Katie. I just love you channel. Thank you for all of your ideas. My favorite is the gate area, I like how you have the angle the area to enter . I can't wait to see what comes next.
Hi, for your slug problem, try sprinkling a lot of roughly crushed eggshells onto the top of your soil. Also, sprinkle hardwood ashes on top of the soil. Put several roof shingles or 1 foot sections of carpet here and there between your plants and check under them in the morning. Any slugs that are under there, just sprinkle them with salt. It kills them in a short time. Scoop the salt up and dispose of it after it does the job, as you don`t want to salinate your soil too much. Only mulch where you don`t have slugs. Good luck this year!
I really like the daffidols on each side of your gate... You & your garden are doing great .. Swiss chard is always a good thing to grow , I have always loved it ..
Hi again, excuse me if your question about slugs has been answered in this or an updated video (I paused this one at 8:53 to write this). The problem for the veg is that things keep eating it - slugs. So a problem FOR the slugs is if things kept eating them - frogs. If you are able to add a little pond on your allotment and attract frogs, they will do a fantastic job with the slugs. If you are not allowed a pond get some oddly shaped rocks and arrange them to provide many shaded, cool hiding areas which will remain damp for long periods of time. Frogs would love this. Flies and ants eating your crops, get something to eat the ants - lady birds do this. You seem to be really enjoying the allotment and it looks fantastic. Going now to finish this video, then watch the next :)
Thankyou for your videos. Your allotment is lovely! I live in Australia and am trying to create an English style garden as much as our climate will let me. I am looking forward to seeing your progress as your gorgeous garden develops. Very jealous of your shed!
Such a lovely video once again Katie, everything is looking wonderful!!!! I'm really excited as in the morning I'm off to my plot as it's Saturday and that's officially allotment day, no matter what. You're so enthusiastic and it's clear you have a natural passion in everything you're doing, it's wonderful. Have a great weekend, John
Thank you so much John, I hope you had a lovely official allotment day today in this glorious weather! I'll be back up mine tomorrow because I spent too much time drinking tea today! :)
You're going to have the cutest allotment with the bunting and it's already so neat and tidy, I'm inspired. Going to check out that chard quiche now...
lovely as usual- you have a few pea weevil chomps on the young pea leaves- look closely and you'll see small (5mm) brown beetles on the soil. I'm starting an allotment this year- Im sure a video diary will help with ideas, so I'll get one up and running hopefully... Love the Kelly Kettle too...
Really good update, you make good videos, I enjoy them, planting my potatoes in the pots next week. You have everything in order on the plot..look forward to the next video. :-)
When my father was alive, he swore by this method to rid his beds of slugs and snails. He also felt he was giving them a good send off, if you know what I mean? :)
Katie, If you see ants, please check the leaves underneath for aphids. They have a symbiotic relationship so quite often if you have one, the other is close by.
Hi, Katie, it's Michele @ The Striped Rose - I hate ants! Here in Georgia all ants are biting ants as far as my ankles can tell. The only organic thing to get rid of them is boiling water, my ants laugh at pepper flakes and cinnamon. I cannot stand slugs either. I used Sluggo earlier this spring and it seems to have been effective. It is supposed to be "organic," and is OMRI listed. Other ideas for slugs that I have seen are crushed eggshells or something that would be uncomfortable for their fat, nasty bodies to crawl over as a side dressing around your plants. Good luck! I cannot wait to see the bunting. :)
Looking very nice Katie. Our rules are 15x8 max size, this is because we are a water harvesting allotments which I support. I was excited yesterday when my Mason Bees started to come out if their cocoons which I have captured on camara for my next allotment episode. nice videos and keep up the great work. Gary Torquay
Thank you Gary :) A 15 x 8 foot shed?! You could live in that! :) I'm planning on having a wildlife corner, it sounds lovely to have the bees buzzing around :)
Lavender and Leeks We do have large plots. 300 sq yards some of them. Yes, Get into Mason Bees I could sit on my plot and watch them all day ! Keep up your great videos keep makong them. :-)
Lavender and Leeks We do have large plots. 300 sq yards some of them. Yes, Get into Mason Bees I could sit on my plot and watch them all day ! Keep up your great videos keep makong them. :-)
Lovely channel. I found you by following a trail of comments and various videos and, eventually, I ended up here which was a good result... I usually end up in the weird parts of TH-cam. Just got yourself another sub. Best Wishes, Brendan.
