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.

I don't like asparagus either.
Someone on another thread suggested that tips get lost on a long thread. Good point.
so she suggested highlighting the plant/topic

E.g. a tip about asparagus

Would make sense?

Sounds like a plan mink !
There aren't so many asparagus fans then - the joy of dipping asparagus into soft boiled egg has passed folk by :)

I LOVE asparagus and would love my own patch of the stuff - but I don't have the space or patience.

Right dressed-up kids delivered to school, just a few jobs to do then Zebra's Day of Allotment Action is a go!

I'm seeing signs of spring popping up everywhere now. Most of my shrubs are either bursting into leaf, or just about to. Even my bare-rooted fruit plants are coming into leaf. Hence need to get them in their final destination. Odd that I found some frogs still buried underground the other day though. When digging up a weed, I uncovered them by mistake, then gently put the mud back to hopefully not disturb them. Odd as they'd usually start mating in early March. Do they think spring's not quite here, I wonder.

I take it that it's ok to transplant garlic? I planted some months ago at home, but I think I want it to go up to the plot in a couple of weeks when I have cleared the last bed.

Liking the asparagus love!

I'm only growing it because I've looked at it for 2 years now and thought 'nah, takes too long'. This year, I thought 'If I'd planted it 2 years ago I'd have asparagus now.' It was sobering :( I have put plastic cloches over them AND secured them but they keep magically uprooting themselves and blowing off somehow. Garn.

I have been trying to get yellow and black tomatoes started in a quite cold room and they'd showed no signs at all over 2 weeks. I shifted them into the lounge on Wednesday and lo, today they are all sprouting. The black tomatoes better bloody had, they cost £3.00 for a packet of 6 seeds! 50p per seed, I ask you!!

What posh tomatoes have you bought I've got 2 black tomatoes to sow. I went a bit crazy with seeds, especially tomatoes, and none were that expensive. I'm doing (well, attempting) black cherry and black Krim. Did you sow them all? I've not yet started any toms, but I am having g to practically sit on my hands...

I think it's these. I totally got suckered in! I have sown them all because they said I could in late Feb and, well, I got impatient I'll keep them inside for ages yet I think.

I have also got tomatilloes and cucamelons, after seeing them talked up on Mumsnet. Am planning to start tomatilloes, sweet peppers, red tomatoes (well, you know, just 'cause) and mangetout this month. Maybe also beetroot and purple carrots. Squee!!

Ooh, the James Wong stuff is pricey! Yes, I have his cucamelons, tomatillos, inca berries, callaloo, something else... All from last year. I've gone cheap this year! I've started off a few inca berry seeds, as I did mine waaay too late last year, and the have all germinated. And then I dug out an inca berry plant that I 'overwintered' (well, cut it down and stuck the pot in a half barrel wih lots of other stuff and wrapped it up wih fleece), and it still looks alive, so that's nice!

I absolutely love seed sowing. And seed buying. And seed organising. And seed day dreaming...

Same here Zebra I'm thinking of branching into winter planting this year so it never has to end!!

Ooh, good idea! Plus, you can grow salads indoors all year round, right?

Have just seen that one of my seeds, which last night was just a green dot in the soil, ready to sprout, is now about 5 cm tall It's a yard long bean. Now I have to quickly re pot it before it goes too leggy...

i MUST prick out tomorrow, i'm being lazy about it but we are almost on the verge of legginess now

Yeah, it's not the fun bit, is it?

I've just had to google cucamelons, never heard of them before this thread.

Hope everyone's enjoying the warmer weather, I'm off to drag our boys out for a bit of early morning berry bush planting and stick hunting.

Finally got the raspberries in the other day with the posts firmly anchored in and each painted with silly patterns and our plot number, so hoping that will put the wood thieves off.

I'm also thinking of asparagus, does anyone know how well it grows in the snowy north? (upland Yorkshire)

Finally sown my tomatoes chillies aubergine and cucumbers so feel like I've made a start! I'll hold off the rest of the non hardy plants until the beginning of April but have a plastic 4 tier greenhouse and a wooden growhouse so should have somewhere for these to go once ready to pot on.

