Allotments 4 All
Photo Gallery => The Gallery => Topic started by: supersprout on November 09, 2006, 15:37:47
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What a gorgeous morning! By 2pm the autumn sunshine was playing across the dormant and allium beds, so got the camera out :) I just love taking pictures of straw :P
From the new plot - front beds receiving compost (trying artichoke's lasagne way)
(http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e220/supersprout/IMG_0339.jpg)
Established plot
(http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e220/supersprout/IMG_0341.jpg)
(http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e220/supersprout/IMG_0342.jpg)
The straw changes colour depending how long it's been out in the elements, all adds to the interest imo ;)
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beautiful but I still wish it was nearer to spring :(
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Aren't we actually closer to next Spring than last?
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maybe but I'm not too keen on dark and cold, dry bright and cold I can cope with :)
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Regimental, Sarah!
Talk me into using straw??
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I do much the same with grass cuttings; it's the way to go in my opinion. much easier than all that digging, and no flushes of weeds afterwards. Four months till March and (hopefully) some spring-like weather.
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glad you approve Robert - you led the way all those months ago! not a day passes without at least one quiet thank you :D
oh tim - just try a patch for a season and you'll talk yourself into it in no time!
I do like a regimental path/bed layout, gives the impression of order in what would otherwise be a sea of straw ::)
like robert says, use what you can conveniently get free or cheap - straw, hay, spent hops, leaves, mowings, fresh or aged compost, or shreddings ;D
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SS Quite agree the autumn sunshine has been so lovely over the past few days. Now my back garden is so much bigger (conifers all gone) the sunshine certainly encourages me to go out in the garden. Today the bubble wrap was put up in the greenhouse and if we have a few more days of dry weather the hammer and nails will be out so that I can start on my raised beds.
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Since my mulching lesson,Sarah, I have been like a thing possessed and things are growing well (hunions,peas, garlic and broadies,rasps & rhubarb transplanted etc.) and being tucked in. It's been lovely in the autumn sunshine and the world and his wife have been working on our site!
Love the pics and the variation of colour.
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I'm planning to dig the potato bed before planting as it rotates each year (working on a 5 year rotation) but try to use minimal dig on others. Problem is getting the straw in central London. Have bought some strulch but it will have to perform brilliantly to justify its cost.
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supersprout,
I really like the mulching- how many bales do you need to mulch your plot?
And how big are the bales and your plot? And what's the going rate for a bale of straw?
thanks
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hey ice,
the bales are the brick-shaped ones (handleable), going rate is £1.50/bale in our neck of the woods
six fit in my van (Fiat Doblo)
1 plot = 10 x 20m = 200m2
average spread = 20m2
= 10 bales/plot
If you can get other materials for free (leaves/lawn mowings) to ring the changes, great.
I've only been doing it this way for nine months, lots of other peeps have been doing it longer and/or are experimenting too ::) this is what seems to work SO FAR ;D
apply mulch thickly to suppress weeds (8"). If weeds are growing through, the mulch is too thin! Just add more
sprinkle mulch in a thinner layer (2") over e.g. newly planted onion and garlic, and top up between plants (when they have grown through the mulch) later to 8"
pull mulch aside from sowing lines, sow, wait til plants are established, then scooch the mulch back and top up if necessary
vary laying density - lay thickly in wedges for paths, sprinkle separated, lightly, over newly planted beds to make it easy for the spears to push through
keep topping up the mulch e.g. if you want to blanch leeks or protect winter veg so you can harvest them in frost
keep a few bales handy on the plot - a reservoir of 3 or 4
:)
good luck if you decide to try it ice :D
some good threads here if you search on 'mulch' :)
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ah. All toastie under their duvets! :-*
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ah. All toastie under their duvets! :-*
spot on mary - I feel so mumly tucking them up! ::) ;)
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Really inspired by this - thanks :)
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i chucked a load on my onions and was a bit concerned to see how wet and squelchy it was. but i'm sticking with it.
found a supplier at £2.50 a bale at the weekend. now to figure how to squeeze a bale into the back of a fiesta. i'm sure there's a joke there somewhere.
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thank you flo :)
straw is very flexible stuff to mulch with - I tend to do an airy sprinkle of a light 2" or so on the onions (like Robert does with his grass cuttings) then top up between the plants when the shoots come through. If I spy e.g. a dock or bramble coming, I twoink off the shoot and cover with a WAD of straw. So far so good :D
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Great posts and pics SS. I particularly like the idea of scooching the mulch and twoinking the the shoots!
I used the wifes car to collect a bale of straw as bedding for our weasels a couple of years ago, unfortunately, it came with a small furry passenger that took up residence in her car. Seemed like a sociable little soul to me, would pop up to say hello now and again, usually when the wife was driving, and caused a few very hairy moments with squeeling and hands covering eyes as we careerered dwon the road. She was less than impressed so we don't move straw in her car anymore. Moral of the story, I guess, if you are going to use the wife's car to collect your straw bales, don't tell her!
