Allotments 4 All

I've learned so much this last year as it's my first season on an allotment. A4A has been great for advice and encouragement, I can't imagine what I'd do without it.It's also my first year growing vegetables so it's all been new to me. I have made lots of mistakes and also had some successes, but there are definitely some things I will do differently next year.

I will :
1. Plant things in wide enough rows so that I can hoe between them instead of in blocks that look pretty and so have to be hand weeded(or not!)
2. Grow more things in cells and have lots of spares so that I can replace them when they get eaten by slugs(or die, or fail to germinate, or ad infinitum...).
3. Remember that digging the soil will be so much easier the second time around and it will never be this hard again(hopefully!)
4. Be better organised for the autumn planting which has just passed me by this year.

Can't wait to get going again when the spring comes.
These are the most important things I've learned this year but what are your most important things?

I have learnt this year:

- I just don't like radishes

- you can't have too many leeks, onions or potatoes; or too much compost

- planting brassicas too early or too late is a wasted effort because the snails eat them

- put new felt on your shed in summer, not autumn

- never eat yellow snow

Lesson 1)    I've learned that my lotty suffers from frost as late as the second week in June and it killed my runner, french beans and sweetcorn  :'(

2)  I had none of the above in reserve.  So would make sure of plenty of spares

3)  Prepare for cabbages properly instead of just bunging them in undug rock  hard soil.  They do like firm soil but not that firm  :)

4)  Grow more carrots.  Didn't do nearly enough.  Ditto celeriac

5)  Get more than one lotty shed water butt so no water goes to waste

6)  Grow fewer courgette plants  ;D

So this is my lot, who's next up ...............  :)

I would keep better records,so I knew the date we planted things the year before.  Be more particular with the varieties of veggies I grow.  I think I should also stagger things a bit more like lettuces.  I want to grow more carrots too as ours did quite well, but I would just like more of them. I am also going to dig out my parsnips bed better so it is finer and then I hopefully won't get so many that are forked.

We had loads of courgettes too this year and we could have put them to better use.  I always think I will try harder to be better organised in the freezing and storing of our excess vegetables.  I want to grow some different varieties of squash too, now that I have caught the bug.  I could probably go on, but I am quite pleased at how this year has gone and if we do as well next year, I will be happy.   :) busy_lizzie

I will grow my usual flowers. shrubs.toms. runner beans. cucumbers. and I WILL grow a small selection of veg that I have never grown.. Have filed all the info and advice that you lovely people have taken the time to give me.

I think the main thing I learnt this year is to never plant/transplant too early. I know we all like to sow at the first sign of a sunny day in late March but I think plants naturally catch up. The late frost certainly caught a lot of people out this year.
Regards
Chris

1) I won't panic to get crops into the ground

2) I will try and spread the planting out so the crops don't all occur at the same time

3) I will weed in a more orderly way, so the crops don't disappear under the weeds

4) I agree with terrace max on the yellow snow ...

Derekthefox :D

1. Don't start things off too soon - be patient!

2. Get the shed cleared out so I can huddle in there and enjoy the rain.

3. Have a hip flask with me ;D - ok, flask of tea then  :(

4. Don't plant things out too early - be patient!!

5. Learn to love couch grass - "tough love" of course, but as it's not going anywhere, and neither am I, we have to find a way to co-exist!!

6. Accept that I'm not going to be that tidy, organised allotmenteerer - and just enjoy doing it my way  ;D

7. Don't harvest things too early - be patient!!!

as i have just had my allot a few months i have lernt how hard work it is
i have just finneshed the fencing off and put in my first 2 plants i had given of sumone of here it looks so sad lol

Well done on the graft front sid, setting up an allotment is always harder than maintaining it, so hopefully that is good news !!! Also your plants will grow, it just needs time. This time next year, hopefully you will be overwhelmed with vegetables !!!

Derekthefox :D

Ellkebe's post reminded me of my biggest lesson of all from this year:

- Don't be anxious about the allotment - just enjoy it.

