Mulching The Boundary Beds

Nurses appointment today and then I hit the allotment and carried on working on the boundary beds, clearing the All Gold Raspberry canes, cutting them up, weeding and then giving them a layer of coffee grounds, and then filling up with mulch worthy woodchip from the car park.

Also started gathering all the tree branches and rotting wood to go into the bottom of the next raised bed. Wally arrived and made us both a cup of coffee, so I stopped and had a drink and a natter in his now propped up shed.

It appears I have two robins not just one and they are both so brave or foolish and come so close.

Photo above are the first four boundary beds that were weeded, given a layer of coffee grounds and then filled to the top with rotted mulch worthy wood chip from the car park. 

Boundary Beds 1 & 2

Boundary Bed 3

Boundary Bed 4 on the left Bed 5 yet to be mulched 

Boundary Beds 6 & 7 to be cleared and mulched 

View of the Boundary Beds from the main path.

Cutting Up The Christmas Tree

 

I cut back the All Gold Raspberries canes from the boundary bed, but only cut them up from the entrance to the Climbing Frame Greenhouse, before it was time to make a move home.

Christmas Tree rescued from under the Parchment Close road name sign on the 9th January.

The Kent & Stowe Sure Cut All Purpose Extra Power Loppers made short work of de branching the tree. I will cut the tree trunk into raised bed size lengths

The Kent & Stowe Sure Cut All Purpose Extra Power Loppers are my go too loppers now as they are the most comfortable and easiest to use from the three pairs I have, for use on larger branches.

View from the potting shed of todays cutting including the large bucket of All Gold Raspberries canes that will be added to the lower layer of another raised bed.

Feeding The Worms In The Hotbin

When I opened the Hotbin to put in kitchen scraps, there were lots of worms on top of the composting material. By the time I got my phone out to take a photo of them all, most had gone back inside the pile as they don't like the cold or the daylight.

A few of the slower worms who were braving the cold and the daylight, Next time I need to have my camera ready as get a photo of them all on the top of the heap.

Installing The Shredded Paper Dalek

A visit to the allotment this afternoon on the way home from seeing my daughter and grandson, and more work on getting the first of three new Daleks bedded in the ground

After finding a couple of empty flower buckets I bottomed out the excavation.

And removed the weed roots I could see.

Then lined the bottom of the excavation with magic cardboard.

Then placed the Dalek in the hole and leveled the Dalek so it was plumb.

A wheel barrow load of semi-path quality woodchip later, that was shoveled all round and trod in and it was done. Love the difference in colour between the outside and the rim that is under the lid. There are after all re-purposed free Dalek's from Freecycle. I have 18 of them and they have all come free, when people fall out of love with making compost in their back gardens.

Magic Cardboard was watered in so it would relax onto the bottom of the excavation. Another view that shows the weathering of the Daleks over time.

7 black sack loads of shredded paper, removed from the potting shed and brought up to the newly installed Dalek. Photo a little fuzzy as it was just after 4pm and was getting dark.

I now name you, Shredded Paper Dalek and there is plenty of room in there for more material especially now I have the cross-cut shredder, which was another Freecycle win.

Shredded Paper Dalek with lid on.

You can see how far I buried it so its not easy for mice or rats to get under and in. The two Daleks to the right will need bedding in, and that will be an opportunity to extract more nice humus material for the new raised beds.

Glyphosate Weed Killer Harms Amphibians

 

A new study has found that glyphosate-based pesticides significantly affect the early life stages of amphibians. Full post here: https://pan-uk.org/study-finds-that-amphibians-are-harmed...

Picking Up Freecycle Paving Slabs

 

Paving Slabs picked up in my car, with some stacked in the boot, a few on the back seat on a tarp, and the broken sabs in the front seat passenger footwell to distribute the load, and not make the car back heavy and lift the front wheels off the road. My daughter Kelly came with me to collect the paving slabs from Stoneleigh, and did most of the heavy lifting, bless her. 

