Topic: I'm tempted to throw the towel in

[GRACELAND]

 :o  don't do it think of all the work you have put in getting that ground right  next year has got to be better  ;)

[Crystalmoon]

I keep changing my mind about whether to hand back my allotment keys this winter or not. Many sensible reasons why I should give it up to do with bad health, moved far away, don't drive, constant break ins at the plots, etc. I have moved all my raised beds to my garden in preparation to leave the allotment but it is the condition of the soil after all my hard work that is making me want to have just one more year on my large plot.....I just don't know what to do so will leave the final decision until later in the year xJane

[Hazelb]

so my allotment plan at the moment. ( today!  ::) )

Decide which crops are worth saving, and dig over areas where only a few patchy bit's of stuff have germinated.  

A dam good weeding around the crops I'm keeping, maybe sow a few late lettuces.

And erect a little plastic 'green house' I just bought for £7.99 to dry my onions in!

.........it will also come in handy for raising seedlings next year ( grown in my home made compost! )


..and a bit of sun

That should sort it!!!

[pumkinlover]

for everyone who has got down over our inclement weather ( or for any other reason) x

[Han]

for everyone who has got down over our inclement weather ( or for any other reason) x

Horse manure? Who wants? I would like to get rid of manure of a 1000 stables?  :) :)

[GRACELAND]

if you can drop at my plot Gloucester  please do
 ;D

[bluecar]

Hello Tee Gee.

Thanks for your reply. Apologies if I'm sounding a bit thick, but I assume you buy the Chempak Potting Base and then follow their suggested mix. Is that right?

I agree with you - it is worth investing in the F1 Brassica.

Looking forward to a better 2013.

Regards

Bluecar

[Tee Gee]

Yes!

Regarding 2013;

My spring cabbage and Caulies are ready for planting out, but i won't do that until after I have watched all of the Olympics.

Then it will be a case of harvesting things as they come ready,then preparing the ground for next year, as it becomes available.

Plus I will have to prepare my seed list for next year before mid September so I know what to buy at Harrogate.
 
Then I will have November to January off!

[keejaay]

I gave up on mine a couple of weeks ago , Greenhouse is the only thing keeping me going , suddenly i have got a glut of toms but cucumber and peppers have only just started flowering , as for the rest on the site -slugs have had most and the wind and rain finished the rest , time to cover up most of the plot just leaving enough for some winter veg and hope next year improves .

[Diddy]

Have been reading through comment on lack of results this year, - looking around on our site, I could see that I was not the only one with a lack of any crops, weeds are really thriving and enjoying it all, (their seeds do not rot in the wet); one plot holder had a stream flowing through his plot and dug out a water channel.

It seems like quite a few people are thinking "what's the point etc", so may not carry on next year, I'll give it one more try next year, dig over now, and cover it all with black membrane.

Anyway - it seems we are not the only site then, nice to know etc, even the pigeons have given up on us.

[Bill Door]

So those giving up are willing to lose that first taste of broad beans (raw).   The luscious taste of forced rhubarb.  The melt in the mouth taste of the first summer summer cabbage.  fresh strawberries.  Firm brussels that taste so nutty.  Soft juicy beetroot.  The strong smell of fresh carrots.  The sweet taste of your own parsnips.  Crunchy onions/shallots. Fresh garlic.  Lettuce an d spring onions.  Leeks to die for.

Not to mention the fresh air, exercise and new friends you meet at the alotment or the ones that thank you profusly for the spare items you give them.

Ah well never mind.  I understand that the supermarkets are at least trying to get the veg on the shelves within two days of butchering the plants.

Best wishes

Bill

[pumkinlover]

I think things are starting to pick up at least in our area, some of my friends even have red tomatoes!

[elvis2003]

I don't think we can hope for better weather next year,instead we have to expect the same,or worse,and prepare ourselves for it....not really worked out how just yet mind. although we are going to make some salad tables to try and beat the slugs,and same for the strawberries too

[Robert_Brenchley]

The one thing we can say is that thanks to global warming, and the so-and-so's devoting so much money to denialist propaganda, it's unlikely to be a run-of-the-mill year.

[Digeroo]

Last year was the driest since whenever, this year has been the wettest.   I hate to think what next year will bring.

