Allotments 4 All
Produce => Edible Plants => Topic started by: Tee Gee on April 27, 2016, 15:04:28
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I spent a couple of hours on the plots yesterday and this morning and I am cream crackered!
My mind thought it could do what I did over the two mornings in one, my body had other ideas!
I wanted to get my old winter greens out so that I could get my potatoes in. I did think of digging, mucking and planting the potatoes as I progressed down the bed but then I changed my mind and only prepared the bed for the potatoes, will plant them tomorrow.
This is how things look at the moment:
I dug in six of these:
(http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd27/tgalmanac/27th%20April%202016/IMG_5064_zpsniyvnkry.jpg) (http://s222.photobucket.com/user/tgalmanac/media/27th%20April%202016/IMG_5064_zpsniyvnkry.jpg.html)
This is what it looked like when I finished (the bed is 30ft x 5ft)
(http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd27/tgalmanac/27th%20April%202016/IMG_5065_zpsmkoi6hzg.jpg) (http://s222.photobucket.com/user/tgalmanac/media/27th%20April%202016/IMG_5065_zpsmkoi6hzg.jpg.html)
This is looking over my two plots;
(http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd27/tgalmanac/27th%20April%202016/IMG_5066_zpsa8qzpnxn.jpg) (http://s222.photobucket.com/user/tgalmanac/media/27th%20April%202016/IMG_5066_zpsa8qzpnxn.jpg.html)
My Garlic bed:
(http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd27/tgalmanac/27th%20April%202016/IMG_5067_zps6fywmiex.jpg) (http://s222.photobucket.com/user/tgalmanac/media/27th%20April%202016/IMG_5067_zps6fywmiex.jpg.html)
This is my 2nd plot which I am thinking of giving up. My plan for this incoming year is not to plant it as I want to see if I can make do with one plot. I might offer two or three beds to another plot holder to plant out this year and I will keep a couple for possible overspill.
I do not want to give it up until I am sure I do not need it, and I won't know that until the end of the season.
(http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd27/tgalmanac/27th%20April%202016/IMG_5068_zpsn41i6hfx.jpg) (http://s222.photobucket.com/user/tgalmanac/media/27th%20April%202016/IMG_5068_zpsn41i6hfx.jpg.html)
This is some of the stuff I have growing on. BTW someone was asking about early starting Gladioli you can see what I do front left, I start them off in cells.
(http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd27/tgalmanac/27th%20April%202016/IMG_5071_zpsujnuvxu3.jpg) (http://s222.photobucket.com/user/tgalmanac/media/27th%20April%202016/IMG_5071_zpsujnuvxu3.jpg.html)
Some Celery I have potted up for sale in the village shop, I take all my spare plants there, and this arrangement goes towards my running costs.;
(http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd27/tgalmanac/27th%20April%202016/IMG_5074_zpsf2b44al6.jpg) (http://s222.photobucket.com/user/tgalmanac/media/27th%20April%202016/IMG_5074_zpsf2b44al6.jpg.html)
These are some Chrysants I was given so I will put these in one of the beds on my 2nd Plot
(http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd27/tgalmanac/27th%20April%202016/IMG_5075_zpsu7snhpll.jpg) (http://s222.photobucket.com/user/tgalmanac/media/27th%20April%202016/IMG_5075_zpsu7snhpll.jpg.html)
Some of my Sweet Corn has germinated and nearly ready for potting on:
(http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd27/tgalmanac/27th%20April%202016/IMG_5080_zpsdi5shry2.jpg) (http://s222.photobucket.com/user/tgalmanac/media/27th%20April%202016/IMG_5080_zpsdi5shry2.jpg.html)
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Certainly know the feeling!!! Could I suggest you consider transforming the second plot to a no-dig regime. With the good condition from your previous efforts, freedom from perennial weeds and prior planning, come the autumn, a good mulch applied on top and left alone would put you in prime position for early planting next spring without the slog of digging. Just a thought.
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My thinking of giving up the plot is not about its upkeep, it is more about the excess veg I produce.
I am finding that I am either giving the produce away or it runs to seed before my family can use it up.
This is particularly so with my hybrid F1 brassicas as these all tend to mature at the same time as most of them have been bred for the commercial market where this attribute is a benefit.
Hence me doing multiple sowings during the season to extend my harvesting period.
My thoughts are to only grow smaller amounts of plants that that I like, and plants that can be quite expensive .
With these thoughts in mind over the last two or three years I have been steadily moving some of my fruit trees/shrubs onto one plot to create a greater variety of fruit over a longer part of the growing season.
