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Gardening

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

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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mousmous · 09/03/2015 07:45

my seed packet says to sow directly onto ground. but have never grown leeks before...

PlumpingIsQuiteUpForScrabble · 09/03/2015 07:59

Another fab garden weekend! Such good weather....

The asparagus tips are peeping out (2 out of 3, anyway - I fear I may have broken the other tip when planting :( ) which makes me happy. Have sown a few purple carrot and rainbow beetroot seeds at the ends of the raised bed so as to make the most of the space, and also repotted/planted out broccoli, black tomatoes and yellow tomatoes. Peas have been started too.

Next week: sweet peppers and tomatilloes. Yay!

Takver · 09/03/2015 08:29

I usually start mine in modules in a cold frame, minkGrundy - just because they come on a bit better & you're not faffing with weeding these tiny little things.

Where are you mousmous - impressed you've got sweetcorn in already! Here I don't even dare start it in mods til late April otherwise I'm struggling with roots out the bottom and a nasty cold spell & have to decide whether to put it out & let it sulk or have it get all root bound and also sulk. Or are you growing it in a tunnel?

agoodbook · 09/03/2015 09:22

mous - I'm with takver -I sow my leeks in quite a deep pot, they sit in the greenhouse until they germinate (I sowed mine yesterday) . I then put them out in a cold frame to harden off and wait until they are big enough to transplant straight into the ground.
mink I grow 3 varieties of rhubarb - 1 is already out and growing ( my thug) but the other 2 come along a little later, so you have time yet. I'm not aware of slugs eating mine , though I do mulch with quite a thick layer of compost - not that that usually stops the blighters....
Plumpingup - your asparagus is up? wow - no sign of mine yet, (mind you I am glad- it was cold Saturday night :))

TheSpottedZebra · 09/03/2015 10:01

Leeks - talk to me slowly, when you say deep pot, how deep? And how far apart do you sow, and at what stage do you transfer? Ive never managed to reach this mythical 'pencil thickness' yet. Ok, last year. Unless it was a very thin pencil.

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agoodbook · 09/03/2015 10:34

hehe - spotted - pencil thickness hah! I sow fairly thinly in an ordinary flower pot about 12cm deep - 12-14 cm wide - I dont think it needs to be as deep as that, but I need the area on the top ( a seed tray seems to make the roots go round and round each other if that makes sense?) I then leave them alone basically , until they are long enough ( not thick enough) to drop straight into the dibbed hole I make for them leaving a bit poking out. I just gently knock the whole pot out onto the soil and gently tease them apart , drop one in each hole, fill hole with water to settle the roots in, no back filling, they sort themselves out from there on in. Does that make sense?

PlumpingIsQuiteUpForScrabble · 09/03/2015 10:40

Just the very tips of them, goodbook - I may be getting overexcited! It was relatively warm down south over the weekend but I should probably polytunnel them up anyway, for safety/protection from my destructive children.

By the way, I have an exciting observation to report: if you foolishly say to young DC "Hey, look at the tiny seedlings!" and they then pluck a seedling and get it to within an inch of their mouths, DO NOT PANIC. If you hastily yet gently wrestle the seedling from your child's death grip and re-embed it in the pot, the seedling may be none the worse for the experience. Well it looks ok so far and hasn't wilted, so I am hopeful Grin bloody kids!

BiddyPop · 09/03/2015 11:09

I am happy. This weekend, I finally got some seeds planted!!

On Saturday afternoon, while DH went to a match with FIL and DD was at sailing club, I got on with the garden in the sunshine and peace. I managed to sow peas, broad beans and spring onions direct, as well as spinach, radishes and salad leaves into window boxes. I sowed 2 pots of leeks yesterday, and a row of mangetout (against the fence on the side of the garden). Now I just have to wait for things to appear.

I did put a little compost into the window boxes and the peas trench, but I wasn't in the mood for wrestling with the bin too much. The main veg bed was over-full anyway, so I ended up using that soil for the window boxes (need a new bag of seed and potting compost anyway, and the soil is decent). But that will probably mean watching more closely than normal for weeds.

