Freecycle Find

 

Collected today, I will use on the strawberry bed and on filling the the new raised bed. Which is best for the strawberries Hay or Straw?  

Planning and Reviewing March in Previous Years

Reviewing the diary over the last thirteen years for March 

2013 - Infrastructure works, picked up 17 paving slabs off Freecycle, met my plot neighbour for the first time, finally after clearing I started on digging and weeding, Comfrey roots purchased and grown in toilet rolls.   

 

2014 - Infrastructure works continue, Erected the green house on plot 1A, lighter nights and a few extended lunch time visits from work and early evening visits, Spuds sown and solar tents to warm up the soil on beds. Sowing seeds and a hard frost at the end of March 

2015 -  Infrastructure Works, the very last two beds and paths on Plot 1A were formed, Greenhouse clearance ready for using, Collecting and drying Coffee Grounds, Grass cuttings and composting starts, Spuds in buckets and sowing mad March.  

2016 - Infrastructure works on Spencer Road Plot 23B, Comfrey beds dug and weeded, Daleks Composting compound started, Lots of Paving Slabs off Freecycle, First two beds weeded and formed, Timber scrounged from roofing works, Spuds planted, Tomatoes sown.

2017 - Infrastructure works, Grow Stations created, walking Onions Bed and Comfrey pipe for Plot 23B, seeds sown and Grow house at home full, Onions and Beetroots sown on allotment.

2018 - The Beast from the East and snow early March this year, Infrastructure works, Woodchipped the paths on plot 1A, Catawissa Walking Onion Bed installed,  Catawissa Onion Planting Membrane made, Sowing in Grow Stations from the 9th March, Onions and Beetroots sown on allotment, The Agralan Compact Plug Plant Trainer purchased and used for the first time, Raspberries purchased and planted, Soilfixer over Winter Experiment concludes, Sprout Sowing, Mr Fothergill's Optigrow®  Leeks Experiment. 

2019 - Infrastructure works,  Buy Seed and Cutting compost from Tesco, Quad biking for my Birthday, Onions in Modules in the Growhouse, Chitting Potatoes, Woodchip behind the shed, Full day on the plot as Jen taken out for the day, Cutting and painting timbers for beds, accident injuring leg. Picked up a load of paving slabs off Freecycle, visit to hospital as I had Cellulitis as a result to the injury to my leg. First Early spuds in buckets.

2020 - Covid-19 hits the UK. Cutting weed path membrane. Attended the Gardening Press Event 3rd March. Tree is finally removed from the top of my shed on plot 1A. Visit to the allotment to get parsnips in the ground. Radish in Modules sown, Won Mr Fothergills Swift Cucumber seeds. Runner Bean frame rebuilt. 

Tomatoes sown in Grow Stations 11th March. In lockdown due to Jen being high risk and not even going to the plot for exercise. Working on your allotment for exercise is allowed. You can use your car to go to the allotment. Bought more CHM Modules, Sowing Spring Onion seeds. Suttons & Dobies re uplift in business due to people working in their gardens, Composting at home in the back garden using flower buckets.

One could not believe the stupidity of the human race massing for loo rolls and taking little heed of warnings about not going to the seaside etc. Anthia & Hubby Fellow site rep got me sacks of compost and dropped them off.  Mr Fothergill saw a 10 fold increase in demand over 14 days due to people working and growing in the garden. 

2021 - Infrastructure works, Virtual Gardening Press Event. Keter Store retained and moved. Built and installed the timber base to the plot 1 greenhouse. Cutting path membrane for the remainder of the paths around the Rhubarb beds etc. Installing the plot 1 greenhouse cladding and weeding and clearing the path around SFG bed 1. 

Cutting paving slabs for the inside of greenhouse on plot 1. D.T.Brown Raspberry collection arrives Emma on site with be but we remain over 2m appart. Miracle-Gro Peat Free Premium Fruit & Vegetable Compost to trial. Emma & Kelly assisted in gathering all the debris on the plot. we gathered it up and placed in the greenhouses to keep it dry until we could get it down the dump.

