Allotment/Veg Patch Thread 5 - The Diggers Rest !

[bookbook]

Thanks to teacuphalfempty for supplying the title .
so, its the 1st of March, the meteorological spring is here, and it's all systems go for the coming growing season. Let's hope for a good one -no pests and diseases, enough rain overnight and plenty of sunshine. Well, we can dream....

hello everybody! Sorry not to be posting, I keep meaning to but then... I don't.

I have added bear traps and salamanders to my list of things to try in the War Against Slugs. Thanks for the tips!

My Jostaberry is in full leaf and COVERED in flowers (and bees! lovely bees!) so I have high hopes of a good harvest for #YoF. Don't take me as a good example though as I'm in the south and my garden is a right little sun trap anyway.

I dug out the rest of my leeks and parsnips at the weekend - blanched and froze just over a kilo of leeks (they were starting to bolt so it had to be done). Which means my veggie patch is completely empty. . I'm desperately hoping DH will help me dig at least enough space to get my potatoes in as at 20 weeks pregnant I'm just not able to do it. The soil is quite heavy clay, too, which doesn't help.

Seeds are germinating well, DS and I put in the runner beans yesterday. I've got pumpkins, kale, purple sprouting, sprouts, leeks, French Beans, runner beans, tomatoes, cucumber and aubergine growing. I need to find space in the veggie patch for the parsnip and beetroot seeds, too

I keep meaning to upload a little pic of my new garden assistant! Can't do it now as at work (shh - don't tell!). He's only 9 months old and he spends most of his time either digging inappropriate holes or leaping our (5-foot!) wall to go and explore the neighbourhood. His thoughts on freshly picked tomatoes and gooseberries are still unknown!

Evening!
no gardening or plot today, as babysitting.
Cupcakes - don't feel obliged to post , you have lots on your plate. And you have spare leeks! I am frantically thinking I need to sow a third lot, to make sure i have enough next year. I have had to be very careful with mine , but just did not have enough. Planting potatoes is hard anyway, without a bump and (probably) a bad back, so just take care

Hi Cupcakes - yes, we want a picture! Hope you get your potatoes in.

I haven't got mine in yet either, they are still chitting away. I have decided to repeat last years "ground-breaking" experiment and plant them on previously unused ground covered in card and compost. I have a patch of grass that has been under black membrane since the end of last summer which is just the right size. Conveniently our recycling pick-up got missed at work on Friday so I was able to liberate loads of flattened boxes today, hoping to get it all done tomorrow if the weather is kind.

Ah, well - since you insist! Here he is. I'm finding that 9-month old labs aren't terribly conducive to getting things done but I'm sure we'll get there!

My birthday today and so far I've been given:

Secateurs
£20 Garden Vouchers
A Water Butt
An Apple Tree
A Garden Gate
Handcream.

Anyone see a theme emerging?

Managed to get a tiny bit of digging done last night - I had a 4ft square patch of couch grass slap bang in the middle of my veggie patch. Where does it come from? WHERE? There's none anywhere else. So that was the only bit I dug but I sat and carefully put out every last strand, so I figure that's progress! DH has promised to do a bit more digging for me tonight so hopefully I'll get those potatoes in soon!

Meant to say great luck on the cardboard WhoKnows - I'm very lucky that DH is a carpenter and does lots of kitchen fitting, so I get lovely big, flat boxes whenever I need!

Anybody stuck for boxes might be worth asking at somewhere like Howdens - our local one is usually desperate to get rid of the stuff. They can't store it though due to fire regs so you have to get there at the right time.

Hahahaha! Happy birthday cupcakes - and what an amazing present list . Maybe you should bargain your way to a 'voucher' from DH for that allotment help too!! I think being married to a carpenter must be wonderful for a gardener! (Being married to a chef also!).

I have planted some goji berry seeds for #YoF. They won't fruit this year, sadly, but they will have come into existence in its honour. Zebra - did you grow these? How do they taste? Also ordered a Chilean guava. I am hoping I can take cuttings from it and get more plants!