Similarly I have added another greenhouse to this plot again with a view to extending my cropping season.
I have now decided to grow my French beans(cobra) and carrots in the greenhouses. cobra is fast growing and I have been getting two crops a year recently so I am now thinking of going for three crops.
The beauty of Cobra is they are prolific, and freeze well so. I can give up with outdoor bean varieties, this will leave me space for an alternative crop.
I have practiced with carrots with a bit of success as I beat the carrot fly,and as you store carrots in peat/ compost I just leave them to remain where they have been grown.
I think with a bit of thought I can utilise my covered space a bit better.
Currently my greenhouses are empty from around November to May apart from hardening off the plants I currently grow outdoors which I think is a bit of a waste.
As I mentioned I am not giving the second plot up until I see how my thoughts develop......... and yes there will be less digging & mucking to do.
I take your point about ' no dig' gardening but that has never been my style as I am an old fashioned traditional gardener that likes to dig, plus the fact digging keeps me in shape.
All I will have to keep in mind is that I take the digging a bit at a time rather than all at once like I have done in the past.
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Tee Gee, you can't give up any of your plots, I look at the pictures all the time, they inspire me..don't you dare..Grow smaller varieties, I will even send the seeds LOL but don't give up for any reason, trust me , even if it becomes harder and you are giving more stuff away, you would miss it too much, it is the freedom to grow what you want, how much you want, when you want etc, just having the space around to do all those things warms my soul and I envy you so much to have that option.
Anyway what would you do with your extra time, carpet bowling, or maybe you fancy Zumba dancing,i t is the sort of daft stuff they offer for "seniors with time" over here. They offer ballet classes , of course I can't walk very well, I can take computer, but I hate them, I could go on a seniors guided pub crawl, but I rarely drink, or go on a bus trip and watch them let the salmon eggs go in the Fraser or better still start a class. I could offer marbles for beginners, or hand jive maybe...
The world gets very small as you get older don't give up any of your space until you need to push up the daisies yourself.
With respect!!!!
Jeannine
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As you are only carrying half a load in the wheelbarrow, load it to the front, it ain't so heavy then. A good invention the wheelbarrow, if it was not for that you northeners would never have learnt to walk upright ;)
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If it was not for that you northeners would never have learnt to walk upright ;)
Yes I know what you mean as my stoop helps me to push it up the hill to my plot. :icon_cheers:
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Look for heritage non-F1 brassicas which crop over a longer season, and plant a wider range of verieties.
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I think you need to adapt TeeGee. Grow different crops in smaller quantities and greater variety so you can extend your range and harvesting times. Plant more permanent crops like fruit bushes, asparagus, rhubarb etc so you can keep your second plot if you want.
Think also about changing your habits and techniques. Using the greenhouses more means you can try new crops. As for outside in future years, no dig is a tried and tested method for growing veggies (also being trialled on Beechgrove this season) that will help you later on when all the digging gets too much for you but you still want to be outside growing things.
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What about dehydrating produce, so lasts longer through year.
We are planting more perennials for " mind is willing but...." reasons.
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tg to me you sound a very level headed accomplished gardener and only you know when its time to let go and enjoy the time you have on the plot weather its now or never im sure you will consider every possible angle all i would say is better one plot and have time to enjoy the fruits of your labour than 2 and never having time to relax and take in the garden wonder that you have made im sure you will make the right choice for you and your family good luck my friend what ever you decide
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Hi Tee Gee
I am 67 this year and I realise that I am no where near as good as I was 5/6 years ago. It takes me half an hour to dig a trench for potatoes where it used to take 10/15 minutes . I think potatoes are hard work at the best of times. I do not want to carry on when I cannot keep my plot neat and tidy. One gentleman on my site refuses to give up his plot . I offered him to keep half of it but he insists that he is going to cover one half and cultivate the other. Already he is way behind so hopefully it will sink in that next year half a plot is better. I do not see the point but I do not want to upset him at least not this year? My yardstick is when I can no longer dig it I will give it up. I will miss it terribly just as I missed going to work when I retired at age 65. Then I had withdraw symptoms and I am sure that I will have them again when I eventually give up my allotment which is a big part of my life but l agree with Johnnycoa15 you know yourself when enough is enough.
I do agree with Tee Gee you give half maybe more of your produce away but so what it does not cost a fortune and it makes someone happy. I try to cut down each year but still end up with more than we can use.