(At very best, I've only got 50 allotmenting years left) 

50 allotmenteering years left - that is such a heartening thought  ;D 
I've probably got rather fewer - and it looks like the government's going to make me work for rather more of them than I'd hoped  :(  - Who else was looking forward to a happy early retirement on the allotment?  ;D

What a useful lot of replies! I definitely agree with the ones about not planting too early. I sowed lots of things far too early, I think I was just too eager to get going. When I planted my french bean plants from cells, I also planted some seeds at the same time. After a few weeks there was absolutely no difference between them.

I'm going to bang it into my thick skull that I started doing this as a hobby, it's not a competition. I don't have to be better or more productive than anybody else. All I have to do is enjoy myself .... more than anybody else does of course  ...     {:¬)#

 ;D ;D ;D That's so funny - I know just what you mean!

we only started this this growing thing in june, so we too have been on a rather steep learning curve!
what we've learnt so far is..........
1. stop trying to be clever, nature's been doin' it her way forever and she always knows best.
2. what looks like LOADS of seedlings on my windowsill is rarely enough to fill one row on the lottie, let alone enough to freeze extra at harvest time!
3. a day spent freezing cold, doing back breaking work in knee deep mud while enduring stinging, sideways rain can be strangely theraputic.
so next year we will plant more veg. eat more veg. dig more veg and spend more time on veg.
can't wait.  ;D
Tara xx

tara, don't forget to take a little bit of time out and wander around looking at other peepz plots, and have the occasional snigger .. it's in the rules, you're allowed to do it   ;D

Its not only in the rules AikenDrum, everyone on our site practices it vigorously ... !!!

Derekthefox :D

things i have learned? hmm

that the really busy season for me was march to may - with raising seedlings, preparing beds and planting out (i am not naturally green fingered and looking after seedlings on all window sills took a lot of discipline, watering them etc)

things that are not worth growing on my tiny plot because they take lots of space for a long time - i.e. brussel sprouts. much as i love them i am better off buying some when i want and use the space for something else.

stagger plantings of cabbage more so i have a longer season with them.

keeping a planting diary IS a good idea (i should have listened to tim) - i have noted it here in the forum when i sowed and planted but not in one handy reference at home

Everything  ;)

That is a bit extreme Adam ...  :o

Derekthefox :D

Well, I've learnt to try and trust myself more and not text books, trust you lot of course, to have more fun, be more adventurous and give things a whirl, the worst that can happen is it dies, and that kids will eat veg happily if offered ( bar Dan, but he's getting there), and my OH doesn't actually notice when eating lettuce/stinging nettle mix.... Ooo yes, and veg taste just as good, even better, when not perfect.....

Yes lottie, even rude looking carrots ...  ::) ? ? ?

Derekthefox :D

Just a natural talent, Derek....... ;D ;D ;D

Quite a talent that then he he he!

Derekthefox :D

What would I do differently........  ::)

1.  Relocate runner beans as the vole family of Chelmsford have moved in and are rather partial to the stems of the plants....just as beans are setting!  >:(
2.  Grow the sweetcorn plants on a bit more before planting, and don't interplant with pumpkins as the pumpkins smothered the young corn plants!  >:(
3.  Don't bother with spring planted onion sets...the white rot finishes them before they even start to grow.  >:(
4.  Employ someone to do the weeding...a fit young man maybe........ ;)

;D ;D ;D ;D

seriously now, i think i would pot things on a lot more, i was being very tight with the compost and then thye were to small and the snails had them or the ground is that poor that they dint get much bigger.

Also start lots more off, always looked loads in GH but once thye ahd moved outside, there was nothing there!

I'll have one of those as well EJ - perhaps we could get a BOGOF! ;)

Remembered another thanks to Adam:

- get plants potted on/planted out quickly, not leave them sitting around waiting = check in growth = weaker plants I think... 

well this year i think i might grow sumthing cos it is my first year all i have on the plot is 2 goosegog plants i got off of undercarraige plan

I have the same good intentions with weeding every year, and I always get snowed under ...

Derekthefox :D

That's what I was meaning about making the rows wide enough to hoe between as my plants were very weedy this year as well. I think I will mark the rows with string so that I know just where they are. I am planning to hoe,hoe,hoe (to the tune of the seven dwarves)next year!

