Plot looking excellent - the progress is so obvious from when you started to where you are now! I took over a neglected garden in much the same state (thankfully no mares-tail but essentially all brambles) and its easy to get drawn into the remaining negatives when youre looking at it day to day (ie the returning strongholds of weeds) but important to remind yourself where you started and where youve got to! Also your own plot always looks worse to you than it does to others I think…. Not an expert by any means but ive grown cardoons as ornamentals for the past three years and non have been under 5ft before flowering so id hazard a guess yours are chokes and hopefully just bulking up? 🤞🏻 Maybe part of it is also just trying to make things work to your schedule - maybe moving the tower into the shaded side of the shed and putting up a gutter or small container for drip irrigation might make it work better? Keep up the good work as its obviously paying off - makes me feel idle by comparison
Yeah putting it in a shadier spot probably would’ve helped for sure. They could be bulking up but I’ve started a load from seed now just to be sure. It’s true you can get drawn into sulking when things are going pretty well considering the starting point 😅 Thanks for the encouragement 🙏😊
If that really is a groundwater spring all to yourself for the purpose of watering and nurturing wildlife, that is an incredible resource and makes your allotment rather special! I'm glad your allotment has found someone who understands its potential.
I can't think why people who have the space to grow their own food, don't. Oh, it's too much work. It takes too much time. It's too expensive. I can't grow anything. Nope. Anyone can grow a few pots for not much money. I'm lucky, I have space for a large garden, and while it does come with some costs, I manage to do it on a pretty good budget. Tonight's meal was provided from the garden. Cabbage, onion, garlic, potatoes and peppers. I did have to buy the sausages, but that meant that tonight's dinner for three cost me less than $6 CAD and there's leftovers for lunch tomorrow. You have made huge progress with that allotment space in a short time. Well done.
It’s a wonderful feeling once you’re experienced enough I agree. I can empathise with people who don’t but I can see what you mean. Especially, like you said, if they have the space. If you’re maintaining the garden anyway it’s not much extra work to have a few edibles
Greetings from NY. Well said sir. Enjoying the series. Here's something that may surprise you:: As a Yank, I love to hear the English birds chirping away in the background. Beautiful.
Bringing that nightmare of weeds and buried plastic to the state where it can be productive is a great achievement imo, you can be 100% proud of yourself! As to having success with the actual growing - there is a learning curve to it.
Definitely a big learning curve for that part. But I’m happy that it gets slightly easier each month to tackle the ground I’m working with. Thank you 🙏
We are in the same position. You have done very well in my book! I chose another direction, starting with a smaller part. That I can keep weed free, the other part is still a pasture of a lot of dandelions. I live in Sweden so we have fairly different conditions but I can definitely relate to your work in the allotment! Don’t give up, I’m determent to get my 100 sqm in shape eventually 😅
You've done so much on your allotment, taking in consideration you have a job and a life to live as well! So many paths and so many beds, not to mention the shed! Just getting veg into the grown is good too. And WHAT a fine water spring you have! I'd love to see doodles and sketches for that pond! The broad beans and the onions are looking great, you're going to get a lot a harvest by the end of this season 💓 Are you fertilizing at all? You've absolutely inspired me to sow onions from seed next year.. Onion tops are delish! My heart sank when I saw your strawberry tower.. I guess a tower is better at home than the allotment. 😮💨 I was also wondering, how are you chickpeas doing? Or am I making things up now? 🤔 You can still get chard and kale into the grown, just get some butterfly covers! In your area Siberian Kale or Purple sprouting broccoli easily over winters too. Even if there's a ton of "What to sow in.." videos, I wouldn't mind seeing your take on this! So jealous of the climate over at the green Isles. I'm still trying to stuff some more seeds and seedlings into the ground, but as of now I'm just feeding the butterfly population. 🙄😂 And that's fine, perhaps that is my contribution to nature this year. We're getting quite a bit of potatoes and onions, and I'm happy about that.. As well as my seed sown Verbenas! Already looking forward to next year in my garden 😁 Sugar snap peas, radishes and kale are meant to be munched 🤩 Just pick off those caterpillars and brush of the dirt 😂😋😊 We all know you can handle some filth. 😇 Thank you, Tom! For sharing the excitement and joy of gardening. Keep the enthusiasm contagious 🌱🥔🥕🌽🍅🥬🧄🥦🧅
The chickpeas I’m guessing were just eaten by slugs as they emerged because I never saw them 😂 The butterflies are thankful at least 😅 I’m so glad it’s made you want to try onions from seed! I can’t advise with much experience but it’s been worth it for me this year. I’ve got some chard into the ground last week and some plugs to go out when the potatoes come out. Can’t wait to see the pictures of the verbena 😍
you seem to be absolutely beaming with pride about those broad beans, and i am so here for it. it just takes one crop shining amongst the pests and diseases, to want to keep going. where i'm at, we're dealing with a drought, and there's all these japanese beetles, and cucumber beetles, and stink bugs, and tarnish bugs and thrips, plus voles attacking things from the underground - i'm always on the verge of giving up this time of year. but it's hard to stay angry with the garden as a tomato ripens here and there, or you snag your first squash or pepper. lots of good lessons of grit and patience coming out of it all, that's for sure.
