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

How is your dd doing now Tragically? Hope you managed to get everything done for the new plants tomorrow

Poor ole squash mountain the first - hopefully the second incarnation will be a winner

Violet - for slugs- look at nematodes on Amazon ... They are non chemical and verrrrry effective.

DD is fine, pretty much right as rain now.

I'm more or less ready for plants; could do with digging in some manure in a couple of beds and there's always more horsetail to get rid of, but I might get another hour or so's digging done before my mother arrives...

We've spent the afternoon removing nettles, grass and some adventurous brambles - spring has definitely sprung if that lot are encroaching.
Covered some escaped spuds with more muck, I take it the wrath of the gardening gods will be upon me for leaving them, but thanks to hens, rabbits and other vermin some of them are no where near last year's spud patch.
We would have sowed some brassicas, but apparently I put some sand in DS's digger wrong and I have now 'ruined gardening' so we had to stop.

I bought more nematodes and sheeps wool - for the peas. Then went a bit mad buying salsify and a tall planter to grow it in, and callaloo, quinoa, more runner beans...
There were blue strawberries. Blue! Rainbow roses. They were bonkers.

Would be fun one year to plant everything the wrong colour. Purple caulis, blue strawbs, yellow rasps, orange beetroot, white and purple toms, purple goosegogs, yellow courgettes, all with a backdrop of rainbow roses.

Have grown yellow mangetout before (confused everyone when I gave them seedlings and forgot to tell them). And I have orange and purple caulis this year and yellow beans.

Sorry violet but putting the sand in wrong made me smile!! I have a control freak toddler as well and it seems everything I do is wrong!!

Glad your DD is mending well tragically

We've been pottering around but really need to do a bit of a big tidy up really. We have loads of plant pots lying around and bits and pieces everywhere. What I'll probably do is buy some strawberry plants and plant those though

I need to keep on top of watering, especially in the green house, as it's been quite sunny here and I have a lot of containers.

Oh honestly violet how on earth did you manage that? . DS had a massive tantrum last week because we went out the back door to go swimming. In my defence, he was already playing in the back garden, so I felt it would be easier to just leave that way than drag him back through the house. Oh, how wrong I was.

I want blue strawberries.

Things are picking up in the garden now. Potatoes are looking good, strawberries have flowers on, and the parsnips are looking fab! It's really spurring me on to get more done.

I have googled blue strawberries. They all look photoshopped, it's hard to believe they are real! My brain can't cope with it

Hmm I think the ones on google images mostly are actually photoshopped so I'm not going mad

I'm not tested by blue strawberries, but I am tempted by pineberries - anyone tried them?

I tried to post yesterday but my posts kept on vanishing. Then i gave up. V annoying. I was having a moan about the wind, it had hammered my rhubarb before, then I saw it happening yesterday. But worse was the effect on my rasps - 2 had snapped

I had been digging out some soil to make the path lower and get rid of spreading weeds. I'll de weed the lumps of soil and add it to the end bed, and cover the path's bare soil in - cardboard + lidl bark? stones? But for the interim, I used the lumps to act as a wind block for my rasps. No idea if it will work, I shall see later on. No idea too why the wind is tunneling like that at my fruit patch - maybe I'll need to create an actual wall of something to shield that spot a bit.

Good news on your DD, Tragically .

Oh, apart from the wind, the things that I have planted out as plantlets seem to be taking, even where I have planted them really badly . Even the cavolo nero, where I couldn't untangle the roots, so ended up just ripping it into sections, seemed to take. The slugs have decimated it, but the leaves that are left still seem to be hydrated. But those things that I sowed direct, er, haven't taken. There are still a few signs of turnip but the beetroot and radish has vanished. Hey ho.

No sign of my courgette and squash seeds yet. Starting to wonder what's going on, whether I need to re-sow...

If there are blue strawberries, then they are likely to be GM and spliced with other genes, rather than a natural cross. Like the blue tomatoes on sale are GM splices as well.

'Purple caulis, yellow rasps, orange beetroot, white and purple toms, purple goosegogs, yellow courgettes' - most of these are not GM though, they will have been bred using the usual cross fertilisation process. I grow golden beetroot, purple tomatoes, purple gooseberries and yellow courgettes every year - I don't grow yellow rasps as I find they aren't as tasty and I don't grow caulis as they are so time/space consuming for the eventual crops they give. I can get about a fortnight's worth of beans in the same space, and then two-four more weeks of salad or beetroot in the same time as one cauli which needs a year and half a square meter to grow in - which is likely to be eaten in one or two meals. Two kales or three swiss chards are a better bet in that space during the winter months.

Tempted. I am not tempted by blue strawberries.

