LOOK WHAT ARRIVED!! / ALLOTMENT GARDENING UK

Guys are my eyes deceiving me or is that a gigantical pile of wood chip and pretty good looking wood chip too oh my gosh when did this arrive there's a lot of green in it oh it's like a christmas tree one of those sort of evergreen trees in amongst the leaves there are there are quite big chips here they're looking quite good so i reckon i'll get quite a few leaves but that's looking all right you know yeah all right we'll come back for this good morning morning welcome to wednesday i think it's in the second week of march yes we are in the second week of march that's a big deal it means that um the weather is definitely on the rise like the temperature is on the rise and even though it's not sunny today and it's a bit overcast it definitely feels milder and it feels like spring and flowers are starting to bloom and the birds are singing so yeah it's like my favorite time of year i think it's almost every gardener's favorite time of year also can be a little bit overwhelming as well but you know what we're going to try and push our overwhelm aside and just try to soak it in and enjoy this year seeds are doing okay now i've got a lot of cosmos coming up which is absolutely incredible my sunflowers have started to germinate as well which is fantastic um i have more sunflowers they're germinating um my kale is doing fantastic i don't think i have i do have some tree leaves but they're a little bit small and so i'll be potting these on very soon pricking them out and i've been doing my best to water the peas and we do have a bit of germination i have started more peas they haven't germinated yet and i do have more peas at home as well um as a bit of a contingency plan just in case um and then we've also got what are these leeks doing what they always do for me to be fair they always get to this size they always do very well and then it's sort of downhill from here but hopefully not this year we have high hopes for the leeks this year um right i brought with me some seeds today to sow directly outside which is again a really like a big milestone in the year when you start putting seeds directly outside also we saw the wood chip pile here so we are going to grab some wood chip i think that might be the first thing that we do um oh yeah birdie wordie is not here yet the birds aren't here i can hear i can hear him but he's not about so if i feed him now it's probably going to take him 10 minutes to come down and get the food so we will miss him basically so what we're going to do is go and get the wood chip then we'll feed the birds and then we'll do some seed sowing oh it's all a go today it's very very exciting right wood chip it is this is where we are hoping to wood chip today this is my new raised bed at the back we've sorted all this area out and there is ground sheet all around that new raised bed now so we can wood chip this whole area and what that will do is not only make it look nicer but it will help to keep all the weeds away because i find if you just put ground sheet down the weeds can sort of come through it they sort of make an appearance but if you cover it over with wood chip as well they tend to stay away for a lot longer and you get far far less weeds so we need to do around here so that's probably one that's one wheelbarrow that's probably two wheelbarrows why can't i say probably that's probably two and then maybe three potentially four we'll see how tired we get we'll see how much energy i have today but i do feel like i need to grab it now because it's spring everyone's going to start arriving and everyone else will take it and um yeah so i'm just going to try and get as much as i can okay so if we take a closer look at this uh wood chip that we've got it's from one of those fir trees like i said i don't know what they're called pine trees maybe is it pine tree the evergreen ones um and it smells delicious it smells of christmas basically but you can see quite a lot of green in here the thing that i'm excited about is in between the green the wood chips are a very nice color and they're very chunky even though i am going to end up with a lot of leaves on my pathway which will sort of disintegrate down into nothingness there is good wood chip underneath it and between it so it's not totally ideal i wish they just wouldn't wood chip their leaves but then i can't really ask them to take the leaves off and wood chip the wood can i that would be a little bit demanding but i think it's good enough and of course ultimately it's free and beggars can't be choosers so this is what we've got and we will work with it and i will be grateful okay it's a really nice color compared to um the old stuff which goes a little bit kind of muted so i mean i really like this fresh color i wish it stayed this color but it doesn't i think we're going to need a lot more right i'm going to go and get a couple more wheelbarrow fills i think and just try and finish that area just while we've got you know we've got the resources to do it i think it's worth doing and then when we