First signs of leaf and growth of the early raspberry canes. Cutting the timbers and painting them for the Square Foot gardening beds. Trench created with the Power Planter for a hose pipe from the tap to the corner of the plot. Emma discovered how much work is involved in removing mares tail, couch grass and bramble roots when clearing a plot. Plot clearance of rubbish with Emma and Kelly taken to the local tip. 

Scaffold tubes driven into the ground each end of the Raspberry beds. Taking paving blocks from the back garden down to the allotment to replace the soft bricks (milk bottles full of sand). Hydrating Coir and home and storing on the plot in a coir dustbin.

2022 - Applying Equigrow mulch and conditioner to beds. Clearing the old leaf bin area for the grapevines. Visiting the Harry Potter Experience. fear of Covid and traveling on the tube stopped me going to the Gardening Press Event this year instead I spent time on the allotment. Second grapevine arrives and is planted. Making up the Mels Mix for the two square foot gardening beds, hydrating coir, sowing Watermelons, sowing Aubergines and planning the square foot gardening beds, Chalk Quarry Driving Experience with Emma, Radishes growing, reviewed Son of a Secret Gardener

2023 - Infrastructure works, Getting the weed membrane and paths in along the boundary beds. Freezing artic blast arrives. Unwins garden Wooden Seedbox for the new potting shed. Dalefoot Compost arrives. Building the loft extension for the plot 1A greenhouse. Hydrating Coir whist the sun shines. Weeding and Feeding beds. Asparagus bed cleared and mulched, patio in front of shed on plot 1 leveled. Pebble pool installed. Loft Conversion to Plot 1A Greenhouse installed. Last ever potatoes bought from wilko. A selection of  gooseberry, blueberry and Black Current plants bought and planted. Potting shed arrives and is stacked ready for assembly. Bed 16 dressed and weeded ready for beetroots. Sorting out the components to be used in the climbing frame greenhouse.

2024 - I still had ulcers on my legs, I could not drive myself and my mobility was seriously impaired following the radiation treatment for cancer so site visits were limited to when a family member could get me to the allotment. Applying for an Allotment article written. I sorted out my seed collections and produced my seed audit for the year. LBS Waiting List and Vacant Plots information obtained and table updated. Lots of rain and flood warnings issued. Article written about the history of Mill Green Allotment. Melons sown. Harvesting French bean seeds from beans dried and saved in the potting shed, Storm Nelson damaged my windows in the potting shed and I improvised a temporary replacement.  

2025 - This year I was in a much better shape physically and mentally, and got down to the allotment when the weather was conducive to a visit and working. Strulch on the Asparagus bed which didn't stop the weeds and months later got paved over. Remember Strulch is expensive and will not hold back bindweed and mares tail. Excavating the trenches under bed 16 and back filling with timber and woodchips .Drying Coffee grounds in the potting shed. Constructing the raised Bed frames for bed 16 & 16A. All gold Raspberries started to come up in the boundary bed. Planting Onions in SFG Bed 2 

To Do List   

The plan for March 2026 weather permitting is to get as much of the new raised beds infrastructure on Plot 1 in place as possible and get both plots and greenhouses ready for the spring growing season 

Mill Green - Plot 1

• Greenhouse 1 - Currently being used to house all the cardboard to be used in the new raised beds  
• Infrastructure - Bed 16A Completed, Bed H1 started, to be completed and Beds H2, 14 & 14A to be started and worked towards completion. 
• Infrastructure - De-Band Scaffold Boards & Assemble more Raised Bed Frames   
• Rhubarb - Weed and Mulch
• Raspberry Beds - Weed and Mulch, then build cages
• All Gold Raspberry Beds - New Fencing to be installed  
• Climbing Frame Greenhouse - Weed and Mulch  

Mill Green - Plot 1A

• Greenhouse 1A - Set up more Coffee to dry out 
• Daleks - Dig in the additional Daleks along the path with plot 2A
• Grape Vines - Prune  