This is exactly what its all about, the things that go well and make it all worthwhile. I am hoping to get over to the plot later and see what I can harvest. We had a water leak on the plot so without water for a week, but so glad it rained quite a bit 😁
Brilliant having that Spring on the allotment! Here in Brisbane its Possum piss (the cute faced vegetable assassin) on my Strawberries. Keep at it, don't lose the sense of humour.
It's not about comparison, it's about personal joy. Thank you. Uncle Billy and Uncle Bruce truck in loads of manure and bagged compost, and they've had decades to improve their soil. Mine has not been improved at all! My little first-year garden IS doing well in rock-hard soil, because I have squash and tomato fruits growing. That's amazing.
I hav just discovered your allotment videos and have been binge watching! Your progress is fantastic and I hope you're really proud. What a guge amount of work you've done! Thinking of your spring and pond, if it's a constant flow of water youve got, can you dig a wee overflow drain from the pond to prevent overflow? Or track the spring's path to your pond? You could create the most perfect environment for watercress!
New to the channel - loving the content - and added eating ASMR just as a bonus haha Hoping to get me an allotment soon (been on the list in my area a good few years now) - glad to see so far it's going well (appreciate more videos to watch yet)
Thank you and I’m glad you’re enjoying it! Have you called/emailed anyone on the committee? I know for Birmingham city council you can get the secretaries email. My application was way quicker because of that (and knowing someone already on the site)
@@tecmow4399 Sadly here in Boringstoke there is 1 man that's in charge of allocation and he's very fair with how he allocates - but there's just not enough allotment space for the people that want them - then people don't give up their allotments for a long time even when they're neglected.. so just makes the wait time longer.. but it'll happen :) Hope you're still enjoying it - i'll be watching more vids to get through the work day today haha
you,ve done really well here , i,ve had no produce as yet from my garden.but thats mainly due to bullying at work clouding everything else out and filling my full on lets do it mind into something of a very dark place. but i,m not going to further bring that up here. i just hope we get some sunshine soon to lift us and get these tomatoes flying as they should be doing.i,ve never had a better year for germination, its just keeping them alive in the cold weather thats the issue . keep up tenjoying the plot .
Its been a rough year all round I think, low light and crappy start to the season and the slugs... omg the slugs. Luckily I have a trick that I just started using, anything going wrong, plants dead, stunted, eaten, house on fire. I simply sigh take a deep breath and say "This is crap but at least the Tories aren't in power" and the day doesn't feel so bad.
I like your channel and I commend your progress. Some feedback: when the camera is not steady and it is panning quickly, it can make for unpleasant watching.
I should really turn on the stabilisation but it crops the image. I get the same feeling editing it. I usually try to get plenty of tripod shots to give a bit of a rest but yeah I’ll definitely take it on board. Thank you 🙏
@@heatherwalton9501 yes! It managed to rear its head. I should probably put a load more in the same spot to make it a worthwhile harvest at some point though 😅
Mo tec, slugs, and probably snails can carry a nematodes like disease that can damage your liver and other organs!😮 I know you're not eating the critters, but whether they can leave any traces behind?
