My new project.

[dizzyblonde]

Although there are those orgers on FB (and the lovely Geodude) that have been seeing why I have been quiet on here very recently, I thought I would share with those that don't know.

I very recently acquired an allotment, in a very poor state. Unfortunately, due to the rain there hasn't been as much progress as I would have hoped. Today sees yet another flood in Hebden Bridge, and I do live in that general direction, just to illustrate how damn muddy it is here right now!

This was the plot a week ago....The photos don't show its true size, its triple my garden and then some!

http://a6.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/251845_3918976609191_425515253_n.jpg

http://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/484053_3918984049377_34865531_n.jpg

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http://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/395992_3926532038072_978625247_n.jpg


As you can see, ermmmmm rather a lot of weeds!

After a couple of days and a helping hand from the kids and Smudge, another friend with a strimmer to the rescue, we had it looking like this.




http://a6.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/553218_3926532518084_1727135883_n.jpg

http://a1.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/487681_3926533238102_961231647_n.jpg

Then this

http://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/315405_3944048035961_360216770_n.jpg

my fruit trees can see the light!

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Might not be very interesting to most, but to some, its a dream. Grow your own veg, a quiet corner with some mad old dudes to share tips, and somewhere the kids can be, where no harm can come to them.

I was born into growing greens, it really is genetic, I'm now carrying on the art, and hopefully the kids will benefit, as long as my gran and my dad hand the advice on :D

I don't have a large garden to enjoy at home, besides its full of bikes! So to get an allotment, which anyone who knows about them, will say, is like getting a piece of gold handed to you. This is the place I can finally start being me again, because before all the bikes came along, this is what I did, grow flowers and have a beautiful bit of greenery and colour in my back garden.


Lots of hard work, but very much worth it, if only the rain would stop.

[DJFridge]

Looks like you're making progress with it. And at least you know things will grow there - some of those weeds were on the large side!

[dizzyblonde]

LARGE??


I'm glad I didn't succumb to the lure of a greenhouse on the other plot they were offering, the poor couple who took that are still staring at weeds taller than me!!

[Mid_life_crisis]

Congratulations on obtaining a plot, looks like you are getting things in order. My wife was also lucky enough to get a good sized plot in January. I was pleased, because I thought it would give me more time on the SV, wife hates bikes, but as it turns out I have spent more time at the allotment than at work. With putting up a bloody aluminium greenhouse with 10 thousand nuts and bolts only for it to blow away and crush into scrap, which someone stole before I had a chance to remove. I then spent two weeks building a wooden frame and re-used the poly carb panels, the end result was good if I don't say myself but for the total cost to build both greenhouses we could have bought a hell of a lot of veg! . I hope the weather improves soon, for the allotment and me :-)

[dizzyblonde]

Oh no!!!! It does happen a lot, the blowing away of shed or greenhouse :(

I do have a greenhouse coming my way soon, kindly offered by a friend buying a new house, and the greenhouse is surplus to requirement :D Even if for now it acts as shelter from the rain!

As far as it being 'oh good, now I'll have some peace' ;), Peg really isn't interested, but its funny how so far hes built me two compost bins and made some raised bed frames.
The bins are from new pallets kindly donated by the new houses being built in my back garden, and the bed frames are recycled joist timber from our old shed.

I am really grateful for his skills in truck driving, drills and saw. Still can't get him to do any weeding though :rolleyes:

[Mid_life_crisis]

I am not to keen on the weeding. I have considered buying a rotavator but they are pricey and I am not sure how much use it would get. I suppose time will tell. I think this year will be a preparation year with next being a better harvest but we have managed to get a good crop of rhubarb but then we are in the triangle

[dizzyblonde]

If you have lots of weeds, especially deep rooted, don't use a rotivator. It chops up the roots ans helps them spread!
I've got loads of rhubarb, I'm giving it away, there's so much!

[Geodude]

Im not lovely Dizz, im a miserable **** :p Wow you have done a fair bit of graft Farmer Dizz :notworthy: Where's your 'Get orf moi larrrrrnd' sign ;) You is well jammy i could spend hours on a plot like that have you got your growing plans drawn up yet. Dont forget a little shelter to sit and have a brew in as you look out upon your hard work. Jealous much ;)

Dont forget one of these for when your plants start to grow, just to keep them safe :p

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_CK_D2rl8v7E/TBMriXnBSJI/AAAAAAAAADE/j1B9ALfp6uE/s1600/getoffmylandsr8.jpg

[Jayneflakes]

That looks like hard work to me, but satisfying. Great work and enjoy playing with organic fertilizer, that sh*t stinks! :D

If you grow any beans, let me know. I love beans! :smt016

[dizzyblonde]

Hang on Geo....that is me!

