Raspberry Canes

Little update.

Managed to get down the plot today to do a  couple of jobs.

Burnt some more rubbish & more satan brambles.

Second dig over of bed number 5, lots of weedy crap still in that one.

Moved some raspberry canes over to their new home. Felt quite satisfying finally having future edible produce growing in a bed. Although the cauliflower is coming on, they still look like weeds to me though :-)

Digging was a bit f a chore today, soil was very sticky & heavy.

Thats all for now

Happy Gardening

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We love freecycle

Picked up a big bunch of wooden planks today.
Sourced off freecycle for nothing.

20 planks, 3metres by 30cm. Quickly knocked together 3 to create a raised bed. Simple and perfect, not half the faffing I've had making the other ones.

However, now thinking i could use them to extend the shed. Design in progress.

 

As i was leaving got talking to an old boy who has a plot opposite me. Friendly old fellow, retired and spends 3 days a week fishing, the rest down his allotment. Happy days.

 

Seems very knowledgeable. Showed me where i had Raspberry canes already growing so that's saved me a few quid buying more. I thought they were brambles. Will move them to my planned Raspberry bed next time I'm down there.

Told me about a guy down there who sells  manure at £15 a load & who i can buy fresh eggs off.

He also showed me what i can leave in the ground when digging & what i need to make sure i get out.

Apparently the tree on my plot is an Elderberry & attracts blackfly so would be a good idea to chop it down

 

Only a quick visit down there today but some valuable learns

 

Next jobs

• Move raspberry canes
• Creosote raised beds
• Use planks
• Start digging bed number 6



Thats it for now, not sure when i'll get down there next as the next 3 Friday nights are Christmas parties. Theres always a chance i wont over induldge in the alcohol but that is a very slim chance :-)

Happy Gardening

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Bonfire day

Great day down the allotment today.

Probably the most productive day we have had down there for a long while. Looks like the cauliflowers are coming through but i cant be sure, they may well be weeds ;-)

Burnt loads of old crap that was left on the plot, bits of wood and pallet i cant find any use for.

 

Collected up loads of the brambles & nettles we had chopped back since we got the plot & burnt that.

Arleya enjoying a good bonfire just like i used to with my dad. I also used the last of the dug up chicken wire which I've ran down from the shed. If anyone wants to break in and nick stuff I've made it pretty awkward now. If anyone trys to break in, they have to break two padlocks & will get nicely cut up on wire & bramble



 

Had a bit of a picnic



The good life.

 

Was a really nice sunny day today, so we had a picnic down the allotment. Excuse the Mo on my face. Arleya has given up a months pocket money for me to do it.

 

Find out about Movember & sponsor me here http://uk.movember.com/mospace/

 

 



 

Knocked together a frame for the last bed we dug. I only have enough decent wood for one more so will have to run up one of the garden centres to scrounge some more pallets.

 

We have four beds completely ready now & dug out a fifth today. Needs another going over and the frame built. Will go for a total of 8 beds for growing all down the right hand side. Although i need to work out where all the fruit trees are going to go.

 

 

 

Quite nice having the footpaths between the beds. Starting to look like everything is coming together.



Cleared out the shed



Got a little bench now, tea making facilities will be incorporated next time i'm there

 

Knocked up a third compost bin out of my last pallet. Filled that up with leaves to make some mulch.



Good days work



Will clear the are where the plastic table is next time i go down. This will be a seating area under the tree ready for next summer :-)




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Wild flowers

Just back from the allotment. Latest progress is

Two wild flower beds dug and seeds planted

Third bed is now finished and covered. Will start on a fourth next week. I'm currently injured from a big cycle event so no training for me, on the plus side should mean i have more time down the allotment.

I think my cauliflower seedlings  have been eaten or i have pulled them up thinking they were weeds. Going forwards i will grow seedlings in pots then plant out. At least i'll know what they look like them.

Bit peeved at Norwich City council.  Took on my plot earlier this year with an annual rent of £37.50. I then got a rate increase to £42.50 for the next year. No worries about the small increase. However, also in the letter was a notification that rent was jumping up to £70 in 2013???? Although still not a lot for a year i thought the huge increase is a bit harsh.

Bonfires allowed o the plots from next week which is good as ive saved up quite a it of stuff to burn. Sould be good forma big clear out next week. Also need to get back down with the strimmer again to keep on top of some areas.

Thats all for now.

Happy gardening

Progress

Slow progress but progress nethertheless

From a 10 days ago

Managed to remove all god foresaken chicken wire now & strim the whole plot right down.

Unearthed a ready built raised bed so dug that over & covered it. Two beds done now 

Acquired a water butt, 6 x paving slabs, bag of bark chippings & some garden canes off freecycle today.

Tuesday

Popped down to weed & water the cauliflower bed. Snipped a few more brambles. Think i'm going to have a digging out brambles blitz.

Today

Managed to get some old carpet off freecycle today

Dug over the second bed again & weeded the cauliflower bed. Weeding isnt taking long now.

My net tunnels arrived. Got them off ebay, two for £25 including postage. Big enough to cover a 3m by 1.2m bed.

So covered the cauliflower bed today with net cloche.

Dug a third bed, clearing all the grass and crap. Will need to go over it again to remove more roots.