Plot looking excellent - the progress is so obvious from when you started to where you are now!
I took over a neglected garden in much the same state (thankfully no mares-tail but essentially all brambles) and its easy to get drawn into the remaining negatives when youre looking at it day to day (ie the returning strongholds of weeds) but important to remind yourself where you started and where youve got to! Also your own plot always looks worse to you than it does to others I think….
Not an expert by any means but ive grown cardoons as ornamentals for the past three years and non have been under 5ft before flowering so id hazard a guess yours are chokes and hopefully just bulking up? 🤞🏻
Maybe part of it is also just trying to make things work to your schedule - maybe moving the tower into the shaded side of the shed and putting up a gutter or small container for drip irrigation might make it work better?
Keep up the good work as its obviously paying off - makes me feel idle by comparison
Yeah putting it in a shadier spot probably would’ve helped for sure. They could be bulking up but I’ve started a load from seed now just to be sure.
It’s true you can get drawn into sulking when things are going pretty well considering the starting point 😅
Thanks for the encouragement 🙏😊
The journey is often better than the destination. It is the journey that teaches us. Keep up the good work 👍.
Exactly! Words to help you the present moment for sure!
If that really is a groundwater spring all to yourself for the purpose of watering and nurturing wildlife, that is an incredible resource and makes your allotment rather special! I'm glad your allotment has found someone who understands its potential.
I feel very privileged to have it too 🫶
I can't think why people who have the space to grow their own food, don't. Oh, it's too much work. It takes too much time. It's too expensive. I can't grow anything. Nope. Anyone can grow a few pots for not much money. I'm lucky, I have space for a large garden, and while it does come with some costs, I manage to do it on a pretty good budget. Tonight's meal was provided from the garden. Cabbage, onion, garlic, potatoes and peppers. I did have to buy the sausages, but that meant that tonight's dinner for three cost me less than $6 CAD and there's leftovers for lunch tomorrow. You have made huge progress with that allotment space in a short time. Well done.
It’s a wonderful feeling once you’re experienced enough I agree. I can empathise with people who don’t but I can see what you mean. Especially, like you said, if they have the space. If you’re maintaining the garden anyway it’s not much extra work to have a few edibles
Greetings from NY. Well said sir. Enjoying the series. Here's something that may surprise you:: As a Yank, I love to hear the English birds chirping away in the background. Beautiful.
plant your strawberries back there :( no watering required
Yeah they’d have been fine in the ground 😂
Even seasoned gardeners have failed crops just dont give up, dont forget feeding your plants and you'll be suprised 😊
Bringing that nightmare of weeds and buried plastic to the state where it can be productive is a great achievement imo, you can be 100% proud of yourself! As to having success with the actual growing - there is a learning curve to it.
Definitely a big learning curve for that part. But I’m happy that it gets slightly easier each month to tackle the ground I’m working with. Thank you 🙏
Very good looking man, could listen to him all day
That’s very kind, thank you
pond is a solid idea mate, first thing i put in on mine. gonna chuck some photos up soon, just followed on instagram
Both the plot and harvest looks beatiful to me. You've made wonders to that piece of land.
Love the pond idea! 💚
Thank you! 😊
I think you've done an absolutely brilliant job from where you started 🙂
I've read those curled leaves on tomatoes happen when there's a big disparity between say time and night time temperatures.
That sounds like it could be accurate considering the conditions at the time it happened
9:15 Thyme and rosemary would be good in that planter. They love dry conditions.
Loving watching the progress you’ve made on the allotment. I use my back garden, to grow all sorts of veggies. So therapeutic 🌱
Sooo therapeutic I agree. You can get lost in it for months at a time 😊
You have made such great progress!
Thank you!
Slowly but surely, it's all coming together for you. Your little pond will likely attract frogs or toads. They in turn will feast on your slugs.
