Costalottie

SEED TRAYS - WHAT'S THAT ALL ABOUT?

SEEDS TRAYS - WHAT’S THAT ALL ABOUT?

Now I am no expert and wouldn't dream of telling anyone else how to garden, only what works for me. It may be women's logic, but I can't find any use for seed trays whatsoever.

They take up a whole lot of valuable planting space, need constant monitoring for watering, are difficult to cover unless you pay out extra for clear plastic covers, being only a inch or two deep leave very little room for root growth, can usually only be moved one at a time and, when your little plants are ready for pricking out, they are difficult to get at without damage to the roots.

I plant all of my seeds into larger pots at least 5” or above depending on the plants that I am growing. I use a larger pot for brassicas and squashes, but might use a 5” for lettuce and herbs.

Depending on the size of the pot, I put in a couple of inches of compost, then sprinkle in a fertiliser such as Phostrogen and mix it with the compost at the bottom of the pot. My reasoning for this is, when the roots have travelled down towards the bottom of the pot, I figure they may be ready for a bit more nutrient.

I top up the pot with compost, and sprinkle or place my seeds on top, depending on the size of the seed. Peas, beans, spinach, Swiss Chard etc., have large seeds, so can be planted individually around the pot for as many plants as you think reasonable for the size of the pot.

If the plants are a bit delicate, pots can be popped into a clear plastic bag. Or you can pop several pots into a propagator [which normally hold only a couple of seed trays]. Otherwise, just water and wait.

I am not able to visit my plot every day, therefore, cannot water daily. By having seeds in deep pots, the compost can retain more water and will not dry out as quickly as a seed tray.

When my little plants are big enough to plant out, [I usually look at the bottom of the pot and if the roots are coming out at the bottom, they are ready to go] I tip the whole pot out carefully on its side and lift the plants holding one of the leaves shake them gently loose from their companions and pop them into their new homes.

The only use I have for seed trays is for the ones with no holes in the bottom, and I use these to stand my seeded pots in so that I can water them from the bottom.

IN DEFENCE OF RAISED BEDS

We have always had raised beds and find that this method suits us best.

We had never grown vegetables previously and even before we were lucky enough to get our allotment, I did a lot of research on the internet to find out what methods of cultivation we should follow.

There is a lot of information about the “No Dig” method of growing vegetables, and just the very name of it appealed immediately. Of course, initially, we had a great deal of digging – our plot had previously been cultivated in the traditional method and had not been dug over for several years and was consequently full of couch grass, dock leaves, brambles etc..

We decided to set out our plot in 10’ x 4’ beds with a couple of 10’ x 6’ beds, to fill up the space. 10’ x 4’ is recommended because you can easily reach the centre of the beds from the paths on either side, and in truth, we do find the 6’ beds more difficult to plant and weed.

The “No Dig” method involves cultivating on the top few inches of your soil, which is considered to be the most productive, and the idea is that each year, a layer of compost is put on top of the bed and your plants are planted directly into the compost. Worms do most of the work for you by taking the compost down into the lower layer of soil.

Of course, we still get weeds, but most of our work is now done with a trowel, and the only “real” digging is done when planting and digging up potatoes. We don’t regard our paths as wasted space, because raised beds are reckoned to be more productive we can grow all the produce we need.

Other benefits include being able to work on the plots even after heavy rain and, because we have paved pathways, no muddy boots. We never walk on the soil and consequently cause no damage to the structure of the soil. The raised beds are thought to warm up more quickly and are less prone to flooding than flat beds.

When time is limited [and it always is!] we can spare half an hour or so and weed one of the beds and feel that we have accomplished something.

Dividing the beds using re-cycled wood, as we have done, can initially be quite expensive but the wood will last for several seasons. The “No Dig” method can still be used without the wooden surrounds and you can simply raise the beds by the regular addition of compost.

At the end of the growing season, if there are no winter vegetables in the bed, we cover the beds completely with cardboard to stop the goodness leaching our of the soil and usually find by the spring that the compost worms have made a good start on breaking down the cardboard, which then goes into our compost bins. Having a good supply of compost is essential to our method of cultivation, that is why we have 6 wooden compost bins plus the plastic ones.

We don’t advocate any method in particular, just stating what is best for us. You pays your money and you makes your choice!

Malcolm – Plot 69

COMPOST

I feel that, although we all take on our plots to grow vegetables, fruit and flowers, we have a responsibility to look after the soil that provides us with our bounty.

Have you ever considered that, every time you take home unwashed vegetables with their roots attached, you are also removing a small amount of soil from the site, over a dozen or so years, this could lead to a great deal of erosion on the site, unless we take action to avoid it.

To help combat this on our own plot, I endeavour always to wash the roots of vegetables in a bucket of water on site and then pour the water back onto the beds.

However, I consider the most important action that we can take to avoid this erosion is to make as much compost as possible and to this end we compost as much of the material grown on site as we possibly can.

Unless a plant is particularly diseased, such as the roots of brassicas with club root and potato haulms and tomatoes plants with blight virtually everything on our plot gets composted. This includes the stems of hard brassicas such as sprouts and cabbages they will not easily rot down left in the natural state, but a bit of bashing with a mallet soon reduces them to a pulp that will quickly be absorbed into compost. This also applies to the stems of sweet corn. Why burn this useful commodity when it can so easily be composted? After all burning only serves to pollute our air and gives nothing back to nature.

We bring our own garden clippings and cuttings to the site along with any vegetable matter and eggshells from the kitchen. We also break up the layers by using shredded paper, cardboard. spent hops, grass cuttings and manure.

If your own experience of making compost is a slimy smelly mess the chances are you have made your compost at home using mainly grass cuttings to be successful compost needs to be made of layers of differing materials. It also speeds up the composting process if your regularly turn the bins - a great job for a cold winter’s day.

MAN OF MANY TALENTS

Vic Cartwright [Plot 13A] is a man of many talents, not only is he a keen gardener, but is also a dab hand with a brush and easel, as can be seen in the picture of Vic with his latest water colour.

Vic has been a regular on Amblecote Allotments for around 15 years and has seen many changes on the site.

Vic took to painting when he took early retirement after 34 years with Handy Angle in Brierley Hill. Vic is enjoying his retirement and always has a smile and a cheery word for fellow plot holders

In addition to his painting, Vic also keeps busy, fit and active cultivating his plot, is a keen sequence dancer of many years standing and also enjoys the odd game of dominoes. – perhaps he will do some sketches of the allotment for us.

6 months!

I just thought I’d pop in a couple of photos that we took during the first year we were on the allotments.

The first one taken on 12^th January 2003, was our first look at the plot. We were told it had not been worked for 4 years and had been covered to try to suppress the weeds. They were still all there under the plastic - couch grass, docks, dandelions added to which were rolls of old carpet, which the couch had grown through. There was plenty of old rotten wood, rusty cans, broken glass etc. We made so many trips to the local civic amenity site with rubbish they were thinking of giving us a season ticket.

The next picture was taken in June the same year. Bear in mind that we had never grown vegetables before – our garden at home is too small. We were both working full time so time on the plot was limited, but you can see that we had made quite a change. By the way, the shed on the left is the old shed shown in the first picture. We threw away the front, re-roofed and painted what was left and it now makes a great shelter from the sun in summer and the wind in winter while we have a cuppa.

So to all newcomers with badly overgrown plots – don’t despair, you will get there, don’t try to do too much at a time. Have a plan how you want your plot to look - beds and pathways - and tackle one bed at a time.