robo, that must have been a difficult position to have been put in.
Actually I am quite glad we do not have an on site 'manager', if there is a problem it does not put anyone into a difficult position which may affect future relationships.
At least the method employed on our site makes it easy to report things direct to the man who holds the power, and he does so at reasonable arms length.
Having said that, I do wish plots were not allowed to become so overgrown before action is taken.
A P(l)otted History
Moderators: KG Steve, Chantal, Tigger, peter, Chief Spud
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Pa Snip
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The danger when people start to believe their own publicity is that they often fall off their own ego.
At least travelling under the guise of the Pa Snip Enterprise gives me an excuse for appearing to be on another planet
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Stonecoloured
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Loving this topic 
It's great to see a piece of land go from unloved to loved. Also amazing to see the transformation.
It's great to see a piece of land go from unloved to loved. Also amazing to see the transformation.
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Pa Snip
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Coincidentally we have slipped over on to page 3 as the third part of our plot history unfolds.
5th March 2014
As stated I had plans in mind and on paper for the 2014 season when, as is my usual routine, I made my early morning check of emails.
It was just before 9am and the inbox contained an email which had been sent by the councils site manager around 7:30am
It said that the holder of the front quarter section next to mine had decided to give up and as I had previously said if any adjoining plots came up, to enable me to have the equivalent of a full size plot, I would be interested.
I phoned the council immediately and said yes, and asked if I could take it over and start work on it that day. The answer was yes, and I was informed the rent on the plot had been paid through to October 2014 so until then it would cost me nothing. Bonus !!
The new section is that shown in the picture bounded by the lime green, the area bounded by the white lines are the overall plots I now hold.
I think it a great advantage to have the two adjacent half plots side by side as it gives a wide frontage for access rather than running the normal front to back aspect. It means the lay of the plot runs east <> west rather than north <> south
Picture taken on 5th March 2014
You may recall I mentioned earlier a plot that had had chicken manure spread all over it during 2013 and then weeds and manure all rotavated in. This was that section.
Fortunately the majority of the weed growth you can see was annual surface type, not deep rooted, so not excessively difficult to deal with.
5th March 2014
As stated I had plans in mind and on paper for the 2014 season when, as is my usual routine, I made my early morning check of emails.
It was just before 9am and the inbox contained an email which had been sent by the councils site manager around 7:30am
It said that the holder of the front quarter section next to mine had decided to give up and as I had previously said if any adjoining plots came up, to enable me to have the equivalent of a full size plot, I would be interested.
I phoned the council immediately and said yes, and asked if I could take it over and start work on it that day. The answer was yes, and I was informed the rent on the plot had been paid through to October 2014 so until then it would cost me nothing. Bonus !!
The new section is that shown in the picture bounded by the lime green, the area bounded by the white lines are the overall plots I now hold.
I think it a great advantage to have the two adjacent half plots side by side as it gives a wide frontage for access rather than running the normal front to back aspect. It means the lay of the plot runs east <> west rather than north <> south
Picture taken on 5th March 2014
- DSC_4190-w 3rd Qtr plot.jpg (302.87 KiB) Viewed 3884 times
You may recall I mentioned earlier a plot that had had chicken manure spread all over it during 2013 and then weeds and manure all rotavated in. This was that section.
Fortunately the majority of the weed growth you can see was annual surface type, not deep rooted, so not excessively difficult to deal with.
Last edited by Pa Snip on Sat Feb 21, 2015 10:30 am, edited 2 times in total.
The danger when people start to believe their own publicity is that they often fall off their own ego.
At least travelling under the guise of the Pa Snip Enterprise gives me an excuse for appearing to be on another planet
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Pa Snip
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Thank you for commenting Stonecoloured
I am glad you are finding it of interest.
I am glad you are finding it of interest.
The danger when people start to believe their own publicity is that they often fall off their own ego.
At least travelling under the guise of the Pa Snip Enterprise gives me an excuse for appearing to be on another planet
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Pa Snip
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- Location: Near the big house on the hill Berkshire
Those of you who have read Monika's thread T or D Handles on Spades
May recall I commented on there about the only time I have ever broken a D handle trying to splat a rat under a carpet on an adjoining plot and discovering the carpet was covering a tree stump.
Well I was now the holder of the plot with the tree stump on and I decided that as this was the biggest issue to be dealt with on that section the first job would be that it was time it came out, so on the day I took that section on I started digging it out.
May recall I commented on there about the only time I have ever broken a D handle trying to splat a rat under a carpet on an adjoining plot and discovering the carpet was covering a tree stump.
Well I was now the holder of the plot with the tree stump on and I decided that as this was the biggest issue to be dealt with on that section the first job would be that it was time it came out, so on the day I took that section on I started digging it out.
- DSC_422434.jpg (91.13 KiB) Viewed 3884 times
The danger when people start to believe their own publicity is that they often fall off their own ego.
At least travelling under the guise of the Pa Snip Enterprise gives me an excuse for appearing to be on another planet
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Pa Snip
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- Joined: Sat Dec 06, 2014 8:20 pm
- Location: Near the big house on the hill Berkshire
By 14th March the tree stump was out, the plot had been dug over by hand, weeds removed in process, then out came the big gun and plot was rotavated.
