carrots cold and new better Hot bins planned

[@sowgroweat6987]

Mustard as a distraction crop, an interesting thought. Good to hear someone as enthusiastic about composting as me. I will watch with great interest

[@thevegplot]

@@sowgroweat6987 thanks Mike, watching the mustard grow this year it really looked strong and healthy and I thought the whites just prefer it, there is more going on as I recently discovered. The brassicas with club were composed when the whites arrived only the non club were left and ignored, brassicas in the green manure bed with no club which was 3 feet from the club brassica bed were also ignored, and all in that bed looked really healthy and grew strong. My conclusion is although the mustard looked healthy it was stressed by the heavy sowing as it was just grown for cover and wireworm protection. The fact it was stressed and unhealthy meant the whites targeted it in preference to the much stronger non club brassicas, just said as much to nick in these comments. That has now taken me in a new compost direction which will be really interesting this year. Cheers 👍

[@thereseboogades8498]

Another great video; thanks so much for teaching us! I really enjoy your comfortable & engaging communication! It feels like we are friends visiting our gardening buddy & receiving the gift of your efforts & wisdom. I too am sick of rats; I store things in galvanized cans & plastic covered bins - much better. Great hot bins! I enjoy the comments people leave, too! All the best to you from your fan Michelle in Virginia Beach, Virginia, east coast, USA. 😊❤

[@thevegplot]

@@thereseboogades8498 thanks allot Michelle, I really enjoy it when people take on things I know to be of benefit to us when growing our food, I have made a few friends on site since arriving and I love visiting them every week sharing knowledge i decipher success they are having with plants to figure out why, I know the sites with problems some huge and it becomes clear as day why they have them, mostly I have to say is because of digging and chemicals. Always learning Michelle and I read as much as I can to figure out how that slots in with what we need. Glad to be of help. 👍

[@Dazob66]

Bloody hell Paul that was hell of a rant about the pests, quite funny to be honest never seen you rant before......cheers pal enjoyed it.....👍🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

[@thevegplot]

I usually cut all the rants outa the videos mate 😁I can rant for England 👍cheers

[@nickthegardener.1120]

Great information and advice, I found that the cabbage white butterflies like verbena bonariensis in my back garden so I intend to plant some at the allotment, i have one already self seeded in my carrot bin👌👍🙏😁 i had club root in my first year after i dug the soil but not since I have been no dig.👌

[@thevegplot]

@@nickthegardener.1120 we had the same plants in the borders this year nick saw bees on them but no whites I'm sure the mustard in flower just has a stronger smell and draws them in. In fact I saved a sack of the seed heads and put them in the tunnel to dry, next day I went in and the tunnel was filled with a really strong smell of cabbage. Recently read a paper that claimed insects do not eat healthy plants, I thought false but at the end I understood why that is totally credible and bears out what I am now seeing on the plot. It's great when pieces of the puzzle fit together. Cheers. 👍

[@adamdaykin4052]

I’m looking forward to seeing your new setup. As you know I’m trying to go fully no-dig so home made compost is an absolute necessity for me. I store my nets and fleece in large plastic boxes with sealed lids and so far so good. When I first took on my second plot the shed was a mess and whilst clearing it out I found a bag of fleece with a partially decomposed rat in it. I felt dirty for days. Thanks for sharing your knowledge and hopefully I can learn a lot from you as the season progresses.

[@thevegplot]

@@adamdaykin4052 hi Adam, I think you will be interested in this new set up, I'm using the existing bins and changing the way they work. They will make better compost so won't need as much. Yea I found 2 dead rats under the first shed I moved on here, prob a look at what was to come. Think I will just line the inside of the box with netting which will kept them out. I was going to store them in the new shed as it's much bigger but no way now those things have been crawling on everything. 👍

[@SowsmallGrowtall]

Look forward to seeing it in summer 😊

[@thevegplot]

@@SowsmallGrowtall thanks I love looking across the sea of vegetation in summer the paths mostly disappear under it. 👍

[@markshaw5835]

Another great video, look forward to the compost video. To learn more interesting information about compost. Peat are a nightmare, I've got mouse in my plot, trying to find a way to remove them

[@thevegplot]

@@markshaw5835 thanks Mark I echo that mate rampant with rats and mice on mine, when I found out that mammals and birds target healthy nutritious food over unhealthy it makes sense so we are getting one thing right 😁 Cheers.

