The 2015 Allotment / Veg Patch Thread - it's here!

[TheSpottedZebra]

Yes, it's the thread you've all been waiting for, a place to chit chat about your allotment or fruit and veg patch - however big it may be. Even if it currently only imaginary or no bigger than a pot of growing basil from the supermarket.

Come discuss your plans, your seeds, your learnings from previous years and your goals for this year. All levels of knowledge welcome, from absolute beginner, to enthusiastic 2nd year-er (me!), to anyone else.

My Dad says to just keep on working if someone wants to chat. His allotment neighbour likes nothing better than to chat all day.
Well its snowing here today but not enough to settle properly. I did think of popping over yesterday to the allotment but chickened out in the cold wind!
I am hoping that I might get my seeds tomorrow as my Dad ordered them through his allotment association as we don't seem to have one where I am. Or at least the potatoes and onion sets.
I also need to invest in some manure. Apparently there is sometimes a delivery but it all seems a bit vague so may just get some bags from the garden centre for now.

OK so my post crossed with yours Mink and sounds a bit too light hearted about pests. Would there be a chance of swapping plots? Or getting someone else to warn him off?

Maybe I could find a nematode nah I'll just have to be firm and buy very big headphones. He is not very quick on the uptake.

I am on list for another plot but I am loathe to give mine up having worked on it for 3 years.

Think I will go today and see if I can dig my oca up. Need gloves on though. It is bitter here.
and I am going to buy and plant some beans.

Oh dear, I had one a bit similar on the old plot mink, but without the, er, "romantic" overtones. He was retired, so had all the time in the world on his hands.....It ended, as it so often does, with me ending up having to blank him, so then he got all huffy and puffy and now ignores me! Oh well, at least it's peaceful....

Allotment pests - could you get a friendly male friend to work the allotment with you for a bit? Luckily I'll be doing most of my allotment work with DP and DS so hopefully no danger of a pest invading my little space. How horrible that he's made you feel that you need to get a new plot to get away from him

Advice please - how do you identify autumn vs summer fruiting raspberries, and redcurrant/white currant/blackcurrant in the winter? and does it matter?
The plot we've just taken on is already well stocked with fruit bushes that need a bit of a thinning and tidying up but I don't want to miss out on a harvest next year by getting it wrong. There's also a lot of raspberry canes - some have been cut back already, others have been left. There's no sign of supports though so maybe there all autumn fruiting?

DP just came home with seed potatoes (1.95 per kg) and onion sets from the local nursery. Alys Fowler says she doesn't chit potatoes (I think she said something like, chitting can go wrong, is at the expense of the amount of crop and is really just to give you something to do in the winter) - just plants them out in March. She's a bit of a goddess to me so I'm tempted to not chit after all. Anyone got any experience of doing both and comparing the difference?

Just got in early from work as its been sleeting/ blowing a gale and freezing!
MissMystic - its almost impossible to tell the difference between currant bushes in the winter! I would just tidy up this year- thin weedy branches/ crossing branches pruned out , and give a good feed, and see what pops out. Even with more of a haircut, you will get enough to see what they are. When we took over our plot, we had the same - it was 1st Feb and 4 very sad looking bushes poking out from very tall grass, but we did get something from them all. The following year was good, and the 3rd year was amazing.
According to Bob Flowerdew, there isn't much difference between autumn and summer raspberries - just how you prune and train. Summer raspberries, leave 6- 8 good canes growing , cut out the rast, and support as you wish ( ours have posts at either end of the row, with tight wires that we use to tie the canes to )- ours grow to about 51/2' The autumn raspberries get all cut down virtually to the ground every year, we don't thin them and they grow to about 4-5'- again tied to wires between posts I actually prefer the autumn ones we have- they are a liittle smaller, not so 'photogenic' but by gum do they taste good, and cook well!
mink - sad that have to be rude to get people to understand...luckily ours are nice pests, nothing quite so' stalker' like

He turned up again today. About 15 minutes after me but wasn't there to do anything. other than stalk me However, he didn't stay long. Muttering "well I'll leave you to it" yes. Yes please do!!

I got some oca out of the ground and a few scorzonera. I wish they were less of a pain to grow as they do taste nice. The oca are drying and sweetening on the window sill. Will keep a few aside to grow this year.

Oh mink that's rubbish. I'd just be very rude. Politeness is really futile in these cases. He has utterly failed to be polite to you with all his pestering.

mink - your scorzonera- is it a black, thinnish root? If so grrr- I dug loads of that up when I first got my allotment - it was a menace ( so I thought!) right in the middle of my patch , didn't know about it! is it like anything to taste? And what does oca taste of - I have just 'googled' that :)

Oca tastes like slightly lemony potato. Nice roasted. Can also be eaten grated raw (with yacon if you grow it). But you can eat the leaves and stalks too. Also a bit lemony.

Yes scorzonera is a very long thin straight root. Tastes a little bit like mouli but more subtle. It is a pain to dig though at the roots are longer than a spades depth and tend to break when you dig them so I usually only get the first 9" at most. Might consider growing them in pipes. They are good for being pest free but they are poor germinators on my lot. Only 1 plant for every 5 or 6 seeds.

I am not very good at being rude. I have ended up telling him to f off on a couple of occasions when he has been really out of order but he still keeps coming back. Bit like couch grass. Sigh.

Mink, you've effed him off and he's still at it?! :o He sounds worse than aphids!

Poly tunnels, with lockable doors, maybe? I would

I would love a polytunnel!
Our lot has rules about fixed structures so we cannot even have sheds.

