Allotments 4 All

Hi everyone,

Well, what can I say. I don't have a lottie, therefore, I grow in containers in my garden, so winter months are very quiet for me.

I am now back into this years growing season with a vengence though. I did the majority of my sowing last Sunday, and already have some little seedlings poking through. Today, as in tradition, I have planted my first earlies (Pentland Javelin), they did me proud last year  ;D

I don't know if any of you remember me from last year, but just thought I would say Hello  ;D

Jo.

Hello Jo,Iam fairly new but pleased to meet you :)

If I remember right you're a sweetcorn fan aren't you? Just out of hibernation and ready for another year?

Hi Jo,  I remember you.   ;D  You sent me the Fuchsia 'Happy Wedding Day' cuttings - most of which are thriving thanks - and I owe you 'Carmel Blue' in exchange.  The cuttings I took are coming on slowly and as soon as they are big enough I'll strike you some cuttings.   :)

Good to hear your season's starting well.  G x

 ;D I am new to the forum myself Jo... but a big welcome 'hello' to you!!
I am also without an allotment but treat my garden as my  allotment. I saw this forum and thought what a lovely friendly place it was and regardless of my lack of allotment joined anyway... have found everyone very welcoming!!

Quote from: betula on March 21, 2008, 22:20:52
Hello Jo,Iam fairly new but pleased to meet you :)

Hi,

I'm very pleased to meet you too.

Are you a new gardener, or just new to A4A?

Jo.

Quote from: djbrenton on March 21, 2008, 22:24:01
If I remember right you're a sweetcorn fan aren't you? Just out of hibernation and ready for another year?

My reputation goes before me  :P

Yes, I love my sweetcorn. For all of you growing in containers, it can certainly be done. I had a very successful year with my sweetcorn last year, and it was also my first year growing.

I will definitely be growing my sweetcorn in containers again this year. Thank you Jeannine for the seeds, they will be getting sown again shortly  :)

Jo.

I have been gardening for a long time but fairly new to A4A :)

Quote from: Georgie on March 21, 2008, 22:27:38
Hi Jo,  I remember you.   ;D  You sent me the Fuchsia 'Happy Wedding Day' cuttings - most of which are thriving thanks - and I owe you 'Carmel Blue' in exchange.  The cuttings I took are coming on slowly and as soon as they are big enough I'll strike you some cuttings.   :)

Good to hear your season's starting well.  G x

Hi Georgie,

Glad to hear that 'Happy Wedding Day' are coming on well. I had reservations when I sent them to you, seeing that I had never taken a cutting before.

I would love to have a cutting of Carmel Blue if you manage to take a cutting. The photos you posted last year looked fantastic.

Jo.

 :D Hi Jo, I have dabbled with gardening for sometime now, although still have plenty to learn and this forum certainly has many experienced gardeners in its midst so very comforting to know that there is plenty of experienced help within the forum if required...
You sound as if you are doing very well Jo!!

Quote from: aromatic on March 21, 2008, 22:46:41
:D Hi Jo, I have dabbled with gardening for sometime now, although still have plenty to learn and this forum certainly has many experienced gardeners in its midst so very comforting to know that there is plenty of experienced help within the forum if required...
You sound as if you are doing very well Jo!!

Nice to meet you.  I am really enjoying my gardening. I have got my name down for a lottie, after the gardening bug caught me last year. I think it will be some time until I get one though, so I will be growing in my containers again this year.

Jo.

 Keeping fingers crossed that you will get your allotment very soon! x

Hi again Jo, I remember posting a pic of my sweetcorn growing in barrels for you, glad you had a successful crop last year!  8)

I'm going to try planting some sweetcorn between a bed of 3rd year strawberry plants this year. I've never tried that combination before but I was struggling to find a place for them on my lottie and then thought of trying that.