Hi Katie. Can I make a suggestion? A few times in your videos you have called the earth "dirt". When I was at school our rural science teacher told us never to call it dirt it is much too valuable to call dirt and that has always stayed with me. I love your vids and think you are pretty cool. Keep them coming.
Hi Katie, you can buy an organic slug deterrent in the form of pellets made out of sheeps wool ! There called slug gone and you can find them on amazon.
Hey Katie, the plots really taking shape and looking good, make sure to keep on top of the weeding before it gets out of hand as everything is growing apace at the moment, I wonder how many of those strawberries will actually make it through the new gate as I can just picture you having many a cream tea on the plot come the summer months :0)
Hi and Thank you. I've let the weeding go a little due to work and putting my fence up, I've also been helping my Dad on his new plot but this weekend I am going to weed everything! Haha I'm thinking that too and I just can't wait :)
Try giving the garlic a feed of Epsom Salts dissolved in water. It may be that the garlic needs some magnesium. The problem with slugs is that not enough things want to eat them. Toads and frogs are your best bet so a pond is a good idea. In the end though, slug pellets are the only thing I have found that stops the buggers eating my crops. Lovely update and looking forward to seeing how everything grows for you this year Katie. You are certainly off to a flyer. Well done.
Lavender and Leeks Frogs dont need water to live in they only need it too lay their eggs, so a sunken bucket or two is more than enough for them......If you make the effort they WILL come back year after year. Frogs live all over your garden in the WET BITS and eat all the BAD bits [slugs]
Re the ants on your broad beans - they are there to 'milk' the aphids of honeydew, a secretion that blackfly or aphids produce. Ants can cause soil disturbance via their many tunneled nest which can weaken any root growth. Lovely videos, very well presented by a cool Lady. Thank you.
lovely up date do not forget chard comes back every year so you could leave c couple in one place were you do not mind it staying lovely update as always
Thank you Linda, I had never even heard about chard before last year and definately never knew it grew back every year. The thing is that my allotment is so tiny that its hard to fit everything in!
You can do something very cute with the ladder. Paint it a bright color like red or yellow and then put cute pots of blooming flowers on the steps of it all the way up, just have fun decorating it, & set a cute brightly painted water can on top. You can even paint "Lavender & Leeks" on the side of the watering can. =) Hope that helps!
Oh very creative Angela, I like your style! Although I really don't have any room for my ladder, especially if I want to create a mini wild patch with a toadstool seat and table in it :) I do have some little crates which I'm going to stencil my name onto :)
Katie, i love your video's. I've just acquired a plot and its all rush trying to get it into some kind of shape in time. its a bit overgrown. Fingers crossed. Must say though, i love your shed. Classic :)
Thank you :) my dad is in the same position as you but it's such an exciting time of year and it will be worth it in the end, good luck with your allotment :)
went at it today, digging the weeds and turning it with a fork. Met 3 of the "old boys" who were fantastic and gave me some great advice. So far its going how i hoped it would. Great exercise too but definately more fun than going to the gym. lol Great craic had and every day is a school day.
An idea for slugs is to physically remove them, using a small length of guttering place upside down around your plot for the slugs to hide under in the daytime. Then if you know where a local fox likes to pass by then put them in a bowl each evening for the fox to nibble on :-) ... not perfect but helps the urban foxes get by early in the year.
The problem I have with ants in my beans is they "farm" aphids. The ants dont do any damage but the aphids take over and stunt the bean plants. ive always kept an eye out and use the water hose to spray the aphids off. This year I am trying companion planting with nasturtium. They are supposed to work as a sacrificial plant. I'm excited to see how well it works. Your garden looks beautiful. Thanks for sharing - Maggie.
Oh no! I am really interested in companion planting and will do a video on what I've learnt so far. I've heard Summer Savory is great for beans to as it deters aphids so I am exerimenting with that this year. Thank you so much Maggie :)
Katie, I am not from the UK but I have been viewing videos of allotments and it is just so interesting to see the planting styles and comparing how I plant my garden and how the allotments work. But I still don't understand how you all get the allotments. Do you buy them, rent them, or just how does that work?
