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Roy&Tanya

@royandtanyaorganic.bsky.social

1.6K followers 400 following 1.3K posts

Simple #allotment folk just twice a week #nodig. UK/RU. Workaholics. R: flyfishing, opinionated, wood butcherer. T: gentle and frugal homemaker/baker. NE UK, very old house by the beach. #sourdough #soilhealth #biodiversity #regenerative #GYO #Bees Green

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Roy&Tanya @royandtanyaorganic.bsky.social · Jun 30

What's not to like?

8pm gone and they're all still hard at it 🌱

#Lavender #Bees #Gardeninglife

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Roy&Tanya @royandtanyaorganic.bsky.social · 15h

mmmmm! Bisto.

Roy&Tanya @royandtanyaorganic.bsky.social · 1d

You've great germination and cover growing well. Good work!

Hey? Daddy again soon? Congrats but don't envy you both one jot. At least you timed your sowing well 😂

Best of luck to you both. Hope everything goes smoothly

Roy&Tanya @royandtanyaorganic.bsky.social · 1d

Onions.

early spring sown seed producing lovely 'Spring' / salad Onion in September.

I guess that's what coins the phrase "He knows his onions".. a very difficult crop to now grow consistently (in the UK) with climate change.

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Roy&Tanya @royandtanyaorganic.bsky.social · 1d

Onions.

< Setts planted out in late March managed to get their roots down in a damp Spring and produced great bulbs.

This year, we had a prolonged drought and the roots were miniscule. Attempts at keeping moist just caused Onion rot. 40% success. Yet, overwintered seedlings produced monster bulbs

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Roy&Tanya @royandtanyaorganic.bsky.social · 1d

Onions. Very difficult to get right in a fluctuating climate.

< are multi-sown in module trays in mid-August. Photo mid-October before transplanting and fleecing for Winter.

> was in the April and a relatively mild (more importantly - constant) Winter was producing a very fine crop of Spring Onion

multi-sown Onions, sown in Mid-August and here, ready to be transplanted in mid-October. Each of these 6-cell modules has 6-7 seeds sown into each corner of the cell, so 24-28 in each cell and 100 'ish in each tray. Expecting casualties. Important to fleece well

same onions in early April. Fleeces off. Most survived (Happy with their mates!). Harvest as Spring Onions but leave 2-3 in each clump to bulb up over Summer

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Roy&Tanya @royandtanyaorganic.bsky.social · 1d

Great! We've been watching him for years. Such a lovely, gentle guy.

Roy&Tanya @royandtanyaorganic.bsky.social · 1d

A useful guide to overwintering onions - especially if you've never tried it before. In a milder Winter, this will give them a good headstart. Onion setts can be a problem when a cold Winter is punctuated by a milder spell and onions might bolt in May. We sow seed mid August, transplant now & fleece

solitaire gardener @solitairegardener.bsky.social · 1d

Little blog about overwintering onions. Again it's more of a beginners guide but hopefully useful for some. Especially if you've never overwintered onions before.

https://solitairegardener.co.uk/2025/10/13/ultimate-guide-to-growing-overwintering-onions/

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Roy&Tanya @royandtanyaorganic.bsky.social · 1d

Finally, Rick Steves is in action again.

A wonderful 55minute watch - Poland; much history, travel and Cuisine. Highly recommended viewing!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=70GX...

Rick Steves Poland

YouTube video by Rick Steves' Europe

www.youtube.com

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Roy&Tanya @royandtanyaorganic.bsky.social · 1d

That mulch around the tunnel is good. Will keep things spic and span and will be such a boost for morale!! One less space to be constantly trying to keep clean

good job!

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Roy&Tanya @royandtanyaorganic.bsky.social · 2d

13th December 2007, a cold frost in Yessentuki, Southern Russia.

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Roy&Tanya @royandtanyaorganic.bsky.social · 2d

plenty of life in those yet. The longer that you leave them, the better they will ripen and store. As time moves on, just keep an eye for frost and either cover 👍 or harvest - if you're really worried.

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Roy&Tanya @royandtanyaorganic.bsky.social · 2d

endeavours not lost on moi.

Roy&Tanya @royandtanyaorganic.bsky.social · 2d

we struggle to get cover crops going too, but Phacellia is very good

Roy&Tanya @royandtanyaorganic.bsky.social · 2d

we tend to leave until the stem joining the squash has gone brown. we remove the squash along with the 'T' piece where it joins the plant. we then cure somewhere warm, dry and sunny for 2wks & then bring indoors and store at 18c thereabouts. best of luck

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Roy&Tanya @royandtanyaorganic.bsky.social · 3d

more squashes 🌱

It's been a good year for them despite the fact that Royston was a little cavalier with them this year.

squashes ripening. Growing them with beans is fine but with sunflowers is a no-no.

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Roy&Tanya @royandtanyaorganic.bsky.social · 3d

shadows lengthening and squashes ripening 🌱

... and a Christmas potato plant in a pot that I've forgotten to water. sidetracked by a woodchip delivery. 😳

Roy&Tanya @royandtanyaorganic.bsky.social · 3d

Started top dressing some #allotment beds with sieved chainsaw flakes (very fine) as we close them down for the year. It looks a bit weird now but does no harm and will resemble compost 🌱 by the Spring.

Protecting the soil and no weeds.

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Roy&Tanya @royandtanyaorganic.bsky.social · 3d

We do too. We fill the beds with salads same day too, to mark the start of Winter.

Roy&Tanya @royandtanyaorganic.bsky.social · 3d

It'd be fair to say that we've seen thousands of #Bees on the #allotment this year, which is great - but maybe 3 or 4 wasps in total.

That's good for these Pears 🌱 as they've been ravaged in previous years. Variety: Invincible and is so soft and juicy (but still has a couple of weeks to go.

An espaliered Pear tree with ripening fruit, netted to protect against wasp and bird damage

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Roy&Tanya @royandtanyaorganic.bsky.social · 3d

I can't recall if I suggested it before but we found a woodyard that processes logs for fuel and talked him into dropping off his chainsaw flakes. Some money changes hands to cover fuel but that's it. They can't really drop them as woodchip as it's too fine and rots too quickly. perfect for us

Roy&Tanya @royandtanyaorganic.bsky.social · 3d

yes, I could imagine.

Roy&Tanya @royandtanyaorganic.bsky.social · 3d

Had a big delivery of green woodchip 🌱 today - quite by surprise!
A lot of chopped leaf in it, which won't do it any harm whatsoever. Spread an inch over the bottom end of both plots.

Made it look quite Autumnal!

Some logs too. Friendly tree surgeon 👍

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Roy&Tanya @royandtanyaorganic.bsky.social · 3d

A good job out of the way 👍. Ours went in 2 wks ago because I really set my mind to it before September was out.

Roy&Tanya @royandtanyaorganic.bsky.social · 3d

It feels good to be enjoying these days but of course, there's a darker side to it - climate change. Without cold, all those pesky bugs persist and organic growing is becoming more difficult.

Roy&Tanya @royandtanyaorganic.bsky.social · 3d

same story with the Peppers and Aubergines 🌱. What a bumper year for growing and for harvests.

The sweet potatoes are barely showing any signs of die back either... maybe just maybe, we'll have a harvest.... ? #NYorks

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