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Hi Guys thanks for all your comments in particular:
only you know when its time to let go
I have been thinking about it for the last couple of years, hence my comments!
i would say is better one plot and have time to enjoy the fruits of your labour than 2 and never having time to relax and take in the garden
good luck my friend what ever you decide
Thank you.
I am 67 this year and I realise that I am no where near as good as I was 5/6 years ago.
I'm afraid I am a bit older than that Plot! :happy7:
It takes me half an hour to dig a trench for potatoes where it used to take 10/15 minutes.
I use a bulb planter it is much easier!
Then I had withdraw symptoms and I am sure that I will have them again when I eventually give up my allotment which is a big part of my life but l agree with Johnnycoa15 you know yourself when enough is enough.
This is why I want to keep one plot on!
I try to cut down each year but still end up with more than we can use.
I don't particuary want to cut down I just want to extend the season which I mentioned in a previous post!
Now for the crux of the matter!
I don't like going down to the plots anymore because of a few new couples that have arrived on the plots in the last two or three years!
Its got to the stage now that I only go down at times when I know they won't be there and never at the weekend, which is the time I used to like best because that was always time when the banter was at its best because there are lots of people about.
Its a long story so I won't go into it but it hinges around giving people an inch and they want a mile and when they started taking me for granted then when one couple tried to take me for some money (£100+) I just decided to give up.
Before I always grew plants on for folks and sold them an at a token price which was usually around half that in the shops, but for some that was too much, and I often had to chase after my money.
So I told everyone that in future its they will have to source there own plants, seeds, fertilsers and manure themselves which did not go down very well so they sent me to Coventry!
But the saddest thing of all is:I still have a few friends on the plots and I had to stop doing all those services for them too, although this year I am dong a few plants for a couple of them.
So now you know!
As they say up here in Yorkshire "There is nout funnier than Folk"
....and I have my fair share of these ! :BangHead:
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It sounds to me as if you have a clear plan and it's one that will give you more joy. So onward and upward :)
My Dad did something similar and used the released time to volunteer/ plant in the local Hospice. It brought him a lot of happiness and he was less tied , time wise.
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I think that's really very sad Tee Gee and understand your wanting to cut back. It's such a shame as you have such a lot to offer and are very generous with your advice and support on here. I can't see you being any different at the allotment so shame on them.
Good luck and best wishes for your current and future projects. Big hugs.
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Tee Gee, in light of what you just said, I apologize to you, it was very thoughtless for me to tease you as I did earlier, I am truly sorry.
I think you should do exactly what you gut feeling tells you .It is a bit like deciding when to retire from a job I think, folks say you will know when it is time, and I found it to be so right.
Sincerely
Jeannine
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Tee Gee, in light of what you just said, I apologize to you, it was very thoughtless for me to tease you as I did earlier, I am truly sorry.
I think you should do exactly what you gut feeling tells you .It is a bit like deciding when to retire from a job I think, folks say you will know when it is time, and I found it to be so right.
Sincerely
Jeannine
Not to worry Jeannine you have nothing to be sorry for, you like the rest of the A4A members did not know the full story.
I am just grateful that I have got it all off my chest and I have a crowd like you lot around me to take the place of those I don't have on the plots.
ps. tease me as much as you like and I still fancy a bit of your Christmas cake and a pot of tea. :coffee2: :happy7:
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Sorry to hear of your fellow plotholder troubles, it seems horrible now but as I'm sure you have seen before with time there is the inevitable turnover of plotholders and you can be sure that they will not be there for ever, and once you are on your plot you can ignore them until they go away.....
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Tee Gee, thank you for accepting the apology, you are a true gentleman..
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You never know, if my niece gets her way and she drags me over there for a holiday. I may come with extra baggage to carry the fruit cake
Good luck with your decision
XX Jeannine
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I can totally empathise with the subject header, but for people on the plot to treat you like that absolutely beggars belief.
When I joined A4A almost 8 years ago to the day, I immediately recognised you as a very clever and experienced grower, still prepared to try or consider, different ideas and techniques. There are too few people like that around.
Only you can make the decisions, because only you truly understand how you feel.
Over the last few weeks, I have taken great comfort from all the messages of support I've received from the A4A family. They don't change the facts about the current situation, but it just shows that there is still a lot of love and kindness out there coming from people we've only "met" through the keyboard.
My heartfelt Best Wishes and with great regard,
Paul.
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Over the last few weeks, I have taken great comfort from all the messages of support I've received from the A4A family. They don't change the facts about the current situation, but it just shows that there is still a lot of love and kindness out there coming from people we've only "met" through the keyboard
Thank you Paul and like you its A4A that keeps me going!
