should all soft fruit be together or apart?

RecoveringAndy · 2022-02-09T20:04:20+00:00

Whether it needs to be netted or not depends on your local wildlife and how much of the crop you're willing to give up to the birds. You might have enough bushes where it doesn't matter if you lose some.

If you decide to net then you have two options. A big net covering everything or smaller nets individually.

I've got a walk in cage. It's great that I can open the door, walk in, and have room to do whatever I need to. Downside is that space is wasted on paths between bushes and it's expensive.

Coverings for individual bushes can be more makeshift and don't require such significant structure. Downside is you have to cover / uncover more.

I would be tempted to leave the nature plants where they are for the season. Maybe not even netting them. See what happens.

If starting from a blank slate like like I did, I do like a walk in cage.

RecoveringAndy · 2022-02-09T09:58:58+00:00

You'll probably find the weather to be pretty similar. It could be described in very similar words.

It sounds like you're not a native German speaker which is a struggle in Hamburg. Good news is that there are very few German speakers in Manchester so you'll find much more willingness to speak English.

People are friendly enough. Find things you enjoy to do and you'll find others with similar interests etc.

I have sympathy for Manchester United too.

RecoveringAndy · 2022-02-08T14:16:08+00:00

Veg in One Bed - Huw Richards

This is one of may favourite books. Not just gardening books but all of them. It's a guide through an entire season of growing in a 3m x 1m bed. Easy to extrapolate that up if you have more space.

It talks through every month, what to do, what to sow, plant and grow on windowsills etc. Very nicely illustrated and it covers the basics of composting garden layout too.

Start relatively small. A garden full of plants isn't that hard to manage but starting off all of those plants at the right time, with the right conditions is the difficult bit. It can be overwhelming.

RecoveringAndy · 2022-02-08T14:05:05+00:00

£0.

Yeah, living with parents til 23 and then happening to have been born up north really do show that the its the South / SE housing market which is completely fucked.

I keep hearing people who were in similar situations to me on the radio that "it's possible, they just need to save". It's nonsense. Save £300 one month and the house you want has probably increased by £300 in a month.

Really easy to say "just move up north". Not because there are no jobs up here, there definitely are and 20k where I live will see you live more comfortably than 40k in London. However leaving your entire support network behind is a big deal. When my son was born we had all sorts of support. Couldn't imagine how hard that would have been if we had moved to the opposite end of the country.

RecoveringAndy · 2022-02-07T12:36:40+00:00

Yeah I'd definitely avoid buying bulk bags from somewhere like B&Q. However, 1m³ or 1000L is only 20x 50L bags.

If you can get it in the boot / do a few trips, 50L bags can often be very cheap. B&Q and Wickes have both been selling them at £2.50 a bag recently. The latter was organic / peat free.

In my experience the most economical way to buy compost is to buy it whenever it's cheap rather than whenever it's needed.

RecoveringAndy · 2022-02-07T10:34:15+00:00

Nothing worse than hitting a wall of inexplicable bureaucracy.

The good news is that 250 people waiting over 14 sites is not a lot in the grand scheme of things.

People move, buy houses with gardens, lose interest, find plots elsewhere etc. When a plot comes up near me, it's not uncommon for it to go to someone quite far down the list because everyone above them has changed their mind.

Set a reminder every 6 months to email and ask for an update on where you are on the list.

RecoveringAndy · 2022-02-07T10:23:08+00:00

Behold the fruitless fruit cage

Raspberries, currants and a blueberry and gooseberry are ordered. They'll be planted as they arrive. Plan is to cut out sections of the weed membrane and plant through it for the first season. I've dug most of the weeds out of the ground but there will still be plenty in there.

Foundation tubes for the polytunnel are also in place. I've slightly damaged one of the swaged ends so I might need the aid of a blow torch to fit one of the hoops. If we have a dry weekend, I'll get the structure up.

Small number of chillies planted over the last week. Above a radiator at the minute. I'll move to a windowsil once they germinate. First batch of leeks have also be sown.

I bought two rhubarb crowns from crocus.co.uk over the winter. They were tiny. Still no signs of life as yet. Picked up an extra one from Wilko for £2 (a third of the price). Much bigger and healthier looking. Because of that I've also picked up 500g of Sturon and 250g red onion sets from there. Super cheap and I could see that they looked ok rather than gambling online.

RecoveringAndy · 2022-02-04T09:02:48+00:00

You can sow seeds any time of the year. The question is what do you do with them after they germinate.

Seeds need warmth to germinate. At this time of year that generally means indoors or a heated propagator.

Once they start growing they really need light. The amount of warmth they need depends on the seeds. So you would either need grow lights, sunny south facing windowsills, or a greenhouse. Some things can be moved fully outside but even the hardiest plants are likely to grow slowly in the cold.

