Allotments 4 All

Have you started on you 2011 vegetable garden plan yet?

Yes I just got a second plot a couple of weeks ago so clearing and planning going on.

And the Kings NSALG discount catalogue arrived so planning the order too.

Yep, I've bought the big onion seed I'll grow (Aislae) and also the overwintering broad beans and spring onions. Will have to do seed-box audit soon....plus need to have plan A: 1 plot and garden and B: 2 plots and garden (if I get another plot on the site I'm on now).....

chrisc

Very essential to plan the next year early.  Each time I clear a bed I need to know what is going in next so it has the right treatment.  I have normally moved my beans round but due to manure contamination they will have to be a fixture for a while.   The worst affected areas are scheduled for sweet corn.  I am expanding the areas for strawberries and fruit.  The areas for PSB are already planned and the plants well established.
 
It was all very carefully planned this year but due to the contamination lots of things had to be moved.  I suddenly had to dig new bean trenches and raid the compost heap.

yes,always start planning next year at this time of year,particularly thinking about any diseases that have reared their ugly faces. we have also taken on next doors half plot,as they have recently quit,so we now have a full plot yahoooooo!

I have started inasmuch as buying the over wintering broad beans and peas,the patch for next year`s onions has had a garlic drench and the path I take to the new compost bin will be well trodden down for the sprouts

Wish I could, however, the garden needs some serious work over the winter to give me the veg plot I'm planning. Depends on a) how bad the winter is, b) what I find when I start lifting slabs c) with baby on the way I don't know when I'm going to have the energy or time and d) when the OH is going to be willing to help me lift said slabs, which are 3inch thick york stone  :o

Determined not to do everything in buckets again next year, but having to content myself currently with planning where the beds will go rather than what will go in them!

Bah humbug!!

We have put labels on sticks this year so that we remember  what was growing there. We replant quite lot of stuff as we take things out so we dont have to plan very much.

I take loads of photos of my plot each summer. I find it really useful especially as the photos are date stamped. Its good to look back at what was growing where when and how big they were at the time.

Duke :)

As I'm aiming to grow fresh food all year round, I have to think far ahead..
So yes...seeds are on going thing..buying, swapping etc. ;D
Previous crops are all marked in my little book..and new crops pre-marked where I might grow them.. ::)...untill somebody offers something exciting to try again ::) ;)

It's on my list of jobs, honest.....

(I've normally sorted it by now, but it's been a busy year!)

I have planned what I hope to grow in each bed to make sure of 3 year rotation.
I am planning to grow more tall peas.  My Alderman and purple podded cropped well and were easy to pick.
Less runner beans and courgettes.
Onions from seed as well as sets.  Teegees advice.
Strawberries planted thro' weed fabric.  My neighbours did better than mind with this method.
My biggest problem is deciding which catalogue to use for my seed order.   I would like 3 or 4 out of each but this means several postage charges.

longalot have you, and if so then then do tell us about it.

I haven't, and won't in detail until early next year.

Flighty i finished my plan yesterday.

Have started planning but this allows me to change it over and over again, when i first got my allotment i must have drawn 4 different plans and then it was all changed at the last minute.

Quotei finished my plan yesterday

So come on spill the beans and tell us a little of your plans.

Quote from: tomatoada on August 16, 2010, 19:55:09
I have planned what I hope to grow in each bed to make sure of 3 year rotation.
I am planning to grow more tall peas.  My Alderman and purple podded cropped well and were easy to pick.
Less runner beans and courgettes.
Onions from seed as well as sets.  Teegees advice.
Strawberries planted thro' weed fabric.  My neighbours did better than mind with this method.
My biggest problem is deciding which catalogue to use for my seed order.   I would like 3 or 4 out of each but this means several postage charges.

Check on ebay and join in some seed swaps..... for instance I'll certainly be able to cover you for courgettes and  onion seed..... I go for a bigger rotation though. Potatoes is one, Onions is two, Squashes is three Brassicas is four, peas and beans is five and roots is six. Exotics like sweetcorn go wherever there is space.....

Next year I'll grow more tall peas and try adn overwinter some Meteors to get a really early crop, use Sutton to try nand cover the gap from Aquadulce to red flowered broadies (I love broad beans), try to give the shelling beans, especially the climbers, a better start in life regarding moisture-retention soil (and maybe autowatering systems) I want to have some success with parsnips too...... and fewer potato varieties, and fewer tomato varieties but more of the ones I've found to be good, especially the cookers, and better peppers, I've found the varieties I want now to grow them in large quantities.....and some sanity with courgettes would be good... I'm, a single bloke and OK, I'm a vegetarian, but fourteen courgette plants is too many...... and I'm not growing Boston Marrow squash again.... the things too big.......

chrisc

Come on lets hear  all those plans.