Unloaded at the allotment and placed by my Son-In-Law Andy, such that I can still get into the Daleks. These paving slabs will go between the new raised beds that are being installed and will also tidy up some of the paths where I had to rob some paving slabs in the past.

The backup pebble pool nicely frozen, and providing an open air ice ring. 

My robin let me know his feeder needed topping up and was in the feeder as soon as it was full, and I was still in touching distance. He is way too trusting and I keep telling him not to be!. 

The allotment has a number of ice rings at the moment. Over an inch thick of ice in the bottom of a trug emptied onto one of the raspberry beds.

I also dropped a black sacks worth of cross-cut shredding's that I produced yesterday as it was way too icy and cold to go to the allotment.  

Freecycle Paving Slabs Win

 

I keep an watchful eye on freecycle and always pounce on posts offering block paving or paving slabs. There are always a popular item for allotment holders and over the years I have been very lucky and have shifted loads of paving slabs. 

With my mobility issues I'm not as capable as I once was humping paving slabs. I have been lucky that many people offering paving slabs have assisted me with the loading and plot neighbours have helped me the other end unloading. 

Looking at the weather forecast I arranged to pick the slabs up tomorrow afternoon and managed to arrange for my daughter Kelly to help me pick them up as she was willing to put some in her boot. And my son-in-law Andy offered to come and assist in unloading them at the allotment.  

Rain, Ice & Snow !

As usual this time of year there are images of lots of allotment sites and plots under water, covered in snow or greenhouses covered in hard frost. 

Today there have been many a photo on Facebook gardening groups of digital thermometers in such frost or snow covered greenhouses recording min temperature over night of between -7 to -8C

In my neck of the woods, and on my particular allotment, we don't suffer too much with flooding apart form poor old John who plot has flooded once this year.  John  managed to cut a shallow gully across the path so his plot drains into the empty plot next door that has been out of action since 2015 when Japanese knotweed was found.  

The council have bodged the treatment of plot 9 and have never managed to clear Japanese knotweed from the plot so it can be tenanted again. We are hoping this year might be the last year of treatment and the plot can be divided and tenanted again. 

With -4C over night and only reaching 1C mid day and ice on the roofs of properties, roads pathways and all over the car this morning, I was not feeling the urge to go to the allotment today. 

Yesterday I manged to win a cross-cut shredder off Freecycle which will produce smaller worm and composting friendly brown material for my Daleks than my current strip-cut machine. 

It also means that it will compact in sacks better and will be easier to store on the allotment until it is needed to be added to the Daleks with greens.

So today I have been working for the allotment, and not on the allotment.   

Marking Out Plots

Someone dumped their Christmas Tree at the entrance to the allotment.

I rescued the dumped Christmas Tree and will be chopping it up to fill the bottom of the next raised bed to be constructed.

I met up with Jane from idverde at 10am to mark out plots 11 & 11A and mark out paths between other vacant plots. We discussed at length the councils failure to complete the clearance of the "haven for wildlife plots 3A, 11& 11A" and the fact that I will not be letting the council get away with their further mismanagement, and intend to exert extra pressure via complaints to the council, councillors and the local press, if they don't extract their thumbs from their bum holes and get the work completed.

The council asked idverde to do what they could when the subcontractor contracted to undertake the works clearance work and stump grinding walked off the scheme twice and effectively fly tipped in our pick and and drop off area. 

Idverde can't keep bailing the council officers out of the shit, they need to be paid for the work they are undertaking that is beyond the remit of their contact for allotment management.

Good News in the afternoon that Jane had spoken with the Head Of Parks Mark Dazell who has finally asked for a formal quote from idverde and has thus acknowledged, that he was pushing his luck asking for costly extras out side the contracted works for nothing.

Phil the contracts manager from idverde will be doing the quote tomorrow and getting over to Mark Dazell and hopefully idverde can then complete the clearance of the car parks and the remaining dross on plots 3A, 11 & 11A. I will continue to push for the trunks and roots to four trees on plot 3A be dealt with as promised. 

