We’re having a natter about this week's plot musings, Soil Squad’s first ever Open Morning. Vicky and Karin share their not-so-secret dreams of windrows, cow manure, and what life could look like when we’ve got heaps of the good stuff. Nothing too extreme – just good a chat, a bit of compost talk - what a surprise?
Apologies for the sniffles, the early morning pollen has effected Vicky's clarity of sound in this episode! Another beautiful early record at Karin's shed on Sunday morning after the Summer Solstice. Join us for the low down of last week on the plots and plans for next.
A sunny morning on the plot where Vicky and Karin talk through last weekend's VERY enjoyable Johnson Su workshop on the Soil Squad plot.
Karin and Vicky share the latest from their plots from harvest onions and garlic to thinning out fennel. We have the sweetest surprise that arrives in the post from a lovely listener too!
It has been a busy half term, and finally some rain. Vicky has robins nesting in her ivy, scuppering her neighbour's plan of a new fence. Karin is excited about her new Bokashi bin arriving.
Karin's Plot 2 is exposed to the elements on the allotment and her new seedlings have suffered from frost damage this week. She was thankfully the wilting plants were caused by the weather, not the new tonne bag of compost! Further up the allotment, it seems Vicky's plot avoided the chill and thankfully her potatoes remain in tact....for now. Another episode of chatting through the week's events on and off the plots!
The weekend has been busy with stalls at the local school fair and St Albans Spring Festival, having lots of meaningful conversations all about Bokashi and Soil Squad. Karin is particularly shattered after so much social interaction and is planning a little snooze is the hammock. As always, thanks to Alex Kizenkov for intro music.
Why do we grow our lawns to cultivate a home for wildlife throughout the month of May, welcome a rich tapestry of creatures into the long grass, only to mow them all down on the 1st of June? We're not sure it makes all that much sense. (Plus we love a bag of grass cuttings to heat up the compost heap) We're all for permanent wild grass aread with purposeful mowed paths. Keeps both creatures and composters happy....
Vicky has possibly composted her worms in her wormery, making it very slow indeed. Karin's new plot is taking shape with a delivery of compost.
We hosted a Bokashi composting workshop last weekend and we loved the challenge of how you bokashi on a balcony and use all of your food waste! Karin has never sowed as many seeds in her life and has come up with a genius solution for supporting her tomato plants...
The Easter weekend has been a busy one with birthdays, family lunches and some time spent on the allotment. Vicky's rhubarb has bolted and Karin has found a way of using those odd pieces of cutlery in the drawer.
The sowing continues - Karin's running out of window sills and Vicky's finally got her seed compost out and is on a mission to play catch up!
Vicky has had a tidy up of her plot and got her potatoes in. Karin is chuffed with the germination rate of her seeds in the shop bought seed compost, after smugly proclaiming only a few weeks ago she had converted to her own seed compost mix. Hay bales feature heavily, with a plead to the local branch of Morrisons; please do another beautiful Halloween display and we'll relieve you of them afterwards.
Karin is super excited today to visit – Share St Albans , a brand-new Library of Things in our city that’s all about sharing, borrowing, and reducing waste. If you're not familiar with the concept, a Library of Things is a community-driven resource where locals can become a member to borrow things they need instead of buying them – from garden tools and kitchen gadgets to camping gear and DIY equipment. The possibilities are endless! It’s inspiring to see how this concept can make life easier wh...
Vicky has finally made it to her plot and has had a satisfying time turning her compost; getting temperatures that make Karin jealous. Both have done some seed sowing; Karin has trebled her space indoors for trays with some very handy Ikea shoe racks. Her plastic greenhouse in the garden has of course fallen over once again.
This week, we’re shaking things up a little by recording in the afternoon, with a pot of coffee, from a Community Wild Garden near Vicky’s home. Surrounded by nature, this inspiring spot sets the tone for today’s conversation—all while Vicky stays close to home.