I always get inspired by other folks ideas.

Mine well, more or less..I started the squash last week,got to get an early start on them. ;D

XX Jeannine

Not sure if you'd call my plans inspired, Jeannine, but I've been trying to select interesting seed varieties at reduced prices, keeping in mind the need to make next year's crops a bit more manageable.

For instance, this year, I've grown lots of tomatoes in pots and was sensible about choosing varieties for different culinary purposes, but they are all cordon varieties and it has been very time-consuming tying them in and making sure the wind doesn't blow them over. Next year I will probably plant more varieties, putting the cordon varieties in the veg patch and the bush varieties in pots.

It will be interesting to try to accommodate the many squash and pumpkin varieties I've acquired since signing up to A4A, including the ones you kindly sent me. Thanks again! :)

I have also decided to take a leaf from your book by offering to share the contents of my seed packets with others.   :)

Otherwise, I haven't given next year too much thought and I'm still trying to make the most of this year. Being in the south of England, I'm going to try a few late sowings and see what comes up.....

Spudbash

The only plan I've got so far is to mulch like mad with autumn leaves. That way if we get another bad winter, I won't get behind!

Quote from: cleo on August 16, 2010, 15:03:53
I have started inasmuch as buying the over wintering broad beans and peas,the patch for next year`s onions has had a garlic drench and the path I take to the new compost bin will be well trodden down for the sprouts
[/quote
What's in the garlicdrench Stephan? My onions and shallots were greT but garlic largely succumbed to White rot. I suspect the roots I bought were infected

Jeannine said

QuoteI started the squash last week,got to get an early start on them

Really? You start them off now and then keep them indoors over winter? Tell me more!

I've started planning! It's something about the time of year. And I'm trying to move to a more systematic crop rotation system, so needed to think ahead over the next couple of years! (sorry that makes me sound so anal   ::)  ;D)

So somebody finally noticed my joke..ha ha, I start them at the same time I put the Brussel sprouts on to cook Christmas dinner

XX Jeannine

I wasn't sure whether it was a joke - people do such different things! So do you really start them off at Christmas or are you teasing again you cheeky girl!  ;D

PS who's your new avatar, Jeannine?

QuoteI start them at the same time I put the Brussel sprouts on to cook Christmas dinner

So if you start squashes off at Christmas when do your plant them outside.  Don't they go on a take over bid of the house?  Is there some way of keeping them small.

O eck, I am not real good at jokes..I am getting myself in too deep here.

No I don't plaat then now or at Christmas.

1.Here now with no space

2'UK  with space and 5 greenhouses

3.Canada before when I had acreage.



3, I sowed about April , potted on in 5 inch pots and planted in garden in May. Mild weather and long growing season took over.

2. I started early to allow for the cooler weather and shorter season.So I sowed in February in a heated  greenhouse , in heated propogater , potted on into gradually bigger pots till in the end I was in 5 gallon buckets, by this time I had very large  healthy plants when  UK weather was  good enough to put them out on the lottie, big hole dug and whole bucketful went in with shovenful of manure at bottom of hole. Covered with polytunnel if needed. This way I could get almost anything to maturity even in Hull unless it was cold wet summer then it came down to the earlier ones and a bit of luck.

1. Started inside under lights(but late this year) potted on till weather was OK and in garden as usual. no home greenhouse here so am juggling a bit. Next season can start earlier so should be back to normal except I lack the space.

So it really depends on your own situation.

XX Jeannine

PS My new picture is another doll I have just finished, the last one scared someone  who pm'd me so I changed it. Iam gradually unpacking boxes and working on UFO's..(unfinished ongoing ) projects.

I had this image of your house completely covered in squashes trailing about the place.

One year I had absolutely huge fruiting courgettes and tomatoes in the front window.  Had a visit from the police who thought they were pot plants. 

my plans began a while back on a scrap of paper - usually keep it in my head but next year's plans just follow on smoothly from this year - much the same crops but just moved round and moved drastically if ground didn't seem suitable - taking note of mistakes to correct and leaving room for new ideas and experimenting - never stops really  ;D