Having previously made plans about what would be planted where in 2014 there was now an opportunity to change those plans yet again,
so we held a meeting of t'committee, in other words Mrs Snip and myself
and decided it was a good chance to have a bit of fun with our own potato trial.
- DSC_423806.jpg (52.19 KiB) Viewed 3883 times
Having previously made plans about what would be planted where in 2014 there was now an opportunity to change those plans yet again,
so we held a meeting of t'committee, in other words Mrs Snip and myself
and decided it was a good chance to have a bit of fun with our own potato trial.
The danger when people start to believe their own publicity is that they often fall off their own ego.
At least travelling under the guise of the Pa Snip Enterprise gives me an excuse for appearing to be on another planet
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Pa Snip
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- Posts: 3091
- Joined: Sat Dec 06, 2014 8:20 pm
- Location: Near the big house on the hill Berkshire
- IMG_219504.jpg (88 KiB) Viewed 3871 times
By June 2014 we had planted 9 varieties of potato, 10 rows in total, filling the latest plot section for our trial.
International kidney, 6 @ total cost of .78p……. end yield 12lb
Lady Christl……………..6 @ total cost of .75p …… end yield 23lb
Winston…………………15 @ total cost of £2.54…. end yield 57lb (Brilliant potato, good all round)
Vanessa (Red)……….15 @ total cost of £2.09…. end yield 43lb
Kestrel ………………… 12 @ total cost of £1.78….. end yield 33lb
Salad Blue……………. 10 @ total cost of £1.32….. end yield 33lb (never to be repeated !!)
Rooster………………… 10 @ total cost of zero …… end yield 41lb (given free by supplier)
Maris Piper …………. 20 @ total cost of £2.80…… end yield 95lbs (Scabby, very mixed sizes)
Sarpo Mira (Red) … 20 @total cost of £2.98…… end yield 86lb
The colour of Salad Blue made them difficult to see against the soil when digging them out, They were small, scabby and riddled with wireworm holes.
Winston was good for baking, roast, chips and salad, although we found it went mushy easily if using for mash. We have doubled up on this one for this year.
Family and neighbours benefitted from the resulting total crop from our 'one off' potato trial
The danger when people start to believe their own publicity is that they often fall off their own ego.
At least travelling under the guise of the Pa Snip Enterprise gives me an excuse for appearing to be on another planet
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Pa Snip
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- Joined: Sat Dec 06, 2014 8:20 pm
- Location: Near the big house on the hill Berkshire
As we are now in full steam for starting the 2015 season the historical account of how our foray in to allotmenteering has progressed is almost at an end.
In July 2014 the plot looked like this:-
By the time 2014 harvesting was over we had achieved the following crop results.
Some minor failures and over / under estimations along the way, some gluts.
The efforts had resulted in:-
Bean, French 43lb
Bean Runner 91lb
Beetroot 28lb
Butternut Squash 7lb, (more to be planted this year)
Carrots various 94lb
Courgettes 93lb
Cabbage 6 = 16lb (snails and slugs had the rest)
Cauliflower & Calabrese Failed to form
Strawberry 25lb
Rhubarb 58lb
Melon 3 fruits = 5lb (off two plants, grown outdoors)
Garlic 23 bulbs
Leek various 7lb. (poor results this year)
Onions various 75lb
Shallots 40lb
Peas various 28lb (increased sowing planned this year)
Potato trial 427lb
Parsnip 15lb
Sweetcorn 18lb
Swede 8lb
Tomatoes 62lb
We fed ourselves and daughters family, we froze some and quite a lot got given to neighbours.
Nearly forgot, in August, by request, we entered our local little horticultural show for a bit of fun.
Jams, Marmalade, Produce…you know the drill.
It really was satisfying to come away with a few 1st 2nd and 3rd place cards. No cups but we didn’t care, it was for fun and we enjoyed it.
And now we are up to date.
Again, our thanks for looking in on this thread and gratitude to all who have commented.
Hope we haven't bored you
Wishing you Good Growing.
In July 2014 the plot looked like this:-
- IMG_224302 kg.jpg (93.54 KiB) Viewed 3862 times
- IMG_224605 kg.jpg (90.54 KiB) Viewed 3862 times
- IMG_225211kg.jpg (102.8 KiB) Viewed 3862 times
By the time 2014 harvesting was over we had achieved the following crop results.
Some minor failures and over / under estimations along the way, some gluts.
The efforts had resulted in:-
Bean, French 43lb
Bean Runner 91lb
Beetroot 28lb
Butternut Squash 7lb, (more to be planted this year)
Carrots various 94lb
Courgettes 93lb
Cabbage 6 = 16lb (snails and slugs had the rest)
Cauliflower & Calabrese Failed to form
Strawberry 25lb
Rhubarb 58lb
Melon 3 fruits = 5lb (off two plants, grown outdoors)
Garlic 23 bulbs
Leek various 7lb. (poor results this year)
Onions various 75lb
Shallots 40lb
Peas various 28lb (increased sowing planned this year)
Potato trial 427lb
Parsnip 15lb
Sweetcorn 18lb
Swede 8lb
Tomatoes 62lb
We fed ourselves and daughters family, we froze some and quite a lot got given to neighbours.