I do have a plan as it happens, this one includes whats already in the middle beds, and what I have in mind, all subject to change of course!
Jayne, if this rain stops and I can get in there, I will be planting some late beans and peas........but I reckon I could get away with stuff thats usually already been sown and waiting for harvest, coz all this wrong weather probably means summer will be here next month ;)

as you can see, raised beds and bins are in place....there abouts! Probably get much more in than whats here on my little picture, but when I did it, I hadn't realised how big it was until the weeds were strimmed.



http://a6.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/534570_3931867171447_1522473974_n.jpg

BTW, there is a little signpost, where the flower bed part is(blue tarpaulin on the photo) so I reckon 'gerrrorf moi llaaand' should fit on there ;)

[Geodude]

Nice plan Lou. Mmm fresh fruit and veggies every day lucky so and so. Is it local walking distance or a drive away? My allotments are over the bleeding road but no chance of getting one, used to pinch strawberries through the fence when i was a kid hehe.

[maviczap]

Good work Dizz

My wife had an an allotment and had a similar task of clearing weeds etc, she did a bit, with the help of friends and got it cleared up.

It's not for me, I'm in the same camp as Peg, I'll build things, but weeding & hard labour isn't for me 8-[ Plus working away a lot, meant I din't have the time either.

She gave it up, as she'd started another project & there just wasn't the time to keep it in order.

But good on you, my Grandad was a very keen gardener and I still remember eating fresh carrots & spuds. Yum

[Bibio]

doing well Diz keep it up. wish i could do it but the nearest one to me is about 3 miles and i really cant be out the house. BTW Rhubarb is good for other things other than eating ;)

[dizzyblonde]

And what would that be Bibster? 8-[

Geo, its a couple of streets away, walking distance, but because theres so much to do, and no storage at the moment, I'm using the car for now. Getting a flat back truck into there with all the wood was errmmmm interesting over the weekend.
Mav, I grew up spending weekends in my grandparents garden, at the top was their own personal allotment, it was so big. We used to pick anything and everything from raspberries, strawberries and goosegogs, to peas. My grandad used to sit in front of the battered greenhouse, with his holey shirt on with a fag hanging from his gob, usually doing something with mucky fingers. Going there in jam season is a wonderful memory, every single shelf possible in the larder and above the stairs was filled with jars of the stuff. The kitchen always smelled sublime :D

Went down this evening, very quickly.......came back coz it was a mudbath :(

[kellyjo]

Ooh gardening, yuk! But if its your thing then im sure youll spend many happy hours there and get much satisfaction. Im sure the kids will love being up there, I know mine would :p

[maviczap]

Mav, . My grandad used to sit in front of the battered greenhouse, with his holey shirt on with a fag hanging from his gob, usually doing something with mucky fingers. (

I've similar images of my Grandad in my head.

Just smelling a tomato brings back the smell of his green house

Happy days :)

[Bibio]

you probably know but, when planting potatoes etc.etc pop a bit of rhubarb in the hole then the potato on top. it keeps the bugs of it till it gets established.

[-Ralph-]

Will be after some tips next year Dizz.

[dizzyblonde]

Well, we'll see how it goes Ralph!
I took my gran there yesterday for approval, and she started going on about something growing next door I've never heard of! Stripped my strawberry patch bare, and rabbled in about how to dig a hole for a big compost heap!

Expert veg grower, she is, and one of the reasons I got it in the first place. It's somewhere she can sit with me, in peace and relax, whilst ordering me around and passing on her wealth of knowledge. We also have a communal pond and wildlife garden onsite, with BBQ area.
I dug out a big patch yesterday, but today I've been occupied in my other project...... The Dizzy manshed!! Pics of that to follow too
Off down on Sunday with my parents to dig out the rest, and start off some bean beds :)

[Quiff Wichard]

Nice Lou
Mandy's dad has just given up his allotment due to ill health but he loved it for over 40 years. Like gold they are, so hard to get hold of,, his rent was about 15 quid a year I think! You further north so probably pay
8p per annum eh??

All the best with it, better than the gym

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2

[dizzyblonde]

Hey Quiff, thanks!