Hello Annette and thank you for watching. Basically we rent plots from the local parish council who own the allotment sites, mine costs me £7 a year but I know some people who pay more then £100 a year. We don't really officially own them but every village has the right to an allotment site to accommodate the people. I guess we have allotments because out gardens are just far too small to grow vegetables in! I hope this helps? :)
Your fence and gate look wonderful. Looking forward to seeing that bunting! I'm curious about your hot water boiler. Is it commonly available? BTW, the ashes from your "kettle" sprinkled around your plants will discourage slugs and snails. They don't like the feel of it.
Thank you, they are falling a part a little now and need replacing... The kettle was called a Ghillie kettle and I think you Americans call them Storm kettles? They can be found online anyway
Hi Katie, just wanted to touch on your garlic....when did you plant it and what variety is it? I have planted loads of garlic on my plot...all different varieties....some are thin stemmed and some are really thick stemmed (Germidour seems to beat them all) so it might be the variety....also did you know that garlic needs frost to divide properly....hence the question re planting time....I never knew but planted mine in Oct last year and hope that I got away with it despite the mild, relatively "frostless" winter...also the yellowness you mentioned in one of your earlier videos could be down to all the rain we had.....mine was quite yellow, but now looks ok(ish) shame I can't send you a pic.....Happy Gardening!
Hello Iris and thank you for watching :) The garlic I planted is called Marco and it is starting to thicken up slightly. I knew about the frost part and that it doesn't like too much water which probably explains the yellow tips seeing as our winter has been rubbish for rain this year! It will be very interesting to see how it turns out as I have never grown garlic before, I do hate root vegetables when you don't know what's going on under the ground! :)
How exciting to find this channel. Just got an allotment and need organic potatoes seeds. Does someone know which website I can order some? Thanks. Gaby
+Galabina Yordanova Thank you for watching and congratulations on getting an allotment! I can't help you regarding the organic potatoes but try searching for them on google and something will pop up :)
Hi Katie nice channel. Cannot figure out why broad beans cannot be grown near garlic or vice versa! Can you elaborate it is a new one on me and mine are quite close together at the moment and wondered what I can expect? ta
Hello and thank you for watching :) I stumbled across it a few times when looking into companion planting, it was in the list of what not to plant next to what. Apparently the beans stunts the garlic a growth and the garlic doesn't like nitrogen :s it will be interesting to see how mine turn out to be honest :)
use porridge oats for slugs they eat it and swell up ,or beer traps work well ,its to early for catapillars looks like slug, you no chard comes back each year if you leave it
Wow thank you! I might give this a go as those slug wool pellets are rather expensive. I never realised this but my chard has to move because I have rotation beds, it will be moving to my fruit bed though :)
Take the flowers off the 1st year strawberry plants, the ones taken from the runners - trust me, you'll get a much healthier and more productive plants in their 2nd year.
Never heard of this before! I know 2nd year plants produce lots and my 2nd year plants produced so much fruit this year but I never touched them during their first year, and they have me lots of fruit then too :)
Put some diatomaceous earth around slug prone plants. They apparently don't like the feeling and wont crawl over it. I would assume wood mulch would work as well?
Diatomaceous earth...yes, should do nicely. It cuts those little boogers' bellies...slugs and snails. You are blessed, Katie, to have your dad, but... Hey, what's keeping those woolie-critters from sneaking under the gate? Isn't that how Peter Rabbit got into Mr. McGreger's (sp) garden? Gee...4 years since you put out this video. I expect you've experienced some changes through the years.
you can drip melted beeswax over and cuts you make on the vine, ideally any pruning should be done when the vine is dormant. I made the same mistake as you, all the cuts I made were weeping :(.
What does the beeswax do exactly? I knew that it was the wrong time to prune but my dog Barry decided to prune it early by snapping it in half. Silly dog!
I saw what the Dog had done :(, Dogs, cats and gardening don't mix well, I've lost loads of plants over the years. I have a small Jack/terrier X and 2 cats. I smear Deep Heat cream on used Tea bags and place a few around where they are visiting, it works fairly well :D. The beeswax will seal where you make any cuts and apart from stopping it weeping I think it also guards against any infections getting in. I got mine from an Ebay store, its only a few pounds, posted. We have foxes and Mice on our plots but thankfully no Dear.
great vids and a beautiful woman what else could we want. The ants can be a right pain loosening the soil up to much but will also control the black-fly that tend to high-jack the broad beans. just keep a check on the ant situation. I did the same with my broad-beans and onions as you did with the garlic luckily I had a full bed of onions so just pulled the other onions up as they cam up Anyway keep the vids coming.
