Advice please

Would one of these work from a water but

RHS 100 Metre Soaker Hose - 13mm

Link Reduced from £69.98 to £55.98

Is this good value or is there anything else on the market - but cheaper ! please let me know below in comments.

Sown and growing on the Plot

Well thought I'd have a recap on what's on the plot and cannot believe how much stuff we have in there now.

We have: potatoes ~Charlotte, Rooster, Red Duke of York, Maris piper and peer, King Edwards, Comfrey, blackberries, Strawberries, Black currant, beetroot, rainbow beetroot, red baron onions, spring onions, peas, purple pod peas, purple sprouting broccoli, green broccoli, red and green cabbage, cauliflower, perpetual spinach, Karmazyn broad beans, tomatoes ~ roma, brandy boy, sweet pea, gardeners delight and some unknown varieties, cucamelon,  purple peppers, banana peppers, saved peppers, red and green gooseberries, lovage, mint, wild rocket, sweet basil, coriander, dill, curly parsley, tarragon, lemon grass, radish ~ Mooli Mino & Scarlet globe, wild flowers, carrots, rainbow carrots, 3 types of salad/lettuces, sweetcorn, chives, leeks, rhubarb, cucumber, courgette, gala apples, comice pears, brown turkey fig, borlotti beans,....

Phew think thats everything !!

Lots of jobs done on the plot

Lots of new spurts this past week and lots of digging, weeding, sowing and tidying up.

New greenhouse finally arrived so lots of moving plants from our window ledges into their new home.

Lots of potting on too as most of the plants at home in tiny pots and getting a bit root bound.

Planted some Borlotti beans where the cannellini beans where planted bit frost got them, and planted some rainbow carrots in the salad bed along with frilly lettuce and mixed salad.  Plenty more weeding to do so back again soon.

Planted up a raised bed with a rainbow theme - purple podded peas, rainbow beetroot, purple pepper and yellow banana peppers - they say you should eat a rainbow.
A high yielding variety of pea with appx 10 peas per pod. Plant's will grow to Appx 75cm Best sown in succession from March to June. appx 1-2 weeks between sowings The seeds should be sown in well prepared beds with plenty of well rotted organic matter added prior to sowing. A thorough drenching of the seedbed is recommended prior to sowing. Peas like to scramble so some support such as pea netting or old twigs is useful.  (12-14 weeks maturity.)
	Sweet, tasty, multi-coloured beets A mix of round-shaped beets that comes in a host of colours (including the striking Italian variety Chioggia, with its internal rings of dark pink and white).  They're sweet and flavoursome, particularly if harvested as mouth-watering baby beets. An easy way to add both visual appeal and flavour to all those home-grown salads - and the kids will love them! (from Suttons Seeds) Link to buy from Suttons Seeds
Moved one of the raised beds into our fruit area and filled with strawberries. Hubby has been carefully cultivating lots of strawberry plants from their shoots and now have 8 healthy plants all from one or two plants we started with earlier in the year. I do not like strawberries, all those little seeds, but do like the flavour.
	Planted out two tiny dwarf trees - Gala apple and Comice pear Hope they grow soon was not expecting them to be so small.  Only thing is do not know which one is which as lost the labels! Also got a fig tree which has a nice large tub in the greenhouse
Potted up 5 large felt pots for our tomatoes which are 5 gallon, put up-turned bottles into soil with bottoms cut off to water them and try to avoid rot on the stems. Roma Sweet pea  Brandy Boy Random Old seeds - Unknown variety
Lots of tidying up and clearing the weeds from the path next to the fruit area and finally leveling off the piled up soil from the installation of the greenhouse.
	Bed dug over and filled with compost, posts and wired installed and lots of little tomato plants planted.  Hope they will survive they are so tiny.  Several varieties - Roma, Sweet Pea, Brandy Boy, Gardeners delight. There are about 16 plants in all, hope not too over crowded.  Hoping for a bumper crop of tomatoes this year.   Sown sweet basil seeds in front on the right of the picture and going to plant another companion plant on the left - but not decided yet.  Possibly Mint or rosemary. I have tried to put a pip under the ground with holes in and bottles feeding each end to water the plants from underneath - lets see if it works.

