Allotments 4 All

I've done it again sown toooooo many seeds and brought on too many plants! Anyone else growing more than they have space for?
I've given loads away and I've got some more going to a couple of local fund raisers, the rest I'd like to keep if I can, but I'm looking for ideas as I'm fast running out of greenhouse/polytunnel space. I'm thinking of making a temporary but reusable hoop house? Something along these lines https://picasaweb.google.com/108421163807481105353/Hoophouse# (Dan McMurray was very generous in sharing his ideas and pictures, his gallery is fantastic,)
Any suggestions?

Easy to make but if you have the right gear what do you have availible

Quote from: Jayb on May 20, 2012, 15:17:23
I've done it again sown toooooo many seeds and brought on too many plants! Anyone else growing more than they have space for?

Yes, me of course!

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Too many chillies, these are in my greenhouse at home - there are even more in the greenhouse on my plot



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Various squash and courgettes need potting on



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Did I really need so many zinnias?  They need potting on but where will I put them?



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Don't even know what this is.  One of the Bangladeshi plot holders gave me some seeds and I tried to sow only a few but hundreds germinated.  It looks suspiciously like an English weed but they grew it last year as a 'standard', about 5ft tall and it looked lovely.

That looks the job davy. Probably not the best selection, but I do have some blue water pipe, several white electric ducting pipes, five 4' x 8' one inch by 6inch wooden frames. I have some odds and ends of polythene, but will need to beg borrow or buy more. I've got lots of cable ties and a role of duct tape? I've also got some spare debris netting, a role of baler twine and a few bits of wood baton, but not much.

Lol, gorgeous looking seedlings and plants squash. I didn't think I'd be alone on this one  ;D

I've just planted up some troughs of cherry tomatoes for all our schools, special needs groups, my daughter and grandchildren and my sister and her daughter. They have no choice  ;D

Hubby bought me one of these, my excess plants go out on the front garden under the willow tree and I donate some of the pennies and plants to the local horty society and the big plus is..........folks get interested in growing their own.

Ninny

Scuse me but aren't we supposed to sow too many ????

We give 'em to neighbours,hairdresser,butchers etc..... ;D

Quote from: Ninnyscrops. on May 20, 2012, 22:46:03


Hubby bought me one of these, my excess plants go out on the front garden under the willow tree and I donate some of the pennies and plants to the local horty society and the big plus is..........folks get interested in growing their own.

Ninny

That's in your front garden Ninny?  And nobody's pinched it yet?  It's a really lovely idea but .............

I have given away what I can to whoever will have them. I have potted 21 assorted chillis and peppers, when I really only wanted 6, ok, the chillis will freeze and the peppers will dry. I potted 22 tomato plants and that is 8 more than I need but hey it is only the price of a bag of good compost against food and hobby value

I admit to getting rid of very bonny strong plants but I can only do it a couple at a time, otherwise it is too heart breaking. Now where are those spare planters?

Yes, I have given away at least 15 of mine! However just as well I kept a couple of emergency plants, as one of mine got accidentally killed on Friday (I snapped it off, was a bit careless) and a friend sat on one of hers  ;D So I can replace these with a couple of leftovers.

I planted too many but I just couldn't resist. I will have to keep 'em well trimmed as they are a bit close together.

 That's in your front garden Ninny?  And nobody's pinched it yet?  It's a really lovely idea but .............[/quote]

Not yet Squash64  :)

There used to be a nursery in the village but that closed down years ago and now they have built houses on the land, the local horty society used to have a shop that sold plants et al at the old railway station and that has long since gone too. So it's a drive or a bus ride to anywhere for plants.  I started last year with just a table or two on the front garden but it meant moving them when hubby needed to mow or taking them off the drive when the car needed parking. So this seemed a better idea for this year. I was thinking about putting a sign up on it "Ninny's Micro Nursery"  ;D

Ninny

Quote from: Jayb on May 20, 2012, 20:52:40
That looks the job davy. Probably not the best selection, but I do have some blue water pipe, several white electric ducting pipes, five 4' x 8' one inch by 6inch wooden frames. I have some odds and ends of polythene, but will need to beg borrow or buy more. I've got lots of cable ties and a role of duct tape? I've also got some spare debris netting, a role of baler twine and a few bits of wood baton, but not much.

So realy you have everything you dont need to build a mini tunnel, are you allowed to build pollytunnels on the allotment i know its a lot bigger than you may want but they are worth it.
I used to have a look arround the industrial estates to see waht was lying about in the yards i got things like cold storage pannels and collapsable boxes just by asking if they wanted rid of it. If you go to a scaffhold yard you can get boards from as cheap as £2.50 and poles at scrap value, i even got the MDPE gas pipe out of a firms skip.
So if you want to build a tunnel to last this i what i would be doing.

Where in South West Wales?

Love "Ninny's Micro Nursery"  ;D

Great ideas davy, another permenate poly would be the ideal, but it is more work than I can manage at the moment.  But I think I can manage doing a temporary and reusable jobbie, it just needs to be able to stand a little bit of wind.

I've taken the plunge and made a start, it's going to be sort of a hybrid cloche/poly/hoop thingy. I've put in the lengths of plastic pipes I'm using for foundation tubes. Using your pictures as an example I used a couple of the 8x4's as templates. It might be a bit wonky in a couple of places, the tubes didn't go in quite straight! Hoping to do the ridge and maybe get the plastic on today.