Malorie Thompson THAT is one product that there is no question of it's efficacy and it only takes a tiny bit where you're seeing slugs or snails. Then, it may be years before you see any more. I don't like using stuff like that, but when it comes to slugs and snails, I make that exception!
I've used this too and it's great. When I moved into our new house the garden was quite literally dripping with snails and slugs. It was awful. A couple of weeks of tossing Slug-O around worked wonders. By the next growing season they were all but gone.
Use coffee waste from somewhere like Starbucks/ Costa which you can get for free, Bugs don't like it and rodents don't like the strong smell so it is a great deterrent without being harmful to them.
Thanks for the tip, I've heard wonders of using coffee waste and wish I lived near a starbucks to pick bags up regularly. Maybe I'll have to start drinking coffee :)
Slugs; set a saucer of beer so the rim is level with your soil. shelter it with a tile or sheet of wood raised on stones so no rain can get into it. slugs & snails drink & die.
Now then, if I had a fence like that I would experiment with a craft I've seen that incorporates a cross stich using the metal like the material - google "fence cross stich" or have a look at this poppygall.com/blog/2010/04/14/design-inspiration-lace-fence/ for an idea. I think it looks fab! Sounds like you are doing with hazel as I am trying to do, to create an archway, it'll be lovely to see how they turnout. Certainly my fedge has worked really well that way. And I agree - everyone *needs* bunting! Best wishes, Kay
Wow! That is beautiful! Thank you for the inspiration Kay :) I'm going to pick up my hazel tomorrow and I am I excited, although I have no idea how to make an archway :s I'll be sure to watch yours and others youtube videos for ideas :)
Love your videos. I don't know what kind of ants you have in the UK, but here in Southern California we have been invaded by Argentinian ants (more ants means more aphids). I tried everything and then discovered a device that was tested by our local university. It is the only thing that has worked. You can see it here: www.kmantpro.com/ I put four around the perimeter of my home. Perhaps in a future show you can talk about the device you were putting scraps of wood into. I assume it was to heat water for your tea. I've never seen such a thing. Thanks for sharing your garden. Debbie
"Everyone needs bunting" - I couldn't agree more, I can't get enough of it!!
So glad someone agrees! The more the merrier eh?
Katie. I just love you channel. Thank you for all of your ideas. My favorite is the gate area, I like how you have the angle the area to enter . I can't wait to see what comes next.
Hi, for your slug problem, try sprinkling a lot of roughly crushed eggshells onto the top of your soil. Also, sprinkle hardwood ashes on top of the soil. Put several roof shingles or 1 foot sections of carpet here and there between your plants and check under them in the morning. Any slugs that are under there, just sprinkle them with salt. It kills them in a short time. Scoop the salt up and dispose of it after it does the job, as you don`t want to salinate your soil too much. Only mulch where you don`t have slugs. Good luck this year!
I really like the daffidols on each side of your gate... You & your garden are doing great .. Swiss chard is always a good thing to grow , I have always loved it ..
They help to make the allotment a little brighter :) Thank you and yes, I love Swiss chard too!
What a sweet little garden you have made!
I especially love the dusty amethyst paint on you shed.
Michigan Garden Girl
USA
Wow every thing looks great! Love the fence!
Hi again, excuse me if your question about slugs has been answered in this or an updated video (I paused this one at 8:53 to write this).
The problem for the veg is that things keep eating it - slugs. So a problem FOR the slugs is if things kept eating them - frogs.
If you are able to add a little pond on your allotment and attract frogs, they will do a fantastic job with the slugs. If you are not allowed a pond get some oddly shaped rocks and arrange them to provide many shaded, cool hiding areas which will remain damp for long periods of time. Frogs would love this.
Flies and ants eating your crops, get something to eat the ants - lady birds do this.
You seem to be really enjoying the allotment and it looks fantastic. Going now to finish this video, then watch the next :)
Great update lovely little plot
Thankyou for your videos. Your allotment is lovely! I live in Australia and am trying to create an English style garden as much as our climate will let me. I am looking forward to seeing your progress as your gorgeous garden develops. Very jealous of your shed!