Sorry butterflies - no lunch here

Sorry to all butterflies out there, you are not getting anymore of my salad crops.

I know its not pretty but its pretty difficult for any butterflies to get through this butterfly netting wrapped around one of my new beds.

Made using 4 fence post and lots of plant ties to hold the netting in place, few hooks along the front with a lift up section for easy access to water and harvest.

Going to do this to the other two beds but hoping to make a better and neater job and if any netting left may re-do this one to make it neater.

First Raised Beds

Its beginning to look like an allotment now rather than a large soggy field.

Allotments starting to look like proper allotments now that the sheds are all in situ, 

Greenhouses should be arriving on the plots this week and next.

Took delivery of my first raised beds which I bought from a very nice chap on eBay (Link to Nice Chap).   They look Fantastic and make our allotment look great too.  Just need to fill up with soil, add a netting cage to top and then I can finally get planting my lovely salad selection - Lots of lovely lettuces, beets, chard, carrots, spring onions to name a few.   Each bed is 4 ft x 2 ft so nice size.  Ideal height too for our youngest daughter to get involved and less bending for me and my back.   4ft x 2ft Raised beds	Radish Mooli Mino Early Radish Scarlet Globe Seeds Dill Broad Beans doing brilliantly I think this is finally my Comfrey growing - Hope so ! Beetroots hanging in there - not many coming up - planning to sow some multi coloured ones in my salad beds Perpetual Spinach starting to shoot up - thinning needed	Carrots  Purple Sprouting Broccoli Brassica survived last three days of torrential rain
Carrots		Sorrel
Love my Raised Beds		Coriander

I think this is my next purchase - lots of plants and ideal for the more delicate ones before they go outside in the sunshine - hopefully not too long until we get lots of it.

Day of the Brassica and other seedlings

Busy few hours down at the allotment.  Finally got the Brassica in. Red and green cabbages, cauliflowers and broccoli. Back is aching as we had to dig over the bed again before we could start, it was dry as a bone and like rock.  Took a good hour.	Quite a few wild rocket seedlings and Russian Tarragon just starting to show.    All looking good but really impatient and want everything to hurry up.	Planted out a few more of the beans which have been hardening off for a week.  Carrots are doing well too  Bought (I know bit of a cheat) 3 x Rhubarb, well they were a bargain 3 for £9.99 from Kenyon Hall Farm Shop.
Finally earthed up all the potatoes which took another hour and a half.		All had a good watering so hope next time will be more showing.   Beetroots very slow.  Some purple sprouting  broccoli seedlings too.

Few Hours digging and sowing

Weather not fantastic but managed a few hours on the allotment all the same, it was cold and spitting with rain when we arrived but we soon warmed up with a spot of digging to make ready a bed for our wild flowers from @GrowWildUK

Grow Wild Uk website

Free seed details - pictures and links for the Grow Wild Flowers are from Grow Wild Uk website

2015 Grow Wild England and Wales seed mix:

Common or lesser knapweed	Corn or common poppy	Corn chamomile
Cornflower	Corn marigold	Hedge bedstraw
Lady's bedstraw	Meadow buttercup	Meadowsweet
Oxeye daisy	Red campion	Ribwort plantain

Also managed to finally get my her garden sorted.  Working on a budget on our allotment means coming up with cheap alternatives to expensive garden centre pots and this was my idea, I have been collecting together old toy boxes which have cracks and slight damage and no good for the kids anymore and used these to sow my herb seeds into.  I kind of like all the different colours and as I am a keen recycler thought they would be ideal.  Admittedly they do not look as pretty as some of our fellow allotments raised beds made from wood but they will do the job.

I have planted 10 herbs in 5 boxes; rocket, basil, sorrel, coriander, dill, mint, lemon grass, tarragon, curly parsley & lovage.

