I've decided on the location of my shed, it will be in the top right hand corner, with compost bins, water butt etc. placed behind it out of sight. I have received a donation of 4 metal post holders with which to start construction, these, with fence posts in, will form the corners, and I'm going to nail planks between them to create the shed. A bit of work, I know, but cheaper and more satisfying than buying one, and my one won't blow away.
Moog thinks it will be unique, I don't know whether that's a complement or an insult!
Wednesday 29 August 2007
Weed blockers
The cheapest weed control fabric I've found is £19.00 for 1x150 metres, from Wickes, which isn't bad but I'd prefer it to be free of course.
Moog thinks asking around at work will be a good way to secure some old carpet, to cover the earth before I get round to working it. So I posted a note on the Intranet, and I've had about 5 offers already, amazing how many people have old carpet lying around, that they're all keen to get rid of!
Picked up the first batch today.. (see picture below) only a few more square metres to go!
Moog thinks asking around at work will be a good way to secure some old carpet, to cover the earth before I get round to working it. So I posted a note on the Intranet, and I've had about 5 offers already, amazing how many people have old carpet lying around, that they're all keen to get rid of!
Picked up the first batch today.. (see picture below) only a few more square metres to go!
Work Starts - Buried Treasure Found!
Moog thought we should take advantage of the sunny bank holiday weather to get the work started on the allotment. So it begins.
I started by looking round the site and found a pile of old pallets and timber in the middle, which after stepping on and hurting my foot, I stacked at the side of the site. They could come in useful. I found a small section dug in the middle of the plot about 2ft x 6ft that the last occupant left covered with orange polythene, Moog thinks they were trying to provide a perfect home for slugs, snails and ants. I think they succeeded. Half the plot is bindweed and thistles, the other half is long grass.
There are some small hawthorn saplings, which I know from experience will be harder to uproot than they have any right to be; but I found no evidence of any useful plants growing. I did however find a nice old fashioned metal watering can buried in the undergrowth. Hurrah! Treasure! Unfortunately there's a small split in the bottom, so I took it home to use as a decorative planter in my garden.
After a trip round three different shops I found that Wyevale has the best selection of weedkillers. I chose a glyphosate concentrate (like Roundup, but not as expensive) and a couple of wide sprinkler heads for my watering cans rather than using a spray, because I didn't want it drifting on to anyone elses crops. Most people seem to have had a fairly poor year this year due to all the rain and lack of sun so I don't want to add to their woes with weedkiller!
It took two of us about an hour to cover the whole plot with trips back to the tap; unfortunately I'll have to wait and see if it works, since the stuff takes a couple of weeks to get going. Shame, as we had to leave the plot looking almost the same as when we found it.. I'm used to jobs with more instant results!
I started by looking round the site and found a pile of old pallets and timber in the middle, which after stepping on and hurting my foot, I stacked at the side of the site. They could come in useful. I found a small section dug in the middle of the plot about 2ft x 6ft that the last occupant left covered with orange polythene, Moog thinks they were trying to provide a perfect home for slugs, snails and ants. I think they succeeded. Half the plot is bindweed and thistles, the other half is long grass.
There are some small hawthorn saplings, which I know from experience will be harder to uproot than they have any right to be; but I found no evidence of any useful plants growing. I did however find a nice old fashioned metal watering can buried in the undergrowth. Hurrah! Treasure! Unfortunately there's a small split in the bottom, so I took it home to use as a decorative planter in my garden.
After a trip round three different shops I found that Wyevale has the best selection of weedkillers. I chose a glyphosate concentrate (like Roundup, but not as expensive) and a couple of wide sprinkler heads for my watering cans rather than using a spray, because I didn't want it drifting on to anyone elses crops. Most people seem to have had a fairly poor year this year due to all the rain and lack of sun so I don't want to add to their woes with weedkiller!
It took two of us about an hour to cover the whole plot with trips back to the tap; unfortunately I'll have to wait and see if it works, since the stuff takes a couple of weeks to get going. Shame, as we had to leave the plot looking almost the same as when we found it.. I'm used to jobs with more instant results!
Friday 24 August 2007
Mike's Wisdom Shed: Tip No.4: Carrots
"Carrots are liable to carrot fly, rake in some naphthalene flake (moth-balls), if you can still get such stuff. Don't worry, the carrots taste fine! Grow two types of carrots, early & late, they will germinate profusely so thin them out a bit, not too much, then as they fill out, the small ones will make excellent eating as you continue to thin. The later ones will take a long time to fill out, but by autumn, you should have a good crop which can be stored in, say, a cardboard or wooden box full of dry-ish earth; they keep well like that, & can be used as required. Carrots will tend to fork root if in over manured ground, but still taste as good!"
