Is anyone out there really stressed regarding preparing for next year. I do not feel any inclination to be out there in this cold damp weather. I am wondering whether I want to carry on, but then again, I usually feel this way at this time of year. I know when I smell spring in the air my instincts tell me I must plant and I am exhilarated. You all seem so keen on keeping it going throughout the winter, some times I yearn for a little courtyard garden where I can grow my veg in pots and small containers. Help!!!!!!!!
Not stressed and not cold yet, but loads to do....
I think it's next year's dream that motivates me. Do you have a plan and lots of exciting new things to try in your mind? And old things you want to do better? And different ways of preparing the earth? And corners yet to tame? etc. etc. etc.
Hmm..not actually stressed..but yes, I do get bit 'sick of it' for a while..but after Christmas dinner and being stuck indoors for a day..I'm all ready and 'itching' to go..just because onion growers say that they sow their onion seeds in Christmas day to get those mammoth onions...it's just good excuse..
It gives good excuse to get away from the family and start doing something gardening related ::) ;D
What does give me stress in our allotment cow..'dragon' next 'door'..lottie neighbour that I do not get on with..and she feels same about me ::)..but that is another story..
Just don't get stressed over being stressed..it is normal and ok to feel fed up and over whelmed at times..and autumn does make you feel so..you just need a brake from it all ;) Try not to do too many things next year..keep it simple and only do and grow what you enjoy..even if it is just one cabbage ;D
OH always goes through the "garden/allotments" are a mess phase... then I remind her it's Autumn/Winter... they die back and look untidy every year... :o
Yes definitely stressed, because I know I have to pull up all the old plants and dig it ALL over before it starts to freeze :'( :'(
But like others, I know that I will start to get itchy fingers around february and start putting in echalotes and onions and then it will just be full throttle till September again!
I looked at a lot of plots the other day and I saw that even the best gardeners are getting grass and weeds, it's inevitable, spending time harvesting etc. Mine looked great in April but now it's getting very weedy where the onions were and where the squash has died away.
Quotesome times I yearn for a little courtyard garden where I can grow my veg in pots and small containers.
It's an idyllic concept, but an awful lot of watering is necessary to achieve and maintain a good crop. My downstairs neighbour has pots, containers and grow-bags on the patio. Right through the late spring and summer she's out there with her buckets and watering can morning and evening ... she's got a full-time job in between. My little plot, which is immediately adjacent, very well drained and on a slope, only needs water most evenings, and that can be a commitment (or an excuse to get away) if there's any socialising to be done.
We both think how nice it might be to have a patch of moist, level fertile ground to grow in :)
Interesting - I'm finding it difficult to get motivated and get things tidied up, the chicken manure spread and the ground covered.
I think part of it is the dark evenings, as I can't sneak out after the kids are put to bed. Plus, we seem to have hectic weekends at the moment.
However, the main thing is that my wife is due to give birth to our third little one this weekend, so things have been hectic here. I'm hoping that things will settle down, and I'll get to 'defect' to the allotment to get some peace and quiet over the next couple of weeks ;)
Strangely for me, I've not been motivated to start my planning for next year. I usually love that bit.
For me its a mixture of things at this time of year - when the squash plants get dug up the plot looks suddenly bare, and then the bean poles and plants come out, then the cucumber frame down, and it all looks a bit sad. But I've got to dig over and prepare the bed for garlic, so something to look forward to for next summer :)
Other than that, it's semi hibernation for me and the allotment - picking winter veg, but there is still lots of clearing and sorting to do and jobs that were hard to do in summer or need to be done now - like cutting back the hedge / brambles, sorting out a new salad bed, oh and carting bags of manure up to the plot. But there is something pleasurable going up there on a bright sunny day, and spending time outdoors.
I think the darker nights is the big thing for me - hate them! So roll on the new year and more light and hopefully some warmth
1066 :)
I am quite relieved that things are slowing down and others are finished and being cleared away.
I have an ambition to achieve "no dig", a fantasy that hoeing and raking and feeding will eventually be all I have to do before sowing and planting.
But every year I allow too many weeds to grow too big, so I am currently turning them in or digging them out, and the contrast of the clean dark raked earth with the scruffy weedy bits is very satisfying.
NEXT year I will keep on top of things!
I am always promising myself that 'next year' the allotment will be weed free and tidy. After 30 odd years of promising it's bound to happen.....next year. ;D
Not so much stressed as mildly anxious . I know it'll all get done but I tend to think about it for a few weeks beforehand.
It's surprising how quick it gets done once you start, especially when you've got a 24 year old strapping young lad to help. My Son mentioned he wanted to join a gym to lose a bit of weight and get fit so I told him I could save him 50 quid a month subscription.
I took him down the plot this morning, stuck a fork in his hand, directed him to rather large area that needed digging and on with it he got. I dug my seat out of the shed and poured myself a cuppa. As I sat and watched barrow loads of weeds and old spent plants being consigned to the compost heap, my stress and anxiety slowly melted away.
