Author Topic: NOT STARTED YET!!!!! (Read 7463 times)

slyfox-mal · « **Reply #20 on:** February 20, 2005, 14:29:51 »

no more work for me for a while we have over 5 inches of snow at the mo and its still coming down and a first for me its snowing and thunder and lightning how strange and 1 degree c

mark my words · « **Reply #21 on:** February 21, 2005, 20:34:59 »

Hi I'm new to this site and allotments: only got mine in Jan am trying to clear couch grass and break up soil but yesterday(sun) ground was like concrete on one side and barely penetrable on the other,weather was mixed here in Stourbridge so after reading all the hints I dont feel too bad regards Mark

Multiveg · « **Reply #22 on:** February 22, 2005, 11:35:22 »

Where's the snowman, busy_lizzie? :P

wivvles · « **Reply #23 on:** February 22, 2005, 12:04:45 »

Quote from: cookie on February 19, 2005, 11:41:49

Not much luck down in <sunny> somerset either. We are having lovely weather during the week when we have no spare time, come Friday, it seems to pour with rain, then the lottie is like a bog again! We have a long weekend off next week,so hope we can get going then. Today the sun is shining, but its soooo cold.

I know what you mean - I'm down in <not usually very sunny> Somerset too! However, this last weekend was most productive, if a tad cold... lots of digging and weeding, raspberry canes in, shallots in, fruit bushes pruned... here's hoping next weekend is more of the same! ;D

I'm in Wiveliscombe, west of Taunton - whereabouts are you Cookie?

cookie · « **Reply #24 on:** February 22, 2005, 14:14:35 »

Hi, Wivvy, I am over the otherside ofTaunton, in Ilminster. I am another newbie with the plot from hell, nice setting though, south facing, gentle slope, looking foward to the summer up there with the odd bottle!!!

frannie · « **Reply #25 on:** February 24, 2005, 14:39:14 »

we've even had snow down yere in zunny dorset!! havent checked if my black plastic is still there but my spare bedroom has taken on a new lease of life as a seed nursery! there's plenty of time - god made lots of it!! :)

Clayhithe · « **Reply #26 on:** March 05, 2005, 22:52:04 »

Wardy,
Calabrese is broccoli: just a different colour

tim · « **Reply #27 on:** March 06, 2005, 09:20:01 »

I'm cross!!

The first pic slipped in in error. It was an previous attempt at showing how to 'carve' calabrese. Tried to delete the whole caboosh but 'it's not allowed'?? Always has been before. And I can't modify it because the entry 'doesn't exist'!!

I just wanted to add that - yes - calabrese is green broccoli, as opposed to the purple & white 'sprouting' types. Confusion arises when some folk call winter cauliflower 'broccoli' - or 'broccol-eye' locally!

Of course - you then have white, green, purple & yellow caulis!!

Good God!! On 'saving', the whole previous message has gone. So here we go again!!

Re: NOT STARTED YET!!!!!
« Reply #27 on: Today at 09:04:42 »

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Just to add to that, Wardy -

1. Calabrese. Yes, easy. Mainly a 'summer broccoli'. I much prefer the varieties that give you a small head & weeks of side-shoots. See below. The larger heads all come at once & can't be accommodated.

2. Equally, we always grow Sprouting Broccoli - preferring the white varieties. Again, this gives you tender side-shoots from Jan - April. I find some of the commercial varieties, becoming more readily available at farmers' markets, rather coarse. But they want a 'heavy pick'.

kenkew · « **Reply #28 on:** March 06, 2005, 09:49:01 »

I don't think any where from Scotland to Belgium is ready foe planting out yet. My plot (Belgium) is water logged. I've put a 6mtr cloch down 2 weeks ago and I'll have a look at the soil underneath today.

wardy · « **Reply #29 on:** March 06, 2005, 10:23:56 »

Thanks everyone for the broccoli masterclass ;D I have lots of different varieties now due to swaps with GardenerJ so I will have taste tests and publish the results. I got a free backet of the lime green Romanescu with a magazine the other day. Hope it tastes as good as it looks!

Ta for the pics Tim :)

tim · « **Reply #30 on:** March 06, 2005, 11:03:09 »

Tried Romanesco last year for the first time - always thought it a bit 'fancy'. It does!!
But as with ALL that lot - & so many other veg - do STEAM rather than boil.

Strange that no one can agree whether they are cauli or broccoli? Who cares!!

kenkew · « **Reply #31 on:** March 06, 2005, 15:46:35 »

Bit nippy down the plot today. Not planting 'owt yet!!

kenkew · « **Reply #32 on:** March 06, 2005, 15:52:04 »

....and I won't be doing any watering.....!

Roy Bham UK · « **Reply #33 on:** March 06, 2005, 18:22:16 »

:o Cor blimey Ken that's bbbbblooming cold brrrr! It's been like a spring day up the lottie today temps around 6°C (43°F) no wind glorious 8)

kenkew · « **Reply #34 on:** March 06, 2005, 19:08:30 »

Trying to warm a bit up with a cloche I bought for about £3.

Got my cloche guard dog too.

Roy Bham UK · « **Reply #35 on:** March 06, 2005, 21:03:05 »

Bargain cloche there Ken :o were the supports made from plastic pipe ??? What will you put under it and how long will it stay there? I have Poundland ones waiting to be set up spose they should be on the ground now. :)

Love your guard dog what's His/Her name?

kenkew · « **Reply #36 on:** March 06, 2005, 21:23:30 »

The cloche has plastic tubing. Not all that robust but easily replaced. Had to put wood alongside to keep it there. It's been there a couple of weeks but the ground under it is still boggy, I'll give it another 2 weeks me thinks, it should be more friable than the surrounding soil and a bit warmer. After I sow a few peas and poss carrots under it, I'll leave it in place until at least into April.
No-one gets near my cloche with my guard dog Skeela around! She keeps all the helicopters off the plot from the nearby mini airport too.
Just after that pic we went for a swim in the nearby lake. Er'm...correction. Skeela went for a swim. Well, someone had to stay on the bank and throw the sticks, eh?

kenkew · « **Reply #37 on:** March 07, 2005, 22:04:33 »

Chanced a couple of rows of early Nantes in the plastic non-weather proof plastic house. Nothing lost and a chance to gain.

Mike J · « **Reply #38 on:** March 07, 2005, 22:41:44 »

These posts are encouraging - I was starting to feel that I was drifting off the pace, but there seems to be a fairly relaxed attitude about when to start - within reason (I'm in Sussex by the way). I took over our allotment in September, cleared it of weeds (couch etc), and started to build raised beds - and disaster, snapped my Achilles tendon playing squash in early November. Resumed raised beds again about a month ago, but the plotholder next to me then started planting his early potatoes - hence my panic. One of the posts above mentioned warming up the soil - will now try and cover the beds I have completed.

PS Great site.

Rose.mary · « **Reply #39 on:** March 07, 2005, 22:58:41 »

Patience children, patience!

Not too early, not too deep, not too close!
Rosemary

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Author Topic: NOT STARTED YET!!!!! (Read 7463 times)