After having an allotment for 10 years I thought I'd share what goes on. I hope to show you what's possible for someone low on budget and time, but with plenty of enthusiasm. I'm no expert but I know the basics, you may learn something, you may not, but there's only one way to find out.
Cheers
Dave
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Your new plot is similar to mine dave, i have 7 beds just took the plot over in april { slowly getting there alot of work was and still is needed). But i have grass paths and im thinking about taking tops off and making them maybe into hard soil paths or maybe putting bark down .. just wondering have you ever thought of doing this ?.. im just sick of getting mower out every few weeks 😂
@@SteveSmith-iz1oj keeping the grass trimmed is a constant job and a bit of a pain and I have considered alternatives. You need a lot of bark chippings and unless you've got a big supply on hand to keep it topped up it'll end up thin and weeds will come through. The plus of grass for me is if I'm doing some quick weeding I can just throw the odd weed or two onto the grass and no harm done. So basically I would make into wood chip paths if I had the resource on tap, but I don't so grass it is. Hope that helps , cheers
Great job Dave 👏 Kasia Gerald and kiddies from Ireland 🇮🇪
Thanks, I've managed to keep on top of it since, but it's a lot of hard work . Keeps me fit I suppose. Thanks for the comment. Cheers
Just seen this dave ... can't beat working on an allotmen in November in a pair of addidas sambas ..quality 😂
I think my trusty old boots had just fallen apart for the second and last time then. Although iconic in look I'm not sure the Adidas samba has the right level of waterproofing required ;)
Hi gudm'ng 👋. . Am Vims.. u hired people to work??
Hi Vims, I wish I did hire people to do the weeding sometimes. It's just me but I get a lot of satisfaction when I look back and think I did that. Thanks for the comment. Cheers
Aawwhhh, no one wanted to play my game 😥 I'll take all the points then. #1 - 0:09 - walking the path #2 - 0:15 - hoeing a bed #3 - 0:20 - strimming a path #4 - 0:38 - fall into pond (bonus point) #5 - 0:47 - wet Dave coming around fruit trees #6 - 0:55 - strimming a path #7 - 1:36 - peeking behind the fern #8 - 2:00 - walking by the gooseberries #9 - 2:32 - walking by the raspberries #10 - 2:58 - coming out of the shed slash greenhouse #11 - 3:13 - carrying a watering can #12 - 3:28 - carrying a garden hoe #13 - 3:52 - behind the grassy knoll
I would have joined in myself but thought that was a bit unfair. You get all the points , well done! And thanks for your dedication. I've pinned your comment so all can appreciate your efforts. Thankyou
Quick question dave, you ever thought of using a rotovator when you first did your blank canvas ,, I have an option of using one end of year from a friend.. must admit though I don't mind a bit digging but my 51yr old back hates it 😂
I have considered it yes, on my old plot I had a lot of couch grass and effectively chopping that up into more and more smaller peices that could sprout was the danger there so avoided rotavating there. On the new plot in hindsight rotavating would have been a good option I think, maybe I'm a glutton for punishment? So basically if there's nothing in the soil weed wise that would be chopped into smaller bits and cause you more issues, and the soil could do with breaking into smaller chunks, go for it. Apologies my answer is not as quick as your question :)
New to the allotment game and your videos just keep me going knowing hardcwork does pay off ...even when stuff gets eaten or weather hits hard 😂
Thanks for the great comment, I still get daunted sometimes if there's a lot to do , nothing is ever perfect, as long as it's enjoyable overall you've got to take the rough with the smooth. Keep at it . Cheers
Dave to Dave. "You were meant to move the tree, not blow the bloody roots off!
Haha , maybe we will have to have a tree update soon
Guttering for a water butt for water in mid summer?
I think it was March when I did this, it's been filling up ever since, it has been fairly wet till now, good for rain collection I guess. Cheers
A fast way to test viability of seeds is to use a plastic take away box with lid. Place damp kitchen towel inside folded. Within the folds place seeds. Wait between 5 to 7days. I purchased some bird's eye chilli's from a spice store just recently, and did this test and it was positive. Have planted 12 seeds. Many commercial (supermarket) fruit and veg are F1 and seeds are not viable.
I might give this a go next time, good luck with your seeds, and thanks for the tip. Cheers
Thats the esoteric box ticked.