Probably the shortest episode ever, due to a traumatic week in Vicky's household. Karin is planting seeds for both, and is relieved to have found a solution of sorts to the lettuce growing slug problem; a high rise salad bar right outside the back door in the garden.
Are you getting itchy fingers to get sowing? Or have you got cell trays balancing on every sill? As we spring in March, seed swaps are on the calendar and we're looking forward to the sowing season. Karin's full steam ahead, Vicky's in the planning phase still with Pigeons still munching on last year's broccoli.
It's been a mixed half term, full of exciting but also sad events. Karin had to say goodbye to her beautiful German Shepherd Tilly, leaving an empty feeling house. Vicky has spent her birthday present; a microscope course at the Soil Ecology Laboratory. She has come away full of new knowledge of all things soil, putting her microscope to good use looking at her own bokashi.
Karin has a very bold plan for her plot 2 - a market style garden full of spuds for the summer, a great way to aerate her potentially compacted soils and suppress old weed growth with the potato abundant leaves. Vicky shares an update of Soil Squad's news after a busy week of preparations for the plot, including building a re-used and repurposed version of Mr Dowding's compost bay shelter and getting ready for the website's photo shoot! Happy listening peeps....
Vicky has finally decided on the lay out of her plot; making two long beds to the back, giving her lots of efficient growing space. Karin has had an unexpectedly large harvest of an often over-looked tuber; the Jerusalem artichoke, enabling her to make a big batch of the soup of her dreams. A short episode due to the chilly morning; Vicky is finding warmth and a short spell of dizziness from her sixth coffee of the morning.
Did you know that mole hills offer the best seed compost nature has to offer? In this episode, Karin shares her plans and recipe for making her own seed compost using her leaf mould as a lovely fluffy base . As always, we share the latest updates on our bokashi compost and the winter b&b it provides. We've been clearing the Soil Squad plot and finding all sorts of random items on the plot, one that could be donated to the Library of Things at The Green House, St Albans Eco hub....
Vicky has been to Somerset House for the Soil exhibition and has come away suitably inspired. Karin has been under the weather and has spent almost no time on the plot. Her old trusty car has made it through another MOT though, making more potential compost collections possible.
If you like listening to someone else clean their tools, then this is certainly the episode for you. If not, then we can only apologise and use this episode as an excellent remedy for insomnia.
A quiet early morning on the plot, watching the sunrise and listening to the birds waking up. In all transparency, not much has been done this week on the plots due to the frosty layer covering the ground. The lighter days on the way though, spring will soon be here!
This episode was recorded on a dark, snowy morning on Sunday. Just beautiful to feel the cold snap at our fingertips. Karin and Vicky are living off their leftovers this week and stumble across an idea for composting food waste across holiday homes in Norfolk. NB post recording, Vicky found out that quite a few Norfolk council's do in fact recycle food waste but hey ho, a composting service would still be welcome maybe? Karin's been busy on her plot over Christmas, hunting for worms in her compo...
A very Happy New Year from the plot!
It's Christmas Eve and we are sending you love and light from Karin's shed as we exchange pressies and celebrate with you, wherever you are. This episode is just long enough to listen to whilst you peel 10 potatoes, wrap a few pressies or walk the dog around the block. We'd like to thank the following artists for the Christmas themed jingles on this episode: MissyWhimsyArt - sleigh bells VoiceBosch - jingle bells Free sound - SantaClaus...
As the shortest day of the year approaches, we look forward to the longer evenings and all of the possibilities that 2025 holds for the allotment, on all 4 of our half plots! Looking back on the few allotment diary entries we both made in 2024, it was clear we started our sowing way too early last year and so we'll be holding back on any sowing until March next year....will we resist the temptation?!
An upsetting look back on the year that was 2024. A year of a cold spring, a huge amount of slugs, an even colder summer and a harvest so small that you would struggle to sustain a person even for a few days. Vicky's lists her wins as mostly structural. A shed and a fresh compost set up. Roll on 2025!
