The 2015 Allotment / Veg Patch Thread Part 3 already!

[agoodbook]

Just seen the other is full , so here goes - we are heading for summer now! Welcome to everyone old and new :)

here is a link to the previous thread

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/gardening/2350947-The-2015-Allotment-Veg-Patch-Thread-Part-2?msgid=54546739

Yes Zebra swarms of carnivorous blood sucking winged beasties. We don't usually get them up here it's too windy.
Ah well I suppose every silver lining hass a cloud

Armpits can get as big as their parents get. They are an offshoot of the parent so if the are a tall twining vine, then armpits can get just as big.

Me - i have horrendous Hayfever. And when you are outdoors all day for a living, it is not good. Am doing admin indoors tomorrow.

I will definitely try my hand at armpits next year too now. How big do the shoots get before you snap them off and pot them?

I am now giggling happily to myself at the thought of all the massive armpits

Yay!! We had rain overnight!! So my veggies got a reasonable soaking, and there's a half a barrel in the rainwater barrel for using over the weekend. I also managed to plant out a courgette plant before it hit, so that got a nice soak to get started in the ground.

I need to plant out some tomato and pepper plants over the weekend, start off more salads and broad beans, and harvest spinach. I should get some of the broccoli too, but that depends on what we fancy eating over the weekend.

massive armpits. and hairy ones :o

Violet - no you don't need to chit french beans first. I was going to chit the ones that haven't done a thing to see how viable the seeds actually are. (They're a new packet this year not old seeds so at least one should have germinated!). The ones my allotment neighbour gave me have come up within a couple of weeks of sowing direct.

what is a good time to relocate (or in my case remove/enrich soil/replant?) strawberries?

afternoon!
been a car crash week - I knew It was going to be busy, but it was much, much worse, and next week, well, shall face up to that when its here.
So, no plotting at all, until a frantic dash this morning with DH cutting the grass, me hoeing around cabbages, picking strawberries, checking redcurrants ( nearly ready!) and generally trying to do 4 days work in an hour.
cupcakes that veg patch looks impressive!
ethel - potatoes, my 1st earlies ahven't really flowered yet, and the 2nd are starting. Just a thought - farmers around here have started watering potato fields, so may just be worth watering, as you haven't had much rain.
And on an asparagus note, another one has popped up - so now 16 out of 20 , so fingers crossed ethel and shove :)
mous - move strawberries after fruiting - keep an eye on the good ones by marking, and peg out runners from them, after that dig them all up and replant the good ones, and the runners. ( cut off the runners as soon as they have established their own roots . That way, you should have fruit next year from the plants from this year, and the runners will get going the year after.

Is anyone else growing aubergines? This is my first time this year, and they have spikes on the ribs of the leaf! I didn't know that :)
btw Kiwi - my tomatoes are in a greenhouse ( in Yorkshire) it is a more reliable cropping

Something has eaten my (green) strawberries.
They had made a valiant recovery after early rabbit damage and now the (insert your own expletive) slugs have had them. I'm soo disheartened.

Well I might be maligning perfectly law abiding slugs, but I can't think what else it would be.

mmm violet - I must admit thats odd- I assumed they ate ripe ones ( some of the ones I picked today had been got at )
It has pelted down tonight - joy as I totally forgot to water beans at the plot this morning -

It's pelted down here too, again. I'd just got to the plot, factor 50 on, ready for a quick watering session. But I got watered instead. Still, I stayed for a bit like a proper gardener!

None of my courgettes have magically picked up overnight, but my directly-sown beans continue to pop up, so that's good. And BenSquash still looking fairly happy.

The tomato forest looking ok ish too - my Tigerella have stripes now, and my Roma are looking plum - shaped. And I saw some nice frogs, I love frogs. I love them more that they eat slugs, or 'chompers' as I call them with my DS. As they chomp all our stuff. that your strawbs for chomped, Violet

zebra I am jealous of your tigerella. they just didn't get off the ground for me. will try green zebra next year, had them before (in my living room) and they are great tasting.

violet are there squirrels around your plots? they like strawberries a lot.

Oh gods squirrels? I can't cope with much more rampaging wildlife

mous Green Zebra are on my most wanted list for next year as well! Not just because of the zebra thing (although I am growing golden zebra courgettes this year), but I've read that they taste amazing too. And the colour looks fab. I also want to try /grow brandywines. Can you recommend any other poncy tomatoes?

black krim looks interesting?

unfortunately it doesn't say if it's suitable for outdoors.

I was drowned this morning at the plot but I feel like I made some more progress. I located the end / beginning of the bloody plastic that is everywhere. I grabbed hold and PULLED! It was like an endurance test, me against the plastic. I have not win yet but I have made a respectable start. As with every other bed I have dug up, the weeds have been growing on top and underneath the plastic. I have no idea what state the soil is in so tomorrow I'm going to test it to find out. See how horrific my weed roots are! You can also see the rolled up carpet plot surface

I am off to Yorkshire tomorrow - to a forest garden workshop. Will be meeting a chum i have known online for years in real actual life. Goodie.

I'm growing Black Krim, mous ! I'm really excited about it, as everything I've read says that the flavour is good. It's meant to be ok for outside. I hope. It's doubly great as the stems have knobbles on, which are like little root nodes. They are JUST BEGGING to be armpitted. So armpit them I have.

Yikes, Linski those roots! You're making amazing progress though, you must be pleased!

I don't even know what a forest garden is, Lethal. But it sounds great and I am off to Google to find out more. Have a fab day and enjoy meeting up with your friend in RL.

Wow Linksi good roots! I had to dislodge chicken wire that we had stupidly loaded weeds and soil on top of by mistake - I hadn't realised how far the chicken wire went in our very overgrown plot. Took me several hours to find the end.

Spent a good couple of hours on the plot this afternoon. More weeding - which takes forever and then I see even more everywhere else! Then I quickly sowed a few more beetroot, spring onions, lettuces and radishes. I definitely haven't got the hang of successional sowing this year. Something I'll have to work on next year. And when to accept that the seeds aren't coming up and sow again! Weather has been warm and dry so watered again.

I got some carrot seeds in today, a purple variety.
hopefully I can keep the snails away until the plants are strong anough to tolerate a nibble.

and yes to weeding, although my patch is small.

Will be off on holiday tomorrow for 4 weeks. Can you believe I'm more worried about my not mine yet allotment then.i am about my home! I've planted lots and my veg seedlings have come about but so have a gazillion weed seedlings. I've pulled out a few but I can already imagine coming back to more weeds than vegetables .

I was supposed to become official owner or my plot on Friday and had an appointment scheduled at the council for handover but previous owner asked to hang on to it for 4 more weeks. As I'm going anyway, I said it was fine although I woukd have liked to have things finalised before I went. The lady at the council tells me I have the patience of a saint but what's a gardener without patience?! :)

I do love reading all your updates so will continue to read this thread whenever I'm missing my plot.

Oh, and my DH has also decided he wants a plot of his own plot. He's settled for one that is THE MOST overgrown plot on the site. Covered in trees and weeds and brambles over 10ft high. It is impossible to put even a foot on the plot and it can only be viewed from outside. I've tried to talk him out of it and push him towards a more reasonable plot but he is adamant. He'll take it when we return from holiday. I can only hope he gets into it never mind turn it into something even close to a productive allotment.

Ah but diet he may be a wise man. Massive bountiful weeds mean very feetile ground and a lot of work