Such a lovely video once again Katie, everything is looking wonderful!!!!
I'm really excited as in the morning I'm off to my plot as it's Saturday and that's officially allotment day, no matter what.
You're so enthusiastic and it's clear you have a natural passion in everything you're doing, it's wonderful.
Have a great weekend, John
Thank you so much John, I hope you had a lovely official allotment day today in this glorious weather! I'll be back up mine tomorrow because I spent too much time drinking tea today! :)
You're going to have the cutest allotment with the bunting and it's already so neat and tidy, I'm inspired. Going to check out that chard quiche now...
Awh Thank you Laura :) The quiche is very yummy!
Looking forward to your future episodes. Great video. Thanks
lovely as usual- you have a few pea weevil chomps on the young pea leaves- look closely and you'll see small (5mm) brown beetles on the soil.
I'm starting an allotment this year- Im sure a video diary will help with ideas, so I'll get one up and running hopefully...
Love the Kelly Kettle too...
Really good update, you make good videos, I enjoy them, planting my potatoes in the pots next week. You have everything in order on the plot..look forward to the next video. :-)
Hi Katie. Im enjoying your videos. Beer in a low dish, like a pie tin kills snails and slugs.
When my father was alive, he swore by this method to rid his beds of slugs and snails. He also felt he was giving them a good send off, if you know what I mean? :)
Katie,
If you see ants, please check the leaves underneath for aphids. They have a symbiotic relationship so quite often if you have one, the other is close by.
Brightened my day. Thank you.
Hi, Katie, it's Michele @ The Striped Rose - I hate ants! Here in Georgia all ants are biting ants as far as my ankles can tell. The only organic thing to get rid of them is boiling water, my ants laugh at pepper flakes and cinnamon. I cannot stand slugs either. I used Sluggo earlier this spring and it seems to have been effective. It is supposed to be "organic," and is OMRI listed. Other ideas for slugs that I have seen are crushed eggshells or something that would be uncomfortable for their fat, nasty bodies to crawl over as a side dressing around your plants. Good luck! I cannot wait to see the bunting. :)
Looking very nice Katie. Our rules are 15x8 max size, this is because we are a water harvesting allotments which I support. I was excited yesterday when my Mason Bees started to come out if their cocoons which I have captured on camara for my next allotment episode. nice videos and keep up the great work. Gary Torquay
Thank you Gary :)
A 15 x 8 foot shed?! You could live in that! :)
I'm planning on having a wildlife corner, it sounds lovely to have the bees buzzing around :)
Lavender and Leeks We do have large plots. 300 sq yards some of them. Yes, Get into Mason Bees I could sit on my plot and watch them all day ! Keep up your great videos keep makong them. :-)
Lavender and Leeks We do have large plots. 300 sq yards some of them. Yes, Get into Mason Bees I could sit on my plot and watch them all day ! Keep up your great videos keep makong them. :-)
Lovely channel. I found you by following a trail of comments and various videos and, eventually, I ended up here which was a good result... I usually end up in the weird parts of TH-cam. Just got yourself another sub.
Best Wishes, Brendan.
Hello Brendan and thank you! I know what you mean, I often lose hours of time spent watching videos on TH-cam :)
Hi Katie. Can I make a suggestion? A few times in your videos you have called the earth "dirt". When I was at school our rural science teacher told us never to call it dirt it is much too valuable to call dirt and that has always stayed with me. I love your vids and think you are pretty cool. Keep them coming.
Lovely video cant wait for the next one
Love your vids. Keep on growing!!!
Hi Katie, you can buy an organic slug deterrent in the form of pellets made out of sheeps wool ! There called slug gone and you can find them on amazon.
Hey Katie, the plots really taking shape and looking good, make sure to keep on top of the weeding before it gets out of hand as everything is growing apace at the moment, I wonder how many of those strawberries will actually make it through the new gate as I can just picture you having many a cream tea on the plot come the summer months :0)
Hi and Thank you. I've let the weeding go a little due to work and putting my fence up, I've also been helping my Dad on his new plot but this weekend I am going to weed everything! Haha I'm thinking that too and I just can't wait :)
Try giving the garlic a feed of Epsom Salts dissolved in water. It may be that the garlic needs some magnesium. The problem with slugs is that not enough things want to eat them. Toads and frogs are your best bet so a pond is a good idea. In the end though, slug pellets are the only thing I have found that stops the buggers eating my crops. Lovely update and looking forward to seeing how everything grows for you this year Katie. You are certainly off to a flyer. Well done.