Another couple of days like today and it'll all be done... Then he can join the gym ;D
Ahh..but there is no need to be 'on top of things'..it has been proved that some weeds around crops are beneficial and having 'spotless' clean soil not.. ;)
So you might as well let some of the weed be and keep dreaming the no dig option ;D..yes I'm working towards it too..but I would call it 'just dig less option'.
At the moment I'm chopping all sweetcorn stems into small pieces leaving them on the surface until brown and eventually going to turn them in..slightly..
Less work than putting it all away into compost bins..I'll let the worms do the work and it is good for soil..and good for me too..chopping all thick stems is like stress therapy..I'm letting all aggro into the task..and while at it, thinking the imaginary bits that I'm cutting off from the source of the aggro ;D
Having some labour is good for soul.. ;D I had some help today too..child labour.
My lottie neighbour had grandson with him today..and "nothing to do".
So I borrowed him ;D I made a swap for his labour..if he picks all fallen apples off from lawn bit into compost bin, he can then pick as many apples as he wants from tree, even come back for more if needed. Young lad jumped for the opportunity.
When his grandad has some 'spare' veg..he can have it..so he goes around neighbours and sells it for some pocket money.
This budding business man picked 3 bucket loads of bramleys and is going to sell them..and he picked another bucket of eaters..growing lad is always hungry ::) ;D It's nice that some kids still like to earn some of their pocket money....I did when I was kid.
I used to hate autumn gardening when I was at work, I didn't grow winter veg because there was just no time to be tending it, but now my time is my own (once the old parents and OH have been sorted) I am loving this time of year. For days now the sun has burst forth at about 4 o'clock and I've had a wonderful session pottering round pulling off swede leaves and gloating over my parsnips and overwintering broccoli, my mooli and my rhubarb chard....it's just so nice to be outside.....shame I've had to get old and decrepit before I could enjoy it!
Ah stress.....current allotment worry; will I get seed off the lovely variegated rambling nasturtion?
Digging best avoided! This years no dig idea is to compost the weeds in situ ie just mulch with them, helps moisture retention, returns nutrients straight back to the soil, encourages worms and means you don't have to carry them to the composter 8)
I like to have a 'resting' season as well.
I'll still be clearing ground and digging, because I am still getting the last bit of my plot under cultivation. But I am always happy, after a busy spring and summer, to chill a but and stop expecting so much of myself and my allotment.
I do have some jobs to do though this year - to get a load of manure in + building a proper frame to support raspberry canes.
That's more than enough!
Thank you so much all you stressfuls and hopefuls, I have been in my veg plot in the sunshine today and have made myself look at my plot in a different light. You are right it does not matter too much if the weeds are taking over at this time of year. I have had my plot for nearly 25 years and every spring I have cleared and manured and planted and lets face it, May, June and July must be the most satisfying months of the year when everything is growing in profusion. Spring really gets me going, I can't think of a better smell than the soil in April, I think this is some primeval trigger that makes us lotties addicted to growing.
Now that sounds better QB ;D..and I can make you feel even better...
You are right it does not matter too much if the weeds are taking over at this time of year.
..it doesn't matter if you have weeds amongst you veg any time of the year...as long as your veg is growing stronger than you weeds ;)..little undergrowth is not a bad thing...
Yes you're right goodlife - and although I know you're right, I am aware that I do feel better when I trim the grass and weed beds. It looks like it's under control. I know that productivity is more important, but I can't help it!
I think that the weeding and trimming of grass is part of some other battle I'm doing in my head with the forces of chaos and unpredictability in life in general.
I read a really interesting article about gardening and your personality. The way people's gardening style matches your personality in one area - something about a strong or weak need for external order in your life.
Anyway, upshot is - you can do your personal battle against chaos for some of the year and then you need to chill out and have a rest and eat what you've grown!
<< you can do your personal battle against chaos for some of the year >>
I have dug out a season's weeds, reduced the soil to beautiful raked orderly beds, planted 72 garlics and started on the overwintering onions, and strimmed until my limbs are vibrating. Plus a satisfying bonfire of brambles and odd bits of wood I have collected but keep tripping over.
You are forbidden to look in any direction but the newly dug, newly strimmed areas. The weed infested beds are off limits. And I have at last learned that anything planted has to have a hoe's width between the rows.
Next year, I will be in control.....
Quote from: artichoke on October 14, 2010, 19:00:52
Next year, I will be in control.....
I've been saying that every year since I got married 30 years ago... ::)
Here it has been waiting until the squash vines all die, then clean up.
But the biggest fattest most horrible groundhog we have ever seen :( got into the garden and ate up lots of things- including all the leaves off my parsnips <grrrrrr!>
so they won't be sweet after a frost I guess!
And he pulled down part of the fencing to get in >:( so I am severely ticked and losing interest in clean up.
