New Raised Beds & Brassicas Are Out! Allotment Vlog 🥬 Ep.23 🥬

[@serobinson1]

Honestly the horse poop will be so good for the garden, I would fill all your composters ! Mix it with grass clippings, weeds and chopped up cardboard !

[@Hutch118000]

Brilliant progress from where you started to where you are now, well done 👏

[@maddy26662]

Pick your sweet peas the more you pick the more they will produce new flowers ❤

[@petro3441]

Wow stunning sweetpeas❤❤❤

[@robineasby5328]

Your plot looks amazing , Seren. Looking forward to when the flowers are in bloom and your crops are maturing.

[@sandrascarsbrook2213]

You have inspired me to apply for an allotment, and I’m on the waiting list. So impressed with the work you have done. 👍🏻

[@serensgarden]

Awh! That’s so exciting!! 🥲 hope you get to view a plot soon ☺️🌻🌸🌱

[@debbailey2956]

Your like snow white, with all the little animals💓❤️🌻

[@CheyenneMoon]

I'm loving watching you from Canada! I had never heard of allotments until I saw your video. Am now fascinated by allotments. In canada we have "community gardens" but they are scarce and hard to obtain space, of whoch they give you little. It's been so amazing watching your transformation! I am now a forever fab of allotment youtube 😅

[@kimberly-mo5cp]

Hi Seren, my daughter and I watch you from Australia. We love seeing how much progress you've made in such a short time. Your garden is amazing, keep it up!

[@debbailey2956]

You done such an amazing job.xx

[@Mike_in_Thailand]

Do you think those beds are deep enough? Personally I would have added another bag of compost or soil. The cardboard will rot away eventually but those sunflowers in particular have deep roots. Perhaps make a hole in the cardboard for the roots to pass through in future for deep rooted plants.

[@Edward-turtle]

Your DIY skills are pretty good...

[@thegardenpath24]

The new beds look great, you must be so happy to be planting out and seeing things grow after all the work you've put in clearing the plot.

[@janeb3024]

As always, an absolute pleasure to visit your allotment! The sweet peas are a particular favourite of mine but I am looking forward to the snapdragons and cosmos, too.😊

[@rdb4996]

Just what I need to get through the last minutes of the work day. Should probably go outside myself 😅

[@serensgarden]

You can do it! 🤣 I wish I was outside today… it’s awful rain and wind 😑☔️

[@rolandhirons1940]

love your channel serena wish vlog a lot longer

[@serensgarden]

Oh thank you so much! 🥲 noted! I will try and make longer videos ☺️🌸

[@jamiemittermuller6470]

Making great progress, I am very envious of your allotment(very few to apply for around me) so making doing with a small courtyard garden and half a driveway. Any tips for growing squash, I’m struggling to get mine going, I think it’s because they are outside in the cold(I’ve decided to wrap them in fleece for a while) hope the extra warmth will get it going. Tip: clean your brassica after planting, take the old leaves off, best advice I was given helps with the slugs

[@laurieweideman9607]

I love smaller beds. It’s so easy to reach everything. Don’t forget you can join 2 small beds by joining the side boards in various ways. Everything looks so nice!

[@Bloomingcurlsv1]

Seren alwrted me to the wicks sale on decking and i bought 30 2.4m lengths... going for 2.4x1.2 and its mahooosive.... wondering if i should do a few 1.2x1.2 squares now 🤔

[@Bloomingcurlsv1]

Seren alerted me to the wicks sale on her last blog and I bought 30 lengths lol was gonna do 10 2.4x1.2m beds and now I'm thinking is this excessive lol... just treated them with an organic treatment so they last a few years extra 😅

[@serensgarden]

I agree! And next year I can dedicate one small bed to just onions, one to garlic, etc! So excited! 🤣

[@serensgarden]