When you mentioned its eight years since you joined I have had a look at when I did and it was quite surprised to find that it was 10 years last Tuesday, doesn't time fly when you are having fun?
To add to that I see that nearly 500 people have liked some of the things I have written and that is uplifting too.
I think if I were to give up my plots I am quite sure I would still be hitting the keyboards to A4A as you put it.
As the title of this thread states "My Mind is Willing" its the other things that are outwith my control that isn't!
So once again; thanks to you Paul and all at A4A.....Tg
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As the great Dave Allen said
" and may your God go with you".
I'm not a particularly religious man, and obviously don't know about anyone on here, but I still thinks this phrase just "fits".
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Tee Gee, you have mentioned the uneasy atmosphere on the site before, Sounds like things have not got any better in that regard.
All I can say, I wish you'd live closer and I could pop by for advice and admiration. Ok my fruitcake may not be quite up to it (I was not brought up in England), but I would gladly bring one.
I may have said this before. You have every right to be there and enjoy the work and the fruits of your labour. Don't discount blatant jealousy. Seeing what you achieve, your fitness levels and strength must be very decent.
Jeannine, it's a date when you come over and (with your permission Tee Gee) maybe we could indeed have a get-together and see these wonderful allotments we know so well from photos. :wave:
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Hi Tee Gee,
I am sorry to hear about the trouble you have had on your site. I too am amazed at the amount of 'personal problems' that get bantered about down there, with all sorts of petty arguments. I stay out of it but then get accused of not getting involved enough in the life of the site...sigh...
I know that you prefer the old digging methods but I must say, last year I mulched everything everywhere! Not only did I hardly have to water last year but this year, I have barely had to put the shovel in. I just moved the rotting mulch aside, plant or sow and remulch with new straw mixed with the old. And minimal weeding. And I am much younger than you! Perhaps something to think on.
Good luck whatever you do. Cutting back is better than stopping, I do not regret cutting back to a half plot.
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So sorry to hear all this . I much appreciate all the advice you give on here . Hugs . Debbie :coffee2:
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Woodypecks I like your 'Trespassers will be composted', I heard of a farmer who put up a sign saying 'Entry to this field is free, the bull will charge later.'
I am 73 and have managed to pull a muscle in my back this morning, but I am a good friend of that chap Percy Vere. There is also the problem of being related to that ancient Greek chap Dodgyknees.
In the 70s and early 80s a got up to 5 allotments and the other plotters were a mixed bunch. I now have the very rough remnant of my smallholding so only have walkers to contend with who are generally very well behaved.
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Stay with it TG I am 85 and go to my plot most days but can only do up to a couple of hours before getting too tired. If you reduce too much you will really regret it. I hope to do a bit more after a heart op next month, bypasses I had done 19 years ago are giving my a problem at the moment.
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Stay with it TG I am 85 and go to my plot most days but can only do up to a couple of hours before getting too tired. If you reduce too much you will really regret it. I hope to do a bit more after a heart op next month, bypasses I had done 19 years ago are giving my a problem at the moment.
Thanks Laurie
I am not planning on giving up just cutting down.
What I have done since I last wrote is part fill the allotment I will keep ( the other part is for late stuff)
I am planting it in the fashion I would do if I only had one allotment and I will harvest that in a manner that will tell me if there is enough stuff to keep me and OH in vegetables like how we have been accustomed to over the years.
Based on the result I will decide what to do with my second allotment at the end of the year.
Meanwhile because I order my seeds & fertilisers etc in October I had ordered as I always do for the two plots, now I am finding I have too many seeds & plants so I am planting the surplus in the other plot rather than waste them and most likely I will give what ever I harvest to my Son & Daughter.
In terms of time I spend on the plot I have worked it out that I average around ten hours a week.
I go down only Monday to Friday and have the weekend off. OK at certain times in the season this might be as much as fifteen hours in a week but at other times it might only be five hours a week.
So I am back to a five day week like I was before I retired :icon_cheers:
In terms of age well it will suffice to say that I am a bit younger than you Laurie, but a bit older than Malcolm, mid way if you like!
In terms of health I have been having tests to establish why I get so tired but the quacks can't find a reason, I am going for another test next week again.
In fact I have gone so often lately when I go in to the surgery to see the nurse I call her 'The Vampire' she doesn't mind really, particularly as I I told her how the receptionist couldn't spell 'Phlebotomist' and wrote 'The Blood Nurse' on my appointment slip so she had a laugh too!