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Gunners, first time I read your post, I thought you meant the trench was 50 ft deep!

Helsbells wrote:Gunners, first time I read your post, I thought you meant the trench was 50 ft deep!

hellsbells i have put long in now so that be ok he he
how r u hells bells ?

gods everyone is super busy, all I seem to be doing is digging up creeping buttercup roots!

I have put some potaqtoes to chit and got some bags ready for them

And bought some seed

You are way ahead of me, CC...

Never know where the time goes. Hope to find a little time this weekend to get some seeds sorted out and started. Usually, before I know it, I get caught up in the lambing - and then nothing happens until that is over, and it's too late for the half of it!

I've dug in my composted horse muck & stuff, spread soot, sewn parsnips, broad beans, peas and radish straight into the lottie, onion sets too. At home I've started in pots french beans, aubergine, tomatoes, and my OH has started cauli & broccoli.

Bit worried my seed potatoes I ordered havne't arrived yet...need to get chitting I suspect...

Now it's decision time. As well as the allotment which ahs beautiful well drained soil I have a patch in the garden which is heavy clay plague with slugs. I ahve spent 5 years digging in vast quanitites of horse manure and a bit of sand when I could get it but essentially it's not an easy spot. I don't want to waste the space and have grown beans there well. It needs a break from beans really (3 years running) and as well as beans last year I did a few pathetic broccoli, some sweetcorn and beetroot.
It's one redeeming feature is it's warm and protected.

So should I do Jeruseleum artichokes so I never have to decide again? Shall I cover the lot with exceptional amounts of manure as a hot bed and do melons or suchlike? Or should I turn it into a fruit patch as the raspberries next to it do very well. Salad is a complete waste of time the slugs here are extreamely hungry and will not be detered by eggshells, broken glass, copper, seaweed or anyother method except bait (and I have a dog so can't risk that)

What do you think?

dug another trench for a bean row then filled with muck,then did another one the same way, then stripped off bean plants off another bean row i use them for runners and french climbing beans, kew blue trail of tears
and me saved runner beans seed. so the pooh which was 4 months old has another 10 weeks in the ground which will break up nicely .an old fella let me pick some of his sprouts and he even picked some for me. well im just warming up now by the fire
dave

Over the last few days I have dug a trench for the runner beans and started filling it with compostable stuff, planted my shallots, mown the grass and heeled in the raspberry canes as the area where I want to plant them isn't ready yet. Also got on with more digging and covered as area with clear plastic. Oh yes - and bought yet more seeds

I had planned to do more but i've gone down with a killer cold and just want to curl up in front of the fire

well got down the lottie what a mega frost moved carpets away for area i wanted to dig ie 25 ft by 15 ft got it done.sticking carpets over soil you want to dig saves it from getting a frost and you can get on with digging, i have put the carpets over the area im gonna use for squahes marrows etc,so got the digging done and am a bit sore but who cares lol.
picked some seed spuds up jersey royals 1.40 for a kg about a dozen came home got them chitting as we speak will put them in some buckets
builders size i get a good return for my 1.40 investment .
so the mega frost anticipated for sun will do the job !
oh yes the pipe burst nr my plot while i was talking to someone so i rang an allotmenteer who used to work for the water board and he turned it off at the mains and we used our initiative rather than leaving it to mon and phoning the council by then loads of wasted water and we would had to pay for it when we share the water bill out in the summer.!!!
dave

sowed some parsnips in toilet roll tubes, tomatoes, lettuce, aubergine, basil and dill... all in propagator.

Well, I managed to print off the very well organised seed list and list of "what things to do when" last night... Have to start somewhere, don't I! Last year I printed it off, too, and then lost it.

Planted broad beans yesterday and Rick is transplanting strawberries today.

Rick and a friend pruned the plum tree. Rick transplanted some kale and the collards have survived through and we're going to leave some to make seed.

Lois

[quote="Peggy Sue"]I've dug in my composted horse muck & stuff, spread soot, sewn parsnips, broad beans, peas and radish straight into the lottie, onion sets too. At home I've started in pots french beans, aubergine, tomatoes, and my OH has started cauli & broccoli

That it, I'm back to bed, after reading that lot I'm kna--ered

Bought half a vanload of manure, spread it about a bit on newly dug ground in the front garden, guess I shall have to dig it in. Trouble is big lumps of heavy clay, not been dug since the house was built 40yrs ago, it used to be a lawn, full of couch grass. Horrid!!

In the back garden frost is on the ground, faces N. Started off liquidising manure in a dustbin, guess it will be in there for 3 months decomposing, this is a new idea for me so if it fails, it fails! Also started Swiss Chard on the windowsill.

just leave the liquid manure in a covered bin and feed it to your veggies and fruit throughout the growing season

Cheers Diver.