I think I am probably getting slightly better each year, but this last summer was a disaster for me, and all my plans just disintegrated ...

However the plot is now half dug, and it is looking promising again ...

Derekthefox :D

1. Make sure i spend more time pulling out bindweed roots when digging this year.

2. Grow more shallots for pickleing.

3. Grow more broad beans, cause they're nice.

4. Space my sprouts out a bit more, and stake them up earlier.

5. Plant some new strawberry plants, as the old ones have had it.

6. Dont eat brown snow.

My summer was a disaster too, but I'm ahead of myself now, and I'm managing to get everything mulched as I go. That'll save me no end of weeding next year.

There's no point growing all the weird stuff if nobody eats it, however much I like to grow it. It's far better to use my resources on things that will definitely get used

I agree Merry, about 80% on staples, and then the remain 20% should be on speciality crops that will be EATEN !!!!

Derekthefox :D

I agree.  It's tempting to plant exotica that are interesting to grow, but no-one wants.

I'm also going to change my quantities somewhat in favour of things that can be most easily stored or preserved.  So, based on what I threw away this year, fewer lettuces and more carrots, fewer cabbages and more beans.

I'm also going to try to be a little less dependent on chemical weedkillers and insecticides.  I'm going to try using a flame gun for weeding, and to try companion planting for the first time.

Ha ha ha don't talk to me about carrots !!! My crop embarrassed me this year, I still have carrots in the ground because I have nowhere to store them ...

Derekthefox :D

 ;D  But it's a bit of an occupational hazard, isn't it?  You carefully plan and carefully plant, and then either you get almost nothing OR it's like an avalanche of produce.

It was runner beans with us this year - they were so prolific I had to use guy lines to stop the canes falling over.  But the leeks? Pah!

I'm just really grateful if anything grows ;D

We always tend to remember the successes fortunately, the years when we couldn;t move for beans, or carrots, onions, potatoes, or giving courgettes to anyone that knocked the door ...

Derekthefox :D

Ok here goes.

1) Do MORE Hoeing in the summer on dry days.

2) Must build a compost toilet for myself.

3) Do more diging.

4) Plant more sprouts and onions because I love eating them.

5) Plant some flowers on my plot to make it look more colourfull and add a bit of cheer to the site.

6) Attempt to grow some unusual stuff like melons and things that I have never grown before like outdoor cucumbers and pumpkins, leeks, onions from seed, red cabbage for pickling, cauliflours for pickling and eating.

8) Net my barssicas more to protect against pigeons and cabage white butterflies.

9) O yes grow more onions  ;D

The_Snail

Swap squash seeds.  30 fruits of the same variety is just too greedy. 
Try to start a seed swap on my site (not likely as the sec is an old fart)
Conquer peas - yes I WILL do it
Ditto aubergines (I will be calling on Tim for this one)
Do smaller amounts of more things.
More staples - carrot & nunions
Find another 2 days each weekend somehow they are never long enough.

i will grow more onions

Be more organised

Don't take 2 weeks off in June and come back to find how well the weeds grew !

get the whole plot sorted out in to proper beds so it's  back to woodwork for me

Mags

New Year for me means new lottie!!  We moved (again!!!) in the summer and the Parish have just given me a new plot, bless 'em.  Having seen it, I think I know where all the stuff that disappeared in the Bermuda Triangle went.  I've a week off after New Year and the brushwood cutter is booked.  The plot is almost devoid of all usefull vegetation with the exception of a single comfrey plant amid the docs and couch.  I can't wait!!  Lance

Differently... hmmm...
I will remember that strange thing called succession.

I will not plant lettuces in the cabbages as they smother them when they bolt!

(Oh yes, don't let the lettuces bolt)

Plant more red cabbages

Try for the 5th year running to get sprouting wretched blasted thrice dratted broccoli to grow!