I'm hoping that's a good thing. I wonder sometimes how much Dave is the right level of Dave. Cheers
Just got an allotment 6 beds with grass paths dug 2 beds over think I'm going to cover the other 4 with plastic and start again early next year
It can be daunting knowing where to start , keep going , bit by bit you'll get there. Then all you have to worry about is keeping on top of it all ;) as long as you enjoy it , that's the main thing. Good luck !
That was fun 😁but missed your dialog ! Beautiful sounds of the birds puts me right at ease, just amazing!!! Love the foxgloves and daisies, everything looking great. Oh that ''Splash'' ....if i had a pound for every time i fell into my pond 🤣😂🤪Dunno why it is , me and water, i always end up in it! As if it hasn't been wet enough🙃 That's a nice idea for trimming the pathways, very handy. How many Dave's are they😁??? Lovely video thanks Dave
You can't beat the gentle sounds of nature can you, not to worry, I'll enhance them with some nonsense chat in the next video. You can probably see me dripping in some of the shots after I forgot where the pond was, it was the deep end too! How many Dave's? Never enough I find , especially when it comes to weeding. Thanks for the support. Cheers
Delightful Dave 😂
Glad you enjoyed it. Thankyou
What was the big splash did something or someone go in a pond? Loved the nice calming video and tunes.
Haha that was me forgetting where the pond was, don't worry it's only 3 feet deep, I've dried out now :) thanks for the comment, cheers
LOL - Let's all play a time stamp game and find all the Daves: 1st Dave spotted at 0:09 - walking the path
First points to you, well done! I should maybe have included some "hidden" Dave's for the eagle eyed viewer. I'm guessing you heard the splosh of me forgetting where the pond was. Some of those Dave's had a really wet leg! Glad you enjoyed it, cheers
Your allotment looks great just off to do some work on mine
Thankyou, it was a bit overgrown in some parts last week, but a few days of effort and it started to look a lot better. Hope the weather is kind for you. Cheers
@@DigDaveDig thanks so do I weve had so much rain here on Merseyside recently
Very nice. I can tell it wasn't filmed this year because it's not raining.
Haha , I managed to grab 5 minutes of relative dryness, till I stepped in the pond, it's been miserable hasn't it. Cheers
Peace and quiet. Piece of peace. ❤
I need to stop and soak it in a bit more I think. But it's the best background noise there is. Thankyou
Cheap Chinese crap. Buy 4 happy meals and you get one with your order. 😂😂. Grow things that don’t need a tunnel/ green house till you can afford a proper one. May sound nasty but will save money in the long run.
Okay. Someone else had slug issues, and they used these plastic collars called slug halves to push into the soil around each seedling of about 6 inches growth. They are made of transparent green plastic and have a neck about 4 inches high, and an inner circumference of about 3 inches for courgettes, or other ground growing plants. They might be cheaperthan slug-mulch. Well, they are £14.99 /pack of 6, or £ 12.99 for 2 or more packs. Up to you. They seem to be working
Thankyou, I've just had a look, very interesting, you wouldn't think something that simple would work but reviews seem to suggest so. Thanks for the tip. Cheers
@@DigDaveDigthere's more about how to make the slug haloes from items you might already have. Or straw might help.
@@sianwarwick633 it's too late for the current batch of courgettes, they've all been eaten, but I've got my emergency batch germinating so planning ahead for those using tips from the comments, so thanks for the suggestions. I may try and make my own haloes, but still in the design stage in my head at the moment. Thanks again
My tomatoes and onions are slug dinner, first time ever they have done this 😡. Hopefully something survives to actually give us a harvest 😂. Happy growing, Ali 🌧️🇨🇦
Really they ate your onions and tomatoes😮💨 that's just dreadful, never thought in a million years they eat onions, it's worst year ever in living memory for slug damage. I guess i'm lucky so , at least i have onions. I'm going to try again, it's all we can do!
Good luck with what you have left, seems it's not only me that has a problem and it's not just the UK. I'm going back to the plot shortly , so fingers crossed it's not got worse. Hope you get some relief from it too. Cheers
@@DigDaveDig Fingers crossed 😁
Hi Dave. What a bugger aye. Here in NZ we have a product called Slug no more. It is a wool repellent that is a highly effective barrier against slugs and snails. Minute wool fires act as barbs that irritate and repel them. Slugs hate wool.