Moog thinks carrots are not real food. If I give him one, he takes it ever so gently in his mouth and sits with it in his bed, maybe making a few cursory bites in case it turns out to be meat-filled, before leaving it on the floor for the other scavenger in the house to find and devour.
Moog thinks carrots are not real food. If I give him one, he takes it ever so gently in his mouth and sits with it in his bed, maybe making a few cursory bites in case it turns out to be meat-filled, before leaving it on the floor for the other scavenger in the house to find and devour.
Mike's Wisdom Shed: Tip No.3
"Best results only come from a well-manured ground. Never buy manure from dodgy unauthorized people who may come around, they'll quote one price, then after delivery claim a higher price. Compost from mushroom farms is supposed to be the best, but may be difficult to source. Keep tetanus booster jabs up to date; it is easy to cut oneself in the course of digging, etc. There is no substitute for deep digging, get that manure down there; turn weeds over & bury them, keep the soil broken up & open using a good wide rake, use a hoe (both types) to eradicate germinating weeds. "
Moog thinks dodgy unauthorised people should stay away. They come past the house often, and get barked at for their trouble. Moog thinks: "I like to bite dodgy unauthorised people on the leg. They tend to go away when I do that."
Moog thinks dodgy unauthorised people should stay away. They come past the house often, and get barked at for their trouble. Moog thinks: "I like to bite dodgy unauthorised people on the leg. They tend to go away when I do that."
The Moog, In full thought
Here is Moog on his thinking bench. As soon as the sun comes out, he wanders over and makes himself comfortable. It's where he has lots of his best ideas. Most of the time, he just daydreams and snoozes the afternoons away.
Who can blame him? I would too, if I was The Moog.
Thursday 23 August 2007
Mike's Wisdom Shed: Tip No.2
"If you want to cheat, get a second hand rotavator! Get some parsnips in for the winter, try cylinder beetroot instead of the round kind, they are awesome!
You need two kinds of peas, early & maincrop. "Little Marvel" best early ones, Kelvedon wonder, best main. Germinating peas will be eaten by birds if you don't use twigs & black cotton to deter them. Hope you get a chance to try, it's very satisfying!"
Moog thinks it would be nice to grow bonios, but he doesn't really understand where these things come from.
You need two kinds of peas, early & maincrop. "Little Marvel" best early ones, Kelvedon wonder, best main. Germinating peas will be eaten by birds if you don't use twigs & black cotton to deter them. Hope you get a chance to try, it's very satisfying!"
Moog thinks it would be nice to grow bonios, but he doesn't really understand where these things come from.
Mike's Wisdom Shed: Tip No.1
Moog thinks we should use the blog to collect any advice we get about the allotment. So I'm posting this tip from my Dad, who's advice is normally very valuable and gained through experience. Moog likes Dad, he sits on his feet and stares up at him in silent admiration whenever he comes round. Tickling behind the ears often helps.
Top Allotment Tip Number 1:
"Yes, a plot with an active old gent next door is good. My neighbour once dug my bit for me when it got a bit overgrown! Never did get the hang of how people like that can do so much with apparent ease, when I used to sweat, but he was an ex BR fireman on steam trains! Next point, if there isn't a hut, build one, just a small one, saves carting all your tools around, provides shelter from downpours, & you can always have a pee if necessary! Of course you need to make it really strong & properly locked, but mine, built from scrap wood lasted many years after I gave up.
Don't worry too much about bindweed, couch grass etc, it's an ongoing problem, but has little overall effect on output.
Depending on whether your plot has been recently cultivated or not, it is always a good plan to break the ground up initially by growing potatoes the first year. You can spend money on expensive Scottish seed potatoes, or just use your favourite supermarket variety,"shopping basket specials" always seem to do well. Expect to have enough potatoes to last the year out, stored in paper or hessian sacks they keep well, but don't use them as seed for next year, it encourages disease problems. A good idea is to stagger production by planting an early variety first. They are very simple to plant & grow, all you need is to keep earthing them up to protect against late frost. The bonus is you can eat them an hour or so after digging them up & they tase SO much better, as does all fresh produce! (Some folk don't understand this, and say why bother when you can get veg. from the supermarket these days? D'oh!)."
More top tips to follow from Old Mike's Wisdom Shed.
Moog thinks: 'I like the idea of peeing in a shed...' I've told Moog there's actually a toilet provided by the council so that shouldn't be necessary, but he's got that faraway look in his eyes again. Moog pees on just about everything and is always keen to expand his horizons.