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lovely picture, mouse ? looking at your wife as she puts her hands over her eyes and veers around, hope she was o.k, had the same with a bee a couple of years ago, took up residence in the hair at the back of my neck, this was while doing 70 mph on a no stopping part of the road !! :P
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lol@artisan but you won't be able to keep it a secret without a very very very good vacuum cleaner :P
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Lovely image. :) Sure it was a mouse - last time I bought a bale of straw we got rats living in it so have stuck to buying smaller amounts.
Agree SS you can never get rid of it from the car - always amuses people from work when I give them lifts - my car is more like a tractor on the inside.
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ours is more like a second shed :)
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You have so much straw supersprout! Where do you manage to get it all? Doesn't it cost you quite a bit? And doesn't it take out a fair bit of nitrogen from the soil?
Sorry for the questions, never used straw before. :)
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Hello cc you're welcome :)
Straw is £1.50 for a rectangular bale from the farm shop in Downham Market. I visit a friend there regularly and stuff six into the back of my van if I need to top up. That's why I use straw, it's cheap and easy for me to get hold of, and to shift around the plot. Hay might be better, but it's more expensive! One bale will fluff up to cover five or more beds - so yes, I've spent upwards of £50 on straw during the year on my two plots :-[ but I suppose some peeps spend that on a pot of face cream ::)
Spent hops, grass cuttings, leaves, leafmould, manure, compost (raw and cooked) and shredded paper go on whenever I can get them free. Offset £50 against no digging or hoeing, happy plants, crumbly soil, hardly any weeds, moist soil in hot summers, and a thriving worm population and it seems like a reasonable trade :D
Yes, any unrotted organic matter will use nitrogen from the soil to decompose, then give it back at some point. I've only been doing this for a year, but I'm gonna sprinkle Rooster (slow release organic chicken pellets) in March/April for any plants that might need a boost, and trust the rain to carry it through the mulch.
Rotavators, double diggers and mulchers all seem to get good results here, that's part of the joy of it all - each to their own - this way suit me well so I think I'll stick with it ;)
Once or twice a year I take the van for a valet, won't tell you what they charge me to get all the bits of straw out :-[ :P
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Thanks a lot for that supersprout, sounds like a great idea... if only I knew where to get cheap straw from around here, I feel pet shops would be more expensive.
So do you absolutely never dig? All you do is put the straw on and that's it? What's the catch?!
;) :) ;D
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There isn't one. Once you've got the perennial weeds out, the only need for digging is to lift root veg.
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CC, do you have a Livery yard or riding stables nearby? if you do, you could try asking them who their supplier is.Probably going to be your cheapest option. Or like me, scoop up the loose stuff from the floor of the storage area and bag it.
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Unfortunately neither... only place I can think of is pet shops, still probably expensive though.
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CC -- if you've transport, there are some stables on Clamp Hill (Stanmore) ...
Might they be worth a try?
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or near-ish straw merchants? If there's vehicle access to near your plot, they might deliver if you ordered a trailer full, and squarey bales are easy to shift and barrow :)
Bury Farm Fodder Store
Bury Farm, Edgwarebury Lane, Edgware, Middlesex HA8 8QS
Tel: 020 8958 2932
LHH Animal Feeds
Sloemans Farm, Whitewebbs Rd, Enfield, Middlesex EN2 9HW
Tel: 020 8363 4638
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Thanks for the posts... triffid, no, unfortunately not, though I remember the stables up in Stanmore, went to school near there!
Supersprout, thanks so much for the info... do merchants such as these usually only deliver in 'trailer full' amounts? And any idea how much that amount would cover and cost? Sorry to be a pain. ;D (just don't want to call up out of my depth)
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hi cc, if the bales are squarey you can stack them and they will be even better to put on when they have rotted down a bit (if a little less picuresque). I'd ask how many on a trailer - I don't think you'd go far wrong with 50 bales, if you made e.g. a compost bin, that could take 25 bales, and if you have somewhere to stack them. One bale will cover approx. 15-20m2 :)
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... and once you've finished the compost bin, here's another project ;)
http://www.strawbalebuildingassociation.org.uk/g15.html
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Thanks supersprout, useful information.
Amazing pictures triffid - supersprout heaven! ;)
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Aint never seen a lottie using so much straw! Is it not a pain in the ar*e when planting and sowing? Looks neat and tidy though. Hides all the work i guess.
OH says I hide all the pots and pans come washing up time.... ;)
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same principle! ;D ;D ;D
it's a swop - hardly any weeding, watering or digging - for the occasional scooch - I know which I prefer ;)
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this is possibly a very stupid question, but doesn't it all blow away in the first strong wind?!? it all looks so fluffy!
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I know, I wondered about that too norfolklass - so far so good ::) ;D
best to do it when rain's expected if you want to be extra safe?