Allotment Update: Tidying for the Winter (Little and Often!)
There's not a lot to do on the allotment once you hit late October early November except for clearing the plot and tidying up for next Spring, spring 2024 in this case.
We (us local allotment holders) were lucky last weekend with a beautiful Sunday morning to get ahead with this crucial end of gardening year process.
Or maybe not so lucky, it rained A LOT in the preceding week, and the soil was damp!
So while it was easy enough to break up, which is impossible when it's baked in summer, it was, well, rather damp... with gloves quickly soddened by the earth and from the water on any dead leaves dragged for composting!
Still, I got something done and moved the clearance forwards!
Bed 1 in the foreground is, what's that: 60% cleared, you can see the edges I'm putting in place: digging down - I've opted for no wooden borders to help keep the slugs at bay!
Getting there!
Then bed two has only nasturtiums in situ, ready to be composted, but stil OK weed cover for now.
Bed 3 totally done, and bed 4 half full of old butternut squash which I harvested last week.
The plan is to just do a few feet every week, or more if there's sun, and with only about 1 1/3rd beds in total left to do if these have to wait until next spring, no worries!
Decent soil...
It helps when the soil you're uncovering is nice and rich, and I've added a little compost I inherited, that I had brewing for a while!
And VERY late raspberries!
I planted around this raspberry plant this season, and it produced a few raspberries!
Not sure it was worth it, it's not really where i'd want a raspberry crop, have to think what I'll do with this this year!
Allotment next steps...
It has to be planting garlic! And then generally planning for next year, and of course, finishing off the tidying.
If I get far enough ahead I'll build some compost bins!!!
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Do the slugs like the wooden borders or something?
They love to hide under them, hence while i'm just digging down!
Ah! Thanks! I never heard of that before. Really good to know.
It's one of those cases where someone's whose a bit tidy obsessive gets a raw deal, let nature be a bit ragged like it is!
Hahah!
Your first line highlights the difference between there and here...in my State of Australia anyway. We garden throughout winter and despite the produce being season-specific it's still (usually) plentiful. I don't have as much room as you, (I wish I did) but there's always something going on...No winter breaks here!
Really? I thought you were the inverse...
We can grow some stuff over winter... need to plant some garlic soon, there's probably some sort of greens I can put in, I'll be researching today!
I probably should have said, we continue to garden during the winter, meaning the weather doesn't prevent good crops and the heat if summer doesn't either - we just have to plant the right things.
Garlic is always a good thing to have around the place, will you bed it or pot it? I like doing herbs I'm pots so I can have them closer to the kitchen.
I reckon some research is the way to go, there must be something you can plant out for winter.
I'm gonna start some straight in the ground, some in pots then plant in the ground in spring.
I grew spring onions in pots last year worked well, but garlic's for the allotment for sure!
It seems we have had similar weathers recently. It has been summer-like for about two weeks, however it rained alot yesterday.
Raining here now, annoying, I was hoping to get out there today! Oh well!
It's the same in winter when we see things like this drying up and the best part is that the way we see it, you see a lot of things that are there. are taking care.