PLANTING MY EARLY POTATOES IN A RAISED BED / ALLOTMENT GARDENING UK

[Music] oh they're fighting they're fighting oh they're fighting in the air right so I'm planting out my potatoes today what did I want to do I really want to help people but I'm genuinely scared is he stuck what is going on [Music] [Music] good morning guys welcome back to another day on the allotment [Music] plot what is that bird sounds like a flying rat I think it's crows actually is it m to crows it's crows what a scary bird hope you are doing really well um it's Monday today happy Monday a new gardening week um in March which is just always very exciting CU March for me and I think for a lot of us is just the most exciting gardening month isn't it before I get into this video I do have something to say i' I've noticed a lot of comments of concern for my shed as you can see that is a little bit of a mess and a lot of you are picking up on it and you're not very happy with me now let me just reduce myself here that's not actually a mess um that is a a constructive pile of rubbish that I am collecting that needs to go to the dump and he going to go to the dump next weekend and everything that looks a mess is actually organized mess and I know exactly where it is and it's going to go to the dump next weekend so the shed will be completely back to how it was it's just a pile of rubbish that I'm collecting that I don't want to leave out on the plot firstly cuz I don't want animals to get into it and stuff and the fox to drag it around the place and also I don't want the wind to blow about and I also don't want people to think I'm sort of dumping stuff on my lot so I'm putting it all in the shed but it's going to the dump please do not worry about my shed my shed is fine I promise you I'm going to look after it this year it just urgently needs a dump run oh what's happened to the weather I know that's another thing isn't it um the sun has gone and uh it's going to be quite mild today but the temperature is dropping again next week but then it's sort going to come up again so I'm not too worried about it to be honest I don't think any thinks out that's too vulnerable everything I planted can survive anyway got quite a few gardening jobs to do this week and I'm feeling ever so slightly overwhelmed with it all so what I've done is I've written it all down in my planner and I've I've planned to come three times this week and I'm going to do two jobs a day and I think two jobs a day will get through it and get it done and then I think I'll feel a little bit more in control sometimes that's the way to go so today I have two jobs to do and that's all I'm going to do and then tomorrow and then Wednesday and then it's we will get it done we will get it done right let's feed the birdie cuz I can is impatient he missed me all weekend actually can't see him know where he is but he will turn up he probably doesn't realize it's Monday that's the problem they don't have watches and clocks and stuff and calendars do they birdies hey Einstein stop not here so we're going to have to come back to him oh no oh no like doging my carrot thing what kind of maniac has done this what kind of maniac has done this I've put the carrots sign up and everything it's like they just don't care oh I'm going to have to reso all the carrots now that is so frustrating what kind of maniac creature would come and do this to someone why do they do this what are they looking for there's nothing in here for you set my carrot seeds surely they're not after them I have to reso the carrots now that is frustrating I don't think I have anymore do I no I don't think I do a if that was Rocky or Neville whatever Rocky's name is he's in big trouble he really is [Music] oh my goodness there's two of them there's two of them there's two of them there's two of them there's three of them there's three of them guys there Robins everywhere [Music] there there's loads of oh they're fighting they're fighting oh they're fighting in the air oh no oh these two are not friends oh these two are really not friends they're going to go for each other again can see it they are not friends loads and loads of Einsteins just loads of Einstein just everywhere just surrounding me quite scary actually I'm not going to lie [Music] right so I'm planting out my potatoes today I've decided it's potato day potatoes are going to go out um these are a variety called Rockets I've planted them quite a few times at the plot and they have done well every time so why mess with it they do well here everyone loves them I love them these are just the ones I'm growing it's an early variety um and they have been chitting on my my window sill for a few weeks and that means they now look like this if the camera is going to focus on it can you focus on this please it's going on with my focus at the moment it's not very good so you can see it's got a little little bit of growth coming out the top like that so what I'll do is I'll keep this chit knock that one off cuz it's going the wrong way and that's the way up it goes so this is the foliage that's where it grows that's down goes that way into the ground now with early varieties they sort of spread out like horizontally so you don't actually have to do the old Digger trench and then top them up sort of thing what's it called earthing it up you don't actually have to Earth them up but I still do the same sort of technique where I do trenches put them in cover them over and I do earth them up sometimes cuz I do still find that they reach the surface and if they hit the light you can't eat them so you don't want any light to get to potatoes and that's why I still sort of Earth them up a little bit and keep an eye on them right let's get the potatoes out [Music] right so planting in the potatoes so chips up put them in like this about a foot foot and a half apart they are quite big plants in they go how many can we get maybe four a row four