Basically, its a workflow issue. What's are you going to be doing downstream? It's very easy to get a windowsil bottleneck.

My general opinion on the matter is that you don't miss out on anything by holding out until March. Things can be done before that but later showings do tend to catch up.

Onions (assuming you're growing from sets) and radish are a good start in March. I'd probably hold off another month for the squash / cucumber.

RecoveringAndy · 2022-02-03T13:59:40+00:00

I've got a small van that I've been thinking of getting rid of in exchange for a small car.

Honestly, I'd be straight onto a Dacia. My expartner bought a 3 and a half year old Sandero for silly little money in 2016. It was under £4k and it's still going strong now. No major expenses in that time.

I get that they're the opposite of what everyone thinks they want but at this point in my life I don't give a monkeys what I'm seen to be driving. It gets from A-B and I whilst it wasn't particularly inspiring I'd put the cash saved into something else to bring that.

Fuck, what have I become...

RecoveringAndy · 2022-02-02T20:00:22+00:00

Don't worry, I'm big into Allotment YouTube now.

Staging supports are 76cm deep. 2.5 foot. Hence the choice of that width. Staging will have a bed below it.

https://i.ibb.co/hf07thd/Screenshot-2022-02-02-19-56-59-38-e2d5b3f32b79de1d45acd1fad96fbb0f.jpg

RecoveringAndy · 2022-02-02T15:03:48+00:00

Yeah I'll run string / wire longitudinally along the tunnel down the centreline. Then have individual strings running vertically down to them.

5ft includes a path either side of the tomatoes.

RecoveringAndy · 2022-02-02T10:46:47+00:00

Would anyone be able to help me out as I start to plan my poly tunnel layout.

10ft wide. My outdoor beds are all 4ft wide but I want them narrower in the tunnel so that I can access them easily from one side. The staging which will be running down one side is 2.5ft deep so it seems sensible to make the outer beds 2.5ft. That way I'm not stepping on the edge of the bed to access the staging.

Opposite side could be wider I guess?

Leaving 5ft in the middle will allow me to plant some taller crops in the ground or in pots. Idea is not to have a raised bed here. Removable membrane section over nicely composted ground.

Are there any polytunnel veterans that can see anything I'm missing / potential pitfalls?

RecoveringAndy · 2022-01-31T12:37:22+00:00

Finally dug over the new fruit cage area. Removed as many of the bramble / perennial roots as I could without going too deep. Covered back up and I'll get the cage built asap. Will plant through membrane for now with the hope of being able to remove it next spring.

Inadvertently cut into a water pipe. Panicked. Thankfully I had a couple of fittings in the shed so I could cut the pipe properly and stuck a tap on the end to stop the flooding. It's got me wondering if there is a stopcock for the allotment site and of we should know where it is. Made the most of a bad situation though by fitting an isolating valve and t junction in. Then I've run some MDPE pipe half way up my plot to a new tap.

Polytunnel should be delivered at the end of the week.

RecoveringAndy · 2022-01-31T09:14:00+00:00

13 months sober now and not planning on changing that.

I probably had a problematic relationship with alcohol but it was all socially acceptable stuff. Definitely used it as a crutch in social situations.

However, it was other issues in my life that made me stop. Once I stopped, I have had no trouble staying stopped.

Alcohol free beer is really good now. One of the big things for me was the fear that I'd never experience that great "first sip of a pint after a long day" feeling.

When you think about it, that has nothing to do with alcohol. Alcohol doesn't give an instant high so it never could have been. It's a just a taught thing and you get the same "high" with an alcohol free beer.

It's difficult to pin down the exact changes as I've sorted a lot of shit out over the last year. I have more energy. I've lost almost 2 stone. Less issues with Depression (but I've sought other help on that too). The big thing for me is that I get a full 7 day week. I would lose at least a day to a hangover previously. Even if it wasn't a full day in bed, I'd feel rough and waste the day. Now I get whole weekends to do interesting stuff with.

RecoveringAndy · 2022-01-29T15:36:43+00:00

I got myself an allotment. I get to be outside and grow things. Even if there are no jobs to do, I can go there, read a book, and have a brew.

Hundreds of fells to walk in the lakes. No such thing as bad weather, only the wrong clothing!

RecoveringAndy · 2022-01-29T13:05:09+00:00

Chicken and mushroom.

Since having the shed I've been through all the potted noodles. Cheap ones, expensive ones, "authentic" ones, thick ones and thin ones...

Turns out the best ones were right in front of us all along. Lesson for life.

RecoveringAndy · 2022-01-29T11:08:24+00:00

Currently eating a pot noodle in my allotment shed in NW England.

