The rain got the better of me today. I went to the allotment earlier this morning, ready to tidy up my raised beds and maybe plant my first earlies...
It was a fine mizzle when I got there, I emptied my trug of compost into the heap (we save our home compost for the allotment), got a fork out and started to tidy up my 'potato bed' - digging out the last few stalks of sprouts, well past their best, and picking out those annoying 'creeping buttercups' which seem to survive all year round & the bane of my allotment.
And the mizzle, which I didn't seem to notice at first, turned into rain and got heavier and heavier. I could have taken shelter in my greenhouse, but that wouldn't get the bed weeded, so I stuck in there until I'd done the third I wanted to get done. By this time I was pretty soaked, but I'd made progress.
I picked some leeks, a turnip and some half decent sprouts from the leftovers. Gave the sprout-tops to a man who has chickens (they love a bit of sprout top) packed up and went home.
Back at home I decided to get my planning folder out, I was given this A5 'garden planner folder for Christmas about 3yrs ago & it seemed to be quite useful. I've re-purposed some of the sections and have it as my reference of what I've grown, where it was grown & a reminder of what needs doing.
I always do a plan of the allotment & my planting plan for that year, so I can rotate things correctly.
I have another section titled '30 minute jobs' which I list things that need doing and can be done in 30mins, so if I go up there after work I can tick one of these 'smaller' tasks off. And another list called 'Allotment Jobs 2012' which has bigger projects that need doing over the year.
With the rest of the notepaper in there I give each page a week (from March - end of August) and put the dates in. I don't start sowing things before March (with the exception of Garlic, which goes in around November).
Then I look through my seed packets and work out what, when and where I'm sowing things. I don't tend to worry too much about transplanting or sowing out dates, mainly because this will vary.
I also try and group things together, so that I'm not sowing stuff every week, I have one week when I sow lots, and another week when I don't. And I don't specify which day I'll be doing it, because sometimes I'll do allotment stuff on a weekend, other times I'll do it after work.
Is might sound a little over complicated, but it works for me. Feel free to share your allotment planning tips :)
It was a fine mizzle when I got there, I emptied my trug of compost into the heap (we save our home compost for the allotment), got a fork out and started to tidy up my 'potato bed' - digging out the last few stalks of sprouts, well past their best, and picking out those annoying 'creeping buttercups' which seem to survive all year round & the bane of my allotment.
And the mizzle, which I didn't seem to notice at first, turned into rain and got heavier and heavier. I could have taken shelter in my greenhouse, but that wouldn't get the bed weeded, so I stuck in there until I'd done the third I wanted to get done. By this time I was pretty soaked, but I'd made progress.
I picked some leeks, a turnip and some half decent sprouts from the leftovers. Gave the sprout-tops to a man who has chickens (they love a bit of sprout top) packed up and went home.
Back at home I decided to get my planning folder out, I was given this A5 'garden planner folder for Christmas about 3yrs ago & it seemed to be quite useful. I've re-purposed some of the sections and have it as my reference of what I've grown, where it was grown & a reminder of what needs doing.
I always do a plan of the allotment & my planting plan for that year, so I can rotate things correctly.
I have another section titled '30 minute jobs' which I list things that need doing and can be done in 30mins, so if I go up there after work I can tick one of these 'smaller' tasks off. And another list called 'Allotment Jobs 2012' which has bigger projects that need doing over the year.
With the rest of the notepaper in there I give each page a week (from March - end of August) and put the dates in. I don't start sowing things before March (with the exception of Garlic, which goes in around November).Then I look through my seed packets and work out what, when and where I'm sowing things. I don't tend to worry too much about transplanting or sowing out dates, mainly because this will vary.
I also try and group things together, so that I'm not sowing stuff every week, I have one week when I sow lots, and another week when I don't. And I don't specify which day I'll be doing it, because sometimes I'll do allotment stuff on a weekend, other times I'll do it after work.
Is might sound a little over complicated, but it works for me. Feel free to share your allotment planning tips :)
Thank you for sharing your planning methods Lisa as so far I don't have a plan for our new Kitchen Garden. Take care now. Marion x
ReplyDelete