Allotments 4 All

Hi Everyone

This is my First year with a greenhouse on my allotment and now the tomatoes have nearly finished i am thinking about some winter veg but need advice on what to plant - it is a standard 6x4 and i already have a parrafin heater ready for the cold nights -- i have had wonderful advice from everyone since i joined this site and know i can get some sound advice on this subject --

My advice would not to put anything in over winter, i know its nice to be able to get some fresh stuff during the winter months but it can be inconvenient when you come to cleaning and sterilizing the GH. If you have a soil base for growing in the soil is not open to the ellements you get a build up of salts and minerals so it should be flushed through or changed, You should change the soil every three years anyway.

I always put in some winter lettuce, salad leaves and radishes in  containers.  Keep the door open during the day though as mould etc can be a problem. The above two are such fast crops that there is always time to sterilize before the new growing season begins.

I have Winter Lettuce and Spring Onions. I have also grown Chicory in the past but have gone off the flavour. Also growing the same things in cloches out side.

This way I can get more or less get lettuce all the year round.

Once I've cleared mine completely and dug it over (continuing my war on Mares tail and the occasional wild brier) I'm going to lift my chrysanthemums and plonk them in there in large peat filled boxes. I may also attempt to save a few of the fuchsias too.

I feel that heating a greenhouse through the winter is no longer viable as parafin has become so expensive as have other fuels.

In late January I expect to sow a big deep tray full of leek seed and leave it to grow steadily under a sheet of glass.

Lettuce & White Lisbon Spring onions? I might give it a whirl.

I moved a few late chrysanths indoors to flower as the tomatoes finished, though I still have 3 tomato plants on the go. I mostly stick to salad over winter with mixed leaves and radishes. Last year I had mizuna which stood very well through the winter. My favourite is probably carrots sown in early February which are ready when the tomatoes move back in. I also force my chicory in the greenhouse. Everything goes straight into the greenhouse border which gets changed every three years. I only use heat (a candle) when the tomatoes are back in and a frost is possible.

I used to change my soil every year but I am getting a bit long in the tooth for that.  I grow my tomatoes and such in bottomless pots now on top of the soil border.  Would I still need to change the soil every three years?

I grow ours in bottomless pots in the poly border filled with our own compost, seems to be ok, 8th year coming up 

Mine is chock-a-block with cacti !  Unheated . I move in precious tender plants like the lovely Ricinus and the Giant Taro . I have young plants that I took as cuttings that are waiting for spring to be planted out . Streptocarpus and lots of Pelargoniums being kept fairy dry now .Some South African bulbs like Amaryllis.  I had a big clean and tidy up and now I,m thinking about starting some lettuce and spring onions . . . . . I just cant stop growing things !

Is it a bit too cold for germination in my unheated GH?

I'd like to get something growing. Of COURSE I am not impatient

I've got a tray covered with a plastic lid and a plant pot covered with a plastic bag 

I dont put anything in as i said but this is my progress in the pollytunnel



and this it the other half of it

Next year I'm going to put some coriander and rocket in mine - they make it through a mild winter so it's worth giving them a chance under cover.

PEAS! PEAS! Put some peas in, I had a bumper crop of Kelvedon Wonder last year. Sowed late Jan I think, never seen that variety reach 5' before.

And when they were done, t'was time for the toms and peppers.