Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Gardening

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

Original poster

The 2015 Allotment / Veg Patch Thread Part 2

997 replies

agoodbook · 08/04/2015 22:49

the previous thread is just about full, - well done spotted so welcome to everyone interested in growing their own veg!

Previous thread is here
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/gardening/2282529-The-2015-Allotment-Veg-Patch-Thread-its-here?msgid=53650520

OP posts:
Thread gallery
79
WhoKnowsWhereTheTimeGoes · 08/04/2015 23:21

Signing in!

meglet · 08/04/2015 23:24

here.

allotment has so far got shallots, radishes, carrots, broad beans and strawberries. dining room floor and paid table are covered in pots and seedlings.

meglet · 08/04/2015 23:25

patio table.

minkGrundy · 09/04/2015 00:25

Not been to the allotment this week. I am yet to complete the garden marathon.
Thought it was going to be a 10K but turned out to be more.

So far, removed the turf, reclaimed the excess soil and bagged about 2/3rds.

returned the worms to the garden.

Covered ground with compost.

Build a frame round the tree in the middle, filled with chipped slate. Looks really nice.

Placed the paving slabs grid. Filled the spaces in between with bulbs. Over planted the bulbs with some annual seeds and some perennials clump forming plants - pinks, saxifrage, heather, sedum, thyme etc.

Put the excess soil round the plants in borders as a mulch. (buried the weeds basically).

Top dressed the new planting and bare soil with about 10 kilos of coffee grounds (from work). Should keep the cats off. Am hoping it does not make the worms jittery.

Still to do:
Move just over half a ton of turfs somewhere else.
Tidy up and wash slabs.
Make a willow arch for path and plant climber.

Then back to the allotment!

AlternativeTentacles · 09/04/2015 07:36

Signing in. Top notch as the old thread was not popular on my ipad!

Mid way through a three day intensive course at our gardens...moving onto carpentry today. Yay!

ChopperGordino · 09/04/2015 07:41

Thanks for the new thread! My phone couldn't handle the long thread very well which was very frustrating...

TheSpottedZebra · 09/04/2015 08:41

Hurrah, a shiny new thread. Not shiny for too long, as soon it will be nice and muddy like my fingernails.

I might post inconsequential bletherings on the other thread tho, just to get it to one magical 1000...

Cripes Mink - you've been super-busy too!

Original poster
agoodbook · 09/04/2015 09:11

haha! spotted - I was going to post on it this morning to get it to 1000, but I was lazy, eating my breakfast!
and wow mink - I am awful, and doing it the other way round- I must give my garden its spring clear up now frosts are less likely and get the lawnmower out :)
ooh Alternative, now thats a course I would like to do - its the one thing that I have never really got on with - DH is so good, but I hate to push him to get things done when he's not good. I'm not bad at hitting a nail in and using a screwdriver, but thats it .
and meglet- snap with dining room table.
I have sweetcorn on there at the moment - planted 24 to allow for non germination, they are just coming up, but only 6 so far - not done them before, so hope they are just slow - I normally get a pretty good germination rate and there were only 26 seeds in the packet...

OP posts:
karatekimmi · 09/04/2015 09:50

Wow mink I'm tired just reading that!!

startwig1982 · 09/04/2015 09:57

I'm being a bit slow this year due to having dd who's 7 months but we've put potatoes in and are bringing on runner beans and peas in the greenhouse as they never seem to do as well straight in the ground!
Need to dig the other veg patch so I can plant but I haven't had time yet.

PlumpingIsQuiteUpForThud · 09/04/2015 13:30

Asparagus is up here too (South England) but I was fretting over it as it hasn't done anything interesting in a while. Good to know that slow is ok!

OTOH, we have many many tomato plants - 18 approx.

mink you are busy!!

ChopperGordino · 09/04/2015 14:11

I am laughing at mink's worms hopped up on caffeine!

minkGrundy · 09/04/2015 16:50

Brief visit to the allotment. No sign of broad beans or peas. So will resow those

how did the carpentry go tentacles.

Original poster
agoodbook · 09/04/2015 19:25

mink- mice and rats love beans and peas - they steal them ! Or they do mine anyway.....
well, finally, finally this afternoon, 3 hours of rather intense fence post setting and netting stapling, we have finished netting. Still have lots to do to tidy it up- its rather saggy in places ( rather like me!) and needs extra supports , but its done Grin- I do hope it is rabbit proof!

