"Kim Bewick" wrote in message
...
Hi Folks
Well I've finally gone and got myself an allotment (125 sq meters) but
haven't got a clue what I should really be doing at this time of year.
It's fairly weed free thank goodness and was treated with Round-Up last
autumn (will this affect anything I may want to plant)?
Any advice would be much appreciated. I'm in Cardiff, where it's fairly
mild
compered with other parts of the UK at the minute.
Regards
Kim

Welcome Kim.

It's a great time to get an allotment as things are about to kick off big
time. I would talk to the other allotmenteers on your site about where is
the
best place to acquire seeds, seed potatoes and all the other stuff. Are you
lucky enough to have an allotment shop on site? They will also tell you
about local soil and weather conditions and all sorts of other useful stuff
if they're anything like my neighbours

I don't personally use chemicals, so I will leave the matter of the round-up
to others.

This is very nearly time to get your seed potatoes in, and most people have
started chitting(sprouting) them, one person I know has planted already, I'm
leaving it a week or two yet. If you're late, don't worry, they'll catch up.

If you have a greenhouse it would be great to start off loads of seeds now.
It's also time to be sowing parsnips outdoors, they need a good while to
grow, and as it's mild where you are I would go for it.

Marking out beds and deciding on compost areas, water storage etc, visiting
your nearest
industrial estate where most places will gladly let you have pallets, going
to the library and get a couple of books on the subject to read in the
evenings when it's dark and you can't see to do any more at your plot.

And check out other peoples allotment/garden sites, here's ours, I'm sure
others will also post theirs. I'm sure they will also find plenty of other
things for you to do. You're going to be busy!

Enjoy.

Steve

"Kim Bewick" wrote in message
...
It's fairly weed free thank goodness and was treated with Round-Up last
autumn (will this affect anything I may want to plant)?

AFAIK, Roundup doesn't stay in the soil; it only affects plant growth that
it physically touches.

On Fri, 5 Mar 2004 09:58:01 +0000 (UTC), "Kim Bewick"
wrote:

Well I've finally gone and got myself an allotment (125 sq meters) but
haven't got a clue what I should really be doing at this time of year.
It's fairly weed free thank goodness and was treated with Round-Up last
autumn (will this affect anything I may want to plant)?
Any advice would be much appreciated. I'm in Cardiff, where it's fairly mild
compered with other parts of the UK at the minute.

Can't offer any climate-related tips, but Round-Up will not prevent
weeds from emerging. It's very quick-acting on growing foliage, and
kills *active* plants down to the root, but has no effect on seeds in
the soil. It decays into harmless (some argue this) components in 3-4
days. So no fear of planting.

On Fri, 5 Mar 2004 09:58:01 +0000 (UTC), "Kim Bewick"
wrote:

Well I've finally gone and got myself an allotment (125 sq meters) but
haven't got a clue what I should really be doing at this time of year.
It's fairly weed free thank goodness and was treated with Round-Up last
autumn (will this affect anything I may want to plant)?
Any advice would be much appreciated. I'm in Cardiff, where it's fairly mild
compered with other parts of the UK at the minute.

Can't offer any climate-related tips, but Round-Up will not prevent
weeds from emerging. It's very quick-acting on growing foliage, and
kills *active* plants down to the root, but has no effect on seeds in
the soil. It decays into harmless (some argue this) components in 3-4
days. So no fear of planting.

On Fri, 5 Mar 2004 09:58:01 +0000 (UTC), "Kim Bewick"
wrote:

Well I've finally gone and got myself an allotment (125 sq meters) but
haven't got a clue what I should really be doing at this time of year.
It's fairly weed free thank goodness and was treated with Round-Up last
autumn (will this affect anything I may want to plant)?
Any advice would be much appreciated. I'm in Cardiff, where it's fairly mild
compered with other parts of the UK at the minute.

Can't offer any climate-related tips, but Round-Up will not prevent
weeds from emerging. It's very quick-acting on growing foliage, and
kills *active* plants down to the root, but has no effect on seeds in
the soil. It decays into harmless (some argue this) components in 3-4
days. So no fear of planting.

The message
from "Kim Bewick" contains these words:

Well I've finally gone and got myself an allotment (125 sq meters) but
haven't got a clue what I should really be doing at this time of year.
It's fairly weed free thank goodness and was treated with Round-Up last
autumn (will this affect anything I may want to plant)?

No. To be effective, Roundup (glyphosate) has to be sprayed on to the
green parts of a plant. Contact with soil bonds it into some sort of
very stable chemical triangle, so you can forget about it.

Any advice would be much appreciated. I'm in Cardiff, where it's fairly mild
compered with other parts of the UK at the minute.

Firstly, I'd decide what I'd like to grow, then go to somewhere which
sells the seeds, and read the destructions on the packets.

Having decided on which ones you want to grow (They should give you a
giude about when to plant, and how).

When you've decided, let us know - there are some wrinkles about soil
types, and which vegetables like fertilisers and which like them too
much for their own good.....

......or to be more accurate, for your good.

Runner beans are easy and prolific, as are marrows, courgettes, etc, but
remember, some crops may overshadow your plot if you don't think before
planting. Then there are your neighbours' plots.....

--
Rusty
Open the creaking gate to make a horrid.squeak, then lower the foobar.
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/

The message
from "Kim Bewick" contains these words:

Well I've finally gone and got myself an allotment (125 sq meters) but
haven't got a clue what I should really be doing at this time of year.
It's fairly weed free thank goodness and was treated with Round-Up last
autumn (will this affect anything I may want to plant)?