@@Bloomingcurlsv1 oh my 🫢 I only bought 5 of the 2.4m boards! 🤣 Next year I will probably replace the boards on the larger middle bed so I’ll have one big 2.4 x 1.2 bed ☺️ but I also really like having the small beds! Good luck with your new planks & giant raised beds! 🤣🫢🌸🌻🌱

[@ritafoster4958]

Lots of progress today, Seren! Loved watching you making up your new raised beds and planting out your greenhouse stock. The sweet peas are really going strong and look lovely! A bed of snapdragons will look wonderful! Thanks for letting us watch you as you work in your garden. Very relaxing and peaceful! ❤️🇨🇦

[@drawyrral]

Big difference from day one. Great job.

[@jeffreykersey3955]

You are awesome! Your "crack on" attitude is an inspiration to all of us!

[@dereknash3638]

Your allotment cat looks like a Siamese seal point, when I first met my wife many years ago (over 60 years) she had one of these, they are not the friendliest of cats but great characters, they don’t have a normal meow. They like space to do their own thing.

[@serensgarden]

Yes I think it’s a Siamese! Or at least part Siamese 🐱 I fostered a pair a few years ago… and I agree they have very strange meows 😅 only wanted attention on their terms too 🤭

[@susanyates4233]

It must be so expensive in compost for your raised beds Seren. Missed you! I have snapdragons flowering from last year, and am going to prick my cosmos out. We have had so many slugs and snails in East Yorkshire, they ate all my first seedlings, so I am growing my second lot of seeds in my bay window, which faces south. Best wishes.

[@kerrysmith5057]

Hi from east sussex, I came across your KZbin couple of days ago and I've watched from the beginning of your transformation and wow you've done an amazing job can't wait for many more on your journey ❤ x

[@tess1176]

I love snapdragons too and slugs leave them alone! Also love penstemons for the same reason plus they are perennials so win win in my book!

[@serensgarden]

Yes! I’ve noticed the slugs haven’t touched a single seedling! oooh I love penstemons too but I’ve never grown any. I think that’s one to add to the list for next year ☺️thanks for watching Tess! 🌸

[@tess1176]

I should have also said that although snapdragons tend to be seen as annuals, I left my healthier bushier plants in over winter (in the cold NE) and many of them are flowering again this year after a prune back and tidy up. If you want to grow penstemons from seed I start mine now and overwinter in pots so they are nice and strong for next year.

[@TraceUK]

Trouble is, that cardboard is going to take a few months to break down. I know it says 2 weeks online but that’s just not the case in the UK. Our weather isn’t warm enough. So the roots of your plants are going to hit the cardboard and become stunted

[@PuthyvanGarden]

❤❤❤

[@tstrong7910]

Seren, i love the size of your new raised beds❤

[@MyTinyAllotment]

You should call the cat Simon! 🐈 😂x

[@georgemartin9618]

Another great vlog Seren .

[@CraigsAllotment]

Great work :) I need tobsyart using cardboard on my spare bed. Happy growing and thanks 😊

[@juliewilliams793]

Hi Seren. My beans are looking very sad too! I planted them out nearly a month ago and I don’t think they’ve grown at all 😢. Keep up the good work, it’s looking fab! 😀

[@AnneSweeney-rr8xd]

Wow you have done amazing! Well done xxx

[@lifestapestry2968]

Wish my other half would pick up a drill and do a bit of DIY. Well done you!

[@serensgarden]

Hahah thank you so much! 🔨☺️

[@sandyward6236]

Amazing! Lovevit! Wonderful progress!😊

[@anncarmichael1267]

Everything is looking great. I seen some pallet collars for sale in my local Homebase

[@flissbakx5555]

Amazing work! I just want to say, might be good to wear a mask when you’re spreading compost from plastic bags as there are huge numbers of Legionnaires disease which are a direct result of inhaling spores from compost or potting mix that has come in plastic bags. Just a suggestion. Amazing work on your beautiful wee allotment!