Sowing and Planting Plan for March

March

                          Infrastructure Work

                          More Raised Beds  

Week 1              Asparagus – Sow seeds inside

Week 1              Parsnip – Germinate in Take-a-way containers

Week 1              Squash / Pumpkins - Prepare Soil 

Week 1              Radish – Sow fortnightly until the end of September

Week 1              Lettuce (Winter) – Sow fortnightly

Week 2              Brussels Sprouts - Sow seeds of early varieties 

Week 1 - 2         Carrot - sow seed of early varieties under cloches

Week 1 - 2         Carrot - sow Bugs Bunny varieties in Cut Down Water Butt

Week 1 - 2         Beetroots - sow in modules in the Greenhouse or Potting Shed 

Week 2              Garlic- plant in late winter / spring

Week 2              Rhubarb - start to harvest

Week 2              Tomatoes - sow seed inside

Week 2              Melon – Amarillo Ora - sow indoors

Week 3              Asparagus - apply spring fertiliser

Week 3              Cauliflower (early summer) - harden off

Week 3              Spring Onions - start to sow fortnightly

Week 3              Spinach - sow seed outside

Week 3              Parsnip – Transplant into loo rolls once signs of germination

Week 4              Radish – Sow fortnightly

Week 4              Lettuce - start sowing seed outside every two weeks

Week 4              Beetroot - sow seeds under cloches

Week 4              Brussels Sprouts - thin seedlings as they appear

Week 4              Cauliflower (early summer) - plant out

Week 4              Onions - sow seed outdoors

Week 4              Potatoes - plant out sprouted sets

Week 4              Sweet Peppers - pot up

End of April Last Frost Date 

Removing Banding From Scaffold Boards

An afternoon on the allotment using the hammer and chisels to remove the banding to the end of scaffold boards that will be used to make the raised beds 

Also an opportunity to stack the boards so they can breath and to dry out after all the rain we have had  

Cleaning up the glue off the twin walled polycarbonate panels that failed on the Plot 1 greenhouse. Next job to tack glue the dormer together and then install timbers like the Plot 1 Dormer that was fixed a couple of years ago (picture below)

Not as sexy looking with the timber but also not going to fall apart again. My son-in-law used far too many screws. if he had done what I asked he would have got both greenhouse dormers strengthened, and I would not have the rebuild to do for the Plot 1 Greenhouse.    

I ordered some long armed T-Shirts as I have to now shield my skin from sunlight, but they forgot the "M" in my domain name manvslug.uk. 

Having been in contact with the company and they are re-printing and sending me replacements.

My Journey To Growing Potatoes In Buckets

My earliest recollection of growing potatoes was in my back garden of the home I lived in when I was 7 helping my Dad. We did the traditional digging a trench spacing potatoes out at 100mm - 150mm centres (well 4" - 6" as we had not gone metric then) in rows, and then as they started to grow, "Earthing Them Up" piling soil 120mm - 200mm ( 5" - 8") high around the stems to encourage tuber growth and prevent sunscald. The mounding increases the underground stem area, boosting yields and is traditionally done 1 - 2 times, stopping when plants flower.     

Originally back in April 2013 my first year on an allotment, I decided not to grow potatoes in the traditional way i.e. trench cover and earth up.

I marked up a 2.4m timber with the centres for the potatoes, 240mm and used the Auger to dig neat 75mm holes 150 - 200mm ish deep - and handful of compost and then popped the potatoes into holes, covered with compost then a layer of native soil.

I then racked up the soil as we had a frost the previous night, as I had read that some people pre mound their spuds and I thought it may offer a little more protection.  

So on the back of the photograph you can see the four potato beds in June 2013, but in amongst the potato Haulms, the stems or potato foliage above ground were lots of weeds. It was during this first year that I mentioned to a work associate that I had an allotment and he informed me that he had been a plot holder for many years and sent me photos of his weed free spuds grown through weed membrane as he hated dealing with the weeds.

