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Find tips and tricks to make your garden or allotment flourish on our Gardening forum.

Original poster

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

999 replies

TheSpottedZebra · 14/01/2015 21:43

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.

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Piratespoo · 05/02/2015 17:49

Is it too late for a newbie to join? Ie I have only ever grown shrubs and carrots! I have bought last week a grow house, one of those plastic greenhouses and some potato bags and a few different types of seeds to start with. I have cucamelons, tomatoes, rainbow carrots, peppers, little gem lettuce and three types of potatoes for three potato bags
Do these sound easy to grow in containers? Please say yes!

minkGrundy · 05/02/2015 18:07

Pirates yes to the potatoes, tomatoes and lettuce. No experience of the others.
Will be a fun experimentSmile
Lettuce doesn't need to be in greenhouse btw once it warms up. They like it cool.

agoodbook · 05/02/2015 18:19

Pirates hello- I would ask spotted about cucamelons Grin

Piratespoo · 05/02/2015 19:43

Hello! Thanks. I have watched a few YouTube videos on the cucumelons so have an idea but would welcome more tips! I can't wait to sow my seeds but they say not to sow yet!

footballsgalore · 05/02/2015 20:16

Zebra it doesn't mention rootstock (and I'm not sure what that means!) But it will grow up to 3.7m apparently!
I'm trying not to be concerned about the bit that says Guaranteed for 2 months....was kinda hoping for longer than that Wink

footballsgalore · 05/02/2015 20:20

piratespoo They sound fine (although I am about as far from an expert as you can get) I am also trying cucamelons for the first time after reading about them on here. We can compare notes! YouTube videos? Maybe I should investigate....Is it more complex than chucking them in the ground and hoping........

Original poster
TheSpottedZebra · 05/02/2015 20:41

Welcome pirates !

Yes ! Despite my clearly knowing nothing about mulches, compost, digging, weeds etc -I am now officially the cucamelons expert of the thread! Last year was my 1st growing year, and I tried a few different things - and had an utter glut of cucamelons. Do you have the James Wong seeds? I basically just followed the instruction on the packet. Sowed April I guess, not neatly as I don't think I started gardening until mid April. I sowed them in pots which I kept in an unheated conservatory for a bit. Pitted on once, then put them in a container with some bamboo cane wigwam with string tied about a bit to give them more to chamber on. I don't know why I did the string this, but it made sense at the time. IIRC, I sowed 8 seeds and got 7 plants, of which I kept 4. I think I fed every other week once flowers were out, with tomato feed. I didn't get any proper fruit for ages (it seems), the growing fruitlets used to suddenly drop off when they were still barely formed. Until one day they didn't, and we were inundated with cucamelons for the rest of the season. Bees and hoverflies seemed to really like the plants, so it wasn't a pollination thing I don't think. Odd.

I did have a bit of a mildew problem towards the end, which also affected my squash. I think this was partly down to overcrowding and poor ventilation as I really should have given the cucamelons a bit more room. They grew super tall - over and off 6 ft canes, and the plants were like triffids -I couldn't leave any other plants too close as the cucs would be trying to climb them when my back was turned...

It was - mostly - a super hot summer last year so I don't know how they'd do 'normally'. I'll do them again, but probably fewer plants. I lost friends last year with my aggressive need to give the things away. I even scared my postie with them!

Here endeth my epic post on cucamelons.

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Original poster
TheSpottedZebra · 05/02/2015 20:46

Oh, that was longer than I thought Blush

footballs thanks for rootstock info. Basically - I think - fruit trees are often grafts of 'a rootstock' (i think there are set ones used), and the fruit variety itself. They do this I think to control the height and thus make it more user-friendly, and to make them better able to resist disease. I really want a cherry tree, but I think that height is too much for me!

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agoodbook · 05/02/2015 21:03

Best info on rootstocks is here - helps to decide where to site things! I have been looking due to wanting a greengage and victoria plum that are easy to pick!
www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?pid=359
I would love a cherry tree, but keeping the birds off would be a mammoth task I think :)- though someone has one trained against a wall on our site - I don't know what crop he manages though
It looks like its going to be a bit milder this weekend anyway

Batmam · 05/02/2015 21:04

Hi piratespoo, my friend grows shitloads of veg in her back yard and just in pots! What you have sounds fab.