The allotment is going well, cleared more rubbish yesterday. Planning to sow some spring onions and shallots this week, and maybe get the strawberries planted. I was given some Gariguette and Mara des Bois runners which are growing nicely in pots. Also have three rhubarbs which need planting so need to clear some space for them.

Was v good yesterday and pricked out. It was lovely actually sitting in the sun listening to podcasts and playing with plants.

Alot of the James Wong stuff is widely available elsewhere at much better prices.

Cucamelons, have been sold as their more official name Melothrie - for years by Real Seeds. Although there is still some confusion about what they actually are...

www.realseeds.co.uk/cucumbers.html

JW £2.49 RS £2.05

Inca berries = Cape Gooseberries and Tomatillos

Calaloo = Amaranthus

Also with the James Wong seeds, lots of people have had less seeds than were on the packet, easy to count as the numbers were low in the first place. One I bought had zero seeds in them. I just go elsewhere now. Not that I need any more seeds, I already have more than enough.

Cheaper still at £1.85 for 20 seeds at seedaholic

Likewise my seed stash doesn't need to get any bigger. Fortunately it takes up less space than my wool stash!

I planted some raspberry canes about six weeks ago but they are autumn fruiting, so does this mean I have to cut off the cane completely at ground level? They are autumn bliss and all gold I think.

Yes, you need to cut the can completely down. However if they only went in 6 weeks ago they might not send out much new growth this year so just be prepared.

Just a quick drop in before I go up to the allotment
Twoleft - I am growing asparagus and its doing well - not upland Yorkshire, but the Wolds near York, if that helps?
silver - we cut our autumn raspberries not quite to the ground, but leaving the canes about 2- 3" and then mulch them with compost
Right, I must go and make sure I have everything I need :)

petula glad to hear I am not the only one with an embarrassment of wool stashed.

I must make some hats or something.

I tried the JW electric daisies last year. It is true, it is like licking a battery. Licking a battery is not very nice. And although they got lots of flowers something really loved the leaves and ate every last one of them of the plant. Bare plant with nasty tasting flowers.

I used to grow amaranthus too. Again the beasties liked the taste of it more than I did.

I really must do more but I have been ill/busy for a few weeks and the weather has been too wet.

Might plant tatties next weekend.

mink - hope you're feeling better soon.

I am still burning with jealousy. This weekend, I am mostly being jealous of all you peeps who are getting loads done on the plot. It's a lovely weekend - well, yesterday was glorious and today is mostly dry at least - but I have gone away to visit friends. It's lovely to see them, it really really is, but there is a not at all little voice in my head hat would rather be cracking on at the allotment!

Inca berries and tomatillos not quite the same I think? Inca berries are a golden fruit, aka cape gooseberries or physalis - physalis peruviana to be exact. They make excellent jam if the buggers grow. Tomatillos are a green (sometimes purple) sour tomato thing used a lot in Latin American cooking -physalis philadephica. Same family, obvs.

petula and mink - I have a wool stash too , though I do knit a lot for my DGS ( thats my excuse!)
well, managed to plant more shallots this morning, mulched rhubarb and artichokes and dug up yet more potatoes on my new bit and liased with mr next door about rabbit netting so we can get on with that shortly
This afternoon I shall hopefully be in the greenhouse listening to GQT while starting to get ready to sow :)

YY, what James Wong calls inca berries are P. peruviana, cape gooseberries aka ground cherries, aka poha. I've never heard them called inca berries anywhere else! He seems like a good bloke, but he does tend to rename things that plenty of us have been growing in the UK for years (yacon as peruvian earth apple, oca as NZ yam, etc etc).

I wonder why, is it to reflect their origins?

I always get muddled up between tomatillos and tamarillos, they look v similar. I think the latter are known as tree tomatoes.

If I were being cynical, Petula, I might think that it was about having something new and shiney to offer in his website/book/tv appearances. But actually I think he might just be rather young and enthusiastic

Tamarillos are the tree tomato things, and definitely different from tomatillos - former are the size of a big plum tomato and dark red, latter smaller, in a husk, and green/purple . . . Latter easy to grow, former nicer to eat, as is the way of things