Allotment/Veg Patch Thread 14 ! growing into summer

[bookbook]

Well, here we are - its the end of May and after a cold spell , we are heading for summer .
Everyone welcome to join us in the joy of growing your own , sharing the ups and downs , tips and advice
previous thread HERE

[bookbook]

well, thought I would post first ( for once! )
Una - have you planted your sweet potatoes outside? I was looking at the RHS , and they recommend temps of 21º - 26º for best growing, so was planning ( If I can get back and buy the things) to do them in a big pot in the greenhouse

[elephantoverthehill]

OOooh! I've got a turning red strawberry . Thanks for the new thread Book.

[RhubarbFizz]

Lovely thread title!
Spent today moving everything left on windowsills to the greenhouse and planted out peas, sweet peas, sowed more carrots and planted out some fragile looking flowers.

Need to sow runner beans and more spinach; will be sowing number 3 so hopefully will be successful as nothing germinated this far.

All of my second batch of cucumbers germinated so I now have 3x what I need.

Need to feed/water/net strawberries tomorrow. And make more “comfrey stew” to get more free feed in 3 weeks time.

Wow a red strawberry elephant - exciting! Just flowers here.

[UnaOfStormhold]

Ah, nice new thread!

Book I have indeed put them outside - there are varieties (this is Beauregard) that are supposed to be ok in the UK weather. We'll see! I may keep one of my "in case of slug damage" spares in the greenhouse for comparison!

We have eaten a few strawberries from the garden which is always a special treat - many more setting which is exciting!

I really need to go out and check what got eaten in the night...

[tizwozliz]

Success at last, one of my golden courgettes has poked it's head out of the soil just this morning. Also got some more french beans popping up - I've direct sown a load so these are just insurance.

I've got quite a few seed potatoes left over, so going to see if i can find some old tubs or similar to plant them in - I have no bed space left. Radish, beetroot and spinach coming up well.

Amazed that some have strawberries already, we have plenty of flowers and a couple of fruit set but would estimate at least a month from any ripe fruit.

Unfortunately, despite trimming back and thinning out my gooseberry has powdery mildew again.

[tibni]

Hello! I've posted previously but sometimes struggle to keep up with the thread.
Just completed year 2 on our first plot and I somehow managed to let dh to take on the abandoned plot next door that was covering us with weeds in jan on the agreement we adopted a more no dig approach and put paths in to make the space more manageable.
With full time work and a disabled son it gives us something that is good for the mind and the spirit.
I've a mix of fruit and veg and this year will be putting some flowers and want to put a wildlife pond in too.
Small friendly site (20 ish plots with many holders having 2 plots)
Still learning but enjoying it. Germination been variable 80 tomato plants but struggled with peas so far this year - last year we had a glut of peas and beans
Will try and keep up and keep learning

[prettybird]

Just posting this here to place mark: the current state of my raised beds. About to put in the supports for the runner beans and peas (top right bed this year) so that I can plant out the various peas and runner beans that I got going in the greenhouse. There are already broad beans in the bed - and more broad beans in the potato bed next to it (which were mostly sown in situ)

Tulip bed (nearly over) will become a cutting flower bed. Only took one cut of the asparagus but hopefully will have really strong crowns for next year. Onions, carrots, leeks, shallots, spinach and lettuce coming along nicely in the onion bed and the various brassicas need thinning in the brassica bed.

[prettybird]

Helps if I post the photo - and then MN/my phone froze and I had to crash and reboot

[Chocolateandabook2019]

Just came on from the last thread, as it’s at its 1000th mark.
I’ve copied, rejigged and pasted my post on the last thread on to this one, in case no one sees it with it being full.
Hope I’m ok to join?

No allotment, but I have a sunny windowsill in the back bedroom (which is small, so the room is constantly warm). This is where I start my seeds, as things thrive on there (up to now). My tomato and strawberry plants are currently on there, until I feel confident they’ll be ok in the unheated greenhouse.
I also have a heated propagator which I have used once or twice, but I haven’t gained much from it, or I’m using it incorrectly.
To the posters who use their heated propagators, do you just use individual little pots for your seeds in it, or do you put just compost in the base, put your seeds in, then use it as a mini raised bed if you see what I mean?

[Chocolateandabook2019]

So here are some of my tomato plants twelve in total, of the windowsill variety, and three strawberry plants.

I have this awful feeling that my tomatoes are going to appear when we are away. I need to flutter my eyelashes at somebody to keep an eye on them while we’re away, or would we get away with using water retaining granules?

[Chocolateandabook2019]

I’ve just noticed there are two separate allotment threads, oh well, never mind 😄.
Yes, so I’m a bit worried that my tomatoes are going to appear when I’m away, such bad timing. Maybe next year, we’ll go away in September.
When I get back, I’m going to sow some seeds for all year round veg, and some herbs. It seems pointless at the moment. My greenhouse looks so bare.

[Chocolateandabook2019]

@prettybird lovely garden.

[Pyxie]

Pretty your garden is lovely.

I'm going to buy a cordless strimmer tomorrow and try to tackle the wilder parts of my plot!

[prettybird]

Fortunately dh likes mowing the lawn

[bookbook]

Afternoon!
welcome back tibni , and welcome Chocolate - sorry if we are the wrong allotment thread! .mmm about the tomatoes and watering - somewhere a bit shadier and damper might work - the crystals are a help ( a bit ) but not enough I suspect. When do you go away, and how long for ? (- mine are not even flowering yet ) Strawberries are tough - they really don't need a greenhouse at all in my opinion .Tomatoes could be in a greenhouse by now - there shouldn't be any very cold nights now
pretty - could your DH become a contract grass cutter ? - both DH and I hate doing it , and we have the allotment and the garden to do .....
I managed a bit this morning - not as long as I would like , but hey ho . I sowed a new row of peas , as the last row has all germinated , planted out the first calabrese , and was offered some red cabbage plants . We don't eat a lot , but took half a dozen , planted them out and sent the rest off to the share table .
I was given a lovely little jar of honey straight off the comb too. We have a new beekeeper on our site , and he has needed a bit of help , so that was my reward :) .
Started prepping up the flower bed - my dahlias and cosmos are ready to be planted out , but I am behind hand , as usual!

