Allotment /Veg patch thread 4 "Lettuce and Peppers and Pears OH MY!"

[agoodbook]

as per Cupcakes :)
come and join in the harvest !

previous thread here
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/gardening/2386388-The-2015-Allotment-Veg-Patch-Thread-Part-3-already?msgid=55842529

Thanks for the link book. It looks remarkably simple. So simple, in fact, that I wonder what innovative way I will find to screw it up

I do love a Californian poppy time- as much for the foliage as the flower. I have some cream ones in my garden and collected some seed earlier in the year to get more.

Evening!
AsTime - lovely flowers.
Well, my garlic has arrived, so that is a job for tomorrow .
I spent a bit of time this morning in the greenhouse cutting off tomato leaves. It was glorious, so warm and sunny.
Had a busy time down at the plot in the afternoon, but it was necessary non veg stuff - cutting grass and edges and putting a coat of cuprinol on the inherited shed on the new plot before the bad weather arrives.
Tomorrow is proper stuff - weeding, digging, planting :)

I am hoping to get up to mine again tomorrow too, with the strimmer for hopefully the last time this year. Also want to get the rest of my spuds up and do general weeding / digging. I have some garlic waiting to go in as well. I might go to the garden centre, we popped into one to use the loos at the weekend with the kids and didn't have time to browse, which was frustrating. I tend to grab the essentials from Homebase in my lunch-hour as it's only 10 mins walk from work and all the garden centres are some distance away, but it's not the same.

It's another gorgeous day. I might drag my daughter over to the plot after she's finished school for a quick look.

I love a californian poppy and was delighted that a couple had seeded themselves from a neighbouring plot. They have flowered without me paying them any attention and hopefully there'll be a few more plants next year.

On the subject of direct planting I actually had a reasonable amount of success. I did a couple of later sowings of peas like this and the french bean seeds given to me after all mine failed also did well. Then beetroots, carrots and leeks as well.

I struggled with succession sowings of lettuces although we had some that did very well - they were sitting in a bed full of lovely fresh compost. But some others planted in a different part of the allotment germinated and then succumbed to a slug. Even though I was using the organic slug pellets (which have helped in general).

I'm really restricted by lack of space inside to get things going in the spring. We only have one window sill that's big enough to put plants on it so this year I took over half the dining room table as well!

Actually, I tell a lie, I directly planted carrots and spring onions and they did well. They're in a raised bed though, nothing worked straight into the ground.

I'm another who did virtually no direct planting. I planted beetroot, radish and turnip direct, and got not a single one. Some dill grew, and then a late sowing of a very few dwarf french beans. Everything else was grown at home and schlepped in. Darn those slugs.

I got a few hours in yesterday, mostly weeding. I picked about 8 rasps, autumn ones. There are loads of unripe ones, might they still ripen? Oddly (at home) , my strawbs are flourishing. It's not been an amazing strawberry year, and I've chucked quite a few plants now, but those in the planter have loads of flowers, and I am getting about 6 fruit a day. Bonkers.

Also at the plot, I picked a few courgettes - I suspect they might be the last ones, or maybe one tiny picking left. And a few more french beans, also the last i think. And the tomato plants that I left in after blight struck - Fandango and Losetto, supposedly blight-resistant - have now succumbed. I pulled out 1 plant but really need to go up here armed wih green bags and get the stuff to the tip as I've just missed the green bin collection!

I don't have much for over wintering now, but that's ok, as I want to move things around a bit, so my biggest, 'best' bed I'll just pile cardboard on and mulch/manure. I think I'll also try to dig out the remaining paths that are between the beds, as they are full of couch and buttercups intent on world domination. And my shed which was in a sorry state when I got it has got worse. It will surely fall down soon if I don't take it down and I want to do so over winter when there are no crops in that I might break. Then I might just use plastic boxes to store the few things that I have, as I bring most things from home.

So that will leave me with a really shady bit of space, unless we can persuade the council to cut back the overhanging trees... It's my nature area currently, aka the pile of apple tree trimmings that I've not moved since Feb. But I think it is being used as a habitat by something, so of course there is no way I'll move it for months now!

I need to come up with a plan for year round -or as close to as I can - flowers for pollinators. Any ideas where I should start?

My neighbouring allotment holder had poached egg plant - yellow and white flowers, the bees were all over it in the early summer.
red clover is much loved by bumble bees who pollinate tomatoes and beans.

Evening!
well, today was rather foggy until the afternoon, and then once again was glorious.
I got my garlic planted out, harvested sweetcorn for tea, and dug yet more volunteer potatoes - all really small, so not many to make it worth the while , apart from getting them out so as not to encourage diseases to linger in the soil.
(By the way - I cooked the sweetcorn in the microwave, and they were amazing!)
Squashes ready to cut I think, though I have a few small courgettes left. The cold nights have done for my runners and cosse violette beans, so they need to come out soon - shall leave them for a little to work their magic in the soil .
Spotted - raspberries will keep ripening until the frosts - remember they grow in Scotland :) The bees were going beserk while I was picking raspberries today, so lots to come hopefully, this warm weather is helping lots. Can you prune the overhanging trees? I know you can do that with NDN gardens, as long as you give back the prunings.. MM - flowers for bees are tricky into autumn - I always think sedum, and I ivy is very important, but do you want ivy on an allotment?