ROCKET Wild rocket 'Diplotaxis tenuifolia' ~ Popular upright variety of the perennial indented wild leaf rocket.  This herb is prized for its flavour in salads.  The spiciness of the flavour increased as the plant matures.  Sow outdoors in drills from April to September, staggering sowing for continuous supply.  This plant tolerates most soils in full sun.  Pick leaves as required, best used fresh.  Flowers should be removed to promote fuller flavour.	BASIL Sweet Basil ~ Sow outdoors all May ~ June. Seedlings usually appear 7-14 days after sowing.  A half hardy annual, can be grown in pots.  Probably the best known large leaved sweet basil.  Use in pesto and served with salads.
SORREL 'Buckler Leaf' sorrel has a creeping habit with unusual leaf sharp and sharp lemon flavour.  Use in egg dishes, soups and sauces for fish. Great with new potatoes and butter too.	CORIANDER A very vigorous and fast growing variety 'Green Aroma ~ Coriandrum sativum' with large stems and thick leaves. It can be multicut with a great heat tolerance and is slow to bolt.  Performance is excellent in a dry hot summer. Strong flavour.  Growing: sow outdoors in drills, in May, thin to 30 cm spacing all year round in pots and on window sills.  grows in most garden soils with good drainage and sunny sheltered position.  Keep well watered in summer for leaf production.  Best used fresh, does not dry well. Stagger repeat sowings for continuous supply.
DILL 'Anethum graveolens' Annual, feathery leaves used in salads and with fish.  Seed and flower used in pickles. Leaves make medicinal infusion.  Grow outdoors throughout Spring and Summer.  This variety also produces stunning seed heads.  As first few seeds start to fall cut the heads and spread out on a try to dry out in the sun to be used for next season of growing.	LOVAGE 'Levisiticum Officinale' ~ Tall, vigorous, perennial herb with deeply divided green leaves and flat clusters of pale greeny-yellow flowers in Summer. Use leaves to add flavour to vegetable soups, casseroles and broths.  Stems can be candied for decoration. Traditional medicinal uses.  Height: 2m (6 ft).
MINT The best strain from seed 'Mentha viridis ~ green' this hardy perennial grows to 40 cm.  Mints have many culinary and medicinal uses, and can be used in salads, mint sauce, iced tea. Can be sown direct outdoors in May, thin to 20 cm spacing all year round great for pots and window sill.  Mint likes rich, moist soil and can be grown in partial shade.  Very invasive confine to pots or separate area.  Pick leaves as required, best eaten fresh. Pinch out the tip of the main stem to encourage bushy growth.	LEMON GRASS An east indian Lemon grass 'Cymbopogon flexuous'. Good substitute for the classic thai lemon grass for culinary purposes.  Can be sown under cover in Feb to March and outdoors from May ~ July. great for pots and window sill.  This is a scented variety and quick growing.  Not frost hardy, prone to rot and mildew.  To help prevent disease keep container grown plant cut back and dry in well ventilated room over winter.
TARRAGON Russian tarragon 'Artemisia dracunculus subsp Dracunculoides' - now thats a mouthful... Sturdy perennial with pungent flower, grows to about 90cm.   Use with chicken egg & fish dishes. Sow outdoors in May, thin to sturdiest plant.  Will grow in most garden soils.  Keep well watered in summer.  Use fresh stems in cooking or preserve in mild vinegar.	CURLY PARSLEY Triple curled Parsley ~ Tightly-crimped dark green leaves give this richly-flavoured parsley a frizzy, frothy look, making this one of the most decorative herbs in the garden. It's very reliable and a perfect choice for those trickier shady spots in the veg garden, as it doesn't like full sun: it's also good in pots and troughs, placed by the back door for easy picking.

I also planted some radishes ~ 

Radish Mooli Mino Early

Raphanus sativus

Easy to grow, large radish

Long, white roots with a mild flavour and crunchy texture. Great for stir-fries or use grated raw in salads. Excellent source of vitamin C and fibre. 

Radish Scarlet Globe Seeds

Raphanus sativus

Suitable for Containers  Awarded the Royal Horticultural Society Award of Garden Merit

Easily grown, with good 'bite'

An old favourite. Easy and fast growing, crisp round radishes with good flavour, ideal for poorer soils. An excellent source of vitamin C.

Photos from today