The plot is a very large one. The half plots are 18 quid a year, but this one is 34. As well as the rent, I pay water too, which is 6. The allotment is self managed and you pay a membership of 15 quid, which is returned off your second years bill. Its about 50 quid all in for the year. Sounds a lot, BUT, its peanuts really, as this plots the size of my garden and both my neighbours put together!

Now here is some pics of todays effort. My dad has barrowed half the massive compost heap into some raised beds, my mum has unstrangled the strawberry patch of invading raspberries, Smudge has delved into the unknown lump at the back, and found no peoples heads buried, and I have gotten rid of the weeds in one of the big areas.


ONE BIG PILE OF MUCK!!! need this flattening, I want a flower bed there.
http://photos-b.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/165836_3973014800112_1281098896_a.jpg

Smudge playing with rhubarb. Mum said the patch was so big it had started rotting from nobody using it. Nice new shoots there now. Not sure what to do with this area......lots of BIG weeds hiding under all that card and stones, and wood. Think I might just leave it to rest and rot for a while, as I contemplate.
http://a6.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/318741_3973016880164_1674066335_n.jpg

Now a big patch of no weeds, but needs dividing into beds, like the others.
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Not surprised shes scratching her head, I would be too, with the mess she sorted out today.
http://a1.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/524172_3973022840313_1761029700_n.jpg

The sheer size is now apparent!

http://a3.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/603516_3973069801487_2044985831_n.jpg

This coming week, getting some late beans and peas sown before its too late into the beds we have made, and possibly other veg, provided I can source some boards to make up some more!

[dizzyblonde]

........then theres the other project.......

finally.....

My very own man cave! After so many years and a totally foobarred Raptor tank, my dream shed is now being built, and god help anyone who might say its too BIG!!
http://a2.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/552235_3973061161271_1252084974_n.jpg

[Geodude]

'Kin 'ell thats not an allotment thats a small holding, you really are farmer dizz :notworthy: and a man cave too you is a spoilt dizz ;) How you going to know where to play, jammy person. Have fun xGx

[dizzyblonde]

A wee update for Geo, and others ;)

After being hidden under carpet for a few weeks now, a large patch of big weeds has magically gone! Quick dig over, and another small section ready for Autumn. Carpet moved onto pathways, where a little weedkiller has been put down. Stuff that allows whatever is left to be dug into compost heap or whatever, safely.

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I've been raiding the strawberry patches for weeks now. Had 50-60 quids worth of supermarket value, much tastier, and far bigger. Slugs, now this is an odd one, although I have plenty, they don't seem to be eating all my strawberries. Sure some of them have, but I reckon they are feeding on the rotten ones from the first batch, that were hidden amongst vegetation. I also have millions of orange centipedes, which are a natural predator, and obviously birds in the bushes on the other side of the track round the plot :D
http://a1.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/422283_4033077181634_625141455_n.jpg

In my raised beds, I now have cabbages for over winter, Durhams, that grow in conical shapes, red cabbage, leeks, french green beans, lavender(good for keeping certain pests out), carrots, lettuce and radish.

http://a3.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/555630_4071439180660_1941827197_n.jpg

I have a whole bed of leeks, at the moment they look like grass, had too many so I plonked them in where there were any gaps!
http://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/417224_4071422380240_1542246545_n.jpg

just waiting for a little more established growth on some and then the hoe is coming out, at the moment my carrots look like weeds, but they are not

http://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/388046_4071437980630_933121884_n.jpg

Marigolds keep the slugs from the lettuce, but I found out yesterday(for next year) planting carrots with onions keeps the pests away. The onion smell confuses them!

http://a1.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/558310_4074051205959_948935103_n.jpg

This little fella was growing in the rubbish heap of bags. I put him in the comunal wildlife garden and pond. He was a little dry, put plopped into the pond quickly. Looked a bit stunned trying to find a rock, so we had to rescue him on his maiden voyage. We left him sunbathing in the shallow end.
http://a7.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/304806_4074053126007_545950469_n.jpg

Its getting there, slowly. Still looks nothing but an unorganised patch of weeds, but far better than how I inherited it! Lots of prepping now should make it a little more of a doddle next year. Got the seed mag from the allotments association. Peg and I have decided we want pretty and productive, so Ladies fingers with giant flowers(ocra), yellow courgettes, and purple cauliflowers amongst all the others should be quite a good show :D
http://a3.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/418606_4078603999776_928372044_n.jpg



http://a1.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/559136_4078615800071_607316274_n.jpg

Anybody local who might have some six inch, long lengths of wood going spare.........think of meeeeeee ;)
Got a freebie greenhouse with my name on it, just need to get the truck from Pegs work, to collect.

