Thursday, August 14

Plot 3

For a few years our two plots were surrounded by a sea of weeds. We were invisible when working there. The council no longer made any attempt to keep the weeds down and only a small number of plots were taken. We spent quite a bit of time keeping back the encroaching weeds and so decided that we may as well take on a third plot. 

Again my photo collection doesn't go back far enough to have captured the first days on this plot.

The following photo shows the sea of weeds on the 'plot' is to the left of plot 4 on the plan above. The only thing that stopped the grass and weeds from falling onto our plot was a wobbly bit of hidden 'fencing' but that didn't stop the masses of weed seeds from trying to colonise our beds.
The photo below shows the plot to the left of our third plot. It was also head high with weeds. The tall leafy plants in the background to the left of the photo are Japanese knotweed which the council eventually got rid if.

Fortunately now these two plots have tenants.

Compost bins are located at the 'road' edge of the plot. These are made from pallets and old fencing panels given to us by Jan - our plot neighbour.

We compost perennial weeds as well as the more acceptable material. Before we started to use weed control fabric we always had massive piles of weeds and they had to go somewhere. The first bay above contains only weeds from last year. These have been covered with weed control and left to decay all this year.
The bay behind the rose needs a new fence panel which will be added when we cut back the rose in autumn. The rose  came from a cutting given to use by a friend. We never imagined it would actually grow but it did and manages to prettify the compost area.
It is very thorny and has become a bit unruly so needs a degree of taming.

The bed in front on the panels was where the autumn onions and garlic were planted and next year will be our annual/biennial flower bed. Since taking the photo I've planted a section of this with sweet Williams, sweet Rocket and ammi.

The photo below was taken after the wind had done its worst so lots of things are leaning eastwards. The sheds in the background belong to neighbouring plots.
The bed planted with sweetcorn and beetroot has been purposefully left sparsely planted. It is one bed that we know is infected with club root and has been designated to be our new strawberry bed.

For those of you that enjoy them I have put together a video about 3 minutes long - posted below - of this area. This was taken prior to the winds and so plants are far less battered than they are now.

Copyright: Original post from Our Plot at Green Lane Allotments http://glallotments.blogspot.co.uk/ author S Garrett

22 comments:

  1. Those flowers in your video are just lovely. I don't have nearly enough flowers at my house.

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    1. It's a pity that they don't last longer though Daphne,

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  2. I do love seeing the tours of your plots. Your hard work pays off so beautifully.

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  3. I'm always amazed at how you manage to keep all that lot going!

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    1. It's really just a case of keeping on top of things Elaine.

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  4. Aren't the annuals wonderful? I love the buzzing and birdsong in the video. The plots look fab - and I'm very pleased you proudly showed us your composting area. Why do people hide them away?

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    1. I don't know about proudly displaying the compost area, Sarah but it certainly isn't hidden away. Mist plots in our site have compost areas along the edge of their plots, The bees were flitting everywhere - no sooner had I one in shot than it buzzed off,

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  5. I'm always amazed at the size of area you both maintain, and do a great job. Its great too that you bring in bees and wildlife into the garden with the flowers. (That rose plant is gorgeous!)

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    1. The rose is deadly too Kelli. There is certainly a lot of wildlife. I have to transport a small newt to safety the other day (a fairly regular activity). Martyn uncovered it when digging up potatoes so I transferred it to under the courgettes.

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  6. Such a large area to keep on top of, it must keep you constantly busy Sue.

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    1. It very much depends on the time of year Pauas. Planting and fruit picking time and it is maybe every other afternoon. At other times maybe a couple of afternoons but that includes doing a bit of rehashing etc. In winter hardly any time at all just to dig carrots etc.

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  7. Lovely video to watch on a grey morning. Thanks for sharing.

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    1. It certainly won't have looked like that today L

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  8. Lovely post thank you for sharing I always amazed each time I look at your post how much you grow have a blessed weekend

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  9. I love your video Sue! What a pretty flowers!
    I think you've made a lot of work cleaning the plots off weeds, you're hero!
    I always need to think a lot before weeding:))

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    1. I find weeding to be quite relaxing, Nadezda if the ground is right - not rock hard - and the weeds not too bad. You can just loose yourself and clear your mind.

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  10. What a lovely flower border, clearly the pollinators are enjoying it as much as you. The sweetcorn is looking good, I always think they look triffordish.xxx

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    1. The flowers and pollinators have taken as wind bashing., Snowbird. The corn was just beginning ti straighten up when the wind had another go at it, Still being wind pollinated, pollination shouldn't be an issue

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  11. What a great idea, prettifying the compost area with a rose. I think my plot could do with far more pretties on it than it's got. It looks like you'll get a good sweetcorn crop, I didn't bother sowing any seeds this year, there's only me who'll eat sweetcorn so sometimes it just doesn't seem worth the effort.

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    1. Can't claim that the prettifying was intentional. Jo. It was more a case of where to put it as we didn't know how it would grow and didn't want to put it in the garden. This year it will be pruned hard so we can put a new panel in the compost area.

      I've a feeling that the corn will be totally flat now after today's wind.

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