Allotments 4 All

we've planted garlic in march and got a half decent crop, our allotment shop's got it in and b&q, so, if you want to, give it a go  ;D

I had a leaky water butt so I cut off the bottom 1 ft and filled with compo,added a wigwam and planted peas, worked fine, even if they didn`t make it to the pot or freezer ;)

Agree with Scousers. Still time & supply. This went in in February last year.

Hi Tim how close can you plant your garlic ???

I thought it had to be ecey 6inch ??

Re: garlic. My local garden centre is still stocking garlic, if your ground is ready for it then get it in as soon as you can.

That was about 4".

Had we had rain, it would have been better.

Nice garlic tim, i've still got some to go in as soon as our paths are in and we've decided which bed is which, hopefully it'll go in within the next couple of weeks. x

Mine go in at 4" spacing too :)

Nice raised beds, Tim. Very 'a la posh' ;D

Makes my plank raised bed look ......well.......plank like

cj :)

Hi Everyone,

I've been at work all day today and come home to find so many of you have answered my questions. I'm so grateful, thank you.

CornyKev, you mentioned the wigwams for peas, will I be able to just make a makeshift wigwam from canes for the peas to grow up?

DebP, I love your photo, it just goes to show that container gardening CAN be successful, you seem to have it all under control. I thought that Sweet Corn would need more depth for the roots with it being a tall plant. I didn't buy any Sweet Corn, but if I can find a barrel to plant in I might still give it a go.

MrsKP, the variety of Leek that I have bought is Musselburgh, so I'm pleased to hear that you have had success with it. I'll remember to space them out, though I don't mind if I only get mini ones, anything will seem like a great success to me!!!

Tim, your garlic looks fantastic. Can I ask, are your raised beds link-a-bord? I have been looking at these and wondering if I should buy some. I thought they would be ok on the patio.

OK, for my next question. I did manage to buy some garlic from Wilko's and it says plant in early Spring. Should I be getting these in now? If so, do I plant straight into my planter outside, or should I start them off in pots indoors?

Thanks again everyone. I'm soooo sorry for all the questions, but thank you everyone for taking the time to reply, I really do appreciate it.

Jo.

Jo - ditto !  this was my first year of growing anything so when I pulled out a leek my flabber was gasted and it was a great feeling.

;D

Jo - 3 of them, yes. 5 are home made.

If my garlic looks as good as yours this year Tim will be well chuffed...if not! will put mine in posh bed next year . ;D ;D ;D

MrsKP - I'd love to know how you got on last year with it being your first year. What did you grow and were you successful with everything?

Tim - Regarding Link-a-Bord, would you recommend them? I don't have an allotment, I'll be growing my veg in pots on the patio, but have seen Link-a-Bord in some magazines. I was wondering if I would be better getting some of these to make up two square metres or if I would be better with just pots. Obviously, having pots would give me a greater depth, but if I get Link-a-Bord I would need double depth. What would everyone advise?

Jo.

At the risk of boring everyone to death (again) here's a brief synopsis of my adventures last year and my plans for this season.

I started with four raised beds and a couple of long borders and a whole bunch of pots.  Raised beds and pots full of imported compost, manure.  Borders (heavy clay), improved with soil improver, bought in multipurpose compost, bagged manure.

Successes:

Tomato Gartenperle - outside in pots/hanging basket
Tomato Totem - pots in the greenhouse
Niche Oriental salad mix - outside in raised bed
Red and Green Salad Lettuce - erm can't remember where I planted them now !
Leeks Musselburgh - outside in pots (as previously mentioned)
Carrots Early Nantes 2 - outside in bath !!!
Carrots Autumn King 2 - outside in half whisky barrel
Broad bean Green Windsor - outside in raised bed
Cayenne Chilli - in pots in greenhouse (got enough fruit to last me a lifetime off about 3 plants - so many I don't really need to grow any more this but, but I will !)
Numex Twilight Chilli - in pots in greenhouse.  very pretty and still got a plant ripening now !! (now a heated greenhouse)
Cauliflower All the Year Round - outside in border
Onions Sutton - round the edge of the carrot bath and in one of the raised beds that eventually gave way to becoming the base of the second (but much better) greenhouse
Beetroot Perfect 3 - pots and borders outside.  Something (saw fly we think) had a right go at the leaves which i removed as soon as i saw any damage and didn't seem to have any real effect on the root
Radishes various kinds - outside border
Parsnips Gladiator - pots outside
Blue Lake Climbing beans - outside border up a wigwam (didn't do them until late - end June - so could have been better and will sow earlier this year)

Could have done better but will try again this year:

Spring Onions - White lisbon and North Holland Blood Red - don't know why they didn't work - will pay more attention to them this year
Courgettes (can't remember the variety) - had them in pots last year and while I had a fair few fruit off 4 plants, didn't get the expected glut.  Will try them in one of the borders this year to give them a bit of depth and space
Runner Beans Wisley Magic - up a tent type support thingy - got overcrowded by the sweetpeas that were there first and just ran riot (and were beautiful) not giving the RBs a fair crack at the whip. 
Garlic - ASDAs own - planted in the spring in the bath and never really got going.  Still using the harvest now but bulbs were quite tiny - have planted out Solent Wight and Purple Wight last autumn in a raised bed so hoping for "Tim" type excellence this year
Webbs Wonderful lettuce - border - didn't give them the attention they deserved and got the appropriate result - nowt !
Aubergines Black Beauty - didn't sow early enough in pots in greenhouse - fine plants, plenty of flowers, one or two fruit but too late to swell and ripen
Rocket - border - didn't really appreciate it last year but will try again