Top Allotment Tip Number 1:
"Yes, a plot with an active old gent next door is good. My neighbour once dug my bit for me when it got a bit overgrown! Never did get the hang of how people like that can do so much with apparent ease, when I used to sweat, but he was an ex BR fireman on steam trains! Next point, if there isn't a hut, build one, just a small one, saves carting all your tools around, provides shelter from downpours, & you can always have a pee if necessary! Of course you need to make it really strong & properly locked, but mine, built from scrap wood lasted many years after I gave up.
Don't worry too much about bindweed, couch grass etc, it's an ongoing problem, but has little overall effect on output.
Depending on whether your plot has been recently cultivated or not, it is always a good plan to break the ground up initially by growing potatoes the first year. You can spend money on expensive Scottish seed potatoes, or just use your favourite supermarket variety,"shopping basket specials" always seem to do well. Expect to have enough potatoes to last the year out, stored in paper or hessian sacks they keep well, but don't use them as seed for next year, it encourages disease problems. A good idea is to stagger production by planting an early variety first. They are very simple to plant & grow, all you need is to keep earthing them up to protect against late frost. The bonus is you can eat them an hour or so after digging them up & they tase SO much better, as does all fresh produce! (Some folk don't understand this, and say why bother when you can get veg. from the supermarket these days? D'oh!)."
More top tips to follow from Old Mike's Wisdom Shed.
Moog thinks: 'I like the idea of peeing in a shed...' I've told Moog there's actually a toilet provided by the council so that shouldn't be necessary, but he's got that faraway look in his eyes again. Moog pees on just about everything and is always keen to expand his horizons.
Wednesday 22 August 2007
Number 29
Today The Moog has mainly been thinking about my new allotment. Number 29. I chose a site that was (a) nice and close to the water tap; (b) in full sun but next to the tall boundary hedge for shelter; (c) next to an active old gent who can offer me advice, and (d) not too badly overgrown. Moog thinks No. 29 will be far enough up the hill to avoid being waterlogged. He thought I should pick up the keys yesterday, so I did.
Moog thinks the first job will be to clear the whole site of the choking weeds that have arisen(personally I think he copied this idea off the old man next door on Plot 28). Luckily the site has been worked a little bit in the last couple of years so most of the weeds are not too high, there aren't any massive brambles, or overgrown trees. There is plenty of bindweed to contend with, amongst other things. Moog thinks that, on the plus side, the weeds are a good sign that the soil is fertile. I agree.
Moog thinks that although he'd like the allotment to be as organic as possible, that glyphosate weedkiller to get into the roots is going to be necessary, as suggested by my new allotment neighbour, otherwise we'll be here till kingdom come trying to get the site ready to grow things on. Looking at the amount of digging that will be necessary if I don't use weedkiller, I'm inclined to agree with The Moog.
Moog thought it would be good to order a cheap compost bin from the council, they are subsidised and only cost £9.00 including delivery. So I ordered one today. Good call, Moog. Moog thinks it will be OK to compost the weeds, when they've died back, as the weedkiller won't remain toxic once it's done its initial job and will deactivate in the soil so I can grow stuff again. Where he gets his info from I'm not sure but it sounds fairly well researched.
The other things Moog has been thinking about are where to get some black plastic or carpet to put over the ground to stop the weeds growing back, and what the best spot will be for a little shed, so I can have a cup of tea. Moog thinks that I should build my own shed, as prefabricated ones are over £100 for the very smallest. Thrifty Moog, good job I'm handy with a saw.
Moog thinks the first job will be to clear the whole site of the choking weeds that have arisen(personally I think he copied this idea off the old man next door on Plot 28). Luckily the site has been worked a little bit in the last couple of years so most of the weeds are not too high, there aren't any massive brambles, or overgrown trees. There is plenty of bindweed to contend with, amongst other things. Moog thinks that, on the plus side, the weeds are a good sign that the soil is fertile. I agree.
Moog thinks that although he'd like the allotment to be as organic as possible, that glyphosate weedkiller to get into the roots is going to be necessary, as suggested by my new allotment neighbour, otherwise we'll be here till kingdom come trying to get the site ready to grow things on. Looking at the amount of digging that will be necessary if I don't use weedkiller, I'm inclined to agree with The Moog.
Moog thought it would be good to order a cheap compost bin from the council, they are subsidised and only cost £9.00 including delivery. So I ordered one today. Good call, Moog. Moog thinks it will be OK to compost the weeds, when they've died back, as the weedkiller won't remain toxic once it's done its initial job and will deactivate in the soil so I can grow stuff again. Where he gets his info from I'm not sure but it sounds fairly well researched.
The other things Moog has been thinking about are where to get some black plastic or carpet to put over the ground to stop the weeds growing back, and what the best spot will be for a little shed, so I can have a cup of tea. Moog thinks that I should build my own shed, as prefabricated ones are over £100 for the very smallest. Thrifty Moog, good job I'm handy with a saw.
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