So I decided the have a bash at it in 2014 and decided to make a sheet a bed size 2.4 x 1.2m and cut the holes for planting the spuds and for the Haulms to find there way out of the ground. Potatoes are not stupid the foliage wants to find the fastest way to the surface which is straight up. The weed membrane keeps the moisture from evaporating too quickly in very hot weather and the sun beating (OK it's the UK) occasional shining on the soil via the hole in the membrane, it draws the foliage to the surface and the hole in the membrane.

So that second year 2014, I decided to use the same configuration in the weed membrane as I had the first when planting without membrane. That's the layout on the left, the hole diameter is 100mm as I have a soil hand Auger that is 75mm dia and I needed a little tolerance. last year I created the weed membrane layout on the right for second early where the recommended distance was less and the three holes with crosses had pop bottles with pin holes sunk in the ground head first, so that I could water at depth. Its easy to extend the height of the pop bottles by cutting them off at the bottom and stacking them upside down as the Haulms get taller.

As my soil is clay based, I use the Windowed Auger head below. I only have this bit of kit as I use it for taking soil samples for work as a structural engineer, my neighbouring plot holder uses a long handle bulb planter to plant his spuds

The biggest mistake I made the first year using weed membrane was in cutting the weed membrane with scissors. 

This is the amount of fraying that took place in a single year, and I decided to trim and fix the sheets by using a soldering iron, from that day on I have cut all my new sheets using the soldering iron as it seals the edges and you don't end up with shaggy weed membrane. See my post Planting Membrane

Short Video

So here was the potato beds in 2014, I had managed to acquire quite a lot of plastic trim from the window replacement company that was moving to make way for the housing development behind the allotment. 

I replaced the green lawn edging to the beds, that went brittle in the second year with plastic trim and I also used it along the length on the edge of the membrane placing soft bricks, i.e. milk bottles filled with sand on it to stop the weed membrane blowing away. That's pallet wooden slats either end of the bed, and some scrap timber in the middle.

The soft bricks weren't a good idea it turned out as the plastic went brittle and decomposed under sunlight, and I ended up emptying all the sand and putting the milk bottles in the recycle bin.

Using the weed membrane on spuds, I would say worked very well for me, for a long time. I very quickly made specific sheets for Sprouts, Cabbages, Cauliflower, Sweet corn, and in 2014 I also used them for Onions, Spring Onions and Beetroots, the less weeding I have to do the more I love my allotment.

In 2016, I had upgraded two of the bed edgings to recycled timber joists. Once again I used the soil Auger and planted through the weed membrane.  

In 2017, I again had four beds of spuds in the ground planted via weed membrane, however, I also undertook The SoilFixer SF60 Potatoes in Buckets Experiment which was planned way back at the end of 2016 when Tony Callaghan the Managing Director of SoilFixer asked me if I would be interested and like to trial some. 

Now if someone wants to provide me with free products to trial, it would be rude to refuse wouldn't it? As long as they understand that I will be impartial and give an honest review and opinion of the product when I blog about it. 

I'm happy to give anything gardening and allotment related a try. I especially like the SoilFixer kind of trial because the facts and results will speak for themselves. 

SoilFixer SF60 Potatoes In Buckets Results

Marshalls also started to sell their potato buckets, and got wind of the fact I was going to undertake the experiment and offered me to trial them, so I did as part of the experiment. 

They were obviously not a good seller as Marshalls dropped the product a few years ago. They can still be found if you do a google search for them, but they are a bit of a gimmick.  

I did try making my own version using the flower buckets when Morrisons were selling flower buckets 8 for 99p for a contribution to Charity. I melted the holes in one and then tried putting it into another, but they were a bugger to get apart and I dropped that idea.  

Having a friend who worked for TESCO he got me a number of their square flower buckets and for a while I started to grow the First Earlies in them 

I then made the decision that all the potatoes would be grown in Buckets I even bought more buckets to make that magic happen. The eight short square flower buckets of first early potatoes in the photo above were sown a couple of weeks before I caught covid.

The rest of the potatoes were sown into the Heavy Duty 30 Litre Plastic Container Pots / Tubs with Handles that I purchased from Elixir Gardens in February 2022 at £36.39 for 10 with Free Delivery to add to the similar pots I bought a few years ago.