Hope you don't have to wait too long for a plot, I'm on the waiting list for a second plot, and so far have waitied longer than I did for my first! One just isn't enough space, however big it looks at first..... ;D

Hello to everyone
  I am in my second year with an allotment, but it may as well be my first year. Tthe allotment I had last year was a lake ,and a bog ,with all the rain we had. I feel that the allotment should not have been offered until some sort of drainage was in place I had nothing off it for all my hard work.
But this year I have just cleared a new plot and I am looking forwards to the summer, I have been told my new plot is a good one, so fingers crossed I  have early pots in ,and second early pots in, going to plant onion sets over the Easter weekend weather permitting .
     Bridgehouse

Quote from: Deb P on March 22, 2008, 09:44:42
Hi again Jo, I remember posting a pic of my sweetcorn growing in barrels for you, glad you had a successful crop last year!  8)

I'm going to try planting some sweetcorn between a bed of 3rd year strawberry plants this year. I've never tried that combination before but I was struggling to find a place for them on my lottie and then thought of trying that.

Hope you don't have to wait too long for a plot, I'm on the waiting list for a second plot, and so far have waitied longer than I did for my first! One just isn't enough space, however big it looks at first..... ;D

Hi Deb,

Yes, my sweetcorn in containers did really well last year. I just hope that it wasn't beginners luck and that I will have the same success this year  :P

I joined the allotment list at number 40, so I don't know how quick I will get to the top, but my spade is poised and waiting  ;D

Jo.

Quote from: bridgehouse on March 22, 2008, 10:07:16


Hello to everyone
  I am in my second year with an allotment, but it may as well be my first year. Tthe allotment I had last year was a lake ,and a bog ,with all the rain we had. I feel that the allotment should not have been offered until some sort of drainage was in place I had nothing off it for all my hard work.
But this year I have just cleared a new plot and I am looking forwards to the summer, I have been told my new plot is a good one, so fingers crossed I  have early pots in ,and second early pots in, going to plant onion sets over the Easter weekend weather permitting .
     Bridgehouse

Hi,

Last year must have been so disappointing for you, but hopefully, now that you have got a better plot, this year will be much better.

I planted my first earlies yesterday, but I don't yet have a lottie, so they have gone into containers. I did really well last year with most things, and all of them were grown in containers.

Jo.

Hiya Jo, i would be interested in how you went about growing your sweetcorn in containers simply because i only have a garden and can always use the space i use for corn for something else
debs ;D

Hi Debs,

I grew 'Honey Select F1' Sweetcorn which Jeannine very kindly sent to me. I sowed them into 3'' pots on 10/05 in the window in the conservatory and they started germinating on 14/05 (this is where my gardening journal comes into it's own  ;D).

On 01/06 they were potted on into a container outdoors. I planted two plants into a 12'' container, and filled six containers as sweetcorn should be grown in blocks (or so I have been advised on a4a).

After that, I'm afraid that I didn't do much with them. I ensured that they were watered regularly, and I did give them a feed with regular tomato food when I remembered (which wasn't very regularly  :-[)

They did extremely well. I got at least one ear (is that what you call them?) off each plant, and in most cases, two. They were delicious and I will be growing them again this year.

Let me know if you decide to grow them this way, and if you do, I would be really interested to know how you get on. I'm just hoping that it wasn't beginners luck for me and that I get the same success this year.

Jo.

Hi Jo and welcome back, I see we share the love for sweetcorn, didn't do as well in 07 as in 06 mind you some of that was down to rats eating them, little *fatherless children*, anyway happy growing.  ;D ;D ;D

Quote from: cornykev on March 24, 2008, 18:29:58
Hi Jo and welcome back, I see we share the love for sweetcorn, didn't do as well in 07 as in 06 mind you some of that was down to rats eating them, little *fatherless children*, anyway happy growing.  ;D ;D ;D

Cheers Kev.

Yes, I'm hoping that my success last year wasn't just beginners luck. I did feel bad doing so well though, seeing that Jeannine had sent me the seeds and all the problems that she had with her plot being under a foot of water. It seemed to be a bad year all round last year for everyone with allotments. Mine, as I said, were grown in containers so I didn't have to contend with the flooding problems. Hopefully this year will be a better year.

The only problems which I had with my sweetcorn was that I had a plague of blackfly on them. I posted on here and it seemed that nobody else had ever had this problem with sweetcorn. I sprayed them with a soap solution and that solved the problem straight away.

Anyway, I hope you have better luck this year. Rats,   urgggggg  :o :o :o

Jo.