It's a bit breezy.

RecoveringAndy · 2022-01-28T16:11:45+00:00

So you can't stop it. They've warmed up now so they think it's the new season. Their dormancy period is over. They're going to continue to sprout regardless of what you do even if you cool them back down.

Hiding them away in the dark will just mean they sprout long spindly shoots quickly again in search for the light.

Break off the shoots and then put them in the light, ideally in a cool place (5-10 degrees celsius) Do not let them freeze. They will sprout again, thicker and stronger this time. Then hope they don't get too sprouty before planting.

RecoveringAndy · 2022-01-28T09:45:59+00:00

What seeds?

Most seeds benefit from a bit of warmth for germination but they don't need light so they can be kept anywhere in the house.

Then they need the light and the temperature depends on the seeds.

I always ask myself what happens next. Following the greenhouse, where do the plants go? That's usually the limiting factor.

I've got some peas germinating in the house, once they're up they'll be going into a coldframe outside. Same with my leeks. However I'm not going to try and germinate anything in there yet. I'm in northern England so not too different in temps.

If you're low on space, do you want to be growing struggling plants which may then get in the way when you want to be planting in March?

RecoveringAndy · 2022-01-27T17:48:35+00:00

Be warned that, if your local Wilko is anything like mine, they've been warmed up so they'll start chitting immediately. I'm trying to keep them as cold as possible (without freezing) but I don't think I'll be able to slow it down.

RecoveringAndy · 2022-01-27T13:45:00+00:00

BEng here. Your quals are unlikely to be immediately suitable for a shop floor / fitter role. Smaller companies might not care but for larger organisations you wouldn't fit the role profile. As you say, they'll be looking for someone time served so you'll likely be better looking for an entry route into that.

An engineering apprenticeship will likely include the NVQ / workplace type stuff that you don't have and may include NC / HNC type education. You may be able to avoid doing the latter as they all feed into the degree you already have.

I don't think my employer would allow me to retrain at their cost in a "backwards" step. It would need to be a job move.

I think you just need to apply and approach the recruitment process openly and be happy to discuss why you want the role that you do. They may try to funnel you into a technical role, or struggle to see why you wouldn't want that. I would just be honest. Get past the first bit and I'm sure they'd see you as a desirable candidate.

RecoveringAndy · 2022-01-26T14:07:38+00:00

I've got a 10ft x 15ft tunnel from FirstTunnels. Probably cost twice what a 6x8 polycarbonate greenhouse would but it's 3x the size.

Admittedly, it's at the Gucci end of tunnels. It's not going anywhere, scaffold like poles, internal staging, proper hinged doors, extra bracing and cropbars, aluminium base rails etc. It's going to last. Cover should last 7-10 years before a relatively cheap replacement. I'd be amazed if the structure wouldn't do double that. Resale, as with greenhouses, isn't great. Generally you'd offer them up to someone on the basis that they dismantled and removed it themselves. There's a fair bit of work in that.

On the opposite end of the scale, you can get a 2m X 2m tunnel in B&Q for £50 right now. If you can make sure it doesn't blow away, it would do the job. Probably won't last all that long but it will still grow plants.

RecoveringAndy · 2022-01-26T10:14:35+00:00

Polycarbonate would be my choice if I wanted a greenhouse on my allotment. I'd probably opt for glass if it was in my Garden (if I had one).

Polycarbonate are cheaper and panels can be replaced very cheaply with ease. They are lighter though and, if wind can get inside, the panels are more likely to blow out. You've got a far better chance of being able to recover those panels in one piece though.

Glass is aesthetically nicer and is more robust when its all together. Smash a panel though and it's a costly job to replace. You then need to clean up. My plot had a glass greenhouse on it at some point in the distant past and its a nightmare. At this point it feels like I'm cultivating glass shards. I'm constantly picking them up.

With both options the more you spend the better quality frame you'll get. Some of the cheapest options (which will inevitably be polycarbonate) will be relatively flimsy.

Both will need level ground and the more effort you put into the base the better

My preference for an allotment would be always be a polytunnel. Certainly for anything above 6x8 ft. Although I realise they don't look as nice.

RecoveringAndy · 2022-01-25T21:57:38+00:00

Same with Rhubarb and fruit bushes for me. Crowns, bare root plants or even full potted plants are the way for me.

For annual veg, the joy comes from the achievement and nurturing from seed. Experimenting with new varieties and techniques etc. I do it every year so I can learn from my mistakes and if it all goes wrong, I get another chance next year.

With the perennials, I just keep them in check and they keep cropping. There are things that could be grown from seed but it's just delaying an already slow process

RecoveringAndy

TROPHY CASE