Ok i have a few things that i have been wanting to ask but have put off for the sake of sounding like a total plank! lol But then thought...sod it! I'll never know if i dont ask so here goes...
1, When the pots have been harvested....can we plant something else there?? or is it best left till its needed for the pots again?
2, What is the best thing to put a greenhouse onto? Or can it go direct into the soil?
3, Are raised beds better then a free for all (if you know what i mean)
4, Should i be putting manue nto the soil before we plant?? (we have sandy soil, but its lovely to dig and holds moisture well too. Also my plot has had nothing done to it for the last 5/6 years(it was used as a car park by the previous owner))
5, Should i be covering cabbage and cauli to protect it for anything that might want to eat it?
ok i will leave it at that for now.....sorry there is so many :-[ but thank you so much for any answers you may have!!
No 5.........If you have pigeons, then I would cover any small brassicas, as they (pigeons) love young tender greens. Also, when mine get planted out, I am seriously thinking of covering with netting (raised above them) to prevent butterflies etc from getting to them. Earlier this year, we planted half a dozen cabbages when the OH bought plants, and half were covered with chicken wire and the rest left open. We now have 3 healthy plants hearting up, and the others are nowhere to be seen.
When i have harvested my earlies i will put my leeks where they were.
You can put your greenhouse onto soil but it is better to put it onto a hard base.
Raised beds or not, there are good reasons for both systems.
Manure in the winter gives it time to merge into the soil before you plant in it.
Yes cover you cabbage and cauli to protect it from cabbage white fly and pigeons.
thank you both thats great!
I've not seen any pigeons but we do get hundreds of magpies (penguin birds as my 4 year old calls them lol)
Thanks again, much appreciated!
Have a read up on crop rotation... I'm no expert but you need to put lots of manure in the ground before some crops (into bean trenches for example) and then when you rotate your crops the next round gets the benefit.
This is a great site (I think it's Teegee who posts on here):
http://www.thegardenersalmanac.co.uk/Data/Fertiliser/Fertilisers.htm
There's probably a really good description of rotation on there too..
Yes here it is:
http://www.thegardenersalmanac.co.uk/Data/Crop%20rotation/Crop%20rotation.htm
So the answer to question 1 is: No, don't put potatoes back in the same place straight away.
Hope this helps.
Hi Linz, first off there are no daft questions, we all needed to know the answers to your questions at some time so never think it is daft.
Re your raised beds. We have 2 lotties. one is left on the flat and one has a lot of raised beds. our beds are 1 foot high.
On the flat goes corn, squash,some onions some potatoes,all the brassicas like cauli broc etc. all our soft fruit and rhubarb is on the flat and so are our globe artichokes .
In the beds. I grow carrotts, parsnips, beets, spring onions, shallotts and some of the main onions,lettuces, radishes and pickling cukes,strawberries and all my asparagus. The reasons are two fold, for some veggies that need soft soil I can provide it, as I have some disabilities the beds are easier to weed and plant. On the flip side brassicas and their family don't do well in my raised beds as they like compacted soil.
Pole beans go up a permanent fence and dwarf beans usually grow on the flat, peas are in a raised bed as I can pick them easier.
The soil warms up quicker in raised beds but they take more watering.
Hope this helps, XX Jeannine
Quote from: Jeannine on May 05, 2007, 09:35:28
pickling cukes
lol I'm not sure I like the sound of being pickled... ;)
Just specific types of cucumbers for making into pickles !!! XX Jeannine
I have put my greenhouses on to slabs at the edges and screwed the base of the frame on to them...
it can get very windy on an allotment site and I have seen one greenhouse implode...
not a pretty sight