Thank you for your honesty Steve. Really helpful advice. As ever, many thanks for sharing.

Your allotment looks amazing, everyone looks after there plots

I dearly wish I could make it but sadly too ooo far away! What a stunningly beautiful 🍒🌻🌱🌼allotment site - never seen a site quite like it! Even in the short time I've been subscribed to your channel you have given me a few light bulb moments and it would be great to visit and talk all things gardening. I hope you have a great day - good weather and visitors keen to learn with great appreciation for the work all the plotholders do. That glimpse of the site was quite tantalizing! !

My climate is nothing like yours, but i always enjoy listening to the thought process of other focused gardeners with systems. Thanks for taking the time to post.

I so wish I could get there to meet you Steve. I would have to give you a huge hug and probably scare you out of your skin. It looks an interesting allotment.

Any thoughts on those expensive padded clips you tried out this year? Could they have had any negative effect on those polly tunnel toms? I made one at home and almost used it on a plant a neighbour gave me but wasn't willing to sacrifice it. I was waiting for your review, I guess with the weather it can't be said how well or poor they worked.

Nice video Steve , keep up the good work and videos

A good mix Steve. I blend horse manure in with my wood chip and that breaks down fairly quickly. The worm compost is my favourite process, ideal for seed sowing, just wish I could dry it out quicker. Do you have any issues with rats in the compost bins? Cheers. Nigel

Love a compost video wish I could get hold of wood chip.

Excellent video, thank you for uploading! We're making compost via multiple poultry enclosures (inspired by Edible Acres here on KZfaq) by cutting weeds/grass for them every other day as well as a large 3 bay system inspired by Charles Dowding (fill bay 1, let it sit after multiple top ups, then fill 3, let it sit after multiple topping ups, turn 1 into bay 2 to add air and mix, and start all over again with filling bay 1, etc). We're also trialing full on hot compost in a converted freezer (inspired by Tec Mow channel here on KZfaq) but haven't decided if it's worthwhile at our scale as yet. We like to have compost from different streams/sources and made from multiple resources. The larger Charles Dowding inspired 3 bay system gets a lot of chipped branches from here on the farm and shredded cardboard, the poultry enclosures get pine wood chip bedding from their houses mixed in, the hot bed freezer compost relies heavily on household food fast (as it keeps off rats and mice by composting inside a converted chest freezer) so each has it's value. We tried compost/wood chip pathways but couldn't make enough wood chips to make this truly work for us, but it showed promise and maybe something we trial again but add a weed suppression base of sheep's wool with the chips and odd weeds thrown on top (I think this was a Huw Richard's idea, but couldn't swear to it!). It certainly all helps though given how poor the commercial compost seems to be in our area presently. Keep up the awesome work, your gardens/undercover spaces are truly inspirational. Thank you!👍

Great system you have there Steve, where do you source your wood chip from? ATB Woody

Compost heaps are my favorite part of the garden - so much life and promise. Thanks for sharing your allotment journey and knowledge. 🌱🍅🍓

Your quite an athlete with that pile Steve 9 minutes ! Takes me about an hour using a long handled fork. I’ve found that if I just pile up wood chip with some coffee grounds and keep it damp without moving for a year or two fungi works it’s way through the pile and the wood chip is then more easily composted with greens . It’s a bit of an art because the the wood chip dropped off is always different. I’ve had excellent results mixing the finished compost which tends to be very sticky with shop bought 1/4 coir compost which is very water repellent and open. Do you find the wood chip compost keeps the plot soil more friable than horse manure?

Hi Steve, where do you buy your tubs? I struggle to find ones that are a good size.

Hi Steve. Love your videos. Thanks for the inspiration and ideas.

Want to go here and humphrey Head this summeron a nice day. If it ever stops raining

Interesting your peppers doing well Steve, I’ve had the same with mine also grown in a low tunnel - not quite such large fruits as yours yet, but doing better than my greenhouse tomatoes!

It's not just me that has noticed lack of pollinators. Very time poor, so not a huge amount of time to hand pollinate either. Everything is so late and successive bean plantings have been destroyed by slugs and snails. The tomatoes, peppers and aubergines planted in late January are only just getting fruit on them now. I hope next year will be better. Still, it's all a learning curve, that's what I tell myself. Is the poor light this year contributing to yellowing squash stems? I have given them a good feed and still no change sadly.

Manky onions really do give off an unpleasant stink. My onions are looking good so far, though still weeks off being ready to harvest. Apart from the Bedfordshire Champion I raised in pots & planted out late, which have hardly gone beyond pickling onion size...