No. To be effective, Roundup (glyphosate) has to be sprayed on to the
green parts of a plant. Contact with soil bonds it into some sort of
very stable chemical triangle, so you can forget about it.

Any advice would be much appreciated. I'm in Cardiff, where it's fairly mild
compered with other parts of the UK at the minute.

Firstly, I'd decide what I'd like to grow, then go to somewhere which
sells the seeds, and read the destructions on the packets.

Having decided on which ones you want to grow (They should give you a
giude about when to plant, and how).

When you've decided, let us know - there are some wrinkles about soil
types, and which vegetables like fertilisers and which like them too
much for their own good.....

......or to be more accurate, for your good.

Runner beans are easy and prolific, as are marrows, courgettes, etc, but
remember, some crops may overshadow your plot if you don't think before
planting. Then there are your neighbours' plots.....

--
Rusty
Open the creaking gate to make a horrid.squeak, then lower the foobar.
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/

"Kim wrote in message
Well I've finally gone and got myself an allotment (125 sq meters) but
haven't got a clue what I should really be doing at this time of year.
It's fairly weed free thank goodness and was treated with Round-Up last
autumn (will this affect anything I may want to plant)?
Any advice would be much appreciated. I'm in Cardiff, where it's fairly
mild
compered with other parts of the UK at the minute.

Welcome Kim.
Roundup has a 40 day half life I read somewhere so you can just plant away
and be thankful there are no perennial weeds left. You will still get the
annuals coming up as normal.

We have just planted our onion sets and shallots together with some garlic
(best planted in autumn but just topping up). A tip is to plant all these
wider apart then they say, we do 9inches between sets and 1ft between rows
simply so we can hoe between them as they grow and not have to hand weed on
our knees. You also get bigger bulbs that way.

In the next few days we will plant our early peas (Feltham First) and our
early spuds.

You will also need to buy your second early (Kestrel) and maincrop spuds now
to lay out to chit,(put them in boxes in a light and cool but frost free
place to start to grow shoots). Be careful you don't buy too many.

So that should keep you busy for a while. :-)

Keep a little book on what you plant, when, and the results, so you know for
next year what works for your area/soil, what variety does well, what needs
planting later/earlier etc.
--
Regards
Bob (in N. Surrey )

"Kim wrote in message
Well I've finally gone and got myself an allotment (125 sq meters) but
haven't got a clue what I should really be doing at this time of year.
It's fairly weed free thank goodness and was treated with Round-Up last
autumn (will this affect anything I may want to plant)?
Any advice would be much appreciated. I'm in Cardiff, where it's fairly
mild
compered with other parts of the UK at the minute.

Welcome Kim.
Roundup has a 40 day half life I read somewhere so you can just plant away
and be thankful there are no perennial weeds left. You will still get the
annuals coming up as normal.

We have just planted our onion sets and shallots together with some garlic
(best planted in autumn but just topping up). A tip is to plant all these
wider apart then they say, we do 9inches between sets and 1ft between rows
simply so we can hoe between them as they grow and not have to hand weed on
our knees. You also get bigger bulbs that way.

In the next few days we will plant our early peas (Feltham First) and our
early spuds.

You will also need to buy your second early (Kestrel) and maincrop spuds now
to lay out to chit,(put them in boxes in a light and cool but frost free
place to start to grow shoots). Be careful you don't buy too many.

So that should keep you busy for a while. :-)

Keep a little book on what you plant, when, and the results, so you know for
next year what works for your area/soil, what variety does well, what needs
planting later/earlier etc.
--
Regards
Bob (in N. Surrey )

The message
from "shazzbat" contains these words:

And check out other peoples allotment/garden sites, here's ours,

Still covered in snow, I see...

--
Rusty
Open the creaking gate to make a horrid.squeak, then lower the foobar.
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/

The message
from "shazzbat" contains these words:

And check out other peoples allotment/garden sites, here's ours,

Still covered in snow, I see...

--
Rusty
Open the creaking gate to make a horrid.squeak, then lower the foobar.
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/

The message
from "shazzbat" contains these words:

And check out other peoples allotment/garden sites, here's ours,

Still covered in snow, I see...

--
Rusty
Open the creaking gate to make a horrid.squeak, then lower the foobar.
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/

"Jaques d'Alltrades" wrote in message
...
The message
from "shazzbat" contains these words:

And check out other peoples allotment/garden sites, here's ours,

Still covered in snow, I see...

Ooops! thanks for that. I put the wrong link on, removed it, and then didn't
add the right one, which is......

http://mysite.freeserve.com/steveandmaggiesplot

Not covered in snow now, but we found a dead starling today :-((
Steve

"Jaques d'Alltrades" wrote in message
...
The message
from "shazzbat" contains these words:

And check out other peoples allotment/garden sites, here's ours,

Still covered in snow, I see...

Ooops! thanks for that. I put the wrong link on, removed it, and then didn't
add the right one, which is......

http://mysite.freeserve.com/steveandmaggiesplot

Not covered in snow now, but we found a dead starling today :-((
Steve

The message
from "shazzbat" contains these words:

And check out other peoples allotment/garden sites, here's ours,

Still covered in snow, I see...

--
Rusty
Open the creaking gate to make a horrid.squeak, then lower the foobar.
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/