Welcome, my name is Mark Thank you for visiting my channel I am currently working on bringing an abandoned allotment back to life. Think wildlife friendly! It’s plot one somewhere in North East London. Nobody has touched it for at least 8 years and nobody else wanted it. I like a challenge, buts it’s gonna take time. I started working on the plot in early November 2020 Vegan for the animals since July 2021
Dig a hole and get in a hibernaculum for frogs/newts/toads if you can (look it up on RU-vid as it’s a great easy habitat to build and adds more interest and adds more differing habitats for different wildlife etc).
Cheers dude for some good and simple ideas for wildlife areas of the garden. Helped get a few ideas along well in our front garden now and make it more interesting than a grass lawn cut to within an inch of its life and boring non-native bushes
What do you think about this, which is what I'm planning on doing:- grass clippings, vegetable stems once theyre finished, food scraps, grass clippings and leaves as they come, urine and water over this then grass clippings if available. They hoping its all broken down into compost by late Spring😊
I watched that very Red Gardens video recently, in fact watched it several times. Really liked how he sieved and harvested potatoes at the same time. I’m having a go at that.
I love that you have kept posting videos it is so good to see the pond settle in. So many other videos just stop after the water goes in. I would love to see how the pond is doing now.
Your ponds absolutely fantastic , are you on a council run allotment? The biodiversity officer visited our site the other day and ordered me to fill in my native wildlife pond said "ponds ain't allowed" when I told my 7 year old daughter her instant reaction was " he can't tell us what to do plus where are our newts going to live " couldn't have been more proud of her because that's exactly what I said to him
Thanks Jimmy! It’s run by a committee on council land. There are several wildlife ponds on our site. That officer needs to think about their approach! Small wildlife ponds should be encouraged, especially in this day and age. Glad you and your daughter put them straight! Take care
Hi Vicky, hope you’re well. Thanks for asking, I’ll probably do an update in May! It’s all looking lovely and I’m trying to focus on getting my seedlings transplanted. See you soon!
Marky, Did you get a good Yield? I like the idea but worry as my clay soils tends to go a bit firm that the new Tubers will struggle to grow without the soil being much more disturbed. Thanks, Neil.
Hi Neil. Yes I got a great yield! This was heavy clay dug twice but had loads of potatoes using that method! Also, last year and this I just laid the seed potatoes on the soil and covered with rough home made compost! Got an excellent yield last year too. The Ruth Stout method. The potatoes will do a great job breaking up the clay with either method. Take care
Watching your trimming the excess liner left me mindful of what your Maths teacher would have made of his efforts for you ( don’t shout I have subscribed )
That wood looks great. (I think Joel Ashton recommends having one exactly like that one but also carrying on in to the water - so it’s end is submerged. Do check with Joel Ashton though as you seem to be getting some support from him?! Awesome).
Great reminding us about the importance of the subsoil (the orange subsoil that you can see well!) which you use for lining the bottom of the pond for the pond pebbles to sit in etc.
I am wondering whether or not you are going to get some wine cap mushroom spawn to inoculate all around your plot. You have an ideal plot for mushroom growth and wine caps are the best species to grow. Just an idea!
It is so good to see someone experimenting. The great thing for me is that you have already done the harvesting in the videos that I will be watching in the next few days/week 😊
Great idea with the beans! Your channel is truly inspirational - all the hard work you do and the ideas you describe should be great especially for new gardeners. I hope you get to 1000 subscribers soon (End of Feb, 2023)
This year, 2023, I would try planting your potatoes closer together. Great video, I’m trying to catch up with all your videos - I am getting some goo ideas from you. Stay safe!
Great structure for raspberries I think I will use the same thing for my tomatoes this year. I would have used a single turnbuckle on each level to save a few $. By the way my allotment is in Ontario, Canada. Cheers!
“The Joel Ashton method” ❤ I found the Wild Your Garden channel last year and will put the wildlife pond concept in practice soon. It was great to see all the details and challenges, thank you for the series.
Great series Mark. I watched this then went back to the start of getting your plot. What an awesome job you've done. Great inspiration as I get my first plot this week.