Leeks for me are scattered pretty thickly in a regular flower pot (4.5" one), and then wrestled teased apart once they reach the thickness of about 2-4 mm. I don't have a lot of space for them in the garden, so they don't thicken up as much as they used to on the plot - but I will be harvesting this winter's crop soon, which are maybe 2cm thick. Just nice to have with ham wrapped around them and a nice cheese sauce over the top and baked (a Tom Doorley recipe - delish!).

PetulaGordino · 09/03/2015 11:19

i do that with leeks too biddy (the ham wrap thing)

TheSpottedZebra · 09/03/2015 12:11

Lovely, thanks for leek tips - my harvest will surely be bountiful now, thanks to you lot. Am going to do exactly as you have said. Ooh, do leek seeds/seedlings like to grow outside, or under cover, or in the warm?

Biddy - seed sowing is so lovely, isn't it? I've not sown anything direct though - yet. I might wrap up well and go to the allotment this afternoon for a couple of hours (dc on school trip and back late), and may chance some things that I have plentiful seeds of... I really should continue to clear beds though, as my fruit still needs planting out, and my spuds soon-ish will too. But I'm bored of clearing weeds, a bit, at the mo.

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BiddyPop · 09/03/2015 12:40

I only ever do leeks outdoors, from seed sowing to final harvest.

I have loads of old seeds that I am sowing, hence scatter thickly approach being adopted this year in expectation of lots of failures. I may have to thin out once things germinate, if I get lucky.

Spotted, I used to find that too on the plot - clearing was long and lonely work, but it was so lovely once there was a chance to sow something. I used to sow brassicas and broad beans at home too, to have a few things to pop into cleared ground once it was ready. And of course potatoes and onions went in once their beds were cleared, but other beds could wait a few more weeks. I was always rubbish at having winter/spring veg - leeks is the only thing really that goes beyond about Sept/Oct in my growing season.

TheSpottedZebra · 09/03/2015 12:56

Leeks outside, ok good. I shall do that. I need to learn to not over-cosset stuff, in fact I might have said that in the OP, way back when! Having an allotment will force me to do that a bit I think.

Stupidly, I've cleared a big bed that I don't need for ages. And ive done mosy of another one too. It's all cleared, manured, covered etc. But the area for my fruit that I have needed to plant out for about a month is still not finished, and that for my spuds still isn't done. Rookie mistake!

Right, I am off to wrap up warm and crack on. its bloody freezing out there so I shall have to work hard s as to keep warm!

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mousmous · 09/03/2015 13:28

and what do you do to stop bloody cats animals digging up your seedlings?

agoodbook · 09/03/2015 14:20

yep agree - Leeks outside - Ive just got them in the greenhouse for a couple of days first to get them germinated as its still quite cold overnight up here.
I have finally sown my tomatoes as well, though stupidly also some from last year, that I decided I wasn't going to bother with ! Ah well- someone may find a use for them.
I love my winter /spring veg- it always seems to be expensive at this time of year, and there is always a gap in the harvesting year, so I have leeks, curly kale, savoy cabbage and sprouting broccoli to harvest for the next 8 weeks, and the spring cabbage is just starting to put on some growth as well for about 8-10 weeks time ,and I have one crown prince squash and one butternut left as well from last years harvest :)

PetulaGordino · 09/03/2015 14:26

mousmous for cats specifically i use the prunings from holly and roses to loosely cover the beds as this seems to be deterrent enough. it doesn't look very tidy, but it keeps them off until the plants are established and stops them using the lovely fine soil as a loo!

otherwise, it depends on the size of the animal i'm trying to keep out!

PlumpingIsQuiteUpForScrabble · 09/03/2015 14:51

Tip for keeping cats off the beds

I got some of that cheap plastic roll-out fencing and covered the beds with it, securing with tent pegs and clipping out small holes as appropriate to allow for seedling growth. Kept the bastard cats off nicely.

Keeping slugs/snails/children off though - that's harder.

Piratespoo · 09/03/2015 22:01

So, I've done a fair bit of digging on my new allotment, mostly on my hands and knees pulling out tonnes of couch grass as I go. I have made a path, covered it with weed control fabric and bark chippings, when the ground was too wet to dig.

But now I am considering spraying with roundup to clear the whole site. I have read practically the whole pimpernet, and there are many extreme lovers and haters of roundup. Has anyone here used it, and then grown vegetables afterwards? I can't make up my mind one way or the other...