[@markshaw5835]

@thevegplot that's very true, I didn't know that so I must be doing some think right.

[@RFranks]

Every year is a learning experience and just when you think you've cracked it a new challenge comes along. It was down to -5 last night where I am and the broad beans that I planted direct had a bit of frost damage, I think this is because they were shaded by purple sprouting broccoli in a neighbouring bed. Luckily I had a second bed which was not shaded and they seem fine. Like you rats got into my shed and made holes in the fleece so I only had enough for one bed. They can be very annoying critters!

[@thevegplot]

Hi yes the quirks of weather and how it effects some and not others had almost the same as you last year with beans, one side of bed gone with one strip thriving, I put that down to compost being put along that row the day the frost came. I really need to figure out a way to discourage these rats, this year for whatever reason they are abundant on mine. Cheers. 👍

[@stuartdelamare4072]

Another informative episode as ever 👏. Seriously help future self. look at putting up a telegraph pole for the birds of prey to perch on day and night around the allotments maybe an owl box. and grow hops beans etc up it for a bit of camouflage. And bat boxes for the insects control. it’s amazing Long term 24hr pest control 😏and it’s organic 😆👍🇬🇬

[@thevegplot]

@@stuartdelamare4072 thank you, I actually had an 18 foot high pole with a cross perch on top in front of the poly tunnel, many times I saw the kestrel sat on top as I drove in. It broke in the winds but I now have another one to replace it with. 👍 in a good summer the plot is alive with huge dragon fly's also thousands of ladybirds no problems with aphids now. Insects have become a minor issue in general just the bird life who love healthy food 😁 Cheers.

[@charlottecapstick789]

A very interesting video, I'll look forward to seeing the new hot bins! How much compost can you typically make yourself in a year? Will you fill all 3 hot bins and the storage bin? Also, why don't your carrots freeze in the ground in these icy temperatures we are getting?

[@thevegplot]

@@charlottecapstick789 hi Charlotte, the amount I can make is just down to the amount I can get hold of, I've managed to make around 2.5 cu metres each year so far which has been just enough and had got the soil to a really good standard. So I can now back off applying so much and instead make less compost but of a much higher quality. Made with less scavenged weeds but more mixed vegetation that I will grow on the plot as green manure, my vegetation will be so much higher in nutrients, fungus and bacteria that I won't need as much, it's kind of concentrated and self sustaining, I will bring in comfrey, apples and horse manure straw plus rotted wood chip to blend in. Hence the new bins to do this. The carrots are bred to stand around -5 C but have survived much lower for me, I only put fleece over as a precaution because it's dropping so low at the moment. Cheers 👍

[@petesliwinski9184]

Think your right about club root plants only get it when in distress I’ve a lot of moles on my lotto when they get in a brassica bed and I don’t spot it early I end up with club root .

[@charlottecapstick789]

@@thevegplot thank you!

[@thevegplot]

@petesliwinski9184 dead right Pete the root damage stresses the plants leaving them open to disease, I also get exactly that on mine, need to get on top of them this winter. 👍

[@thereseboogades8498]

​Wow, that's awesome - your compost efforts & plans are Spot On !!!​@thevegplot

[@pennyhewitt8801]

the fleece for the carrots is it a special fleece ? Great tips. I am just starting no dig plots for my veg garden, using homemade compost from my hot bins.

[@thevegplot]

@@pennyhewitt8801 hi the mesh covering the carrots is a fine mesh a cheaper version of micro mesh which is a brand name. The micro mesh is much better as it is allot stronger than the one I use which pulls holes in itself easily. I will probably buy some micro mesh just for the carrots it's 4 times the price but will last years longer and stop carrot root fly getting in. The fleece I pulled over under the mesh is just common garden fleece used more to protect the plants from the cold although the micro mesh also does that to a degree. I wouldn't trust the fleece to protect from root fly on its own though. Cheers.