Thank you Aaron. I wish I had room for a pond but my plot is so tiny theres hardly any room for vegetables! :)
Lavender and Leeks Frogs dont need water to live in they only need it too lay their eggs, so a sunken bucket or two is more than enough for them......If you make the effort they WILL come back year after year. Frogs live all over your garden in the WET BITS and eat all the BAD bits [slugs]
Beautiful allotment!
Hi Katie, you can find slugs and snail killer in BQ, saying ( BIO slugs and snail ) it is save for organic grower
Re the ants on your broad beans - they are there to 'milk' the aphids of honeydew, a secretion that blackfly or aphids produce. Ants can cause soil disturbance via their many tunneled nest which can weaken any root growth. Lovely videos, very well presented by a cool Lady. Thank you.
Great video & channel, keep up the good work!
Great Update Things Are Looking Good!
Love your kettle/water boiler, where you get it from?
lovely up date do not forget chard comes back every year so you could leave c couple in one place were you do not mind it staying lovely update as always
Thank you Linda, I had never even heard about chard before last year and definately never knew it grew back every year. The thing is that my allotment is so tiny that its hard to fit everything in!
if you got a small planter that you can keep at the edge of one of your beds it be happy
www.ghorganics.com/page2.html#ALFALFA: thought you might like a look at this
You can do something very cute with the ladder. Paint it a bright color like red or yellow and then put cute pots of blooming flowers on the steps of it all the way up, just have fun decorating it, & set a cute brightly painted water can on top. You can even paint "Lavender & Leeks" on the side of the watering can. =) Hope that helps!
Oh very creative Angela, I like your style! Although I really don't have any room for my ladder, especially if I want to create a mini wild patch with a toadstool seat and table in it :) I do have some little crates which I'm going to stencil my name onto :)
Sounds good! =)
Great update. leave the chard as it will keep growing, broad beans look ok and peas too!
Thanks, The chard has to go I'm afraid as I have rotation beds. I will be growing some chard in my fruit cage though :)
Katie, i love your video's. I've just acquired a plot and its all rush trying to get it into some kind of shape in time. its a bit overgrown. Fingers crossed. Must say though, i love your shed. Classic :)
Thank you :) my dad is in the same position as you but it's such an exciting time of year and it will be worth it in the end, good luck with your allotment :)
went at it today, digging the weeds and turning it with a fork. Met 3 of the "old boys" who were fantastic and gave me some great advice. So far its going how i hoped it would. Great exercise too but definately more fun than going to the gym. lol Great craic had and every day is a school day.
I have herd that if you sprinkle coffee grounds around the border or the plot, the slugs don't cross it. I tried it. Don't know if it works yet.
Katie is such a sweet heart :):):)
An idea for slugs is to physically remove them, using a small length of guttering place upside down around your plot for the slugs to hide under in the daytime. Then if you know where a local fox likes to pass by then put them in a bowl each evening for the fox to nibble on :-) ... not perfect but helps the urban foxes get by early in the year.
The nibbles on the broad bean leaf margins are vine weavels
The problem I have with ants in my beans is they "farm" aphids. The ants dont do any damage but the aphids take over and stunt the bean plants. ive always kept an eye out and use the water hose to spray the aphids off. This year I am trying companion planting with nasturtium. They are supposed to work as a sacrificial plant. I'm excited to see how well it works. Your garden looks beautiful. Thanks for sharing - Maggie.
Oh no! I am really interested in companion planting and will do a video on what I've learnt so far. I've heard Summer Savory is great for beans to as it deters aphids so I am exerimenting with that this year. Thank you so much Maggie :)
Will have to try the summer savory as well. Every bit helps. Thanks!
What's the tea kettle brand name? I want to buy one. Many thanks. ATL, USA
You did excellent job. DID YOU TRY THE BEER IN THE DISH NEXT TO BOARD BEANS PLANT TO ATTRACT THE SLUG?
chervil is also a companion with strawberry.
Katie, I am not from the UK but I have been viewing videos of allotments and it is just so interesting to see the planting styles and comparing how I plant my garden and how the allotments work. But I still don't understand how you all get the allotments. Do you buy them, rent them, or just how does that work?