I just don't know if I am getting all the roots when pulling them out and of course it is a long hard slog digging damp, clay soil.

agoodbook · 09/03/2015 22:43

its so hard isn't it pirates - though if you are pulling it out of damp clay, I suspect its not all coming out. :(
The roots are tenaciuos and just keep on going every which way and down...
Its easy to get disheartened when it seems an overwhelming task .Only you can know what you are happiest doing, don't worry what other people think- it's your plot!
Not used it myself so hopefully someone else will come along with help.

TheSpottedZebra · 09/03/2015 22:49

Oh Pirates - your post really chimes with me today. I too have spent loads of time on the plot, on my hands and knees. Today I've mostly been digging up dandelions. That is why I have left this bed (the one that I should have been doing, as my fruit bushes REALLY REALLY REALLY need planting out weeks ago...) for so long - it's just a mess of dandelions with 60, 80cm deep tap roots. My soil is heavy clay, still really cold and wet so it is nearly impossible to get it all out. I just feel I am not getting anywhere. It's so bad that if I hit a seam of couch or even creeping butter, it makes a very pleasant change!

Now i too am wondering about weedkiller, even if only on the path between my plot and that of my neighbour. I have no idea how I'd get the dandelions out of there, short of churning if all up or nuking it. But if I don't, I'll just have wasted my time as the bastards will spread back in, right?

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Piratespoo · 10/03/2015 07:44

The thing is, zebra, I might do it all by hand, and then see the buggers all coming back when my plants are also growing, and then I will be really annoyed! I don't know whether to to just spray it now, and then I will have a few weeks to leave it to break down in the soil before my plants go in. Maybe i will just do a bit and see what the difference is? I have read I should dig a trench all round my plot so the runners of the couch grass don't come in from the paths all round the allotment.
I don't know whether to do that either! It will take away some growing space from an already smallish plot!

On a different note...how long do the sprouts need to be on chitting potatoes? I have had some on the window sill since early feb and the sprouts don't seem to be getting any longer. They are Charlotte, Vivaldi and Maris piper. When should I plant them?

PetulaGordino · 10/03/2015 08:00

About an inch long I think pirate. I have Maris bard (first early) to go in in a week or so, and charlottes (second early) to go in in April

AlternativeTentacles · 10/03/2015 08:29

If weedkiller was the be all and end all, then I doubt very much whether we would have weeds at all any more, after the 70s and 80s.

People at our allotments spray as often as I weed. All you get with weedkiller is stronger weeds as the ones it doesn't kill have more space to grow. Some of the weediest plots are the ones where they spray intermittently because they think if they spray, they don't have to weed. Doesn't work like that!

One sprays relentlessly and his patch is immaculate. So immaculate it is sterile. when you go past mine, there are birds, insects buzzing, frogs and toads hiding under bricks and little houses I leave for them, frogspawn in things I leave out to catch the water and it is a haven of activity. Go onto his, and nothing. Just grass, soil and perfectly positioned veg. The soil isn't dark and full of life either, it is almost grey.

Couch grass, once composted, makes lovely loamy compost.

If you are a gardener, you will always have weeds, as long as you have soil. you just have to get used to that fact.

Dandelions are good for the bees, what I do and what has drastically reduced the numbers is, leave them to flower and once the clocks turn, I have a hand held rechargeable vacuum, and I hoover the clocks into the vacuum and then put that in the bin. Then they eventually get dug out and composted.

Chits - you don't have to chit potatoes, people put them in light to keep the chits small, rather than leaving them in the dark where they grow long and take energy from the potato. I used to put all mine in on 17th March, but with the seasons, I am now putting them in at least a month later. Less work keeping them frost free and like most plants, they catch up the earlier planted ones that often react to frost by slowing down.

PetulaGordino · 10/03/2015 08:49

I would so enjoy seeing someone

PetulaGordino · 10/03/2015 08:49

FFS

i would so enjoy seeing someone hoovering dandelions! what an excellent idea

PetulaGordino · 10/03/2015 08:54

i rather enjoy chitting potatoes. i like seeing them in their egg box getting sprouty