You've done an amazing job with the plot Tom 🙌💚👏
Thank you so much 🙏❤️ and thanks for the quote on insta 🥰
@@tecmow4399 💚☺️💚
We are in the same position. You have done very well in my book! I chose another direction, starting with a smaller part. That I can keep weed free, the other part is still a pasture of a lot of dandelions. I live in Sweden so we have fairly different conditions but I can definitely relate to your work in the allotment! Don’t give up, I’m determent to get my 100 sqm in shape eventually 😅
var i sverige bor du??
@@Blyanter71169 I Södermanland
Great job done on your allotment! 😊
You've done so much on your allotment, taking in consideration you have a job and a life to live as well! So many paths and so many beds, not to mention the shed! Just getting veg into the grown is good too. And WHAT a fine water spring you have! I'd love to see doodles and sketches for that pond!
The broad beans and the onions are looking great, you're going to get a lot a harvest by the end of this season 💓 Are you fertilizing at all? You've absolutely inspired me to sow onions from seed next year.. Onion tops are delish! My heart sank when I saw your strawberry tower.. I guess a tower is better at home than the allotment. 😮💨
I was also wondering, how are you chickpeas doing? Or am I making things up now? 🤔
You can still get chard and kale into the grown, just get some butterfly covers! In your area Siberian Kale or Purple sprouting broccoli easily over winters too. Even if there's a ton of "What to sow in.." videos, I wouldn't mind seeing your take on this! So jealous of the climate over at the green Isles. I'm still trying to stuff some more seeds and seedlings into the ground, but as of now I'm just feeding the butterfly population. 🙄😂 And that's fine, perhaps that is my contribution to nature this year. We're getting quite a bit of potatoes and onions, and I'm happy about that.. As well as my seed sown Verbenas! Already looking forward to next year in my garden
😁 Sugar snap peas, radishes and kale are meant to be munched 🤩 Just pick off those caterpillars and brush of the dirt 😂😋😊 We all know you can handle some filth. 😇
Thank you, Tom! For sharing the excitement and joy of gardening. Keep the enthusiasm contagious 🌱🥔🥕🌽🍅🥬🧄🥦🧅
The chickpeas I’m guessing were just eaten by slugs as they emerged because I never saw them 😂
The butterflies are thankful at least 😅
I’m so glad it’s made you want to try onions from seed! I can’t advise with much experience but it’s been worth it for me this year.
I’ve got some chard into the ground last week and some plugs to go out when the potatoes come out.
Can’t wait to see the pictures of the verbena 😍
you seem to be absolutely beaming with pride about those broad beans, and i am so here for it.
it just takes one crop shining amongst the pests and diseases, to want to keep going.
where i'm at, we're dealing with a drought, and there's all these japanese beetles, and cucumber beetles, and stink bugs, and tarnish bugs and thrips, plus voles attacking things from the underground - i'm always on the verge of giving up this time of year. but it's hard to stay angry with the garden as a tomato ripens here and there, or you snag your first squash or pepper.
lots of good lessons of grit and patience coming out of it all, that's for sure.
Your broad beans look great! Mine were crap!!😂 Your plot looks great.
open gardens are great for making yu feel inadequate! Keep it up just don't dwell on the failures, there's still lots of successes
Loads of successes and I’m happy the way things are going. I know what you mean about the open gardens 😅
This is exactly what its all about, the things that go well and make it all worthwhile. I am hoping to get over to the plot later and see what I can harvest. We had a water leak on the plot so without water for a week, but so glad it rained quite a bit 😁
You’re the first person I’ve spoken to who’s not complained about the July rain 😂 Exactly, the most minuscule wins can make it totally worthwhile.
great stuff, that's what it's all about however much time you put in :)
Very true! 😊
Man make fire. Man grow vegetables. Man eats vegetables lol. Home grown tastes better. Well done 👍🌱
That’s a philosophy I can get behind
Great job you have done their, in what was a very rough plot.
Yeah I’m more pleased with when I see how it was before. Thank you 🙏
Brilliant having that Spring on the allotment! Here in Brisbane its Possum piss (the cute faced vegetable assassin) on my Strawberries. Keep at it, don't lose the sense of humour.