OP posts:
PlumpingIsQuiteUpForThud · 09/04/2015 22:40

General question - is there any trick to growing peas? This is the second year I've tried to get some going and they are resisting me Sad

meglet · 09/04/2015 22:41

I've been pondering; if most of my sweet corn succeeds then it will save me a fortune.

pack of seeds, 80p. got 9 growing so far, maybe half will survive, 5/6 cobs per plant? bargain compared to the 50 per cob in the shops.

Original poster
agoodbook · 09/04/2015 23:02

plumping - I sow direct by making a shallow trough and being fairly close spacing - about 2-3 "apart ( I sow one by one in a zigzag pattern !) water well, and my first row I have covered with fleece- next row I wont cover ( about another 2 weeks time) . I did try a couple of years ago sowing in a gutter pipe that was in my allotment book. They germinated lovely at home in the greenhouse, but I had a devil of a job to "push the row of peas into a ready made trench" - it was a shambles. Allow extra for wildlife as well- everything likes peas !
meglet - I sowed 24 and so far 7 germinated and another 2 or 3 looking likely - I was hoping to get 15-18 if possible as I saw to plant them in blocks of 3, near together , but 12 would do !

OP posts:
Shells · 10/04/2015 06:52

Joining in. Too early to put out strawberries? We are in East of England. Cool nights, warmish days.

AlternativeTentacles · 10/04/2015 07:20

Sweetcorn - expect 2 cobs per plant. Always always put these in blocks, the outside ones are likely to not pollinate so one big block and dont mix varieties.

Strawberries - perfectly hardy so can be out all year round. Unless they are indoors for earlier crops.

Peas - again, best grown in blocks and put a cane in each corner, and tie twine around the canes to contain them. Then, when they start flowering, throw a fine net over them and you should avoid pea moth. If they arent germinating it means that mice are probably taking them, so put them in a sandwich bag with damp compost to chit them, and then sow them once you see the roots coming out of the peas.

Carpentry went well, all my learners (who all have learning difficulties or disabilites) made boxes to take home. All sanded and oiled. They loved it. And the observation went well. Tickety boo.

PlumpingIsQuiteUpForThud · 10/04/2015 10:42

Thanks for the pea tips! I have got some in small pots - 2 just starting to sprout, 1 respectable seedling. I've just planted them outside with the broccoli in what I call the Low-Security Broccoli Cage - it's resistant to birds, mice, children and cats but not snails, slugs or caterpillars. It's a wonder I manage to grow anything really!

My strawberries have been out in their big pot for a few weeks (south england) and are growing well. Do I have to do anything to help them to fruit? I have dim memories of reading about paintbrushes.

TheSpottedZebra · 10/04/2015 16:14

Ooh, people are sowing corn now, is it time? I know the thing about the block, and they are going in 'sisters' bs bed with beans and squashes / courgettes. Ought I to sow the corn successionally, or all at once? I've read that some people pre-soak the corn seeds, is that worth it?

TheSpottedZebra · 10/04/2015 16:14

Plumping I love the idea of high and low security cages!

ChopperGordino · 10/04/2015 16:18

i'm soaking some mange tout peas now - only two of the ones i sowed without soaking have come up (hopefully the rest weren't eaten by mice - i kept them in the house on a windowsill!)

Original poster
agoodbook · 10/04/2015 18:43

Well, I am growing sweetcorn for the first time spotted and haven't soaked them, and set them off all together. I started them off about 7-8 days ago, and they are popping out now - I have 11 so far from 24 sown, I bring them in from the greenhouse on a night as its still fairly cold here. I seem to think they need a long growing time, and need to be hardened off well, so I am aiming to plant out mid -late May to give them the best chance . I am trying the variety Mirai to harvest August/September ( fingers crossed!)
I have never soaked peas, I will be honest, and apart from mice haven't had too much problem germinating them .

OP posts:
violetwellies · 10/04/2015 20:14

May I join you, I have a small plot directly under what will one day be the kitchen windows.
Extremely neglected for a long time, then sort of beaten into shape over the last 3 years and now empty apart from a few Jerusalem artichokes.
Thing is I have just mulched and pulled weeds for the last two years.
Think I overdid it. My seed order has just arrived and apart from erecting anti sheep/cow/chicken barricades I'll need advice & support to turn very thick layer of well rotted mulch into soil.