Allotments 4 All

Herewith a few pics of my Roof-Top garden over the last few years and my 2 small gardenshares.. not taken a lot of pic of it...

click on the link to view... http://www.copy-cats.info/veg/veg.htm

Well done you!

Wow, such a great harvest from a small space  ;D

Very impressed with what you are managing to grow in pots.  Do you have a trickle watering system?

No watering system... just me with a hose pipe!!  ;D

I go up most days and give it a spray when its really hot... My compost soil is re-used year after year and all I do is add some horse manure, chicken manure pellets, some general fertilizer and some bone/blood/fish meal occasionally.. When I have compost I also add what I have..  No crop rotations possible as I store the soil in wheelie bins to stop it leaching out any goodness.

That's superb 8) and very heartening for me, having to downsize. Plse tell me more about your onions = size/depth of containers etc?

Thanks, and really Well Done You :D

There can't be many greenhouses on roofs in Macclesfield so when I see one I might just knock on the door & say hi. It looks lovely. Very productive.

Congratulations Gavin. That is excellent, and amazing what you have done  with the space, and how much produce you have grown. busy_lizzie

Hi Lishka.. I use a few sizes of container. If you look at my pics you will see the long black half pipes. They are drainage pipes split down the centre. They are about 6' long and are 12" in diameter and end up 6" deep when cut in half. When my 2 boys were still living at home I grew about 1000 per season and grew them close together 3" x 3" and got 4 lines in each pipe. I had to feed them quite a lot with a general purpose liquid feed. I now plant them in 2 rows and about 4" apart - get bigger but less onions. I always plant sets as seed seem to bolt too quickly. My winter onions go in soon and they will be ready for green onions in sauce and soups mid April. 

During the growing season as soon as they are about thumb size we start eating them cut up and in white sauce and added to soups and stews with a lot of the greens utilised. I start by taking every alternate one to make space for others to grow.  I also use tubs that are about 5" to 6" wide and deep and 2' to 3' long. These I do 2 rows but interspaced. Still far too close but I just do it fo fun and get some really good crops. I did some mammoth Kelsea one year (in the brown tub) and gosh they grew loke mad being about 4" apart!! 

I re-use my soil year after year and just add fertilizer, chicken manure and compost when I have it and occasionally blood/fish/bone meal is added.. .  I just love to play and it is a relaxing hobby for me. My roof garden has produced some really heavy crops.  I have applied for an allotment but dont know when I might get one..

Brilliant, and I hope you get your allotment soon.  We have toms on the roof which are doing well.

Shoot.  I have just taken my flat roof off and had a slightly pitched one put there instead.  You are doing absolutely brilliant and hope you get a lottie.  In fact wished you lived closer to me and you could have a bash on mine.

Inspiring, well done.

Your rooftop looks amazing.....well done  ;D

Inspirational Gavin!

Thanks for all the good coments... hope Katrina dosen't blow it off the roof... it is tied down well!! ;D

Wow your roof top garden is amazing, what a fab idea. Am wondering how you have you secured the greenhouse? x jane

Very impressed.... those are d**n fine looking onions too, what variety are they?

chrisc

All summer i have been looking out on the flat roof of my garage & thinking what a waste of space!!  Not next year tho, you have inspired me :)

I hate to see wasted space!!!  ;D

Chris - the big onions next to the milk jug are Kelsae that I did 4" apart in 2 rows in the tub.. grew really well considering the spacing and the size of the tub.

All the others are either Sturon / or Stuttgarter 

well done surprising what can grow in a other wise wasted space, well done you,  can i ask what is beneath the roof ?,