Allotments 4 All

Bliss it was, warm and sunny, got loads done, planted out the sweet peas, spring onions and some onion sets my neighbour had spare. Put up the second netting supports on t h e bean frame, weeded, transplanted some dahlias and lavender, I ache all over now!

and I was at work in Sheffield, even my Thursday off has been nabbed. But did get in a couple of hours before it went dark.

First full day at my plot yesterday too, last hour & a half thunder was deafening & rain started just as I locked the gate to the plots! Got loads done & finally feel like I am making decent progress on my new plot. 3 gooseberries, 1 blackberry, 15 strawberries planted. 5 raised beds all ready for sowing very soon. Found a huge ants nest that I will deal with today....really hate having to get rid of them but I can't let them stay. Compost bins started off x2. Water butt & guttering up. Main membrane path down....body is aching all over today though xJane

If you fork an ants' nest over they usually move. They don't like disturbance.

Hi Robert I did as you suggested & heavily forked over the raised bed that the ants are in so will see what happens next....got a horrid feeling they will just move to the raised bed next door. It will be awhile before I sow/plant out the beds so I will keep trying to move them on until I really do have to get the beds ant free. xjane

Ants are not a huge problem - like Robert I also make them 'move'.  They are not like slugs.  I use patio slabs as movable garden paths and underneath the slabs I often find ants nests.  As soon as I dig that area  over, they are gone and when they are there (under the slabs) I don't notice them.  The only ant bites I get are in the greenhouse, they are a bit more aggressive there.  But if I could trade ants for voles - give me ants every time, they are as good as harmless.   

The old-time organic 'cure' for ants is pouring a kettle of boiling water over the nests to kill the colony with all the eggs.  Not sure how effective this is, as I disregard my ants. 

Hi Galina so if I leave the ants to nest in the raised bed will no harm come to my crops? If they don't harm the veg I plan to grow then I don't really mind them staying as they are the small black variety & don't seem very aggressive. xJane

i count myself so lucky our soil is so light and sandy and its pretty dry here on the east coast so i manage to get over the allotment  nearly every day winter or summer however there is a price to pay we have to water by hand pump this spring so far its been wet so no watering required but by may it will be all hands to the pump its like its a knockout buckets cans barrows and allsorts back and forth but at least i can visit my plots most days of the year and for £40 for the 2full plots where can you have such pleasure 365 days a year i love it

Ants do somemarginal damage; they farm aphids, but it's not often you see a plant that's noticeably harmed. If they nest in a pot they can dump a lot of compost over the side. Otherwise, they're carnivorous, and they do a lot of good by feeding on pests.

Thanks Robert I think I may just leave the ants to it then & see what happens xjane

Another full day in the sunshine, I'm actually a bit pink now! Got quite a bit done,  because it was so dry I could hoe properly, sowed some beetroot in the warm soil, even the water was warm in the watering can....