[missyburd]

Looking good Lou, hard work is definitely paying off. Bet you're getting a reyt sun tan!

[Geodude]

Awesome :) cracking job, you've done well with that weed covered plot. Keep up the good work Lou xGx

[Bluefish]

well done dizz, i've seen the pics on farcebook, but that's a pretty big plot and a hell of a lot of work, you won't be buying veg when that lot comes in, that's for sure, ps can you not turn it into a bike track? :D

[dizzyblonde]

I'm hoping major sufficiency via the plot. There's chickens down there too, so. Little trading next year ;) its likely I might have to buy an occasional cucumber from the shop....they're a git to grow.


As for race track, take note of those little pathways forming round the beds ;)

[zunkus]

Any success with the rhubarb patch? My girlfriend and I love it with cream... Tasted it Scotland whilst on holiday and got addicted so much we had rhubarb everyday with breakfast.

[dizzyblonde]

Mountains of the stuff, it lives like weeds here! Keeps growing and growing, you could get lost in the trifids theres so much. My mum and Smudge really the only one who benefits from it, as nobody likes it here apart from me :(

West Yorkshire is renowned for rhubarb. A place not so far away, Wakefield, is in the centre of the Rhubarb Triangle, which years ago used to stretch as far as here.

[dizzyblonde]

It's looking very productive. :)

Probably too late now, but if you've any spuds left over once you've planted the main crop, stick some in containers. Let them grow as normal and, once the foliage is turning, trim it back. Leave the spuds in the containers and then, in the depths of winter, just tip the containers out, rinse off the muck and, hey presto, fresh spuds to have with Christmas Dinner. Pink firs are a rather nice variety.

Has anyone on the other plots had success with carrots? We gave up eventually as our crops did'nt merit the effort. Likewise with broad-beans and peas. I prefer mange-tout and runnerbeans as you don't have to bother shelling them, just scoff the lot. Purple sprouting broccoli is easy to grow and so are leeks. Fresh ones straight from the garden smell lovely. Red onions are nice too if you can find them a small corner of their own.
Have fun.

I've a patch of wayward spuds at the moment, but I don't eat a lot of them, and they've already turned, the tops have sprouted green nasty ones on the stalks, so not entirely sure whats what underground. My gran said to leave the tops to die down then dig them up. I've restricted spuds to that area for now, as next year I'll be growing them in sacks.....bloody spread like wildfire!

As for carrots, yes, everybody has them here, but as said earlier, the success is in planting onions alongside them ;)

Broad beans and peas are plentiful down here. Every plot has them. The site itself, is nestled between a reservoir and a large high wall and is quite a vast area, seems very sheltered at times, sun trap, but in the wind, its like a flippin wind tunnel! Soil is gorgeous, well, my plot is, and so is whats coming out of the well rotted heap :)

[dizzyblonde]

I won't be having chickens. Have enough with my own pets ;) Theres already a couple of plots with them, old guys who've been there since the dawn of time!

[Bluefish]

I grew mangy tout once, best thing ever :D

[carpet monster]

When you cleared all the weeds, how did you get rid of them?

[dizzyblonde]

The jungle, was done by strimmer(literally no other option), a few weeks ago, and since then I've been slowly going round, a patch at a time, digging them out and putting them in garden sacks to go to the tip.
One large patch, which is apparent in the recent photos, I covered with carpet and cardboard for the entire time I've had it, roughly six weeks. Lifted it on Thursday, and bang the weeds have gone! Dug the ground over, as they all resembled straw, and the root balls were brown.

Some that have been around the edges of the plot, I have cheated and used a weedkiller that is safe to put in compost once the weeds are dug.

Any stray raspberry canes have been pulled and disposed of in bags.

[carpet monster]

OK. I wondered if you composted them somehow? Clearly not!

[dizzyblonde]

Nah, and the reason being is, that the weeds if they aren't defo killed off, start germinating again, and then you reintroduce the seeds back into your lovely soil. Some are really persistant growers. Couch grass is a major player on this plot.
I've got that much compost ready available I don't really need to compost the weeds anyhow.

All veg matter, old cardboard(good for mulch) and stuff goes in the new compost crate.

[missyburd]

my mum and smudge really the only one who benefits from it, as nobody likes it here apart from me :(

ahem!!