Spotted - that's a shame about your shed. Wonder if you can get one off freecycle and replace it?? Alternatively, you could use the shady area for more rasps? The bottom of my garden is very, very dank and dark and they just loved being down there and produced these humungus fruits. They liked it far more, in fact, than they now like being on a sunny south-facing slope at the plot, even though they are under netting which shades them quite a bit.

So disappointing that even your blight-resistant tomatoes have gone . Once it sets in, it just seems to devastate everything. It's not just you - our site has just got it again, which has firmed up my resolve to plant blight-resistant potatoes next year.

Pollinators - I have tons and tons of verbena bonariensis out. I got a plant from the garden centre and it has self-seeded to make a huge stand of the stuff. I'm pulling it out of my garden left right and centre. If you would like some seed in a few months, let me know! My sedum is only just coming out, and bees are going mental over it, so that's a good late-season plant to have too. I have some oregano that's been in flower for months at the plot as well - bees really seem to love it.

I went up and planted some winter brassicas yesterday - Aalsmeer caulis, Tundra cabbages, and purple cape cauliflowers. It's my third crop out of the bed in the year and a bit since I've had the allotment, and the soil is so much better now than it was - it's loose and dark and I'm making more of a dent on the stones too. Hooray!

I still have big courgettes coming, and lots and lots of beans AGAIN - it'll be another 5-6 kilos on Monday. This is a bit surprising as the nights here have been a bit chilly and I would have thought they'd have succumbed. Perhaps it's because everything tends to be a bit late here - maybe they tough it out for a bit longer in the hope of setting seed or something?

The purple flower phalecia that I've been growing as a green manure is still flowering (well I only planted it in late July and August so some of it is just coming into flower) and the bees love it. It also has a lovely scent. I'm definitely planning to plant more of that next year. Unless it turns out to be too much of a thug (but then if it out thugs the horsetail I wouldn't mind!).

interesting on your beans shove - mine have just about gone after the cold nights , they have a few small sad looking beans left and thats it. Not that I am complaining, we have a freezer packed with them. I am hanging on with the borlotti though, to let them dry as much as possible. We have been warned of a grass frost here tonight, but we have already had about 3 nights below 5º
And you are getting the rewards for all the work you have put in on those beds :)

Isn't it odd how in this small island, we're all having different seasons! My courgettes and beans are also coming to an end alas. No courgettes in the freezer though (apart from those cooked with toms), but many many beans. And I found some old gnarly bean pods the other day, so I've saved them for seed. I thoroughly recommend Cosse Violette!

Thank you for all the floral reccos. I am determined to have a plot (and corner of garden) next year that is full of life and tempting to pollinators for as long as possible! My french and English marigolds and my borage have been good for the middle bit, but next year all will be thrumming.

Yeah, shed is definitely a goner. Even the uprights are rotten so I couldn't replace. I am v tempted to try to use the area it stands on as growing space, as otherwise quite a lot is wasted. So, yes, MORE RASPS! The shed is on paving slabs, so I'll have to have them up, or grow in pots on top if they're concreted in. I think it's an ash tree that's overhanging, but about the only thing that were not allowed to do on our plots is cut the boundaries in any way, and also burn things. So I might beg the council to trim it back a bit. My plot neighbours, who are very lovely, are quite good at bugging the council for things, i think... But then again, they may just want to leave it as it's a healthy ash I think and they're of course struggling in lots of places.

Do ash leaves make good leaf mould? I've never done leaf mould before.

Yup, shame that the blight-resistant tomatoes have gone. Interestingly, (I think), mine seemed to have an extra 5 days ish on the standards, but people that had crimson crush seemed to think it held out a good week longer. The taste isn't as good though .

book - I'm genuinely bemused by it, esp as my site is quite high up and we've had some cold nights. It's not just my plot - everyone's stuff is still very green. It was a very slow start to the season here, and all I can think is that this has somehow increased the back end of it??! (This is just me wildly hypothesizing on the basis of nothing, btw!)

Zebra - yep, ash leaves are great for leaf mould - they break down really quickly (much better than sycamore and the more leathery ones). It's worth trying to avoid the keys, though, which seem to have an ability to sprout even when you'd think they would be rotted down as I found out to my cost a couple of years back! The wood is also about the best there is for burning

Interesting that crimson crush resisted for longer. Agree, though, that non-tasty tomatoes are not worth growing!

cedar - green manure can just be so pretty!

