Allotment News

I am digging over the veg patch at work. Well not right now but inbetween stints of sitting at the pc I'm digging over the veg patch at work and doubling it in size. Onion sets went in a while back. Am going to plant some peas as they work well. Brussels from last year are still in. No one uses them much but the rabbit likes them.

It's going to be a slow process getting this veg patch sorted. It was a flower bed lrft to weed. I'm trying to encourage composting but that's not going too well. At the staff meeting yesterday someone mentioned compost bins and I said I wanted bins and kitchen caddies for all the houses. Maybe we can improve the soil a little here at least.

This house has a very large mature garden but it needs a complete overhaul. Job for life.

Veg patch at work? Unusual, is it a massive mansion or stg?

Jerusalems, garlic and asparagus all planted to join the onions which are starting to recover from winter. Strawbs planted and terraced beds built for rapsberries & fruit bushes.  Bit of a bonus to get all this done before April thanks to good weather.

Anyone else with advanced planting plans?

Yet another daft gardening question - how do you know if compost is "done". And how do you fill & empty those dalek shaped bins? I have more than one, so I presume one is being filled while the other is doing it's stuff.

There's a limit to what you can get to through the little hatch, is it better to, when it's fully cooked, remove the entire bin & take all the contents out? then reposition the bin itself?

Stop Press... We shared our first asparagus spear of the year yesterday.......

Just wish we could grow more than one at once

One between the family doesn't sound like alot, Dave! But it tasted divine, it's one of my favourite vegetables. It's on my list of things to grow, but I keep missing the planting window... Oh, and don't quite know where to put it.

There's only 2 of us....

We have planted a dozen heads, But even after 6 years they seem to arrive one at once

One is better than nowt.

My allotment neighbour has planted 20 crowns in a 3ft x 7ft bed....hmmm.

Still finishing the cabbages and kale from the winter - the crop that keeps on giving

Not sure about compost but when it's done it presumably doesn't seem much llike raw composty stuff any longer?**

**(displays monumental gardening ignorance)

We have rhubarb. Lots and lots of rhubarb. Better start collecting jam jars and get that bucket ready for the next rhubarb wine.

Quite why I planted 4 plants I'll never know. They are all different, 3 are small but the 4th is huge no it's HUGE.

Please can I have some of your Rhubarb.  Despite being one of the easiest plants to grow it always dies in my blooming garden.  I've resorted to putting it in pots this time.

hehehe Emmy-bug.  I got label wotsits this year.  They're fab although it does take the element of surprise away.

@Happychap... I did it last year thinking "i'll remember which one is which...." until I moved them out of the way and they got jumbled together.

I wish i could grow rhubarb - it dies in my garden too...

My rhubarb isn't looking elephantine, but it only went in this time last year, so I'll not pick too heavily. might manage a stalk or two though...

I bought those black stick things with a white marker. So I can tell the difference between carrots & parsnips. not much in it at the moment.

Helen Liz wrote (see)

Yet another daft gardening question - how do you know if compost is "done". And how do you fill & empty those dalek shaped bins? I have more than one, so I presume one is being filled while the other is doing it's stuff.

There's a limit to what you can get to through the little hatch, is it better to, when it's fully cooked, remove the entire bin & take all the contents out? then reposition the bin itself?

Any experts with cherry tomatoes? Im a novice gardener to say the least and have planted seeds which have now grown in the conservatory and are now about 3-4 inches high in their respective pots. When do I transfer them to a growbag in my garden? I have one of those small poly greenhouses but im desperate for them to not die!!! any guidance from expert gardeners appreciated!