Thanks for the tip, it's never normally this bad, I'm gonna go back down to the plot soon , assess the situation and come up with a plan to protect the last of the pumpkins. I'll look into the wool thing though , cheers
That is disappointing Dave but you still have the Jack O' Lanterns to take care of. Have you tried beer traps or a bit of wood on the ground to see how many slugs you got around. They usually hide under a plank and you can take a peek in the morning and see what is there. A few boards scattered through the plot you may find out if one part is worse than the other. I've lost most of my cucumbers this year, thought I had done a good job of hardening them off but once in the ground and the first sunny day they burned to a crisp and didn't recover. I've started some more seeds and will see what happens.
I may need to be quite overprotective with the pumpkins I've got left, hopefully weather will be less wet soon. I'm going to have to try something, maybe beer traps and other things. Sorry to hear about your cucumbers, hope your next batch works out. I'm going to see what else I can sow. Cheers
Dave😄 we're all in the same boat, everyone i have spoken to are having a dreadful time of it, everything eaten. You have me on the chiles....never seen that happen before! You di'nt do anything wrong, them plants were fine to go out! Things can only get better, never seen you beat yet😁
I've got to say I was a bit disappointed but onwards and upwards, I could maybe have taken more precautions but it is what it is. I think there are slugs and maybe ants or aphids on the chillies. Ah well still time to sow more courgettes. Cheers
Another great video, especially the music!
Cheers Nabeel
I’ve sown a huge amount of flower seeds but even time I put any out they never last the night. I’ll have a beautiful polytunnel but the beds will be a bit barren. There’s nothing worse than all your hard work being destroyed by bloody slugs. I feel for you.
Thanks, just seems worse this year. Hope you get some success. Thanks for the comment. Cheers
Definitely re-sow them, should be up in a week. I'm already preparing for next year 😂
I'll try some more, just need to take more care of them I think, hopefully will be less damp soon. Good luck. Cheers
my courgettes and cucumbers got wrecked too mate, been great fun
really bad year isn't it - keep going
Can you not cheat and buy some plants? Not too late to resow courgette seeds, hope not anyway as thats what im doing.
I'm going to assess the courgettes again this weekend, can maybe sow some more , but pumpkins I think I'll just really look after the smaller ones and see how we go. Fingers crossed, I should have been more careful to start with to be honest. Oh well
@@DigDaveDig it's just been ideal slug weather, well done for avoiding slug pellets.🦔
@@majordog2399 cheers - hopefully the weather and the slugs will both dry up soon
Have you got aphids on those chilies ? They lodge in the spot between the stem and the leaf 🍃. So maybe that's not it. I like your outside open window houses. Interested in your choice of pumpkins
I think what is attacking the chillies is different to what's attacking everything else yes, I suspect ants perhaps but maybe aphids too, I'll spray them with washing up liquid next time I'm down there. I think I need to look at slug control also , but don't want to put any poison down so will investigate, cheers
@@DigDaveDig yep agree, no poison.
pumpkins were larger ones "Big Max" but they're all gone now, left with smaller Jack O Lantern ones - hopefully I can look after these ones better
Love the thumbnails Dave! Great video as always
Nothing on fire or exploding but I think we're getting there!
Aww Dave its gutting. Been a great winter and spring for slugs and snails. Not to cold and very very wet for months. very tough on us gardeners. Treat yourself to a bag of strulch. Mulch it round all your precious seedlings. Its worth the price to save all the time and effort you put into the young seedlings. Not to mention the cost of seeds or plant starts. Keep your ear out you may hear another allotmentteer has excess courgette starts they would be happy to give you. On the plus side the new windproof structure is great.
Thankyou , I was gutted to be honest with you, I should have taken more precautions, especially as all my sunflowers and sweet peas seem to be being eaten as soon as they come up. I'll definitely be guarding my remaining pumpkins with something like strulch. Like you say , the new windproof area does the job, you've got to look for the positives sometimes. Cheers
Keep on going on, shit happens 👍🇦🇺
I'll be honest , I was a bit disappointed but like you say , you got to keep going, maybe I'll be more careful next year. Still chance for sowing other crops this year too. cheers
Dont go for slug control then fella?
