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 have been lurking on this thread for a very long time. I have started the usual stuff off indoors (I had a 2 year break from growing due to building works and then my MIL was diagnosed with cancer so growing went out the window)

Everything seems slow to germinate this time round. I have a magnolia tree in my garden that should flower last week of March so I can tell if spring is later and this time round it was almost 2nd week of April. I am in Leeds.

To my horror I have discovered ants in my raised bed. There are no plants in it yet but what can I do to get rid of them that won't be harmful to the veg I plan to grow?

Welcome Narcheska I know nothing about getting rid of ants except to pour boiling water over them. Discovered a whole load have taken up residence in my useless compost bin (useless because its full of rampant weeds). I've just left them to it. In the garden we do have ants and they don't seem to bother the plants much so I'm not sure its a problem to have them in a raised bed.

I carry my tools back and forth from the plot. We only have one set anyway and although I've inherited a shed we did have break ins on our plots a couple of months ago. They mostly pinched an old mower and rotivator I think. The police have handed out rape alarms to rig up to the doors to put people off. I've not bothered with mine as the lock is bust anyway and I haven't got around to doing anything with it. But I will do in time.

Hoping to pop over to my plot a bit later just to see what's happening.

Clash I know exactly what you mean about green fingered people contradicting themselves. Sometimes the more people you ask the more confused you can become.
I now tend to just plough on and ignore advice that doesn't suit me.
I've certainly learnt from my mistakes, but I've had fun while doing so.

It's been really wet all day today. I've just come home from work and rushed out to check the courgettes I planted out yesterday, somethings and a bit of a nibble of one leave but they seem to be looking OK.
I think I might do a torchlight slug hunt tonight and see how many I find.

my worms got delivered yesterday and my home made wormery is up and running!! I keep checking on it (should leave them to settle first, apparently) but as it is raining I wanted to check it wasn't getting waterlogged. Someone at work said it was lovely that I got a wormery for mini Kimmi - It's not for him, my worms aren't for sharing!! only joking he is allowed to look at them!

My peas are doing well, I had 1/3 share of the first radish this morning, but they are still a bit small so we left the rest in the ground for a bit longer. Nothing has germinated in the pallets yet - lots of different things, but not a shoot yet

I feel I need a big planner or diary to note down when I do things, like feed plants and plant stuff.

hi to all newbies! when I had an allotment I used to leave a few tools there, normally hidden among the weeds somewhere - but there was nothing expensive or special, I wouldn't have cared too much if they were stolen.

I think I'll look for some plug plants to fill in the gaps in the garden I haven't got any brassicas or anything to over winter. it seems such a long way off!!

I've ordered some slug nematodes -- I keep finding enough slugs around the place that there must be loads more I'm missing. Toby Buckland has a farm your own nematodes technique for anyone wanting a DIY option...(could work for Rooster on a midnight slug hunt).

My potatoes had leaves above the surface today -- not sure whether I covered them enough but I can always do it again in a few days. I may pick up a bag of topsoil from the garden centre next week and use it for burying potatoes. And if my carrots ever show themselves I'll invest in some insect netting to keep out (or attempt to keep out) carrot fly.

mink, I've found myself muttering "why the heck can't slugs eat horsetail?" so many times over the last couple of weeks! (apologies for horsetail obsession. I'll be over it by next year. Probably)

Interesting read tragically - I'm embarrassed to tell you I'm too soft to make my own nematodes, I'd feel too guilty.
When I harvest my slugs I walk down the road to the other side of a stream and release them, much as I hate them I'm too squeamish to kill them.
I do use beer traps, but work on the premise they die happy!

I was listening to an RHS podcast from last year and the pest expert said that the real damage isn't done by the big slugs and snails that you can see by torchlight, but by the tiny ones that come out of the soil. Which is depressing.