Evening!
not done much today - literally popped down to take up my crown prince squashes, and pick a cabbage for tea. Tomorrow I will give all my squashes the treatment and dry them ready to store. I took a tip from a website to wash the skins with a weak bleach solution, rinse and thoroughly dry. It seems to have worked well the last 2 years, last year they kept really well - I ate the last one in March this year). The weather forecast changed a bit on the warning, so I have left the butternut squash, they 2 biggest are coming along quite nicely.
shove - I wonder if the beans have some inbuilt length of flowering- mine were a bit earlier than yours I think? The plants are still looking healthy, just no flowers left, and the pods have all ripened and been picked (I started picking in July)
spotted - forgot to say, I still have cosmos/asters/salvias/helinium and sweetpeas flowering well down at the plot and next doors plot have a fabulous display of dahlias, with chrysantemums just coming out of bud

Good Morning!
Hope everyone is okay
feels a bit weird this morning - my first 'official' day of retirement, but I still woke up at 6.30...:)
So I have washed and dried my crown prince squashes, and having spare time on my hands , I weighed them - I have 9 altogether and in total there is 27.5kg - the largest weighed in at 4.1 kg. Enough for a squash a fortnight until the spring.

Oh book CONGRATULATIONS on your retirement. It must feel all kinds of wonderful, scary, exciting and strange all at once.

I cannot even imagine how awesome your plot will be now!!

I am very impressed with your squashes. Aren't they just gorgeous? I love the fact that they keep for so long too. What a crop!

booky congrats on official retirement, and also that amazing squash harvest! How many plants is that from? Are they good tasting, would you recommend them?

I have stashed 7 little gems and 1 marina di Chioggia so far, with more to come. Maybe I should pick them soon? I might also wash the stashed ones with that bleach mixture. Yes, copying you.

I'll get a couple of hours in this afternoon, the last of the toms will be taken out and bagged up. And I am going to start emptying my shed of the crap that I inherited, with a view to taking it down once the plot is more clear.

Thanks all for the flower reccos. I will take notes, and try to make a bit of a planting plan!

Evening!
thank you for the congrats.
Spotted - the squashes are 'crown prince' , and I had 4 plants. It has been very reliable for the last 3 years. It sits somewhere between a butternut and a pumpkin in flavour -The flesh inside is bright orange, and yes , we like them - I will be doing them again next year. I think on balance I prefer the flavour of a butternut, but its nice to have something in store that I don't have to freeze, jam or cook straight away.
I will only get 2 decent butternut this year from 5 plants. Obviously the wrong variety for the weather this year

Bookbook congratulations on your retirement! And those squashes are very impressive. I'd not given any thought to cleaning the skins of squashes and pumpkins.

We had pumpkin soup for tea tonight using one of ours up. It was delicious. The pumpkin flavour was quite delicate. We didn't get many squashes or pumpkins which reflects the quality of the soil and the fact that we had to rush to get them planted out.

Yesterday we cleared our beans and shamelessly copying our plot neighbours buried the plants in the ground to rot down. Then I got excited by this idea and have also attempted it with the sweet corn plants we cleared the other week. I don't know whether it will work but I reckon it won't hurt.

Evening!
thanks cedar
well, I managed a good couple of hours this morning, prepping the area ready for overwintering peas and broad beans. Also picked carrots/leeks/cauliflower/raspberries, and hopefully have found and dug up a whole row of volunteer potatoes from last year, which sprung up on my new bit of plot.
Dithered rather over harvesting the borlotti beans due to the wet weather due for the next few days, and then decided against - they have another couple of weeks left I think, as long as we get a dry spell, fingers crossed.
Have DGS tomorrow, so no plot .

Evening all, have decided to go back to my old name, the other one just wasn't me .

Congratulations on your retirement Book - you'll probably find you are busier than ever!

Cedar - I read somewhere that it's good to leave bean roots in the ground because of the nitrogen fixation on them, so I left my broad beans to rot after they were finished (they were crap, all slugged this year) and they've totally vanished into the ground.

I did an hour of digging this afternoon, only a small section of the plot really. I need to keep going, little and often and not let the weeds take over, I am going to cover as much as I can with cardboard and newspaper. Very tricky for me now though because I am mainly an evening gardener and it's dark so early now.

Zebra - I've only ever done horse chestnut leaf mould, there are loads of them on common land very near me, last year I rammed about 6 bin bags absolutely full of them, took them to the plot (nice and light to transport), soaked them in water and left them and they are not properly rotted yet. I'm going to do another lot his autumn and rotate my stock I think.

Afternoon!
Monday - rain all morning, damp all afternoon, and I had DGS , so at home I started to clear out the plants in the greenhouse. The peppers/aubergine and old basil plants all consigned to the compost bin. I also ruthlessly de - leaved the tomatoes to virtual sticks. Just a few 'sungold' and 'marmande' to ripen, but still a fair few 'roma' left, still turning nicely red.
Today - heavy rain this morning, so just a quick visit to pick raspberries this afternoon- there are loads to come, and though damp, it has turned warm here - 16º today!
Busy again tomorrow, so a proper turn on Thursday I think, by which time the grass will be around my knees :)

Nice to see the old name WhoKnows - and yes very busy. As it is my own business, there is a lot of background stuff to sort, which is going to take time.
and yes to getting dark early now - between 6.45 and 7 now Pah!

I hate the dark evenings!!

It is nearly time for Shove's Light Box to come out. I do not enjoy winter AT ALL. I do not think it is a necessary season, and I will be writing a stiffly worded letter of complaint about it.