The 2015 Allotment / Veg Patch Thread Part 2

[agoodbook]

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

I wear gloves too, agoodbook. Partly to protect my hands and nails from the mud and the cold or sun, but mostly as I am freakishly clumsy and if there is anyone who will slice themselves on grass or impale themselves on a rusty nail, it is me. I've only lost one so far, so not bad going. They are always so big though! I'm not small, and certainly don't have dainty hands, but women's gloves all seem large on me.

Thanks for all detail on footwear too. I think I'll need to wear enclosed toes (see clumsy comment). And I guess I'll need to get more walking boots in/ for next winter. It's so odd that I've managed to bust the sole with digging; I'd not have thought that that would be possible. I mooch around in garden clogs at home, but I can't actually walk in them as they fall off my feet* so will definitely need something with a tough sole for plotting. Maybe I'll just keep on wearing the boots until the sole does actually fall to bits.

No allotmenting today but I hope to sneak up there tomorrow am. I did sow a few more seed though - borlotti beans and runner beans. And I think I'll pot on some toms soon, freeing up pots for the big cucurbit session. I am doing:

• 4x courgette: all green, early gem, rond de nice, and... golden zebra!
• 2x patty pan squash - a yellow one and a white one called custard something
• a cucumber -delikatesse I think
• winter squash: delicata, marina di chioggia, little gem. Yum.

• i realise I am making myself sound like a very uncoordinated numpty here. Erm, that'd be right. One with crap feet.

WhoKnows - I was just checking after seeing you were picking later - and of course it depends on variety - the later varieties you can pick up to August it seems - mine are all done by then :)
spotted - definitely closed toes for me as well- when I was digging out the compost/manure heap on my new bit earlier in the year, I nearly lost a welly when I got stuck in it - it was like comedy quicksand as I had foolish stood in it for easier access....

That has just made me think about the brilliant idea I had to use DP's wellies as mine were split. I ended up walking back across the yard carrying the welly sodden black muck upto one knee.
Lesson learned I now wear my own neoprene lined muckboots - the horse riding ones, they are closer fitting, with twof pairs of socks.
In summer, walking boots, but I have totally destroyed my last pair (meindl) and am searching for something to replace them.

I planted 6 more sweetcorn seeds, french beans and 6 squash seeds (these were kindly donated and I've forgotten the variety).
H was rather horrified to see that the plants are spreading in the kitchen. I'll have to find a better home for them later!

We planted some yellow french beans a couple of weeks or so ago and they are being a bit erratic in their germination. Have others experienced this? I'm hoping they will do well as my daughter is particularly keen on these beans (claims she doesn't like other beans!).

I have had a lovely morning down at the plot , just about catching up with the digging/weeding for squashes and sweetcorn on the new bit.
This afternoon have sown all my beans - french/runner and borlotti ,some more leeks - and pricked out the perpetual spinach
Have now totally run out of compost....

And I think spotted boots have sent out vibes - my wellies split at the sole today - and yes its the foot that goes down on the fork. DH has gallantly said I can have his heavy duty spare pair :)
The only thing that has had erratic germination for me was the sweetcorn - just a 50% success rate sadly, so 12 plants it is- not really enough but thats life
Widespread frost forecast for tonight !

how long do courgette take to germinate?
sowed last weekend.
have now put them next to the radiator in the hope that will work.

mm- I seem to think last year mine were a bit slow- about 7-10 days - I don't heat mine, but put a plastic bag over the pot to keep them damp until they germinate - I do them on my kitchen windowsill - not very warm, but constant. Not sowed them yet though- I would have done them today, but ran out of compost.
Mind you - I sowed some more brassicas ( spouts and broccoli) in a panic on wednesday late afternoon as we had a minor disaster, and they are already germinated and out in the greenhouse now :)

Mine (courgettes) took.about a week. No sign of cucumber yet though. May plant another.

I find scorzonera unreliable.
Often have complete bean failures but I plant in situ and suspect they are eaten. Must check peas again though. Sewn twice so far. No sign last time i looked.

How's shove getting on with the greenhouse? Can't wait to hear

Gosh, agoodbook , I'm soooooo sorry for the bad footwear juju! Youmust also havebeen doi gtoo much digging. Oddly, just noticed that my garden clogs are splitting across the top too.

I am fretting about the weather tonight . In fact I just went to move my blueberries right next to the house, and I lightly wrapped them in fleece. They're flowering now, and I'd hate for them to have their fruiting stunted - they're one of my favourites. A quick hour or so at tthe plot today too, admiring all the lovely apple blossom -erm, apart from mine. Whereas the other trees are big balls of froth, mine is a lovely lush green with a few teeny pin pricks of pink. Did I hobble it when I gave it a trim? I'm hoping it's just a later variety than (all???) the others.

Other than that, I didn't really do very much at all at the allotment. A bit of weeding, checked on my first directly-sown (at allotment ) crops. Nothing! Or, nothing yet. I have some seedlings to be planted out,but I am waiting til this cold snap is finished...

I wear these:

boots

I love them because it doesnt matter what I kick/trip over/drop my feet survive.