Nearly forgot, in August, by request, we entered our local little horticultural show for a bit of fun.
Jams, Marmalade, Produce…you know the drill.
It really was satisfying to come away with a few 1st 2nd and 3rd place cards. No cups but we didn’t care, it was for fun and we enjoyed it.
And now we are up to date.
Again, our thanks for looking in on this thread and gratitude to all who have commented.
Hope we haven't bored you
Wishing you Good Growing.
The danger when people start to believe their own publicity is that they often fall off their own ego.
At least travelling under the guise of the Pa Snip Enterprise gives me an excuse for appearing to be on another planet
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retropants
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Fabulous pictures Mr Pa Snip! Very much enjoying pouring over them
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Stonecoloured
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- Location: Luton
Newbie question alert
How do you know the crop output of the fruit and veg?
Are you estimating / weighing each crop / other?
It would be good to know how "fruitful" my fruit and veg are being
How do you know the crop output of the fruit and veg?
Are you estimating / weighing each crop / other?
It would be good to know how "fruitful" my fruit and veg are being
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Pa Snip
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Hi Stonecoloured
I guess this is where I could be leaving myself open to being called 'extremist'or a nutter.
The 'leisure' activity we all partake in can actually be hard work at times and definitely costs money.
I like to know as much as possible just how worthwhile the effort and investment has been.
So I have made my own plot logbook spreadsheets.
Each year I print off a page for each type and variety sown or planted on the plot
Different varieties of any type planted or sown has its own page.
When seeds are sown, if they are big they are counted and the date and number sown are logged.
If I have to transplant anything grown in greenhouse or cold frames etc, the number of plants and date is noted on that varieties page.
Each time something is picked the number dug is either counted or weighed on scales in the shed, or in some cases both. Items like lettuce are just counted, potatoes are weighed and number of plants dug counted.
May seem daft, but in two years time, or whenever, when I want to look up how something performed with a view to growing it again I am not reliant upon wishful thinking clouded memories.
The short answer to your valid question would have been "I have a set of scales that go up to 30lb"
I guess this is where I could be leaving myself open to being called 'extremist'or a nutter.
The 'leisure' activity we all partake in can actually be hard work at times and definitely costs money.
I like to know as much as possible just how worthwhile the effort and investment has been.
So I have made my own plot logbook spreadsheets.
Each year I print off a page for each type and variety sown or planted on the plot
Different varieties of any type planted or sown has its own page.
When seeds are sown, if they are big they are counted and the date and number sown are logged.
If I have to transplant anything grown in greenhouse or cold frames etc, the number of plants and date is noted on that varieties page.
Each time something is picked the number dug is either counted or weighed on scales in the shed, or in some cases both. Items like lettuce are just counted, potatoes are weighed and number of plants dug counted.
May seem daft, but in two years time, or whenever, when I want to look up how something performed with a view to growing it again I am not reliant upon wishful thinking clouded memories.
The short answer to your valid question would have been "I have a set of scales that go up to 30lb"
The danger when people start to believe their own publicity is that they often fall off their own ego.
At least travelling under the guise of the Pa Snip Enterprise gives me an excuse for appearing to be on another planet
-
Pa Snip
- KG Regular
- Posts: 3091
- Joined: Sat Dec 06, 2014 8:20 pm
- Location: Near the big house on the hill Berkshire
- 002-1.jpg (113.54 KiB) Viewed 3805 times
The danger when people start to believe their own publicity is that they often fall off their own ego.
At least travelling under the guise of the Pa Snip Enterprise gives me an excuse for appearing to be on another planet
-
Pa Snip
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- Posts: 3091
- Joined: Sat Dec 06, 2014 8:20 pm
- Location: Near the big house on the hill Berkshire
I understand some of you may have experienced a problem viewing the original .tif post of a log sheet that I made above. I have now edited the post to remove the original and replaced it with a.jpeg file, so hope you can all now read it without any problems.
Thank you Peter for letting me know.
Thank you Peter for letting me know.
The danger when people start to believe their own publicity is that they often fall off their own ego.
At least travelling under the guise of the Pa Snip Enterprise gives me an excuse for appearing to be on another planet
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Ricard with an H
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- Location: North Pembrokeshire. West Wales.
Well, I've been conspicuous by my absence on this thread but I have been reading. I'm dumbfounded by the efforts of people who farm allotments so whilst I had and have a few problems associated with my coast environment at least I live on my plot. I needn't be concerned with investing into my plot and I have fewer concerns about theft and vandals.
I'm humbled by this effort and the results, I think I might stop moaning about problems I have.
I'm humbled by this effort and the results, I think I might stop moaning about problems I have.
How are you supposed to start and maintain a healthy lifestyle if it completely removes a wine lover’s reason to live?
Richard.
Richard.