Besides, me and blue things are on good together. 2 of 3 of my blueberry bushes have died right back. Not sure why. The other is a different variety but is fine. Maybe I need to furtle about in the pot to see if there is anything chomping the roots.

I am tempted by pineberries - anyone tried them

Not the pineberries, but I sowed wild white strawberries last spring and was eating a nice little crop late summer. I love them!

Ooh, Alternative would you perchance know to what extent tomatillos, inca berries and aubergines are blight resistant. Should I chance a few plants at the allotment? I've no greenhouse so they'd be in the open in my sheltered garden as the alternative. But it's not a big garden, and I have loads of tomatoes!

Wild white straws, hey? They sound lovely. Do you buy as plants or as seed?

Sorry to keep putting separate posts! And having breakfast whilst skimming through.

Have grown yellow mangetout before

Goldensweet mangetout - was the original pea that Gregor Mendel used for his genetics work back in the day. I grow this year year, and save my own pods for the next year and for sharing out.

daughterofthesoil.blogspot.co.uk/2007/06/heritage-vegetable-review-pea-golden.html

Are pineberries the pineapple flavoured strawberries? My plot neighbour grew some last year and let me taste one, it was quite weird and I didn't really like it, despite liking both strawberries and pineapple.

I'd love wild strawberries, they grow a lot round here, but never seen plants for sale.

tomatillos, inca berries and aubergines are blight resistant

Tomatillos are ok outside - they need around a metre cubed space each [but can be underplanted with short things], and you need two plants for pollination. They will crop later outside but I've never seen one with blight.

Incaberries - AKA Physalis - can be grown outside, you will get a lesser and later crop and also, never seen one with blight. Less spacing needed though. Two plants ensure a better pollination and more fruit, like the Tomatillos.

Aubergines - they really need the heat of a greenhouse or polytunnel for these but if you haven't got one - when you put this outside make it the most sunniest place in the garden. Again, more than one plant increases pollination and the chances of more fruit.

Wild white straws, hey? They sound lovely. Do you buy as plants or as seed
I bought seeds, just one packet and got around twenty large plants that fruited. They didn't send out runners last year so maybe this.

Thanks, Alternative. Well, I can certainly do the multiple plants thing...
Tomatillos need a metre? Yikes. They can stay in pots then. I did them in Morrissons flower buckets, I had 4 plants last year and a ton of fruit. I still have loads in freezer so possibly don't really need them again this year. The bees seemed to love them though. Maybe the inca berries can go to the plot, and I'll try the aubergines in the bottom of a plastic blow away thing.

I might get me some of those white strawb seeds for next year. I have a list already.

Is there anything natural that works to repel slugs?! I've tried gravel and copper tape but am reluctant to go down the nematode route (feels too much like biological warfare) or opt for chemical repellents.

They are savaging my peas and brassicas

Oh no, Plumping

the options as I see them are:

• copper stuff
• other barrier stuff, so gravel, eggshells, sheep wool pellets. I've not had much luck with these Tbh
• barriers eh cut down plastic bottles - look ugly but I think offer some protection . Hardly pass as natural though!
• slug pellets made of ferric phosphate, (not aldehydes) - quality as organic, not sure about natural. Meant to be ok for pets, birds and hedgehogs, but may have an impact on worms
• traps eg beer or yeast water? Certainly you 'catch' some, but not many
• patrols, picking them off and chopping them up. Done at dawn and dusk, after any rain etc...
• nematodes, which I have not tried. Yet.

I'm also going to try getting rid of some hiding places, eg keeping grass short

Oh, spraying stuff with garlic water is meant to work too. But I disagree.

I tried nematodes for slugs in my back garden/yard - which was a slug party zone, that was 3 years ago and they are only starting to come back in dribs and drabs.

Also use them for vine weevil in the pots. Which worked too.

It it like germ warfare, but its very safe for animals and birds, and also slugs are naturally attacked by nematodes anyway.

It would be expensive to use on the allotment - so there I try things like leaving upturned pots and bits of wood to attract them and, occasionally a very few of the animal friendly slug pellets around very special or tasty plants. I see people leaving them in drifts around plants, which is just dreadful.

I also leave a lot of nasturtiums growing in between crops as a distraction technique.

Thanks spotted!

I might try the plastic bottle option, as they're not natural but are easily removable and cause no lasting damage. Bloody slugs/snails!!

We've tried setting up a 'snail house' at the other side of the garden with trimmings to lure them away but they seem uninterested

Cucamelons - mine are just starting to look interesting after ages where they did bugger all. I think they're enjoying the hotter weather and increased watering. Mine are indoors atm but I might consider putting them out later in the summer.