Hi Steve thanks for another wonderful video, I think the whole gardening community have had a tough time this year 😮 two questions for you did you have germination issues with your pelleted Eskimo carrot seed and can you remind me of the red cabbage you first sowed in September last year. Thanks mate 👍👍😄😄

Hi Steve, so onion fly decided to ignore you application of the fruit and veg nematodes. Still not too many affected. I don’t seem to be suffering, but I have noticed that the Red Baron onions are suffering from allium rust, while the Globo onions in the same bed are completely clean, and a great crop. Looks like I have found a rust resistant variety. Happy gardening.

do you have staking the cabbages on video? i would love to see how you do it

Very interesting Steve

Hi Steve Been a difficult year for growing onions, hopefully you'll salvage a good number. ATB Woody 👍

Still a great harvest Steve!

I have to use mesh for everything that has a fly here in E mids or you lose the lot.

There always a pest for some think lol. Wasn't to bad U got another great harvest hope the onions are all ok for U

Is it onion fly or onion rot? We have onion rot in our patch it is awful cant grow proper onions or garlics 😢

I still have a dozen shallots\ left from last year's harvest. Really pleased. I have plenty of freshly harvested onions to keep me going until I harvest the winter crop for storage. Sorry you had onion fly. My nemesis is allium leaf miner. Happy gardening

Steve do you grow your shallots from seed or sets as I was wondering why they weren't multi bulbed or is that down to the variety?

looks good Onion

I got ALM early in my white onions from sets, non in garlic planted late feb, non in spring onions, or reds, I hit everything with a liquid IMO with rock salt soon as I saw the twisted leaves on the whites, the effected whites seemed to recover and put out all new growth within 5 weeks, I've not found any maggots or crysalis in the root balls or the soil underneath, still have some reds to pull but fingers crossed I dodged a bullet, I don't grow shallots maybe they're particularly susceptible?

How do you grow small onions for storage? Do you pull them up before they bend over? Coz everybody says you have to let them bend over coz that is when the onion "seals off" itself and only then you can store it, but then you can't control how big they eventually they grow. Or do you pull them up early at the required size and they still store?

Oh ! You took off all their "wrappers " ..... I have never done this .....interesting ....will they dry out make new ones ?

They have been protected with ultrafine mesh since planting out as Onion fly is always rampant here in the..❤

Brilliant, now I know how to harvest my spring onions 😊

Hi Steve, you wash your onions,shallots then dry off

Well done its an achievement 2 get them over the line this season onions are a big crop 4us and had duff seed really poor germination so ended up with sets and no zebrune or long red the set grown ones look great just the nervy wait to see how they actually are

Oh no! Glad most seem ok. A lot of mine aren't big enough to harvest yet. There's one or two huge ones, but the rest could do with longer. I'll have to do a test harvest today, or I'll be worried. I've used nematodes on them too, though only twice as I didn't think to use them on the onions the first few times and was focusing on the carrots and brassicas. I saw a charles Dowding video where he bends the necks when he harvests them green like that, he said it helps with the drying? Hope they turn out OK for you. All the best - Alison

Overall the damage didnt look as bad as the first one you lifted. Had a similar let down with my garlic. So far my seed onions/banana shallots looking OK. They have been protected with ultrafine mesh since planting out as Onion fly is always rampant here in the Midlands.

The shallots all looked so healthy before you started harvesting. Hopefully you can salvage some of them. All the best!

Thank you Steve for sharing your methods and results these type of videos are priceless

lovely

Hello dear friend grow very will vegetable in your garden +❤ full support New friend

Do u uses bark between beds

Do u uses bark between the beds

Those peppers are a marvel considering the weather this year, outdoors too!

Hi are all field beans edible? I sowed Maris Bead last year as a green manure but kept some to harvest. Thanks. Rachel

Thanks, Steve. Really interesting and I’ve been having the same issues. Tomatoes especially have long trusses but often only one fruit set. I’ve put this down to the lack of pollinating insects this year. There are a few more now, but barely anything out when the toms were flowering. I hope they recover next year. I’ve seen three cabbage white butterflies. Normally I’m inundated by them

About half of my Charlotte in containers have gone over in the past week. Harvested one 30l container - 2.6kg from four seed potatoes, which is more than 20% down from last year. In contrast, I'm inundated with gherkins & cauliflower. Don't think the application of slug nematodes in my garden was effective (these were NOT Nemaslug...) & I'm seeing ever more damage from the damn' things. Late planting of brassicas went in where the broad beans came out, or rather half the bed, as leeks went into the other half. Don't mention melons - planted three in the polytunnel, two never made it & the last plant is maybe 6" high...