am taking a deep breath as i have come over all twitchy. its that time of year again for me when i realise that despite all good intentions and learnin from previous experience, its is april already and i am so far behind. ..again!!! every year i get this far and still have a load of my plot to turn over. i am on my way down now but should be sowing carrots and beetroot and planting dahlias and putting out my peas. but i will be digging out the front of my plot before the couch can get a hold again (ahem too late really).
ahhh i wish just for once i could get to april and all my plot be dug and ready to go. what happens to the frist three months of the year? where do they go? how long can it take one girl to turn a plot over ready to sow?
o well better get on with it i suppose. least i have got the spuds in. :)
don't worry, the weather has been cool so there is still plenty of time. I found it is best to wait a bit for things to warm up then your sowing etc is much more successful. Last year I was in a terrible hurry and put everything in too early so had a lot of seed failure. This year I have been doing things one at a time, got the spuds and alliums in, took time to sow in my pots, bought some plug plants so I feel like I am progressing.
I have found a good tactic is to cover the next big bed I need to dig. For example just now the tomato bed is tarped. Then when I need to plant it, it is much less work. These are all things I have found to be fast improvement tactics, because I have very little time too.
You will soon catch up ;)
The weather since Christmas has been almost like winters used to be. Wet and snowy until March / April. This used to be the start time for most allotments anyway. Otherwise, compared over recent years - everyone, well most people are behind due to the reversal of weather fortune. We are nearly all in the same boat for sowing and planting. I have a couple of things in an unheated greenhouse, but nowhere near as much stuff in the ground as I had this time last year. I am not worried as it should all come good when the weather turns for the better ::) ::) ::)
So you do not get behind with digging next year, at the end of harvest when you have dug your plot over for winter, cover it with black plastic or similar suppressant. So come sowing and planting time it will still be weed free; and with a quick turn of the garden fork your ground is ready for you to start at a comfortable pace.
Antipodes is right, there are a lot of us who thought we would get an early start. Only to find we have to baby things along indoors or they will snuff it in the freezing conditions we have this week (how dare it snow!)
I didnt think I had done too much too early, its surprising how much there actually is. You are probably the most sensible person on this forum if you ask me. Except those lucky ones having big or heated greenhouses................ ;)
You will have a full lottie, despite having to dig some of it :D
All good advice. Nature knows best!!
And if you're really miffed, you can always but in some plants?
Absolutely no panic...you have plenty of time for most of the crop..I do not start outdoors properly until May...
And like others have said...it has been cold..no point to rush...
In our allotments there is almost competition going on between "old boys" who gets everything in first... ::) Come havest time and they do not know what to with it all cause everything is ready same time.
I sow little bit now and then so there is most of the time something to harvest..what do you so with dozens of cabbages at the time...??
Take your time...it is not rat race... ;)
I think you're ahead of me. I've only got garlic and overwintering beans and onions in the ground so far. And I forgot to thin the onions early enough, so they are tiny.
I'm hoping to get the potatoes in soon, but it's still a bit cold after the weekend
Sally
thanks all i feel much bettrer now having spent a good few hours on the plot. didnt get as much dug as i would have liked but when i got there i found that my neighbour had cut the grass at the front of my plot whichwas nice of him and it made it much easier to cut a stright line throught the turf and i have taken out the front line which had made the place look a lot tidier. i had to move some bluebells too.
i know i have plenty of time for sowing and i do have a lot of stuff waiting to go in that i have started in modules at home but it is just the digging and manureing and general preparedness that i never seem to acheive! my friend kindly came and helped me clear out the shed aswell so that is now looking tip top and i can actually get in there. it was a bit of a trial for us both as we are both scared of spiders and there were some humungus ones in there.
o well onwards... ;)
A few of you could get together and hire an industrial rotovator for the day.
Surprising how many plots can be rotovated in one day.
I say dont worry abot being behind, if you were in front how would you know what to do next ::) ;D ::)
I've been behind every year since i took the plot on. Now suddenly it all seems to be under control, for the moment at least. Keep bashing on, and you will get there.