get back we will take a break maybe check on some things around the allotment see what's growing um we've still only got one tulip i'm afraid but you know what i'll show it to you again and then we'll do some seed sowing right i'm off again wish me luck so just look at the difference a bit of fresh wood chip makes to the entire space isn't that absolutely amazing that is such a thick layer as well that's three wheelbarrows full and i know there's a lot of green in there but there's also i can see a lot of wood chip now now that i've spread it out a bit i'm really happy with that i think i probably need more um oh i said probably right then pat on the back emma well done yeah i need more but um i think that's a really good start three wheelbarrows full it's really covered i'm making it quite thick as well because i've learned from my lesson um it needs to be thick because otherwise it just disintegrates into nothing very very quickly it makes a huge difference it will keep the weeds down um and it just looks great it's also practical sorry it is also practical um we do get a lot of rain here in the uk and it helps to absorb all that water so you don't end up with big puddles everywhere um it's obviously free for me because it gets delivered here so yeah i'm really thrilled with it and i love topping up my paths at this time of year it really brings the whole allotment together super happy with it so i reckon i could probably do with a few more wheelbarrow fulls but if it's there still we'll take it as we as we can i don't want to be that person that takes all of it when i first got this plot i did kind of take the mick a bit and i got about seven wheelbarrow falls in one go because the whole plot needed doing so i sort of want to give other people a chance to get some as well how nice of me how nice of me i'm also really really happy with my decision to put a bed there and to not have the whole thing woodchipped because can you imagine that whole area just being woodchipped what would i do with it it gets so much sun here and even when i'm looking at that bed i'm thinking it's not much growing space like i could have done more could have made it bigger or something and i have to rethink this entire space i think at some point just because the amount of sunlight we get here is just so fantastic um but it's been the messy part of the plot for so long that i'm just so thrilled with how neat and lovely it's looking Are you coming? Are you going to come now? I can't get into you Brekkie Oh! Did it He was teasing us today, he was sitting right there and now he's just disappeared What a tease This is one of the beds where my potatoes will be going out either in the next vlog or the vlog after So I'm just trying to make sure that it's all weeded over and ready to go So I don't spend hours and hours trying to weed it and pull stuff up I've just seen this by the side of the bed This is my allotment plot sign that I made Do you remember when I made this? Ages ago, maybe a year, two years ago This is my plot, 74b And apparently it's one of our tenancy agreements that we have to display our plot sign really clearly Like our number, so they can identify it And I don't think my sign is very good, I don't think it's cutting it anymore You can just sort of just about see it It fell off a little thing that I made, I made a little flag thing, or like a little stick I don't know what you call it, you know, it was a proper sign dug in the ground and it fell down And now I've just got it like that, and I don't think it's very clear And then my other one, this is my terrible other one, 75b Again, that's not very clear at all And it's part of our tenancy agreement that we have to have a really clear sign Sorry, just to interrupt, look how nice my plot looks at the moment Look how neat and nice it looks and springy Oh my god, I haven't seen it from this angle for ages, that is amazing Well done me And I guess my point is, my question is, do you know anyone Who sells really nice allotment plot signs that I can purchase Either on Etsy or an independent seller I'd like to get it from someone who sort of does it as a bit of a hobby Makes some really pretty ones Something that's just going to stand the test of time And look a bit nicer on my plot, and isn't going to fall apart basically That would be really nice, but if you know anyone Or if you got your sign from someone in particular Please let me know in the comments, because I think I want to treat myself And I want to get a really nice one, not a generic one I want something a bit original, a bit unique So yeah, if you know anyone, please let me know Because this is the year that I actually update my plot signs And yeah, it would just be nice to have a nice one for a change Went a little bit overboard with the cornflower ordering Because I didn't order any cornflowers And I was like, oh no, I love those I sort of went a bit crazy, I got three different packs So we got the Cornflower Blue Boy from Premier Seeds And I'm guessing Blue Boy, pretty typical blue Kind of, what? Blue? I've always