[@martinwyke]

I used fibreglass rods for my hoops this year, they are flexible springy and I'd recommend them. They come in various legths and guages. I was able to get 5x4 meter lengths of 4mm for £15 from the online store named after the rainforest. If I bought them again I'd get the 6mm for a little more rigidity.

[@Edward-turtle]

Who Amazon????

[@Lennymcgra]

I stop by now and again, the work you have done is amazing compared to the beginning 👏

[@emmakirk9194]

The cats probably after mice. He’s gorgeous

[@lobodo988]

You use my favorite piano tinkling music 🌺

[@chriseverest4380]

Loved Seren's wildlife show😂 You should do the voices (like Johnny Morris used to on Animal Magic - yes I am very old! & you are far too young to remember that programme😂❤😂)

[@denisebennett3144]

Great work on the planting. Cats are a law unto themselves.

[@twelvesmylimit]

I bought my first Snapdragon plant today. The bonus is they're safe around cats!

[@serensgarden]

Yay for snapdragons! 🌸 oooh I didn’t know that, that is a bonus indeed! I don’t think slugs like them either 👀 so that’s another bonus!

[@twelvesmylimit]

@@serensgarden Whoop! Oh my god, SO many plants are toxic or irritants to cats. I grow all those ones at my allotment (or try to!), away from my furry babies. Lillies are the most dangerous. Just a cat brushing past the plant and grooming itself can be fatal. 🤦‍♀️Dogs aren't far behind when it comes to being incompatible with plants. I love them all, I just have to be careful what I plant and where. Anyway, loving your channel, Seren. You're doing amazingly 👏

[@serensgarden]

⁠@@twelvesmylimitoh tell me about it 😭 before I adopted my cats I was mad about houseplants! one of my cats is also mad about eating houseplants 😑 I’ve had to give away sooo many lovely plants because Frida would not leave ANY of them alone! The amount of times I had googled a plant and google had basically said ‘cat will die if eaten’ 😅 it’s partly why Frida is a house cat … she can’t be trusted! She’ll eat anything! 🤣 She’s also lactose intolerant.. and will scavenge for any piece of cheese crumb left in the kitchen… then will give herself the poops 😑 darn cats! I love them though 🥲 would rather 0 indoor plants and healthy cats any day 🤣

[@twelvesmylimit]

@@serensgarden 😄🤦‍♀️🤗😻

[@TheCornishCottageGarden-bs5lf]

​@@serensgardenThat is true, the slugs ransack my garden annually except for the snappies and the Fuschia's 😊

[@andyc972]

Well done Seren, it's hard to plan for jobs at the moment as the weather is so variable and still unseasonably cool, I still have lots to plant out but have lost some to the weather too, beans are sulking in the cold, batteries always seem to fail at the worst time don't they ! 🙄😤 I saw some pallet collar raised beds in Lidl the other week, might be worth a look if you still want some ! It's amazing to see you've all but filled your plot with beds from front to back now, I know there's still some finishing off to do and a return to the utility /compost area but it's looking great and all in four months too, great work ! 👍😁 I hope your Birdy friends are watching out for that cat ! 😬

[@doras.allotment]

Love a snap dragon too, great idea and your cosmos are going to look beaut! You've also inspired me to tackle making my own raised beds one day... 😃

[@shellylockhart1506]

Everything looks great . Great work . Those brassicas were maybe kept in the greenhouse too long …they would have benefited from going out much sooner . They don’t mind the cooler temps . I’m thinking you realized that . …and that’s how we learn ! Love watching your channel !

[@susiea1419]

Looking fantastic! Pull the leaves off the bottom of your brassicas that are yellow or pink as they attract slugs and are useless anyway.

[@sophiahmzhang8343]

The weather has been so cold recently 😢

[@BrLambert]

The sweet peas are gorgeous. I'm not familiar with some of the plants and or flowers but it'll be nice to learn.