Thanks everyone for the cat/rat advice! Never thought that the compost could be dry as it rains so much here but of course that's my problem. Me and DD went out with a hosepipe from the waterbutt this afternoon intending to flush the buggers out (our compost bay is a serious affair built into a hillside with concreted posts and slats so tapping it as I passed was not an option!) I was bricking it thinking a furious snarling rat was going to jump out of the hole and bite my face Smile but I we survived and didn't see any evil rats thank god. Next step is to get DH to turn the compost and see what state it's in

footballsgalore · 05/02/2015 21:07

zebra They had cherry trees but I didn't look at those. Although I would love one.
I didn't actually read the height thing before I bought so might need a little rethink on positioning. Presumably we can control the height with pruning though?

scotchmincepie · 05/02/2015 21:22

Can I join. Grew loads of vegas in pots in back yard for about 3 years. Then got allotment (yay!) 4 years ago. It's huge, very exposed and I love it. I started it from scratch with lots of raised beds. Lots of fruit bushes an asparagus bed and a bench .

Batmam · 05/02/2015 22:02

Sounds great scotch, join in. There's a real mix of us here from newbies to v.experienced to professional (and a lot in between) all desperate to get going!

agoodbook · 05/02/2015 22:09

wow batmam - that compost bin sounds awesome !- They will be drowned rats whatever :)
Just because I am not here for 2 weeks, the weather is improving - there is such a lot to get on with, and champing at the bit. I thought at least we would be under snow, and I wouldn't care ! But hope you can all get on

Piratespoo · 05/02/2015 22:11

Thanks for the cucamelon advice! You lot have got me Google ing allotments now! My local council doesn't seem to have much info online. There are private ones I have found...

agoodbook · 05/02/2015 22:12

Pirates - have you looked here?
www.nsalg.org.uk/allotment-info/how-to-get-an-allotment/

WhoKnowsWhereTheTimeGoes · 05/02/2015 22:40

Sorry, more cucamelon advice needed! What do they taste like and how do you eat them? I'd never heard if them till the allotment programme last week and DD's ears pricked up, she loves cucumbers and melons.

Batmam · 05/02/2015 22:58

Zebra will be along in a minute, she's a world expertGrin

Piratespoo · 05/02/2015 23:04

Type cucamelon in YouTube. Loads of videos. I can't wait to grow mine!

Thanks agoodbook, wilt have a look.

WhoKnowsWhereTheTimeGoes · 05/02/2015 23:36

I googled (Youtube is a last resort for me), they sound fabulous, I like the idea of pickling them as well as eating fresh.

newgardener · 05/02/2015 23:39

I like watch Sean at www.youtube.com/thehortchanneltv because its easy to follow and give me confidence to try it.

Original poster
TheSpottedZebra · 05/02/2015 23:44
Grin Cucamelons, they're a bit like er, cucumbers. A tangy cucumber. Maybe a bit limey? The size of a big grape, but stripey like a watermelon. They are native to central America, and are called sandita in mexico (little melon) or sometimes sandita de ratón (little mouse melon). Sometimes known as sour gherkin too.

I mostly ate mine raw. I did once get a bit of a tummy ache from eating too many, but I ate LOADS one day. I also sliced them for sandwiches, had them in salads, put hem in Pimms and pickled them in various ways.

I also gave some to my niece's barbies to carry. I carried a watermelon?!
Oh, how we laughed Blush

OP posts:
minkGrundy · 05/02/2015 23:52

I am now thinking i need cucamelons.

There was a landshare thing through river cottage might be a possibility if there are no allotments.

Jensaff123 · 06/02/2015 08:04

I have a back garden where I grow veg for the family. So nice to see so many others growing their own. I have been gardening for a long time and still keep things fresh by trying new ideas. YouTube is a great resource now a days. What are your favorite garden channels or shows? I like thehortchannel.com great ideas for allotments and gardens. I am in zone 9 in the US.

AmantesSuntAmentes · 06/02/2015 10:30

Hi Jensaff Smile GQT (Gardeners Question Time) seems to be popular among the muddy massive! However, I regularly fail to watch anything I mean to.

Garden growing is the best! Stepping out of the door and into the veg patch is my aim soon. For now, I'm container growing and spent hours potting everything up yesterday. I need a bigger kitchen table!