I am on list for another allotment site that is full plots and that allows sheds. I always have vague dreams of having a plot there with one of those chalets with a veranda. Turn one allotment entirely over to fruit and the other to sitting in a swing seat on the veranda. Looking at my polytunnels full of a jungle of veg.

That first was meant to be a

I can't imagine how cloying it must be to be at risk of encountering that every time you go to your plot! Fingers crossed for your future plans. A 'veg jungle' and veranda sound divine!

I'm still waiting for access to my back garden/ plot, which will be approximately a half plot size growing area! So, onwards with my patio growing and edible living wall.

I have a question related to these- Which container fruit and veg would any of you consider growing upside down and/ trailing?

mink - not allowed structures ? , how on earth do you keep everything dry, and do you have to cart all your equipment?
Just got back from 2 hours at the plot cor it was freezing - 1º sleet and snow and rain , but I got my strawberries weeded and tidied, and I was a wimp, - have brought home all my runners to pot up - I normally pin them out and then cut them off, but my toes feel as if they are about to drop off!I also went and took down all the canes and runner beans from my new extra half plot- they were driving me crazy! -all the paperwork in, and paid for. I am a joint tenant for the year, and then it will be mine. I just hope he doesn't want to come and help really - I'd rather just get on with it and not worry
And I am sat here waiting for my treat- DH makes me a bacon and egg sandwich when i get home, but he's still reading the paper.
amantes - I've not done trailing veg, but have seen tomatoes and strawberries done that way - do you know how long your wait is likely to be?

agoodbook, I've been waiting for two years and it will happen this year! Very frustrating to see it every day but not be able to get to it. Because of the steepness of the land here (up the side of a valley!), access isn't simply a path and a gate, it's a feat of structural engineering

Still, I'm enjoying the challenge of turning the patios edibly green in the meantime!

agoodbook thanks. I found an anecdotal bit of advice that said if you run your hand along the stem and there's a strong scent, then it's a blackcurrant. But to know if red or white you can only wait until later in the season. One is scented so I think I have a nice mixed collection

So bitter cold here today and have to work this afternoon so no digging for me today. We were allowed sheds on our last allotment but it was so windy that they rarely lasted a winter. We used the lockable chests you can get from B&Q for tools and wore waterproofs!

crampons then amantes ? -on a more practical note, will you be able to terrace at all- lot of work mind you, and only for the long haul
Wow that sounds windy Miss Mystic - most of the sheds on our site ( at least all the older ones) have big buttresses on the back to brace them .

Yep, agb, I had the patios terraces completed last year and the allotment area is next! Although I'm thinking about cheating building raised beds out from the slope, rather than full terracing, iyswim? ...I have actually climbed up without crampons. They'd probably be a good investment, for safetys sake! On the upside, both the patios and allotment area are on the south facing side of the valley. It almost feels like you could touch the sun out there

We're only allowed sheds if they don't cast any shade on anyone else's plot. Not many have them, mainly the people with plots on the edges of the site. There is a communal shed, but that's where the thieves seem to go. I just leave my tools in the long grass behind the compost bins and small stuff in a big plastic cake box. I also carry one of the small ikea bags with my gloves in it whenever I go up there so I can bring back anything I pick. I have a plastic stool for coffee breaks (and a thermal mug).

MissMystic - I did buy one of those lockable chests (a lot of people use them on our site) but it was a cheap flimsy one which leaked and we had a mini tornado last winter and it got smashed up. I might invest in a sturdier bench seat type one this year.

Right, I can't get up there today, we have just got rid of DS's friends after a sleepover and got family coming over this afternoon. However I have nipped out to the garden centre and bought a sturdy looking (hopefully cat-proof) incubator for the windowsill, seed potatoes and onion sets. Will be making newspaper pots tonight. Must check my compost stocks too.

I would have thought a darkened room after a sleepover for DS WhoKnows!
Potted up my strawberries - it was lovely in my greenhouse with the sun coming in - with my 2 fleeces on, and out of the wind it was toasty
have sown my celeriac - now residing on my kitchen windowsill covered in plastic bags! Lets hope its stays at least 12º on there while I am away....fingers crossed

I think that Allotment challenge program is a bit naff too to be honest but its a fun bit of gardening telly for the winter months.

Just been pruning the grapevine in the garden in the last bit of sun before it disappears, although its far too cold to stay out and finish tidying up the rest of it. I see some bulbs I planted in autumn are poking their heads up can't remember what they were . The tomato seedlings have gone into soil pots now because the roots were bursting out of the rockwool cubes. chillis are looking nice and strong.

Good start to the year really.

samesize -I agree, it looks lovely though- all those matching greenhouses!
Amantes - did you hear GQT - growing cucumbers upside down in pots ? :) may be worth a try

I've never listened to GQT and not heard of rook wool either. Am such a rookie!

Finally went to buy seeds from Lidl: they had quite a lot and I only a have a few bits I wanted that I couldn't find. (Yay, more buying!)
Have made a start tidying allotment, and have also made a start on my plan of what I am growing where/when. But the latter is v v much work in progress.
Oddly it's 1 day into Feb and I've not yet sown a single seed!

I wouldn't worry about not sewing anything yet, some of my best plants were sewn last minute playing catch up.

Rockwool is an insulating material (the same stuff they insulate houses with) which you can get in little 1 inch cubes to plant seeds into instead of soil. You need to feed the cubes with liquid nutrients and water. Ive always sewn chilli seeds this way and had 100% germination success rate. I find its easier to look after seedlings in the cubes and much easier to pot on into soil rather than pricking out and risk damaging them when they are small and delicate.

same so I googled rockwool seed germination. The first few links are grass city dot com, growing marijuana dot com ... Is it chillis that you're growing?