[@pennyhewitt8801]

@thevegplot thanks 😊

[@Tea_and_thyme_2012]

Another brilliant video thank you. Can you not try putting your fleece/nets in a bag and hang them from the roof in the shed or greenhouse. I do this with mine and it seems to protect them from mice/rats etc. and it doesn’t take up to much room as they fold/roll up really small. Also could you not do a “talk” at a committee meeting about the benefits of no dig as you’ve so much knowledge they may appreciate it I know I do. Deb

[@thevegplot]

Thanks Deb, the new much bigger shed I just put up was to be used to store all that however having found it all covered in urine and poop there is no way. I will leave it out this year when it warms up in the rain etc to clean it then store in the shed as intended. I have offered to do a talk which fell on deaf ears I think some people see me as a crank because the majority are fixated on digging and chemicals to grow, one guy actually said to me he didn't have time for no dig which still really amuses me 😁 no dig and compost literally means less work, he just bought a brand new rotavator to chew up the soil. They see the results I get are far and above anything they have done over many years on site but are convinced that what they do will pay off. I am usually asked which varieties I grow as if that is the reason for the abundance, most times it's the same as theirs. I went to a talk last year organised by another committee given by an academic on soil science, I was literally shocked how it was all engineered and related to chemical farming, no mention at all about soil life and when somebody asked about no dig he said the soil had to be dug to grow food. That is what you are up against. 👍

[@Tea_and_thyme_2012]

@ Unbelievable. I can honestly say that between you and a couple of other folk I follow I’ve learned so much in a short space of time. Why would people CHOOSE to use chemicals? I can’t wait for all this snow to go and then I can get stuck in. It’s still pretty bad in Yorkshire.

[@beckieholland5968]

Can you elaborate on what measures you took to feed your soil to help reduce clubroot as my plot is riddled with clubroot. I have tried putting lime in the planting hole which helped initially but not massively. Any advice greatly appreciated

[@thevegplot]

Hi Beckie, good question with a long answer but i will be doing a video on this soon. You will be aware of no dig which is key to this, the benefits of not digging are many because you are not harming the soil life, in particular the fungi. They have played a role shaping all life on earth for billions of years and are one of the key reasons for healthy soil and plants. Without going too much into it here you need a 50-50 ratio of intact fungi and bacteria in your soil growing food as we do on allotments, fungi need to not be disturbed as they create their web underground, there are thousands of types of fungi and most rely on each other to do their work, they are inside the plants and attached to the roots, mycorrhizal fungi are well know to aid plants but not brassicas, however other types do partner with brassicas for food and protection. Increasing the diversity of fungi in my soil is no doubt how i have achieved this resistance to club root within a year. The application of well composted anerobic wood chip and leaf mould plus my own humic acid mixed with it. That alone has brought in new fungi to colonise the soil and partner with the brassicas. A reason why i can now concentrate on applying much less compost with a higher fungal and bacterial content. My new hotbins will provide this. I now have enough organic matter in the soil and can work on adding to the soil life. Cheers.

[@ElliotAlderson-uv7rv]

Got aaerobbin last year full. Of little black. Flys. Not fruit flys. Any idea how to get rid x

[@thevegplot]

@@ElliotAlderson-uv7rv fly's are naturally attracted to compost bins they sense odours the rotting compost gives off, I had a few weeks in Nov where small fly's turned up in and around the bin caused by the rotting apples no doubt as they would have already laid eggs on them. White fly were present too That in itself is natural the heat of the heap meant they could thrive around it. As the apples rotted away they died off without food and the heat that came most likely cooked any further eggs they laid. Bins that have gone anaerobic you can smell ammonia, sulphur,rotten egg type smells they will also be quite wet lacking in oxygen. Fly's would be attracted to that odour. To fix that I would empty the bin put it back and mix in dry brown material like straw dried out plants etc this will trap air and dry out the compost a little. There is more to explain I Will be doing a video shortly on aerobic bins having been asked a few times on how to prevent and fix etc so others know what to avoid doing this year. Cheers.