Those possums sound a nightmare! I find squirrels annoying enough. I’ll try my best with the humour 🫡
It's not about comparison, it's about personal joy.
Thank you. Uncle Billy and Uncle Bruce truck in loads of manure and bagged compost, and they've had decades to improve their soil. Mine has not been improved at all!
My little first-year garden IS doing well in rock-hard soil, because I have squash and tomato fruits growing. That's amazing.
I hav just discovered your allotment videos and have been binge watching! Your progress is fantastic and I hope you're really proud. What a guge amount of work you've done!
Thinking of your spring and pond, if it's a constant flow of water youve got, can you dig a wee overflow drain from the pond to prevent overflow? Or track the spring's path to your pond? You could create the most perfect environment for watercress!
Doing well your subscribers are really growing 😊
Thank you! So glad people are enjoying it here 😊
Could be a council leaking pipe!!!
😂 certainly can’t rule that out yet
When you bottle the water what will you name it? - May I suggest 'Birmingham Blowhole'?
You heard it here first, folks
Gteen curly kale for overwintering....always something to eat..if you can keep the pigeons off
I definitely need some kale for that reason. Always been a big fan of it on the plate
New to the channel - loving the content - and added eating ASMR just as a bonus haha
Hoping to get me an allotment soon (been on the list in my area a good few years now) - glad to see so far it's going well (appreciate more videos to watch yet)
Thank you and I’m glad you’re enjoying it! Have you called/emailed anyone on the committee? I know for Birmingham city council you can get the secretaries email. My application was way quicker because of that (and knowing someone already on the site)
@@tecmow4399 Sadly here in Boringstoke there is 1 man that's in charge of allocation and he's very fair with how he allocates - but there's just not enough allotment space for the people that want them - then people don't give up their allotments for a long time even when they're neglected.. so just makes the wait time longer.. but it'll happen :)
Hope you're still enjoying it - i'll be watching more vids to get through the work day today haha
Nice the crops are coming in, all that winter work is paying off 😁 just look at nextdoor
Haha that water is totally a leaky pipe of that house opposite!
Great for nature in that habitat
It could very well be but there are definitely springs on the site. I don’t know whether I’ll find that out conclusively yet though 😅
💯
you,ve done really well here , i,ve had no produce as yet from my garden.but thats mainly due to bullying at work clouding everything else out and filling my full on lets do it mind into something of a very dark place. but i,m not going to further bring that up here. i just hope we get some sunshine soon to lift us and get these tomatoes flying as they should be doing.i,ve never had a better year for germination, its just keeping them alive in the cold weather thats the issue . keep up tenjoying the plot .
Its been a rough year all round I think, low light and crappy start to the season and the slugs... omg the slugs. Luckily I have a trick that I just started using, anything going wrong, plants dead, stunted, eaten, house on fire. I simply sigh take a deep breath and say "This is crap but at least the Tories aren't in power" and the day doesn't feel so bad.
I like your channel and I commend your progress. Some feedback: when the camera is not steady and it is panning quickly, it can make for unpleasant watching.
I should really turn on the stabilisation but it crops the image. I get the same feeling editing it. I usually try to get plenty of tripod shots to give a bit of a rest but yeah I’ll definitely take it on board. Thank you 🙏
Did you ever find that asparagus crown again?
@@heatherwalton9501 yes! It managed to rear its head. I should probably put a load more in the same spot to make it a worthwhile harvest at some point though 😅
Mo tec, slugs, and probably snails can carry a nematodes like disease that can damage your liver and other organs!😮 I know you're not eating the critters, but whether they can leave any traces behind?
For the Algorithm kidda ....
Thank you!
Whatever...😂
(I do that with the first... carrots, radishes, pinches and nips...just no one is looking 😜) Treats for the gardener
By the way, your progress is inspirational!
Lol that's why I've never grown asparagus, it would never make it into the house.
@@littlebacchus216 😂
“It’s not about comparison, it’s about personal joy”. That!