Invites to view plots 7, 3A, 11 & 11A are to be sent out tomorrow and all remaining people on the list will be informed how far down the waiting list they are. 

In future any full plots given up will be divided, and Jane will be contacting Adi & Paddy re making the paths between plots 2 & 3 & 4 straight and will be requesting that Paddy remove the fencing along the path. 

Greater interest will be taken of the conditions of the paths during site inspections this year and site inspection will be to a higher standard now that 3A, 11 & 11A don't define what was acceptable to the council. 

Idverde will be cracking down on standards on all allotment sites in the borough, with high waiting lists, they can afford to raise the expected standards.

Once Jane and I had completed putting in posts defining the plots and paths, I turned my attention to getting the New Compost bins bedded in their new locations  and excavating the nice humas material to add to the new raised beds. I need the Dalek in place so that I can move the five sacks of shredded paper out of the potting shed to free up space. I have a lot of paper to shred as I empty out my home office now I have retired.   

Dalek moved out of the way and ground weeded and excavated into buckets to be used when filling the next new raised bed.

Lots of bindweed and couch grass roots pulled from what was previously a very good 1.2m x 1.2m growing bed

Excavation obtained at the end of my allotted time the plot for today.

Dalek placed back in location for visual check on level and size to see what more can be excavated next visit. I will fill the excavated hole with woodchip on magic cardboard and bury the bottom of the Dalek in woodchip at the moment we only have mulch worthy woodchips not path worthy material.

The ground under the next two Daleks can also be reduced and removed for filling raised beds, and that tree stump needs removing, and it too will go in the bottom of a raised bed.

The leaf's in the overflow leaf bin can be added to the main leaf bin as that has already dropped in level

These are the timbers that formed the removed 1.2m x 1.2m small bed where the new Daleks are now going, the rotted sections have been in the ground some 10 years. These timbers will go in the bottom of the next raised bed to be constructed.

Gardening Tools For People With Mobility Issues

Following radiation treatment for cancer in 2023 I’ve been left with an autoimmune disease resulting in arthritis in all my joints and no longer have the ability to get down on my hands and knees to work my plot.

 
As gardening press, I was sent the long handed trowel and fork amongst other Kent  & Stowe items to trial and blog about, the Long Handed Fork & Trowel Set have been a life saver for me, they are allowing me to continue working my plot at ground level which is essential for my physical and mental wellbeing.

 
Yes it takes me longer to do things than it did a couple of years ago, difference is now I have more time in which to do these things. I've have had to learn to pace myself and take breaks and rest periods, gradually I’m building up my strength and stamina, and gardening is my main source of exercise.    
 
As regular visitors to manvslug.uk will know, I’m in the process of changing a number of my beds from framed ground beds to raised (two scaffold boards high) so 2 x 9” (18” or 450mm high) and making them narrower so I don’t have to stretch too far.
 
Raised beds still means bending to use hand tools so mid-range tools a length somewhere between a hand tool and a long handled would be useful, to reduce stress on ones back and spine. I have been wondering what one might call such tools in order to see what I could find and in correspondence with Kent & Stowe regarding a long handled capability trowel that I suggested over the Christmas period when the Kent & Stowe facebook Group were posting about new tools being released in 2025 the term “Midi Handled” was used.
 
That term “Midi Handled” was what I needed; googling “midi handled gardening tools” gave me this result

And there first on the results on the left was a shorter “midi” version of the long handled Kent & Stowe Trowel and Fork, which looked identical to the long handled version but shorter, and called a Kent & Stowe Stainless Steel Boarder Midi Handled Trowel and Fork Set !

Here is what the web site says:-

• Made of high-quality stainless steel for minimal soil adhesion.
• Handle made from ash wood
• Fantastic toolset for any gardener
• Ideal for use in raised beds and backs of borders
• Excellent resistance to rust

This set of midi handled tools from Kent & Stowe will be the perfect addition to any gardener’s kit. Consisting of a Border Hand Fork and Trowel, each have been made from a beautiful high quality ash wood, and stainless steel. 