Hello Annette and thank you for watching. Basically we rent plots from the local parish council who own the allotment sites, mine costs me £7 a year but I know some people who pay more then £100 a year. We don't really officially own them but every village has the right to an allotment site to accommodate the people. I guess we have allotments because out gardens are just far too small to grow vegetables in! I hope this helps? :)
A lovely update and a lovely plot. If you make it any more homely they'll start charging you Council Tax hahaha x
Your fence and gate look wonderful. Looking forward to seeing that bunting! I'm curious about your hot water boiler. Is it commonly available? BTW, the ashes from your "kettle" sprinkled around your plants will discourage slugs and snails. They don't like the feel of it.
Thank you, they are falling a part a little now and need replacing... The kettle was called a Ghillie kettle and I think you Americans call them Storm kettles? They can be found online anyway
The semi circular chomps at the edges of the broad bean leaves will be bean weevil damage.
Hi Katie, just wanted to touch on your garlic....when did you plant it and what variety is it? I have planted loads of garlic on my plot...all different varieties....some are thin stemmed and some are really thick stemmed (Germidour seems to beat them all) so it might be the variety....also did you know that garlic needs frost to divide properly....hence the question re planting time....I never knew but planted mine in Oct last year and hope that I got away with it despite the mild, relatively "frostless" winter...also the yellowness you mentioned in one of your earlier videos could be down to all the rain we had.....mine was quite yellow, but now looks ok(ish) shame I can't send you a pic.....Happy Gardening!
Hello Iris and thank you for watching :)
The garlic I planted is called Marco and it is starting to thicken up slightly. I knew about the frost part and that it doesn't like too much water which probably explains the yellow tips seeing as our winter has been rubbish for rain this year! It will be very interesting to see how it turns out as I have never grown garlic before, I do hate root vegetables when you don't know what's going on under the ground! :)
How exciting to find this channel. Just got an allotment and need organic potatoes seeds. Does someone know which website I can order some? Thanks. Gaby
+Galabina Yordanova Thank you for watching and congratulations on getting an allotment! I can't help you regarding the organic potatoes but try searching for them on google and something will pop up :)
Frogs are great for controlling slugs, chickens are great too...if space permits = )
Copper pipe or wire will give the slugs a shock and will keep them away from your garden. Give it a try!
Hi Katie nice channel. Cannot figure out why broad beans cannot be grown near garlic or vice versa! Can you elaborate it is a new one on me and mine are quite close together at the moment and wondered what I can expect?
ta
Hello and thank you for watching :) I stumbled across it a few times when looking into companion planting, it was in the list of what not to plant next to what. Apparently the beans stunts the garlic a growth and the garlic doesn't like nitrogen :s it will be interesting to see how mine turn out to be honest :)
use porridge oats for slugs they eat it and swell up ,or beer traps work well ,its to early for catapillars looks like slug, you no chard comes back each year if you leave it
Wow thank you! I might give this a go as those slug wool pellets are rather expensive. I never realised this but my chard has to move because I have rotation beds, it will be moving to my fruit bed though :)
P.S..in regards to the slugs etc..my Dad used to put salt around the plant itself..seemed to work. :-)
Take the flowers off the 1st year strawberry plants, the ones taken from the runners - trust me, you'll get a much healthier and more productive plants in their 2nd year.
Never heard of this before! I know 2nd year plants produce lots and my 2nd year plants produced so much fruit this year but I never touched them during their first year, and they have me lots of fruit then too :)
Put some diatomaceous earth around slug prone plants. They apparently don't like the feeling and wont crawl over it. I would assume wood mulch would work as well?
Diatomaceous earth...yes, should do nicely. It cuts those little boogers' bellies...slugs and snails. You are blessed, Katie, to have your dad, but... Hey, what's keeping those woolie-critters from sneaking under the gate? Isn't that how Peter Rabbit got into Mr. McGreger's (sp) garden? Gee...4 years since you put out this video. I expect you've experienced some changes through the years.
you can drip melted beeswax over and cuts you make on the vine, ideally any pruning should be done when the vine is dormant. I made the same mistake as you, all the cuts I made were weeping :(.
What does the beeswax do exactly? I knew that it was the wrong time to prune but my dog Barry decided to prune it early by snapping it in half. Silly dog!