Had our first asparagus and rhubarb today. I love it when the allotment goes back into production again.

anyone else amazed by the speed of things atm?
the dc's sunflowers first showed after dinner. they were watered before eating and half an hour later there they were!

spotted the wellies have done their fair whack - 4 years at the allotment, and they were already about 5 years old before that !
Good plan to fleece around the blueberries - it certainly won't hurt.
My apple tree is only showing flower buds - they are quite not open yet, but my crab apple is just about full on - there are lots of 'groups' for apple trees from early to late for flowering/pollinating so I wouldn't panic - I think you found you had apples on the floor last year , so there must be a pollinator near by

Wowsers, agoodbook - well remembered! My first visit to my allotment was spent picking up scores of unwanted, frozen, rotten apples. What a waste! I'm not worried about poor pollination as there are lots of apple trees, and a few crab apples, up there. It's more that there is hardly any blossom on my tree to pollinate! All the other trees are covered! Surely they have to more or less blossom at the same time, or do some of those groups flower much later? Surely I can't have chuffed up the apples?

Gnome work boots, hey - interesting! They are nice and cheap, plus they say that they have a reinforced sole... Good for digging, no? I'd need a women's pair as I have oddly skinny feet. Odd, as I don't have skinny ankles to go with. In fact I have kind of done away with the ankle entirely and I go straight from foot to calf, no messing around. Yes, I am be-cankled.

Ooh, just seen in the lidls mag that they have gardening clogs and dwarf fruit trees this week. I may buy clogs and a cherry tree. It doesn't say which rootstock the trees are on however, but probably worth a punt for £8.99

Morning all!

I've been laid up all weekend with a nasty throat infection so very little gardening has happend, bar snail removal and watering. We had a very mild frost last night so I'm panicking a bit as I didn't realise it was forecast and I'm worried about all of my soft fruit! Will have to wait until I get home from work to inspect everything.

Come on Shove we need greenhouse pics!!

Morning !
a bit chilly here this morning - the bird water had frozen over
spotted -mm not much blossom eh- did you prune it this year? If not, it may need a good feed. Also, some apples have a poor year after a very heavy cropping year,- especially if it has been neglected for a while
hope you are feeling better LetThere

and yes - frost on fruit blossom not good so fingers crossed

I've been out taking fennel seedlings out of the veg bed, and watering, over the weekend. And nursing a hangover.....

But things are starting to shoot up now which is great to see. I may even get baby spinach leaves in my salad this week for lunch!!

When I had the plot, I found decent shoes a must, and I'd managed to get a nice new pair of hiking boots (sample size - I was really lucky!!) so kept the old pair purely for the plot. I had wellies for really wet times, but needed 2 pairs of thick socks in them for heat. (We used to have a pair of steel toed boots in my parents house for cutting the grass - paranoid DF - but they were too heavy to stay in for hours on end as I was on the plot. But a better fitting pair and the more modern ones you get now might be better).

Most fruit trees go fruit then root - so will hopefully give you a heavy crop next year. To be honest, all my apples haven't even blossomed yet. Did you prune it this winter?

I spend half my life putting fennel seedlings into veg beds! I love it and grow it all over the place, and scatter the seeds when/wherever I can.

We had a gorgeous leek and cheese bake for tea last night - started harvesting the leeks that went in last summer - I did start them late so it wasn't surprising they took a while to catch up. It was delicious. Also picking salad leaves from a tray in the greenhouse at the moment.

On the subject of apple trees - can anybody tell me how close other trees need to be for pollination? I have one cordon apple tree and there are a few other apple trees in the neighbourhood, but last year I got blossom and no fruit. Am I going to have to buy another tree?

Yes, I pruned it But I thought I did an ok, if very very conservative job! I wanted to be sure to not impact on fruiting... Oh well, I'll just have to grow lots of other lovely things or scrump other people's apples

Big old frost here this morning, so i am glad I wrapped up my blueberries in their blanket! The sun is shining now, however -looks like it will be another lovely day.

Cupcakes poor you, hope you feel better. But the only thing that will help you feel better is a greenhouse update with pictures, you say? Yes, I understand. Come on, Shove !

Biddy poor you too. Hangovers are foul, aren't they? And mine just get worse. You know, steelies are sounding like an increasingly good idea.

Ah, Alternative - so there is still hope then that it's either a 'root' year, or it's just very late? I will keep the faith then!

Leeks, yum. That bake sounds delicious. I've not really mastered leeks this year - is not too late to re sow, or have I missed the boat?

Zebra, I think your apple is just a later variety. We pruned back our trees really hard this winter and the early varieties are now in blossom as always.

As for boots, Dad would use old workboots (with thick walking socks in winter) for digging, and he sometimes reinforced them with metal, underneath the arch where the sole hits the spade.

Cupcakes...how far do bees fly? It might depend on the type of bees you have! Sometimes they just have a year off fruiting though, and then a bumper crop a while later. Especially if the weather has messed about with the seasons.

'normal' honey bees fly about a mile from their hive.
maybe ask the local beekeeper association if a member is located close to you or is interested in leaving a couple of hives on the allotment?
we have a beekeeper close by, but also loads of bumbe bees and other solitary bees come into my garden.

mous we don't have an allotment - I'm lucky enough to have a large back garden. Not keen on the idea of bees myself as I have 2 dogs who would NOT leave alone! My mum keeps bees though (sadly too far away).

The nearest trees I've seen (that had fruit last year) were only about 20 metres away which I thought would be close enough. Perhaps it's just because it's quite a young tree.

I've definitely seen other bees buzzing around. They were practically fighting over my cherry tree last week! Maybe I should put up some bee houses or something.