Won't bother again this year: mainly due to over crowding and lack of space

Early Purple Sprouting Broccoli - border - far far too big for my small space
Cabbage - raised bed - caterpillers had a field day - got four small ones
Cauliflower - border - was thrilled with my crop but no room in this year's plan
Swede - border - rotted - planted too close
Raab - raised bed - bolted really quickly
Celery - outside planter -grew fine but we didn't eat enough and it went all stringy and went to waste

New for this year:

Peas - Sugar Snap and Twinkle - outside borders
13 tomato varieties - most inside - some outside
Jerusalem Artichokes - border outside
Cucumbers  Masterpiece and Marketmore - pots (both say outdoor on the packets but given my rotten weather conditions will try a couple of each outside and in g/h (if i can find the room)
Chillis of unknown varieties and Boule de Turqie and Pepper Padron for the g/h - this greenhouse is going to have to be like a tardis !
Spinach Cezanne - lord knows where ! in between the strawberries - oh I haven't got to the fruit yet !

Fruit: (first year - not to a clue if they're going to work or not)

Blackcurrant - one in pot - two sticks in the border
Redcurrant - pot
Gooseberry - pot
Strawberries - raised bed
Raspberries - pots
Blueberries - pots

Add to that pots of Naughty Marietta marigolds all over the place and nasturtiums at the edges of the borders/beds, more sweetpeas and then we have the herbs:

Basil - Sweet Genovese
Basil - Lime
Borage
Coriander
Chives
Garlic chives
Oregano
Parsley Curlina
Parsley Plain leaves
Various types of mint in a huge pot by the front door

So there you have it.  I was cutting down this year as I thought I'd over stretched myself last season !   :P

I'm on a waiting list for a lottie but don't see that happening this year.  I know I'm going mad again but at least most of the planning and replanning was done last year.  We had a square rectangle of lawn when we moved in August 2005 and now it's a veritable Beechgrove garden.  I've blocked up the path in between the two remaining raised beds, so the middle bit is a new bed.

I'm lucky  ::) that being on the west coast of scotland i do not have a water shortage and can use my hose with gay abandon every night after work so nothing went thirsty although I'm thinking of a big dripper kind of system for the toms in the g/h so i don't have to worry about them individually.

Having read this back, I think I'm going to have problems !!! roflmao

Good luck Jo - what ever happens, you'll have a great time trying and when you pull the first carrot you really will shriek with delight a la Carol Klein !

;D

MrsKP,

WOW, What can I say????

Your post reads like a professional gardening book!!! Let me get this straight, last year was your first year, AND you don't have an allotment?

Blimey (a good old Yorkshire saying), I thought that I was going a little wild, hmmmm!!

I think this site is great, there's so many gardeners here at so many different stages (some very new, so not so new, and I don't like to say old so shall I say some advanced) who are all able to give me such inspiration.

Thank you so much for outlining all that for me, I've found it very interesting but it must have taken you ages to type it all out, you did so much in your first year.

OK, I've no worries now. I'm just going to get on with things and if they don't work then they don't work, I'll just keep trying or try something new next year.

Thanks again,

Jo.

Professional ?  Nah - just enthusiastic to the extreme.  The OH hasn't seen me for a year but he knows exactly where to find me should he need to !

I have a tendency to be a bit of a 5 minute wonder type of person, I'm surprised I've lasted into a second season tbh, but at last I've actually found something I really enjoy.

Most expensive carrots in the world though - this ain't a cheap "hobby" but it keeps me out of trouble and is a great way to spend an afternoon/day/summer evening.

Last year every single d**n vegetable i grew had a picture taken of it and proudly displayed in the gallery.  The real professionals on here were very patient and tolerated my enthusiam!  It's a brilliant site, everyone is SO helpful, friendly, some are totally bonkers - (eh Liska ?  :P) and I've learned so much and asked such daft questions.

And typing all that out has saved me from doing the banking.

Just try the things you like - i was never very fond of cabbages anyway but as they were a "staple" felt the need to try !

In real life I'm a Jo too so felt we'd bonded already !   ;D

Have a look at my blog, you'll see the layout of Beechgrove.  I don't profess to have a clue what I'm doing, but I do have a good time trying.

;D

Jo, Link-a-Bord....I'm sure Tim will answer you too, but a friend has 4 veggie beds made from them now, about 3(4?) boards high as she's become increasingly more disabled, and we put them together in a day (with a break for a long liquid lunch) 8) This will be about 4 years ago and they're still looking as good as new & all her plantings crop very well. Much recommended. :)

Just found a pic of the Musselburghs !

OMG KP we've seen the typing, now we're getting the pictures? Oh go on then..now that BB's finished there's nowt much else to look at ;D

btw...you still going to use the bath for carrots this year?