Split up loads of pallets so have enough wood to build a couple more beds. Left my saw at home so that put pain to building them today.

Covered all dug beds & more with the carpet.

Need to order some wild flower mixes now as i want to have lots of wild flowers down there. Hopefully plant the right ones to attract friendly bugs

Net cloche & bed number 3 started

Carpet down. Plot looks better than it did when i first go it

Happy Gardening


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First bed

Quite a transformation when i look at the first pics to the ones i took today.

Had a bit of a break from it as we have been on holiday & also to some Olympic events.

Sourced some more pallets off Freecycle & built a workbench. Used some of it to knock together the first raised bed as well.

Finished the first bed and planted some cauliflower seeds.

Should i cover the bed in net, polythene or fleece?

Marked out the next bed to start on. I also have a hug pallet for making another compost bin. Just two more chicken wire mesh beds to clear. I bloody hate chicken wire. There also appears to be a buried which i need to uncover.

Still loving it, be able to spend a bit more time down there from mid September once my last big even has finished. Half Ironman in Ely this weekend, National Triathlon relays in Nottingham the following weekend then a 4 day cycling challenge in September.

So, here are the latest pics

New bench & roof

First bed & Cauliflower planted

looks a lot less daunting now

Happy gardening



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Slow Progress

Progress is slow, hindered by the heat on my week off but still managed to get down most days till Friday. Weekend was spent down at Box Hill in Surrey for the Olympic road race.

Carried on clearing nettles,weeds & brambles, chicken wire buried everywhere which is a mare, only two more patches of that to clear now though.

Sourced an old bunk bed off freecycle & used the wood to repair the knackered shed roof. Got a roll of Homebase felt for £11 to finish the job.

First 3m x 1.2m bed is almost cleared & ready to have something planted. Any suggestions? Was thinking Cauliflower.

Started a compost heap off.

Went to a garden centre & got chatting to a guy in the yard, he let me take 6 pallets away. Not sure what to make with them yet, again, any suggestions other than compost bin?

Used some of the dug up chicken wire to fence off the whole of the front of the plot.

Loving it, although from years of working in an office my hands have gone a bit soft. Had to deal with some nice blisters.

Dig Dig Arleya

First raised bed nearly done

Bit busy with Ironman training and a holiday over the next couple of weeks s not sure how much more will get done.
Hopefully be able to get down for a few hours on Saturday.

Got some money for my birthday so going to treat myself to some new tools.

Happy Gardening

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Let the clearing commence

Phoned the Council on Monday to say i would like to accept the jungle plot. Contract & rules arrived on Thursday, I went in to the the council offices Friday lunchtime. Paid £7 for the remainder of the year & was given my key :-)

I then had to try schedule in my training activity, Arleyas activities & allotment time. Think i can do 3-4 hours a day at the weekend & maybe a couple of hours during the week. However, off work this week so going to try spend at least 3 hours a day down there during the week.

So, drove over to mums on Saturday and picked up the Strimmer. She kindly gave me a spade, fork, dutch hoe & a rake so thats saved me a few quid. Got back home at 3pm & went straight over to the plot with wife & daughter. Made good progress for day one i think

Went down again today & managed to do some more strimming. I also went round and chopped all the brambles so should be able to keep on top of them now.

Discovered a compost area so cleared that out & started making use of it. Arleya began digging the first plot. Hopefully get that done in time to get something we can sow in July.

Not looking as grim as it did yesterday although the effort it's take to dig a small patch, i think it's going to take a couple of years to get it how i want it.

I've drawn up a rough plan which i'll post later. It will basically bee raised beds running down the right hand side . Left side will have the poly tunnel, chicken coop & shed. We are also going to have a seating area as you walk in with wild flowers so we can sit & relax, have a picnic, admire our handy work.

Ordered a few books. I'm already halfway through John Harrisons 'The Essential Allotment Guide' I've also ordered a chicken keeping book & monthly vegetable guide.

That will do for this week. happy gardening


Andy




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Welcome to the Jungle

Hi

Welcome to the Baxters Allotment Journey Blog. I started blogging in October 2011 as a way of documenting my Fatman to Ironman journey & my quit smoking progress.

http://clearseaz-timetogetfit.blogspot.co.uk/

That's all going well & i manage to update it on a weekly basis. I would like to mirror that here. Even if nobody reads it, it will be a good reminder for myself & family. I'm still on the ironman journey by the way, but 2 stone lighter & a non smoker for over a year. I will incorporate plot digging into my training.

So, I am quite a novice to gardening. Done the planting flowers thing etc, tried to do veggies but have not had much success in the past. I also don't have much spare cash so this will need to be done on a bit of a budget. No time limit so the development of the plot will take as long as it takes.

Quite fancy having a plot with some veggies, fruit plants & some chickens. The plot I have been allocated after just over 2 years on the waiting list is 250 SQM & looks like a bloody Jungle.

250sqm of jungle

The plot stretches to the green shed in the centre

There is a shed but the roof has pretty much gone. I can probably repair that for now.

Short term plan of action.

Read up on gardening
Start to clear the jungle
Repair shed
Create compost area
Fence off the front of plot & attach a door with padlock

Well, that's it for now. Comments and advice from experienced gardeners will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks