Paving Slab Paths

Photo taken from the main path in front of the space saver greenhouse along the rear of beds, 3,6 & 9.

A big thank you to my Son in law Andy who used my car to go to my allotment and bring home 24 paving slabs that had been on Mill Green Plot 1A to provide a muddy less access between rows 1 - 3 & 4 - 6 and 4 - 7 & 5 - 9 plus along the rear of beds, 3,6 & 9. I now have dry access on the Back Garden Allotment.

After a couple of weeks of rain I tried to harvest some dwarf French beans last week and got covered in mud and at the moment I have ulcer dressings on my left foot and leg and I'm using a special medical soft Velcro boot.

Path installed between beds 5 - 9 (Left) and 4 - 6 (Right) as can be seen beds 5 & 6 need topping up, but I'm unable to lift the bags and will need to decant the compost into square flower buckets that I can lift and carry to the beds.  I need to pick up some blue 20mm water pipe for the hoops to beds 7 to 9. I also need to acquire more timber decking tiles for the patio so I can use the weathered tiles in beds 7 to 9. Andy dis also bring home 3 square flower buckets of woodchips from the allotment.   

Path installed between beds 4 - 6 (Left) and 1 -3 (Right)

Planning and Reviewing November in Previous Years

 Reviewing the diary over the last Fourteen years for November

2012 - My second month of ownership of an allotment. I found out where Benhill Crescent Horticultural Society was located and actually a plot on their site would have been ideal as I could walk to it and the entrance was more or less opposite my sisters house, but at the time I got my plot the waiting list was 24 people.

Cutting, clearing and stacking material to be burnt on pallets and covering with a tarp to dry them off took place during November. My wife at the time was in good health and came with me and helped me. 

By mid month all the clearing had been done and we had many stacks of drying weeds, to burn  We enjoyed getting the allotment clear and going down late in the evening as it was getting dark and having the fires in the two incinerators. 

The plan layout I did on the 13th November later got modified, and I started looking at standard beds and bed layouts for various types of vegetables.

Saturday 17th November the shed arrived and on Sunday 18th my wife and I erected the shed and felted the roof. I love that photo of her in her pink boots standing proud next to the shed. She is short and makes the 6x4 foot shed look massive!   

2013 - A year on and I have infrastructure in place, a central concrete path made of the paving slabs that I had been using as a drive for my car, six beds between the path and the wall, a patio area at the top around the shed, and two beds installed on the other side of the path and I was working my way down the plot digging clearing weeds and installing beds and paths. 

A racking and storage area was in place, I was harvesting spring onions and attempting my first overwintering of spring onions in a pop bottle Borg cube I had made, was still harvesting tomatoes and peppers in the blow away greenhouse next to the shed.

First Frost was the 13th of November this year. First time I had planted Green Manure and rescued a box of leaves and added to my leaf bins for the first time.       

2014 - In this year the infrastructure of beds and paths were all in and I had a lot more varieties of vegetables growing on the plot. I harvested Peppers of all colours from the greenhouse which I had erected on Bed 6 earlier in the year.

Most of the work this month consisted of clearing and covering beds for winter, I still had Brussel Sprouts in a large hoop enclosure. Open trench compost for the runner beans bed. By now my Dalek army was 6 strong and I was getting into the art of making compost. Limited success with Parsnips this year we had the magnificent five and the rest, well they were parsnips Jim but not as we know it!

In all I had six beds covered in hoops and debris netting as I had been growing a lot of brassicas this year. I left the netting in place as defence against the foxes. This year we also had problems with mice and rats and traps were deployed. So many slugs and pop bottle traps were made and deployed against them as well. Six bags of manure used on the beds.

2015 - Damp foggy and site tour video made Sunday 1st November, Harvesting Beetroots, Carrots, Onions, the last of the French beans, Sowing Japanese Onions grown from seed. Overwintering Cabbage, still weeding beds and covering up for Winter, Harvesting Carrots, Onions and Parsnips. Digging in Green Manure Mustard. Finished clearing Comfrey and placing in Daleks as an accelerator. 

Woodchip paths that are now 3 years old have broken down and are turning into soil and needed replacing and the old went into the Daleks as browns. I also had plot 23B on Spencer Road this year and was building up the Dalek army on that plot. 

I found that splitting your time on two different plot on two different sites was not really viable and maintainable. I put my name down so that if my neighbour gave up his plot I was next in line for it on Mill Green. Snow at the end of the month but didn't settle for very long. Parsnips thinned out a little to allow the remainder to bulk up ready for Christmas. Rain stops weekend play at the end of the month. 

   

2016 - Sixth of November was our first frost. Ten bags of leaves and the two leaf bins on Mill Green were full to the brim, I started to sort out my seed boxes and cataloging what I have and what I needed for next year. Over half of the infrastructure was in on Spencer Road and I had acquired many concrete paving slabs and was in the process of building the patio next to the shed during this month. More vandalism on Spencer Road they melted my blow away and tried to se fire to my Daleks and set light to one chaps polytunnel and basically broke into sheds and nicked what they could or just threw it out onto the plots.

Modifications to the shed and another lock installed to the top of the door as well as the side of the door. break-ins continued and meeting took place between the Committee and the police on Spencer Road Allotment, To be honest the problem with the vandalism and the break-ins is what ultimately made me decide to give up Spencer Road Allotment, after I managed to arrange for a drop off and pick up area to be formed at Mill Green.   

2017 -  Having just taken over Plot 1 on Mill Green in October this year most of my time in November was spent clearing the weeds on it, As it was so dark at night and I could not get down to the allotment it was weekend working only when dry. 

I decided that I would create post and started doing my seed storage box audit and catalogue and producing lists called "In My Seed Box" here on the blog so that I could gain access to my catalogue using my smart phone when I may need the urge to buy seed.

I met with the inventor of Kikka Digga and it's an amazing tool for the allotment holder.   

I took advantage of a Lucky Dip offer on trees and got 6 for £19.99, they went into buckets as I had not cleared Plot 1 yet and Hawthorn Bushes were where they were intended to finally be placed.  

The plan layout for my new kingdom was more given more though and detail in AutoCAD 

2018 -  Not a lot on the allotment front actually happened in November this year, apart from me nearly setting fire to the shed with the mini stove I had.  Keith my brother-in- law who was more like a Brother to me died and was brought back twice, he bounced around the hospital from one intensive care set up to another, finally got a diagnosis that he had Amyloidosis which is an abnormal protein called amyloid that builds up in the tissues and organs. 

When it does, it affects their shape and how they work. There was a hope for a transfer to a hospital that specialises in it's treatment in North London, which involved steroids and chemotherapy, the problem was that due to low blood pressure, Keith had died twice and been resuscitated, and his body just would not survive the treatment, and finally they told him there was no more that they could do for him to actually stabilise his blood pressure, before starting Chemotherapy and that he would not survive the treatment. 

He shaved and cleaned himself up and basically told us what he had been told and that he had asked not to be resuscitated the next time his heart gave out with low blood pressure. I have never met or known a man so strong, and apart from my father, there has never been another man that I have loved. We visited and stayed with him on a rota system as only so many people can be around a bed in an intensive care unit and ironically all the family that mattered managed to see him and say their goodbyes before he passed away on the 19th of November.      

2019 -  Woodchips for the paths dropped off, Daughters Wedding stopped allotment play followed by bad and wet weather meant that sorting out seeds and planning next year took place for a week and a half during the middle of the month.  

Harvesting Potatoes three beds worth, Three oil drums of leaves dropped off from Andy, I cleared and woodchipped behind the shed and the greenhouse area.  

This was the year that I injured my leg and had cellulitis which meant that I could not really do a lot for some months, but in November I was fit enough to work on the plot once more and Emma and Andy (Daughter & my New Son-In-Law) came and helped me catch up and to get some additional infrastructure in place on plot 1 in the form of the first two narrow beds on the boundary with Plot 1A.

2020 - Wasp nest clearance plot 1A, Shed Questions and Advice, Upgraded my seed storage system, Harvested Squash, Won the Waltons Garden Chest Competition resulting in moving coldframe and reduction in Home Tomato plots,  Raspberry bed infrastructure started as D.T.Browns Raspberry Collection came early!  

2021 - The first week of November was so mild and sunny Andy and I worked in tee shirts and planted the overwintering onions. I won a mixed pallet of  Equigrow compost, soil improver, and mulch which was dropped off at home and shipped down to the plot in the back of the car. Wire worm in spuds in the ground, that's why I decided to grow all in buckets in 2022. Leaf Collection and Bin increasing. Picked up paving slabs from Freecycle. Harvested the last of the beetroots before wind stopped play. Artic Winds and Snow in Scotland and Wales, but only rain in SE England. Showed two new plot holders & their partners vacant plots. Weeding and putting beds to sleep for the Winter. Storm Arwen caused major disruption across the UK.

2022 - More Paving slabs collected and laid as paths thanks to Freecycle. Making winter blankets for the 2.4m x 1.2m beds on the allotment. A great beetroot harvest. Sutton Allotment Group meeting. Collecting free paving slabs off Freecycle and laying paths. Looking at what's in my seed box for 2023,  Many seeds purchase from Seed To Suit, Warnings of another beast from the east and snow on the way at the end of the month, beginning of December. 

2023 - I came to the end of my radiotherapy for cancer and had been quite knocked back by the process and had developed arthritis in all my joints, I was no longer able to drive myself and was basically house bound and managed five visit to the allotment thanks to family members taking me and assisting with harvesting a full bed of Parsnips and the last of the potatoes and tomatoes and cut back the raspberries and mulched the boundary beds.

2024 - Dalek army on plot 1 sorted out, Compost bought and taken to the plot, Pet Scan at the Royal Marsden, Collecting leaves and dropping them off to the allotment, Harvesting Java maincrop potatoes,  Struching Beds, Trimming Raspberries, Mr Fothergill no longer identifies as male. Some muppet took out the internet control box and I was off line for 14 days at the end of the month

2025 -  Re laid the path on plot 1A, Took delivery of more scaffold boards and woodchips, Harvesting Tomatoes, Harvesting Potatoes in Buckets,  Working on Beds 15 and 16, Clearing Bed 15, De banding scaffold boards and harvesting Spuds, Picked up my New computer and downloaded Nano CAD to draw my updated plot layout 

November is normally the month for last harvesting and overwintering plus bonfires to clear the blighted foliage and if the weather holds infrastructure works and closing down beds for the Winter months.  

To Do List  

Mill Green - Plot 1

• Greenhouse 1 - Currently being used to house all the cardboard to be used in the new raised beds, The Loft Conversion has been rebuilt.   
• Infrastructure - Convert standard 2.4m x 1.2m beds to 2 number 1.2 x 0.9m Raised beds with a path between for bed
• Shed Clearance  - Clear excess items from Shed and Potting Shed
• Rear Beds - Clear Bindweed from last beds on Plot 1
• Sign Posts  - Fabricate and take to plot and install 

Mill Green - Plot 1A

• Greenhouse 1A - Wally not interested in having the Greenhouse
• Cast Iron Garden Bench  - Andy Plot 12 has rebuilt the bench 
• Shed - now Empty other than items I don't need 
• Comfrey Pipe - Moved to Plot 1
• Comfrey - Take Root Cuttings.
• Plot Signs - Make two number Plot 1 & 1A signs 
• Grape Vines - Take Cuttings 

Back Garden Allotment Mill Green -

• Paths between bed runs - Try to get help from family to collect paving slabs from allotment and bring home.
• Work on Beds 7 to 9  - Try to get h
• Hoops for beds  7 to 9  - Try to get someone to buy from Screwfix for me 

Dwarf French Beans

 

I got very muddy going to harvest these dwarf French Beans from Bed 1 , they were however very tasty and worth the trip, but I need to resolve the lack of paths in the back garden allotment and try to get the paving slabs picked up and laid to afford a mud free access.  

Seeds from a massive beefsteak tomato given to me by my neighbour Siddy, I have no idea what its variety is, so I will just save it under the name Siddy's Tomato. 

In My Seed Box For 2027 - Lettuce

 

Lettuce is something we eat a lot of and something that I have not been particularly good at growing in the past. I've had a couple of good years, I can grow it but it gets eaten by slugs and snails and I tend to see very little in the way of harvest. 

No Lettuce at all grown in 2019 as a result of the leg injury, and in 2020 until the winter months, and none grown in 2023 because of the treatment for cancer, but in 2026 I intend to try growing hydroponically in my second allotment greenhouse and as cut and come again at home.  

I'm going to blitz the slug and snail population over the late Winter months and hopefully have some success.

Lettuce Seeds when kept in ideal conditions last between 3 - 6 years. Most companies only allow 2 - 3 years between the saved on and the sow by dates on the back of their packs. 

Yes there will be a reduction in germination rate as the seeds get older but you can always chit 10 on damp kitchen towel to check out the current germination rate %, especially as they are supplied in 100's, and 1,000's per pack.

A Great video by Charles Dowding 

I have made the decision to use anything with a sow by 2020 date in pots as cut and come again at home.

Review Of Seed Stocks with Sow By 2024

Chatsworth (Cos)           - 1250 Seeds - £2.40      - Mr Fothergill's - Sow By 2024

Vailan (Winter Gem)         - 250 Seeds - £2.55      - Mr Fothergill's - Sow By 2024

Rod Smith Heritage Veg Lettuce Speckled Trout - 150 Seeds - Cost £2.50 - Dobies - packed year ending 2021

Rod Smith Heritage Veg Lettuce Bronze Beauty - 150 Seeds - Cost £2.50  - Dobies - packed year ending 2021 

Review Of Seed Stocks with Sow By 2025

Little Gem  (Cos)                - 900 Seeds - £1.75        - Suttons  - Sow By 2025

Gustav's Salad                 - 1000 seeds - £2.15        - Mr Fothergill's - Sow By 2025 

Pasatiempo (Little Gem)   - 500 Seeds - £2.15         - D.T.Brown - Sow By 12/2025

Crisp Mint                          - 350 Seeds - Trial Free - Mr Fothergills - Sow by Dec 2025

Mustard Leaves (Autumn Sowing)  - 500 Seeds - £2.49  - Dobies - Sow By 2025

Review Of Seed Stocks with Sow By 2026

Little Gem (Pasatiempo)   - 500 Seeds - £2.00^        - Johnsons  - Sow By 2026

^Bought in 50% off wilko seed sale

Review Of Seed Stocks with saved by date 2027

Chicory Brussels Witloof - 50 Seeds - 75p - More Veg 

Endive Cornet De Bordeaux - 40 Seeds - 60p - More Veg 

Komatsuna Comred F1 - 40 Seeds - £1.00 - More Veg 

Leaf Beets Rhubarb Red - 50 Seeds - 75p - More Veg 

Mitsuba Mashimori - 50 Seeds - 75p - More Veg 

Minutina Erba Stellla - 100 Seeds - £1.15 - More Veg 

Mustard Leaf Green In Snow - 50 Seeds -  75p - More Veg 

Winter Purslane Claytonia Perfoliate - 100 Seeds - 76p - More Veg 

Alphabetical Listing
                                       Sowing            Harvest

Amaze                         Mar - Jul           May - Oct Sow Under Cloche from January

Cos                              Mar - Jul           May - Oct

Crisp Mint                    Mar - Jul           May - Oct 

Elyburg                        Mar - Jul           Jun - Oct

Gaustav's Salad          Mar - Jul            May - Oct

Little Gem                    Mar - Jul           May - Oct  Mr Fothergill's

Little Gem                    Mar - Jul           May - Sep Thompson & Morgan

Maureen                      Mar - Jul           Jun - Oct

Pasatiempo                 Mar - Aug           May - Oct

Rocket                         Mar - Sep          May - Oct
Sweetheart                  Mar - Jul            May - Oct

Tantan                         Mar - Jul           May - Oct

Tom Thumb                 Mar - Jul           May - Oct

Valmaine                     Mar - Jul           Jun - Sep

Winter Density            Sept- Jan          Jan - May  Greenhouse / Coldframe 

Winter Gem                Aug - April         Mar - Jul              Outdoors

In My Seed Box For 2027 - Index