[prettybird]

He's quite obsessed with it - but I think he's a bit far to be a contractor for you

He already cuts the whole grass (our garden is split in two, left and right, with our downstairs neighbours owning the the half to the right of cherry tree, out of shot) and with more grass (as we converted our side border side to be bigger and to put in the patio), plus the front grass which we share. We treat the top lawn as communal.

He can't be too precious about it though, as ds (now 18) has gone through the stage of playing rugby on it and downstairs have 2 boys (11 and 15) who play football and cricket on it

[dreamingofsun]

something awful is happening to my raspberries. normally they are like triffids but they are dying. so leaves are going brown, and the plants are pretty easy to dig up. there are small yellow beetles on the leaves. leaves are going brown and curling up. any ideas? I've dug up the really bad plants - pretty easy - which in itself is odd.

[Chocolateandabook2019]

@bookbook, thank you 🙂.

We’re away for ten days.from the 22nd June, but I’ve just come back from Sunday lunch with friends, and they have very kindly offered to water them for me while away. Sorted, yay.

I think I’ll put the tomato plants in the greenhouse later, and the strawberry plants in a container with netting over. I’ve got two flowers on one of the tomato plants and buds on some of the others.

[Chocolateandabook2019]

@bookbook, about the other allotment thread, I meant oh well never mind, that it was me who got the wrong thread, nothing against this thread 🙂.
Both allotments threads have some great advice, so it’s great to switch to either for ideas.
Fingers crossed that I’ll end up with some tomatoes and strawberries at the end of it all.

[GnomeDePlume]

Good evening all.

We had only a moderately productive day today. I got the sunflower bed planted up which has cleared some space in the tunnel. DH got the holes burnt in the hot bed covers which will take courgettes, squash and gherkins but then the rains came. We retreated to the tunnel to put the strings up for the tomatoes.

Does anyone else feel the need to find good homes for surplus plants? I feel guilty if I put the extras on the compost heap!

Bookbook your share table sounds like a really good idea. I gave about 20 aubergine plants to the lady on the next plot, she looked a bit shocked but my guilt was assuaged!

[TheSpottedZebra]

Does anyone else feel the need to find good homes for surplus plants? YES. ALL THE YESES.

A few days ago I was potting on some tomatoes (of course) and as I have so many I three some really runty ones into the compost. Today I added more stuff to compost bin, and actually pondered rescuing the tomato runts and giving them a chance.

Right, 3rd week of May, I've started planting out in earnest. Out out. Some... tomatoes went out today, tomatillos and more flowers. And a tromboncino squash. None of them are my 'best' plants - rather they're slightly acting as canaries down the mine. I was going to return to plant out french beans, but it rained. Tomorrow I must plant up runner beans and the rest of the hanging basket tomatoes.

[GnomeDePlume]

I like the idea of canary plants!

My tunnel raised plants are now getting stern lectures about getting out into the world and earning their keep.

[UnaOfStormhold]

We do most of our strawberries outside - they actually need a bit of cold weather to set thrm up for fruiting. But I popped some in the greenhouse in February and they ripened by the start of May, so about 3 weeks before my earliest outside ones. But they are tough plants and should be fine outside.

I'm also very sentimental about spare plants - have stuck some of my less strong tomatoes in snaller troughs with the plan to stop them at one truss so they do ok in more cramped conditions.

[bookbook]

Morning!
Chocolate - oh June ? your tomatoes will barely have set and got growing :) , so you won't miss them - they should fruit for the whole of summer with water and feeding , but good that you have nice neighbours!
Dreaming - agh thats sounds bad- I don't think raspberry beetle does damage to anything but the fruit IIRC , so I went to gardenfocused , which has a mine of info - could it be raspberry root rot? www.gardenfocused.co.uk/fruitarticles/raspberries/raspberry-pest-disease.php
Gnome - the share table works really well - with it being a big site , we have gates at the 2 entrances , and there is a share table on both roads . The one I use is outside the little shop we have ( and near the toilets ) so lots of people go past , and leave stuff - so gluts go on there too .We have a fb page too, so people offer and ask for spare plants , advice and help too.
I take great care with my spare plants - recipients have to be carefully assessed first I usually ask around . I am getting better at sowing thinly - I only needed to give away about 10 tomato plants and 4 aubergines this year .
I was brave and left my sweetcorn , beans and squashes outside last night - they seem to be fine . , So will be ready to plant up at the weekend , once I am sure.
I am hoping to get up to the plot this morning , and plant up the dahlias - I need the really big pots they are in to plant up the cucumbers !

[bookbook]

Afternoon
well, I got my planting done, and cut asparagus .Really warm and sunny this morning , the ground getting very dry.
Checked my onions - and like Gnome - some are starting to bolt - about half the row of the red ones, so dug those up to bring home and use, The white ones so far are looking okay (fingers crossed)
On another note - DD, who loves sweet potatoes , actually popped into the nursery where I had seen them , and brought one home. Its a variety called Erato Gusto and its a more white flesh one it seems . So not really having a pot suitable , I have planted it up into a big compost bag with some holes punched into it , and its now resplendent , with a bamboo cane , at the end of the greenhouse . We shall see .
Forecast was for some showers today. Nothing happened, so I went to water all my seedlings just now , and of course , it started to rain .