They have been designed to last, and are contoured for a perfect, comfortable grip when carrying out gardening jobs like weeding, planting and cultivating. Both midi-size for extra reach, they have excellent resistance to rust, and efficient cultivation with very minimal soil adhesion. 

These tools will be ideal for use in raised beds and at the backs of borders for planting, cultivating and weeding.

The Kent & Stowe range of crafted quality garden tools reflects traditional British gardening heritage and will last a lifetime.

The total length of the hand trowel is 60cm, and the hand fork 58.5cm.

All Kent & Stowe stainless steel tools come with a 15-year guarantee.

Selling for £23.98 with Standard Delivery of £4.95 

The long handled version is selling on Marshalls web site for £49.96 with Standard Delivery of £4.95, so I'm glad I don't have to buy a longer version and cut them down! 

I have a number of Kent & Stowe tools and the quality is always so good and you don't get many companies that give a 15 year guarantee on stainless steel digging tools and 5 years on cutting tools. 

Bags Of Shredded Paper

Clearing broom cupboard office over the weekend as it was not allotment visiting weather and I had many sacks of shredded paper for composting browns to drop off at the allotment on the way home from visiting Emma & Digby.

We have not had standing water in the car park until all the heavy equipment and dumper truck and stump grinder has been up and down the main path and filling the skips that were in the car park. 

The rain has done a number on the muddy car park following all the heavy machinery that has been used on the site, so I filled the couple of soft muddy spots with barrow loads of woodchip. Looks like some other plot holders have been saving stones and filling other soft spots.

Another soft muddy patch between the wooden gate and the metal inner gate

3 barrow loads of woodchip dropped on the boggy areas to soak up the moisture and fill in the depressions and rough levelled but not compacted as it was getting dark. 

Collecting Loo Rolls

 

There are many allotment holders that save and collect the cardboard loo rolls to use for starting off seeds in. I have tried leaving them round but they really bulk up and become a pain in the backside to store that way. 

My solution is to find a cardboard box ideally the same depth or a little deeper than the loo roll and fold and flatten the rolls. As can be seen in the photograph above, as I gradually filled the box I placed some at 90 degrees to make four rows that I'm gradually adding too. 

My sister keeps her loo rolls for me, and by the time I get to use what I have collected for pre germinated parsnips I will have the 105 I need for a bed load of parsnips.  

A different sized cardboard box but the same idea from a few years ago. 

I normally start off the germination of parsnip seeds in Chinese's takeaway containers on a layer of damp kitchen roll, you can see a couple of roots on the seeds in the photo above.

When nearly ready to start transplanting germinated seeds, I fold the loo rolls in the other direction and place them in modules that then stack nicely, and add compost into the loo rolls.

I stuck a small coke bottle into a loo roll marked the bottle with a Sharpe and then cut just below the line so the bottle sits nice and snug on top of the roll. I then made another cut further up the bottle. It works so well as a funnel to get the compost into the toilet roll.  

When I see the roots form I transplant the parsnip seeds into compost that I have added to the loo roll and because parsnips grow so fast once germinated, by the time I have a trays worth it's not unusual to see some seedlings poking their heads out 

Using a bulb extractor I have that is slightly larger than the loo roll I extract a core and then pop the loo roll into the ground. I tend to use planting membrane and fill a whole bed with 105 parsnips in loo rolls.

One knows which seedling is the parsnip because its the one in the middle of the loo roll so weeding becomes easier as you know what not to weed. 

Loo rolls also work well for other fast growing vegetables like runner or French Beans, and sweet peas. 

I use small coke bottles with 1mm diameter holes drilled in the cap and mini watering cans, to make watering the loo rolls easier and not to saturate the loo rolls too much, because they can go mouldy if made too wet. 

Historically until 2023 I have had great results growing parsnips this way, however last year there were so many slugs and snails that they ate all 105 transplanted parsnips in the bed! 

  

This years it's going to be different !