might actually give us enough that's quite good and then when they're in like that we just pull down the soil here to cover them over if any of these potatoes dare to try and reach the sun I will cover them over with a bit more soil and sort of Earth them up even though they don't technically need that if they're in early variety I still will do it there we [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] right well that my friends is the potatoes officially planted out ready for 2025 my early potatoes my first lot um I did actually run out a chitted potatoes so I had to go into the bag but to be honest like chitting is a bit of a some people say you have to do it some people say you don't I don't think it's completely necessary a lot of these actually in here have chitted anyway they've got little Sprouts coming off of them so it is what it is but um yeah they're in they're in the ground I know what a lot of you are thinking Frost what about the frost emmer the thing is is by the time these get Foliage and start reaching the surface and and growing leaves the frost will have passed and I do know this because I always sew my early potatoes at this time of year even on the years where we've had quite bad weather um and they've always done really well so I'm not worried about that by the time they reach surface hopefully the frost will be gone um and at least the hard Frost and if if it if it isn't and we do get hard Frost and they all die I will just plant out some more like it's not the end of the world that is all gardening is trial and error putting out when you think you should learning from your mistakes you know so it's all good I'm not worried about them but I I do think they'll be okay right exciting potatoes right since I've been here it has started to rain on and off and I know we are due a little bit of rain he so noisy today all talking to each other would you mind having a chitchat over there or something right you know what rain means guys at this time of year in particular for us slugs basically and I realized that I have planted a lot out and I've protected anything at all from slugs that is a rookie mistake and a mistake I should not be making 5 years into gardening so I was very kindly sent this um and there's no obligation for me to post it or anything but I have used them before and brought them myself and this is a company called shell on Earth um and it's like I said it's not an ad though I will sent these for free they are crushed Welk shells I can get them out and show you crushed wel shell the kind of shells that you find along the beach and they're crushed up and apparently these are a really great barrier um to stop slugs and snails from Crossing and like I said I have brought them before and used them I think you do need to use a combination of different slug TCT tactics in order to keep them away properly I don't think just using one method Works ever so never do that always put more than one different method out but for now I'm going to put the shells out we're going to do it around the peas and around the sweet peas cuz that's what the Slugs like so there's another bird now so many I'm talking like it's a bad thing I'm very happy to see you all but it's just a lot of you it's all outnumbering me [Music] when you're using anything like this like a physical barrier like whether it be eggshells or seash shells or he shells whatever it is you have to make it a really nice thick layer the good thing about these shells actually is that they don't blow away cuz they are quite heavy so that's good and I know that they're not going to sort of dissolve and stuff and they might eventually dissolve I don't really know much about shells but a nice thick layer all around them they're all alive I can't believe it we're alive you're alive you're alive everyone's alive excellent [Music] [Laughter] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Laughter] [Music] [Music] is [Music] [Laughter] [Music] oh no I just sped this little guy he's stuck oh no oh gosh what should I do should I just flip him over what do I do oh there you are there you are are you okay now what's going on what is going on with him what's wrong with him ah I didn't know what's wrong stressing oh guys I'm really panicking I really don't know how to help him I've just tried to get him up and you like you won't get up I really don't want him to sting me look pie of I'm scared I'm scared I'm scared I really want to help you but I'm genuinely scared is he stuck what is going on what's wrong I didn't want to do he's s getting up but then he's sort of not able to oh gosh have I guys this fine he's fine he got on the stick and he flew away he flew right into my face to repay me that was really nice of him but um yeah he's fine he flew away that was so stressful I literally nearly had a panic attack I nearly cried why did he get stuck in Grass guys why did he get stuck in grass like honestly what is that all about right just weeded under the um the teepee that is where the sweet peas are going to go why is the building work suddenly let's go to the other end right just stand in my shed cuz it's gotting really noisy getting really noisy out there gotting getting oh thank goodness the be is safe right yeah weirded under where my sweet peas are going to go that's going to be a job for next time um because I have planned this all out and I can't rush ahead cuz otherwise I'll get overwhelmed so I'm going to with the plan I will see you again on Wednesday I hope you're enjoying these Vlogs guys do let me know if you are um and let me know if you like the length of them as well I try and aim for between 15 and 20 minutes cuz it's kind of like an episode kind of time um but let me know what you think I'll be back again on Wednesday have a lovely rest of your gardening week and hopefully the weather will pick up again and we'll get some more sun see you next time thanks for watching bye