I saw what the Dog had done :(, Dogs, cats and gardening don't mix well, I've lost loads of plants over the years. I have a small Jack/terrier X and 2 cats. I smear Deep Heat cream on used Tea bags and place a few around where they are visiting, it works fairly well :D. The beeswax will seal where you make any cuts and apart from stopping it weeping I think it also guards against any infections getting in. I got mine from an Ebay store, its only a few pounds, posted. We have foxes and Mice on our plots but thankfully no Dear.
u r brilliant.....
great vids and a beautiful woman what else could we want. The ants can be a right pain loosening the soil up to much but will also control the black-fly that tend to high-jack the broad beans. just keep a check on the ant situation. I did the same with my broad-beans and onions as you did with the garlic luckily I had a full bed of onions so just pulled the other onions up as they cam up Anyway keep the vids coming.
need some chicken wire along back fence gaps are big
chervil can deter slugs
For slugs : Sand, Hay or copper bands.
I think vine weevil is eating your broad beans leaves.
I agree, but they will grow out of it, I get that every year.
There is an organic product called Slug-O that will get rid of your slugs. :)
Malorie Thompson THAT is one product that there is no question of it's efficacy and it only takes a tiny bit where you're seeing slugs or snails. Then, it may be years before you see any more. I don't like using stuff like that, but when it comes to slugs and snails, I make that exception!
I've used this too and it's great. When I moved into our new house the garden was quite literally dripping with snails and slugs. It was awful. A couple of weeks of tossing Slug-O around worked wonders. By the next growing season they were all but gone.
We used to put beer in plastic cups ans sink them into the ground, slugs love beer, and they drown ib it. best of luck Katie
Katie in USA
great video update ... could you send me a link to your blog :-)
Hi Kim, I have all my links in the descriptions of all my videos but here is the link to my blog just incase :) www.lavenderandleeks.co.uk
got it thank you
The bunting will do double duty, scaring crows....
About the ants...does England have leaf-cutter ants?
Use coffee waste from somewhere like Starbucks/ Costa which you can get for free, Bugs don't like it and rodents don't like the strong smell so it is a great deterrent without being harmful to them.
Thanks for the tip, I've heard wonders of using coffee waste and wish I lived near a starbucks to pick bags up regularly. Maybe I'll have to start drinking coffee :)
The bite marks on the edges of your bean leaves are probably weevils by the way :)
put some hooks on side of hut for ladder
Pistachio shells keep slugs away :)
still no protection on wood
Slugs; set a saucer of beer so the rim is level with your soil. shelter it with a tile or sheet of wood raised on stones so no rain can get into it. slugs & snails drink & die.
Now then, if I had a fence like that I would experiment with a craft I've seen that incorporates a cross stich using the metal like the material - google "fence cross stich" or have a look at this poppygall.com/blog/2010/04/14/design-inspiration-lace-fence/ for an idea. I think it looks fab!
Sounds like you are doing with hazel as I am trying to do, to create an archway, it'll be lovely to see how they turnout. Certainly my fedge has worked really well that way.
And I agree - everyone *needs* bunting!
Best wishes, Kay
Wow! That is beautiful! Thank you for the inspiration Kay :)
I'm going to pick up my hazel tomorrow and I am I excited, although I have no idea how to make an archway :s I'll be sure to watch yours and others youtube videos for ideas :)
Love your videos. I don't know what kind of ants you have in the UK, but here in Southern California we have been invaded by Argentinian ants (more ants means more aphids). I tried everything and then discovered a device that was tested by our local university. It is the only thing that has worked. You can see it here: www.kmantpro.com/ I put four around the perimeter of my home.
Perhaps in a future show you can talk about the device you were putting scraps of wood into. I assume it was to heat water for your tea. I've never seen such a thing. Thanks for sharing your garden. Debbie
use diatomaceous earth
Que guapa.
Re the forget me nots, l'd recommend getting rid - sorry but they spread like wildfire.
Thanks for the tip but I'll be keeping them, the shop assistant gave me some advice about them when I brought them but I love them so much :)
Dont you mean Daddys allotment, noway you did all that lol
Believe it or not, girls can do hard work too. If you want to watch "Daddy's" allotment update, then it's on another video :)
Lavender and Leeks Ignore Him he must be a total Dick to even say that.