The mesh baskets over was to stop the foxes from digging the spud out.  

In 2022, I completed mixing up the soil, compost Coir and fertiliser with the 600mm Power Planter and the Ryobi Drill and placed 4 Main Crop Java seed potatoes in each bucket.

Two Java main crop spuds at a 1/3 depth

Then two more added at 90 degrees to the first two at 2/3 depth finally topped up and then taken to bed 1 which is where I placed them this year. As the potatoes are harvested the contents of the buckets was placed on a bed that needed topping up. 

Bed 1 with the main crop java spuds in buckets, I really needed my sister to cut her grass and donate the grass to me for mulch on top of the spuds in buckets.

I have used a NPK Concentrated Potato Fertiliser, and worked out the average area of the pots to establish how much to use in each bucket.  

In June last year 2025, I bought 10 number 30 Litre Heavy-Duty Plant Pot with Handles when they were on offer for £30 with free delivery from Oakland Gardens Ltd which was cheaper than the 10 that I got from Elixir in February 2022 at £36.39 for 10

I have found that the 30 Litre Heavy-Duty Plant Pot with Handles – Durable, UV & Frost-Resistant Plastic Planter from Oakland Gardens look and proved to be better engineered and manufactured than the ones from Elixir that have a flat base to them.

The Oakland Garden 30L Plant Pot with Handles have been designed and manufactured with a dual-tier base system and drainage holes to prevent waterlogging and promote excellent drainage and thus healthy root growth, plus it stiffens up the base of the pot. I guess its the ex R&D and Structural Engineer in me that notices these kind of things.  

I have used these pots for larger plants, Potatoes and other vegetables, and small trees, in the past.

I've lost a few of my old plastic tugs when the handles split, so I now use these plant pots with handles instead of plastic garden tugs, as they are made of Heavy-Duty Plastic, which is UV-stable plastic, frost-resistant, and impact-proof plastic that won’t crack, fade, or become brittle in tough weather, and I don't have to make holes in them to let the water drain away.  

They are ideal for storing woodchips, I had half a dozen pots squirreled away for nine months as I wanted to make sure I had some mulch worth woodchips. 

At the moment I have half a dozen filled with cut raspberry canes that I will be burning when I can get to the allotment an hour before dusk when it's dry and we can have incinerator fires.  

As my tugs are depleting I have a few full of weeds 

I do recommend that you sign up for the Oakland Gardens Newsletter so you receive notifications on news and special offers, as there is bound to be one on 30 Litre Heavy-Duty Plant Pot with Handles in the next few weeks.   

These type of pots are very popular with allotment plot holders, because they are so useful, and I did have a few that were, how would one say nicely, borrowed without an intention to return or consent. As a result of this experience, I ended up branding the handles of those that I had left with my trusty soldering iron. Thankfully the individual with sticky fingers is no longer a plot holder on our allotment site. 

Now I'm installing raised beds as I can no longer get on my hands and knees to sow or weed due to my mobility issues, following my cancer treatment. I have many 30L pots with handles that I'm decanting the soil from the framed beds into.

I backfilled the excavation and the first level of the raised bed constructed from scaffold boards, with tree trunks and branches and woodchip  

I then add compost greens, coffee grounds and leaves, then decant the soil back into the top level (width of the second scaffold board) of the raised bed.   

I had another 20 of The Oakland Garden 30L Plant Pot with Handles delivered Thursday afternoon, as I will soon need to use them for my potatoes once the last frost date has come and gone for my allotment.

To find the Last Frost Date Based On Your Postcode for your garden or allotment use the hyperlink.  

When its time to harvest the potatoes from the buckets/ pots I have a large garden tray that was gifted to me as the corner was damaged by a company that uses them under water tanks to capture any leaks. I place the tray on one of the raised beds, then lift the pot with handles and empty it on the tray and then dig in and extract the potatoes. 

The potatoes on the left have been brushed off with a wide paint brush and the spuds go home clean. 

I'm glad I made the transition to growing all my potatoes in buckets, not just the first earlies.