thought cornflowers are sort of lilac coloured But I guess, yeah, they are kind of blue as well, aren't they? I just see it as lilac But anyway, yeah, the sort of bog-standard typical ones And then I did also get this pack as well Which is, this says cornflower, doesn't say a specific type Just cornflowers, and these again are the typical one I'd say that's lilac, would you say that's lilac or blue? I'd say lilac, but apparently it's blue There we go And then I also got this one, which has got the different colours This is the Cornflower Polka Dot And they're sort of different colours So we've got a nice red in there as well Red, lilac, purple, pink Very, very pretty So three different types I think what we'll do is we'll do these two packs in one bed And then we will save these for another bed Which I think I need to top up still So we're going to start by sowing our cornflowers And I'll show you where they're going to go This is where they're going to go I think we will also sow these ones here as well Because I just think it would be nice to have that kind of variety Of different flowers coming up And then I'm thinking of having sunflowers All along the back in a little row like soldiers It would be so nice Right, let's whack these ones on So then we'll just smush it in with our hands like this So they're all covered Right, I think we're going to stick some cornflowers into here as well I have had cornflowers here before And dahlias and all kinds of flowers And I just don't know what else I'm going to put in here I've got a nice raised bed to fill up next to it So I can put some veggies in that And then maybe flowers next to it would be a good idea So I think I'm just going to whack them in here It has always looked quite nice Oh, there's quite a bit of bindweed in here I wasn't expecting to see that I've never really seen bindweed around here before That's unusual Yeah, it has worked before And looked quite good So we might as well stick them here Hello! Oh my goodness I was waiting for you earlier I'm going to put in all these lovely seeds now And you're just going to come and dig it all up again Little sausage Right, don't eat these seeds Einstein Please Right, and then the other thing I've got to sow today Are my parsnips Now there's a little bit of a problem with the seeds I've got these lovely parsnip seeds And I sowed a few into my back garden And then what I did was Oh, there's a woodlouse in here How long have you been in there for? I left them outside After I finished planting them and it rained Anyway, they got a little bit wet And I don't think it's a massive problem They look OK to me They've just been a little bit soaked So maybe they'll germinate faster now I don't know We're going to whack them in in front of our pea structure So the peas will go at the back And in front of it we'll have parsnips I think parsnips have been in this bed before Maybe a couple of years ago And they do well everywhere, parsnips So it doesn't really matter where I put them But we're going to whack them in here They just tend to do really well for me, parsnips So that's why I just keep sowing them every year We'll do two rows I'm trying not to get in the way of the peas I could do a row in the middle of the peas as well That might be quite a good idea Oh, sums me up this does Right, I think they're OK I'm really over-sowing Just because I know the slugs Like to get them sometimes I'm over-sowing I think we'll do a nice row In the middle of our pea structure I think that would be a really good idea If I can get in there, I think I can This is officially, guys This is the latest I've ever sown My parsnips Normally I sow them in February This is the latest I've ever gone out I have high hopes for them though I think they'll be OK You can sow them in March We're just very, very late for us OK, I've just got loads of them there OK Guys, you know what? I was just thinking I would be so relaxed right now If I didn't need to do a weed so badly Oh my god I need to go home I can't hold it in anymore A lot of people make toilets at their allotments Do you know that? I get asked that question a ridiculous amount of times And it's a fair enough question Where do you go if you need the toilet? You just have to go home There's no toilets at our allotment plot A lot of people do make compostable toilets And little mini sheds And just put toilet in it So if you want to do that, do that But I just don't think it's for me I have been desperate a couple of times But there are no toilet facilities In our allotment plot So it is something to consider When you're taking on an allotment plot Have a look at what the facilities are there There aren't any here I hope that answers your question I will be back again on Friday I hope you've enjoyed this vlog It's not always the nicest when it's grey and miserable outside But it is actually quite warm today And it is still spring So I'm trying to make it as lovely as I can Hopefully we'll get a bit of sun in the week I'll see you next time Thank you so much for tuning in See you next time, bye