No, but it's never been this bad before, the odd nibble here and there usually, think it's the wet warm weather. Ah well, too late now
@@DigDaveDig aye. Know what you mean. Little sods aren’t they…
brother have you been outside this year lol
@@dialecticcoma haha
Doing the research before installing a wildlife pond at the bottom of the garden (only a four foot by three and a bit foot effort so no where near your effort), so thanks for the video.
Thanks for watching , I hope it was vaguely helpful, happy digging!
Great video Dave. Cheers.
Thankyou, glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for the commenting and letting me know
Great video. You should have called me to help!
I will next time I move it Nabeel :)
LOL, I don't like it over there, move it back please. 😉Good job though, I thought the frame was going to fall apart on the first roll. I also think the Dave measurement might take over Metric and Imperial way of things and I'm going to start using it. As a fellow nerd I love the shirt!
It probably won't stay there forever, that being said it's hardly portable. International harmony through the medium of a Dave length, that's the new goal. "Stay on target" hardly my mantra the way I work but good spot! Cheers
Good job brother, I want to see this agriculture success and appears your results ❤
Thankyou, and thanks for the comment
😂😂 I use a tape measure but 3 Dave’s deep works too. Squash arch or beans 🫘. Owwww 🤕 you rolled over me. How’s your back there Dave 🤦🏼♀️. Have a super week happy growing, Ali 🌧️🤦🏼♀️🇨🇦
It wasn't too heavy to be honest, as you know I've moved more awkward things in my time. Have a great week too, cheers
Hats off to you...that was a good one 😂
Ha ha nice one. I'm glad it's going down well , it could have been a very dull video without the little tweaks and bonus bits. Cheers
@@DigDaveDig Always love the bonus bits 😍
@@the_little_potager thankyou
'' 2 Dave's wide/ 3 Dave's Deep....love it! 🤣😂🤣 I see Nasturiums and sweet peas already been suggested, i think it would look great! It's a fine size frame, why not throw everything in. Sound test 2 and 4 done it for me...i was in stitches😁 At last summer is here Finally!!!! Plot looks amazing.
Glad you enjoyed it, I think I will try a few of the suggestions to be honest. Thanks for the comment, it's great to hear people are on the same wavelength humour wise. The weather definitely makes a difference and I'm glad with how it's looking. Thanks again
The Buster Keaton of Allotmenteering!😂 magnificent. Particularly enjoyed the interior monologue showing the decision-making process. ❤
Thanks, I'll take that description any day of the week. I'm glad people enjoy the videos I make, particularly as some of them aren't exactly traditional allotment video's, sometimes I'm in two minds where I'm going with a video but seems to work out mostly. Cheers
I broke a similar frame my mum had trying to move it. Always easier with someone to help. I did enjoy the video, top job
It would have been far easier and quicker to wait for someone to help me , but where's the fun in that ;) Thanks for the encouragement , cheers
We have this horrible kudzu type vine in (southern) Ontario. I advise against that. The vines wrap around each other, forming a rope, if there is not enough bedding structure for them to exploit.
I'll stay away from vines and Ivy I think , something temporary maybe , in case I move the frame again. I'll add Ontario to my viewer map, it's interesting to see where my viewers come from . Thanks for the comments
Definitely checking out the fridge/freezer chest moving video.
I'm not sure one of my videos from 4 years ago can quite match the "quality" of my current ones - but at least you'll see how far I have come I guess. Good Luck
Entertaining as ever. Is it sturdy enough for squash?
Thanks - I take pride in trying to make the boring into interesting, hopefully I do most of the time. It's probably more sturdy than it looks to be honest, its just not built for moving I guess. It could hold a small squash I'm sure, I've got some small pumpkins germinating , I might try one of them if my sweat peas fail. Thanks for the comment and maybe dangling squash is my goal for next year . Cheers
Climbingbeans in green, yellow and blue. Sweat peas, cucumbers would work i think.. or a tomatoe on every metalstick
I'm trying sweet peas and will probably attempt some beans as well - the tomatoes up each vertical is a good shout too, that might very well happen! - Thanks
Suggested climbers sweat pea you already mentioned. Nasturtiums are fast and can be trained up a trellis. Veg wise most of the winter squash will climb. I would suggest choosing a small to mid sized fruiting variety. ( kuri or Delicata would be my choice for flavour. ). Cucumbers would also be an option. Burpless does well in our Uk climate.
Thanks, I'll try some nasturtiums and sweet peas I think, and I've got some cucumber seeds so may try that as well. Thanks