I've only got spuds, garlic and onions in now Sarah. My shed's a disgrace inside and out,when all around me seem to have tarted theirs up, but I'm sure we will get there in the end. ;)
Only just got round to sowing beans etc., not started on the squash yet-somehow it seems just too cold.Other stuff going on slowly in cold greenhouse. I have every confidence that it'll all catch up. As for digging, Straw mulch is a better option ;D
ah well, i will get there in the end. its not as bad as it seems really, just need a good week of nice cold sunny weather and i will be be ready. my stuff which i have started indoors is taking over the place and once its all in and growing will make the plot look much better. one day i hope to have it all in control robert...one day. actually i think i can see the light at the end of the tunnel, it gets easier each year. i just need to step up a gear or two in the autumn instead of being lulled into some false sense of security at the end of each season.
as for the shed clearance....this morning i was sorting out my kids p.e bag and a huuuuge shed spider plopped out of it. dont know how it got in there but i jumped a mile! ha ha. :D
It is surprising how much better the plot looks once you have dug over a few beds and put in some little plants! Once I had dug the spud beds and planted them the plot really looked like work in progress. I always think that it is the tomato planting time that really makes the difference. The stakes with the young tomato plants make it look like a real veggie garden. Keep going! It will come right soon enough.
i feel the same as you Sarah i was in hospital all last week and this week I'm at home having bed rest but i keep thinking i should be down the allotment Ive still got my second earlies to put in and my main crop ::) ::) my peas are still in the packets as are my beans (french and runner) i do have some bits in beetroot,onions,shallots,early carrots,spring onions,raddish, but how they are doing i wish i knew. my lotty neighbour is looking after the hens so they are OK ans have been watering the plants in the green house and has potted some of the stuff on but i just feel like Ive lost two weeks and how will i catch up but Rome wasn't built in a day
it must be very frustrating for you tohellwithweeds i do sympathise. you must make sure youdont overdo things though. indeed rome was not built in a day; lets hope youare up and about soon and iam sure that even a gentle half hour pottering on the plot will make youfeel better. ;)
Quote from: sarah on April 07, 2008, 10:41:28
am taking a deep breath as i have come over all twitchy. its that time of year again for me when i realise that despite all good intentions and learnin from previous experience, its is april already and i am so far behind. ..again!!! every year i get this far and still have a load of my plot to turn over. i am on my way down now but should be sowing carrots and beetroot and planting dahlias and putting out my peas. but i will be digging out the front of my plot before the couch can get a hold again (ahem too late really).
ahhh i wish just for once i could get to april and all my plot be dug and ready to go. what happens to the frist three months of the year? where do they go? how long can it take one girl to turn a plot over ready to sow?
o well better get on with it i suppose. least i have got the spuds in. :)
dont panic remember allotments are for pleasure and not for worrying about have i done this or that, do as much as you can at a time and remember enjoy it, plants your seeds when your ready and not when your neighbours think you should.
enjoy your plot.
thats wise and sage advice ruffmeister. its very true and i will try to remember that. ;)
You can'y win- I've gone from worrying that I was getting behind to worrying that I've planted my spuds too early, just because nobody else at my site has got theirs in yet!
I wouldn't worry. I've had to change my plans because the plot where I'd intended to plant my maincrop spuds, which is on heavy clay (apparently used to make bricks at one time) is still not workable and I've still got an area 18ft by 6ft of raffia matt couch grass to clear before I can put the raised bed in, and it take 2 hours to clear an area 3ft x 6ft, and I'm away next weekend, and the greenhouse and cold frame are over flowing, and the onions really do need to go in ,and the brassica's from Marshal's that need to go in **now** arrived on Monday (of all things), and about those maincrop spuds.....
my car boot is full of things waiting to be planted when the rain stops......
i'm not alone then. should count myself lucky not to be trying to work heavy clay, i have lovely soil which digs easily. i actually quite enjoy digging once i can get a clear run at it. makes me feel virtuous; nimd you i do go to bed at night sometimes dreaming of couch grass roots. o well heads down everyone...
Sarah ... don't fret yourself! ::)
The worst that could happen is that you will have slim pickings this time next year for the "hungry gap" :o ... which I hasten to add is nearly always what I do !! :-[ ;)
Doesn't matter so much nowadays. But think what it would have meant a couple of centuries ago!