But, we're having the whole clan here for Thanksgiving so that will put a fire under me big time to be Miss Tidy ;D for a change.
Quote from: GrannieAnnie on October 15, 2010, 12:19:51
But the biggest fattest most horrible groundhog we have ever seen :( got into the garden and ate up lots of things- including all the leaves off my parsnips <grrrrrr!>
Did it just happen the once?
Quote from: GrannieAnnie on October 15, 2010, 12:19:51
But the biggest fattest most horrible groundhog we have ever seen :( got into the garden and ate up lots of things- including all the leaves off my parsnips <grrrrrr!>
Did it just happen the once?
Quote from: GrannieAnnie on October 15, 2010, 12:19:51
But the biggest fattest most horrible groundhog we have ever seen :( got into the garden and ate up lots of things- including all the leaves off my parsnips <grrrrrr!>
Did it just happen the once?
Quote from: GrannieAnnie on October 15, 2010, 12:19:51
But the biggest fattest most horrible groundhog we have ever seen :( got into the garden and ate up lots of things- including all the leaves off my parsnips <grrrrrr!>
Did it just happen the once?
Sorry, couldn't resist that, it's one of my most favourite films...
Groundhog ;D....it sounds so exotic ;D...our wildlife doesn't get wilder than few foxes...
What else, wildlife sort, wonders on your land..anything dangerous?
Quote from: queenbee on October 13, 2010, 22:44:56
I have had my plot for nearly 25 years
Now that really is something to celebrate Queenbee :)
Back to Groundhog day................... ;D ;D ;D
Quote from: irnhed on October 13, 2010, 10:16:29
Interesting - I'm finding it difficult to get motivated and get things tidied up, the chicken manure spread and the ground covered.
I think part of it is the dark evenings, as I can't sneak out after the kids are put to bed. Plus, we seem to have hectic weekends at the moment.
However, the main thing is that my wife is due to give birth to our third little one this weekend, so things have been hectic here. I'm hoping that things will settle down, and I'll get to 'defect' to the allotment to get some peace and quiet over the next couple of weeks ;)
Strangely for me, I've not been motivated to start my planning for next year. I usually love that bit.
I've managed a chunk of next years plan.... I need to find a way to dig the allotment by torchlight though, I can't afford the winter weekends for it, got a load of decorating and house stuff to do..... I need the big days, I can spare the couple of hours after I get home cos I dopn't find I get much DIY done of an evening (plus it's a bit antisocial to the neighbours if I fire up any serieous tools at home at that time of night....)
Unfortunatley the plan came up with the straight info that I need another allotment of the size I've got (my old one was twice the size this one is and I'm not giving up the beans, onions and potatoes , so need to find spacve for sweetcorn, brassicas and squash.....
chrisc
I'm not giving up the beans, onions and potatoes , so need to find spacve for sweetcorn, brassicas and squash.....
;D..and..and.. ;D Sound like you've got similar work order there...I do catching up with House stuff, DIY etc, during winter too..summer is too precious to spend indoors. How big would be your ideal plot? I've got 1/4 acre and it is just right..Now I just wish I could afford not to go into work..I would love to do allotment all day, everyday..I could afford then to have leasure days doing 'nothing' just wonder around looking things grow and talking to birds ;D That would be total de-stresser ;D
oh yes goodlife that's my retirement fantasy too. I hope I'll be fit enough in retirement to be able to do it. We'll probably have to work till we're 80 :-(
Anyway, best not to think of that!
I've got DIY and decorating still from when we bought a shabby house 2 years ago. It's still almost as shabby, because in my spare time, after family, allotment is the next priority! I like DIY but gardening really makes me happy.
Artichoke - it sounds like you've worked very hard. Surely your plot must be immaculate now!
Not immaculate, sadly, you have to stand with your back to the weeds to find anything to admire. But I am pleased with the good bits.
And I AM retired, more or less! Don't expect to have any more spare time than when you worked, anyone. I know it sounds illogical, but there seem to be as many demands on time as those made by work - they just come from different directions.....
Yes I have occasionally thought I ought to try not to look forward to retirement as a time when I have no shortage of time and can do everything I need and want to do... I'm sure it won't be possible!
It's like when you book time off work, I always expect too much and think I'll laze around, see all my friends, take the kids out, do all the DIY, spend hours in the garden, read lots of books, learn a new language, develop a cure for cancer etc...
Must try to be more realistic. ::)
Quote from: pigeonseed on October 16, 2010, 19:31:39
Yes I have occasionally thought I ought to try not to look forward to retirement as a time when I have no shortage of time and can do everything I need and want to do... I'm sure it won't be possible!
It's like when you book time off work, I always expect too much and think I'll laze around, see all my friends, take the kids out, do all the DIY, spend hours in the garden, read lots of books, learn a new language, develop a cure for cancer etc...
Must try to be more realistic. ::)
Don't worry about a new language they all speak english ........don't they?