This is why they are all going to die from nematoding with extreme prejudice. Well, mine are... (am probably too squeamish to go down the DIY route either, but watering a mixture on so that they all slither off and die somewhere I don't have to look at them... I'm on board with that).

Gosh, I am learning so much just listening here! You lot are so knowledgeable, it's great!

I am nematoding too this year. We can compare notes

How much space do I need for rhubarb? My mother has bought me one (alongside various plug plants) and I am trying to work out where to put it when she arrives next week.

A lovely few hours at the plot today. It veered between drizzly and raining, as such was v quiet. I mowed the paths for the first time and it took ages as the grass was so long. And, full of slugs, ick. I briefly moved the membrane that is covering a bed to mow, and there were soooooo many slugs. I saw a frog and asked him to invite more of his friends over to eat, but he ignored me, because, you know, he's a frog.

My rhubarb Was totally splatted. It looked as though someone had jumped on it, it was all broken off at the base. Someone said it looked like it had been done deliberately aand I was quite sad actually. Then someone else said - er no, it was the wind. So I'm only a but sad now, for the loss of my lovely rhubarb. I took what was broken, about 2 kilos with, after leaves composted. So now I just have to hope that the plants recover. Oddly my large plastic cloche, and my plastic bottle 'cloches' are all still there and fine.

Maybe about a sq m, Tragically ? But a bit less would be fine, I,m sure. Spacing is normally quoted as 3 ft between plants. Different varieties grow different sizes, don't they? Do you know what yours is?

evening!
welcome Narcheska - ants are a nuisance, and I'm not sure much works . We have them and its really tricky to get rid of them , all you can do is try to break up the nest( we stir it with a big stick) so they don't cause too much damage , but they usually just set up home elsewhere.
no plot today- (babysitting :) ) sent DH up there to take fleece off the asparagus, as its not so cold today - glad I did a its pouring down here tonight
Clash - maybe worth popping into the library and looking at books - my favourites are
Andy Clevely - The Allotment Book ( very sensible and lots of info)
The RHS Encyclopaedia of Gardening has a great section on vegetable and fruit growing
Tragically - spotted is right about the spacing, in the sun, not shade feed it like a madman, and water .
spotted - the stalks don't look trampled , so I agree it looks more like the wind . It will be fine by next year :)

ooh - I forgot
honeysuckle - Gardeners World was at Malvern, and one of the small show gardens had raised beds on top of cupboards for storage!

Ooh, I have an old kitchen in my garage!

I have no shade (well, there's about a foot on one side where I have a path that gets a little bit of shade) so that'll be no problem...

Well, I've just been out on my slug-hunt armed with gloves, a torch and a tub and I found a grand total of ... none.

You need to disguise yourself as a lettuce first.

I've nematoded the allotment today and still need to do my raised beds in the garden. DS has created a snail farm in our logpile and is feeding them lettuce, he's always liked snails for some reason, I feel a bit mean wishing our garden to be snail and slug free!

Also erected cane and netting squares at the allotment, sowed peas inside them, did a bit of hoeing, found yet more baby slow worms and planned where everything else is going to go this year. I've started hardening off various seedlings too.

Those growing cucamelons - how are they doing? Mine germinated a couple of weeks ago but have stayed resolutely tiny, each is about the size of a cress shoot.

Yaaay - we have a hedgehog in the garden. Perhaps that's where all the slugs went.

My cucamelons are a couple of months or so old now and only have a few leaves. i'll take a pic later

I think last year mine did not much for ages, then TOOK OFF.

But I think i might need to surrender my Cucamelon Club badge as my roots still have not sprung back into life, hence i am Cucumelonless.

Are inca berries /physalis prone to blight, does anyone know? I know that they are in the same family as pots and toms, and I don't know whether to chance them at the allotment or keep them at home, albeit still out in the open.

Yay for your hedgehog, Rooster. I've not seen one in ages and we used to have loads

Yay for your slow worms too, WhoKnows - I want to see some!