With the jet stream so far south I can only assume that the granaries of Cathage are soon be reinvigorated and we will be in the ice age by Xmas.

But I am looking forward to summer on Friday.

[keejaay]

So those giving up are willing to lose that first taste of broad beans (raw).   The luscious taste of forced rhubarb.  The melt in the mouth taste of the first summer summer cabbage.  fresh strawberries.  Firm brussels that taste so nutty.  Soft juicy beetroot.  The strong smell of fresh carrots.  The sweet taste of your own parsnips.  Crunchy onions/shallots. Fresh garlic.  Lettuce an d spring onions.  Leeks to die for.

Not to mention the fresh air, exercise and new friends you meet at the alotment or the ones that thank you profusly for the spare items you give them.

Ah well never mind.  I understand that the supermarkets are at least trying to get the veg on the shelves within two days of butchering the plants.

Best wishes

Bill

I would have loved all of the above but apart from my tomatos
i have 90% of what i have planted destroyed by not only the rain but by slugs etc this time last year i was giving away loads of veg because i had so much this year on the same plot i have got zero - i am now planting some winter veg on some cleared ground and once the veg in the greenhouse is finished i will put some stuff in there and hope for the best

[artichoke]

I am very depressed by massive weeds everywhere and being exhausted by so many visitors and huge family meals that I have yet to recover the energy to tackle the weeds. But:

Visitors helped me dig some potatoes and we have used them every day for weeks

Many puddings made using fruit from last year that would have cost a fortune if I had bought them

Sweetcorn almost ready to eat; courgette plants suddenly immense and productive

Sacks of huge onions and potatoes at the ready with masses more potatoes to come

Runner and climbing beans coming into production, peas still trying hard

Beetroot big enough to eat at last

Have sown "self watering" boxes with salad leaves of various sorts outside back door and they are doing well, especially land cress and water cress.....

So it's not all bad, though I am not going to list the dismal failures and slugged squashes......

[Melbourne12]

I'm sure that the somewhat improved weather has cheered most of us up!

We've suffered a lot this year, the same as everyone, with not being able to work on the soggy ground, the slugs, and the lack of sunshine.

But much of the fruit has been good.  We have an apricot tree, inherited from the previous tenant, about 20 or 25 years old.  It has never produced a ripe apricot in its life - until this year.  We've picked 7 fruits from it, and very delicious they were.  So it just shows that even in a poor year, extraordinary things can happen.

[CDave]

Well I haven't thrown the towel in - but had a huge clear out over the past few days. Cleared the toms from the poly tunnel - lots of leaf this year - virtually no fruit. Cleared most of the onions - most had rotted. Left some that had gone to seed - cause I like the seed heads!! Cabbages - well lets say that the hens have had a lot!! Not many left now. Carrots - harvested about 6 yesterday - from what seemed like 600 rows. Peas - have been ok. Got a lot of a purple heritage variety (cant remember the name) hanging to dry off for next year. Lettuce - had some success - but most (that the slugs didn't get) have bolted. Celariac looks promising. Shame that no-one else in the family likes it except me!!! 

So most of the lottie is now "cleared". Some of my hens - those that don't constantly escape will be "free ranged" in an attempt to reduce slug numbers. I need to think about sowing more in modules rather than direct into the ground. Some of my neighbouring plot holders have had more luck that way. So next project is to build a "staging" area at one end of the poly tunnel - perhaps with some shelving where I can start off more plants indoors.

Have to say that I feel totally flat this year - but think that we are all going to have to learn to live with the fact that the good old British weather is even less predictable than it ever was - and react accordingly. Happy days!!   

[bridbod]

Well, things haven't been so bad here on Yorkshire's east coast.I got a decent crop from my overwintering onions and the spring sown/planted onion seeds and sets look fine, although swamped by weeds.

Beetroot seems to have relished the seasons weather and have romped away. Had a couple of stonking caulis (first time at growing em) but had to venture out in the dark with a headtorch on a couple of slug killing sprees (seemed to work though)
Climbing beans and courgettes cropping nicely at present. Garlic grew monstrous, leeks are just big enough to eat now and although blight struck, I still got a half decent crop of spuddies.