[@serensgarden]

Thank you! I’m very proud of those sweet peas 🥲 thank you so much for watching ☺️🌸🌻🌱

[@lynx1730]

Make you sure you put a peg on your nose or toilet roll in each nostril when straining the nettles and then pouring it onto you plot, I did it and it gassed the plot out, I was gagging 😭😂

[@serensgarden]

HAHAH! oh no… its bad enough just stirring the bucket 🤢 I’m not looking forward to straining it …..

[@fionabaran7954]

Hi the most likely thing about your beans is a nitrogen deficiency they will need a good feed before you plant them out

[@AnneSweeney-rr8xd]

My beans are also looking very yellow!

[@serensgarden]

Oh no! 🥲 well I’m glad I’m not the only one with sad beans 😅

[@Sylvie_M]

Great progress! your plot cat may be hunting birds. :(

[@johnjudd7737]

The beans going yellow is due to the cold weather

[@Edward-turtle]

you'll not be laughing at the cat when he's using your raised beds as litter trays................LOL

[@serensgarden]

Hahaha I’ve been lucky so far … hopefully he stays away 😅😅😅

[@2ndstarfromtherightsolas881]

@@serensgarden To keep cats out of your veg beds , place bottles of water on beds, Cats woun't use it as a litter box when water is near by, they see it as a water source to drink 😊. p.s love the kittie, he's cute!

[@nitelite78]

10:50 Where did you get the metal support rods from Seren? Was it just at the plot or did you buy it somewhere? Or was it a package that came with the net? I've been looking for flexible metal rods but they are really expensive. Crocus have some but they are 10 for £99 which to me is ridiculous.

[@serensgarden]

Oh no, that is expensive! 🥲 unfortunately I found them on the plot so have no idea where they came from! They are a bit small, so if and when the plants grow I will replace them with something bigger. Most people use that blue piping.. but I would love to find some larger metal hoops too (that aren’t £99 😅)

[@zumbawithcathya]

Loving the new beds Serena …. Wondering about those pesky slugs? Are you doing anything to protect the plants? I bought some copper strips that are supposed to be put round pots…though I have seen comments about crushed muscle shells - I wonder if other people other ideas? Best wishes Cathy 🤗

[@Edward-turtle]

the strulch she puts round the bottom of the plants deter slugs and suppress weeds . strulch great stuff and fairly cheap

[@zumbawithcathya]

@@Edward-turtle could you please remind me what strulch is ? 😬

[@Edward-turtle]

@@zumbawithcathya Strulch is a Mineralised Straw Mulch which comes in bags , its great for weed supressing . slugs and snails hate it , i use it round Hostas to keep snails away.. It lasts ages when down and can be used on pots to keep the moisture in etc good stuff. On Ebay its about £15 a bag.

[@ellenclayton5955]

Root growth is being obstructed by the cardboard so your beds need to be much deeper. Instead of your roots being able to go 4-6 inches deep they are being forced to grow horizontally. This will make weaker plants prone to falling over in the wind. The top 2 inches of soil will also have temperature fluctuations that could affect root health. While the beds do look nice they are not practical. I understand it chokes weeds out (cardboard) but you would be better off to cover with black plastic for a month. The plastic will form a hothouse type situation and most seeds present will germinate and die off because of lack of sun. Any existing plants will die off as well.

[@juliewilliams793]

With all the rain, the cardboard should hopefully break down. In my experience if the card Is getting wet the roots will grow through it.

[@CraigShortland]

👍🦋

[@RichardTaylorgardening]

Brilliant please be careful waring trainers and bending over for your feet and back ouch as always happy gardening Richardx

[@bevtooth]

The cat is after your little Robin and his friends 😢

[@jennyhayler7553]

A Siamese would you say

[@Greenmanure62]

That kitty will poop in your brassicas...and everywhere else! I know from experience. Wear gloves,🤢😂

[@serensgarden]

Hahahah hoping he stays away 🙏🏼 I’ve been lucky so far at least 🫢