome to a4e. looking forwards to finding more about you and your plot adventures. x sunloving

[johhnyco15]

Hi! Just found this site, was with another but going to windows 10 it disappeared, and I cannot remember name (age doe's that to you,  We, sister in law and self took over half plot on May 7th 2014, so in to 3rd year, it was is a bad state, and the other person on the other half was not very nice but they have gone now and we got all the plot. It is on a hill, but look to the left and you see the A48 Severn Bridge and to the right the River Wye. When I can work out how to, I will post a picture. We did have male help for 4 days but the rest was left to us, we even had a 6 week marrow (my baby) we try to grow every thing except sweet corn as the badgers love it. As we are old girls we can visit the plot any time, usually for many hours, weeding, planting, mowing or sitting in the pergoda! having tea/coffee, and sometime lunch, get visitors when the pink kettle whistles, not down today as it is quite wet and being on a slope! so hopefully tomorrow will be better. I will stop now as I can gone on a bit.

welcome hope you enjoy this site as much as i have