Nikki

Beetroot, rocket, beans 💚

Latest look… and also beans in a couple of weeks ago!

Today’s main job was getting the plastic greenhouse up. We did a bit of a tidy up, and talked about what’s next and what changes are needed. #Allotment #Allotmenteer

😱😱 I’ll bear this in mind since I absolutely HATE slugs. I can cope with most critters but slugs just make me heave. Thanks for that tip!!

We have done similar, and have seen a slightly less boggy result this year. It was just a bit gutting to see the water fill up the trench from below 🙈🤣 It’s supposed to be good for mental health! 🤣 💚

It’s all a learning experience, isn’t it? It’s just so sad when you seem some life and then have a day of rain and the whole plot looks like a pond and your baby plants are drowning 😖

Thanks 🤩 We have done something similar to this at the bottom end. Seems to be less boggy than last year so perhaps this is an option. We’ve spoken today about trying raised beds, so now on the hunt for some big old scaffolding boards 🤞🏼

Thank you! We were thinking raised beds might have to be the answer 👍🏼

Any of you allotmenteers have advice on how we can improve our clay soil to prevent the bogginess?? We dug a trench yesterday for leeks and within 2 minutes it was a brand new pond 🙈🤣🤣 #allotment #AllotmentHelp #allotmentcommunity

I’m just trying to catch up to where we are currently, but thought i would show how my original plans ended up changing dramatically as we learned about the land we were working with… VERY AMATEUR but you will get the gist!
#allotment #AllotmentLife #Plans

Apple tree was planted… (we’re possibly going to move this now, following the winter showing us just how bad the soil is down there. It was basically a swamp all winter. Some thought required…

We got our first lot of runner beans! They were delicious! Also got our first little poly tunnel up, with tomato growing intentions… #allotment #allotmentlife #RunnerBeans #polytunnel

Finished off the front bed, checked in all the growth going on, harvested our Pak Choi (mostly for my tortoise), and checked the wildlife camera for any further shenanigans from the bunnies!

Sorted a new patch, no dig and fresh compost. Planted cabbage, cauliflower and cucumbers. #GrowingVeg #Allotment #GrowYourOwn

After a morning spent at the plot, we headed home… only to get a message on our group WhatsApp that a little garden gnome had left us a gift! How kind! First the waterbutt, now the guttering! #allotment #allotmentcommunity

Here’s where we started finding out about the allotment community. First off, we were gifted a waterbutt from a neighbouring plot holder… we set it up next to the shed and then spoke about using the money saved from not having to buy one, to buy guttering for the shed… #allotment #allotmentcommunity

Oh! I forgot this little fact too… it wasn’t the pak choi we were expecting… it was purple choy sum 🙈🤣🤣

We’ve had a couple of other plants spring out and not be what we were expecting too.

We’re very much beginners. Trial and error journey for us!

That ended up being a learning curve for us! We used the bottles to protect the plants from all things like slugs, snails, birds, bunnies… but they also acted like a mini greenhouse and made the plants grow too quickly 😬😆

After noticing a few more signs of animal intruders, we invested in a little wildlife camera to see what was going on… lots of birds, and random humans passing by… but then sure enough burglar bunny eventually showed up! Check him/her out! #allotment #allotmentlife #Wildrabbits #nature #pesky

When we started to see some kind of growth, it gave us some hope! #allotment #Allotmentlife #nature #fruit #vegetables

#allotment #allotmentlife #butterfly #butterflies #nature

We got a few more patches covered with cardboard, and invested in a little bit more compost… and we made a cute little gate to help with the bunny proofing! #allotment #allotmentlife #nodig

Oh! I forgot to mention… we had evidence of pesky bunnies! My dad had planted some cabbage and cauliflower, and they were all eaten entirely 🤣🙈🐰

So on no-dig day we also got the temporary fence poles in and the chicken wire on in an attempt to keep them out.

I hope to get better fencing soon.

Our runner beans were coming along nicely, and we planted some corn, leeks and pak choi in the no-dig beds. (Early June 24)

#Allotment #AllotmentLife #PakChoi

Our first attempt at no dig. At this point we had to buy our own compost. It was a trial for us…

#Allotment #AllotmentLife #NoDig

It’ll be fine, I’m sure 🤣

Morning :) I had similar comments actually! I was also laughed at for adding a pond (I’ve not got to that bit on my timeline yet!) & was told by one of the old residents it was pointless as it would just wash away in the boggy ground. Both are still going strong 💪🏻

I believe he did, but now I’m going to rattle his cage by asking him later 🤞🏼

Treated to last… and I made a little roll-up blind for the window 😊

#AllotmentLife #Beginners #Shed Proud of our achievement 😃🤣