Um...  sow more parsnips

Reminds me.  Another thread about to start in the shed on taste.

moonbells

My to do differently list for next year:

1) have already bought 5 year planner, for family to give me for Christmas ;)

2) buy LOTS of netting for my fruit & brassicas

3) don't plant anything without a 'companion' plant - cos it really works!  ;D

4) buy some cloches to extend my salad season ;)

5) dig up my fennel earlier!!  they got frosted  :-[

6) give up on carrots!!  this year two varieties were blitzed by fly and rock :'(

7) EJ only one thing better than a nice young man - that's TWO nice young men.    ;D ;D ;D

well, I fit one of those qualifications     ;D

Why A. D are you a carrot ?   ;D

Or he needs his fruit and brassicas netting?

Derekthefox ;D

Quote from: flowerlady on December 14, 2005, 18:40:32
My to do differently list for next year:

6) give up on carrots!!  this year two varieties were blitzed by fly and rock :'(

Don't give up!
Create a narrow trench with a thin trowel, about 6" deep. Fill it with fine-textured compost (bought or sieved home-made). Water it to settle. Top up and water again. Sow carrots thinly on top and sprinkle more compost on top to just cover them.

Cover the whole row with either old net curtain (not with fancy lacy bits - plain fine-weave net) or enviromesh, supported by hoops of wire or hosepipe. Weight down or pin with wire pegs at edges.

Leave to grow, watering in dry spells especially when they're young.  Then start pulling whoppers a few months later! You'll get a few forky ones but most will be nice and straight and carrot fly-free.

Alternately, dig out a hole 6" deep and as big as you have net and compost for, and just empty a sack of compost into it, water  and scatter seed thinly all over it.  Put hoops or canes at each corner (old plastic bottles over canes) and again cover with fine netting and peg.

I've had lovely crops the past two years with this technique after years of failing miserably, and the best bit is that at the end of the season you dig in the compost to the surrounding soil and you've done your organic matter adding for that bed for the next year!

moonbells

Grow your carrots in with your onions, I always do this and have had a phenomenal year, despite having a soil with more stones than concrete ...

Derekthefox :D

Thank you all for the encouragement. 

And I shall persevere with my carrots, (even my fruit and brassicas Derek!)   ;D

Glad to feel I am helping, I struggled with carrots to start with too, perhaps it was just varieties with me.

Derekthefox :D

1. Pick strawbs more regularly before the slugs get them

2. Keep more plants in reserve in case the slugs get them (and sell any spares to give money to charity)

3. grow more annual herbs (I cannot have too much basil and parsley!)

4. like Adam, don't be stingy on the compost and pot things up more.

5. build shelving to go on windowsill to create double decker effect for seedlings

6. sow successionally. One sowing of rocket and radishes will not last the whole season!

7. increase the slug defences

8. get a new bench

9. make more compost (is that possible?) and get more manure

10. find more time to enjoy the garden

11. convince Mr Aqui we NEED an allotment!

There is so much that I am going to do better next year that it has taken ages to get round to posting in this thread.  Will try to prioritise.
1. Keep on top of the weeding.
2. Raise more money so I can invest in all the things that I need that I do not already have eg. black plastic, shed, water butts, more composters etc.
3. Grow Kale and more winter crops so I have less of a hungry gap.
4. Sow my leeks in the ground rather than modules so I have more.

PS I have found that checking growth by not planting up immediately has given good results with some veg like cabbage but will keep a better eye on others.

I think next year I am going to relax and enjoy my allotment and then it should all click into place.

Andrew  :D

Aha, perhaps that is where I am going wrong then ...  ;D

Derekthefox :D

Yes, just relax and enjoy your lotties.  You're lucky to have one so savour each moment  :)

• Grow more carrots.
  
• Grow more beets, the tops are delicious.
  
• Dig-up more couch.
  
• Get rid of grass paths.
  
• Make my allotment sharer do some bloody work.
  
• Spend more time at my allotment.
  
• Get some more manure.
  

Well as we got our lottie so late in the season. The only 2 things that will change next year is the fact that we won't have to fight through all the brambles to find our growing area and we can start growing our veg. ;D

< .... be nice to wardy .... I know it's a tall task, but I'm gonna give it a go   ;D