Went to the allotment last night to water under cloches. My peas are in a terrible way - many just haven't germinated so I'm going to resow AGAIN.. I am on a bit of a health kick, and my cabbages are bolting, so I am using them up by having CABBAGE JUICE for breakfast. The very name is enough to strike horror, isn't it? But actually, mixed with carrot, celery and cucumber it's surprisingly OK. I do feel like Popeye after he eats a can of spinach once it's down. I am also frantically eating quantities of chard as it tries to bolt away. DH boils the stalks and serves them with lemon juice and breadcrumbs and it is lovely.

My rhubarb is a bit on the wussy side - lots and lots of stems but all very slender. Do I need to feed it, or just to grow more patience?

shove my peas in the greenhouse haven't germinated yet (3 weeks) so you're way ahead of me. Bizarrely the only things that have germinated and are looking well are the six melons. Priorities all wrong, I know...

didi it's all part of #YearOfFruit!

Happy birthday, cupcakes. Your dog is gorgeous.

I nearly bought a blackberry yesterday to add to my #YoF but decided I didn't know where to put it so left it in the shop.

Beautiful sun here today so planning to pop seeds into the garden and plant the seeded potatoes.

Happy birthday, Cupcakes! I love the theme to your gifts, and I also love your dog!

Am also LOVING the #YoF chat! Shove I do have a goji, although I bought it as a plantlet. It's not done much, apart from sprawl, so I have given it its final warning. It's very hardy but k think perhaps doesn't like my clay.

No frost last night/this morning, so some more things -mostly broad beans and pollinator-attracting flowers - got to spend their first night outside. But I've also had things reaaaaaallllly slow to germinate - like my next swathe of broadies. And my beetroot. Whereas my leeks popped up quite quickly. Odd odd odd.

I've still not planted out my loganberry that I bought weeks ago from Aldi. I really ought to, but it will take a bit of digging, and it was till too wet to dig on Sunday. Hopefully a few dry and warm days will help...

Morning!
Many Happy Returns Cupcakes - and a good haul- I love useful presents rather than 'stuff' :). And lovely dog!
Peas have been a bit of a bugbear here also. The overwintering ones ( Onward) started to germinate , then disappeared. I resowed what I had left under fleece, direct, about 2nd/3rd week of March. They have just nicely started to pop up, so fingers crossed. At the same time, I sowed some in pots at home -( Grundy ) and I have been hardening those off, so they are ready to plant out this weekend. The broad beans I direct sowed at the same time as the peas ( also due to no show of overwintering ones) - not a sign though again, I had sown some at home, and they are planted out and doing well.
I am also not much good at sweetcorn it seems . I sowed half my packet, and they started to germinate, but only 5 out of 12. No sign of the others. This happened last year as well. I have the other half to sow, so fingers crossed. ( I have an insurance policy on these. I went to my local market on Saturday, and the plant man sells veg plants, so I bought some already germinated called 'earlibird' )
shove - you are just going to be brimming with vitamins.
We eat a lot of cabbage , and I am about to strip all the kale today, as it's trying to bolt, so bean and kale casserole here to be made today. But what we do love is bubble and squeak with poached eggs on top, so we never really have a lot of cabbage left....( maybe a bit of a northern delicacy? :) )
weather warning - have you seen we are due to be back to arctic winds by the weekend?

Hello!
Can I join in? I got my first allotment this weekend!!
Very excited and can see how it's going to take over my life
It needs a lot of work and I'm clueless

Doh ! I'm obviously better than I thought.

I'm spending my lunchtimes investigating garden centres near work. I'm looking for tayberrries but yesterday came across black raspberries (rubus occidentalis). Any thoughts, oh fruity ones ?

Can I join please? No gardening experience but have a decent garden size and desperately want a veggie patch for the kids ... Am I too late?

Also I have some seeds in a little plastic Tray ( tomatoes and cucumbers) how do I know when to transfer them and Into what??

Back again!
first I forgot to answer shove re rhubarb . Could be wussy, could be variety, could just be the early stems. My thug puts out a mixture of both - some quite slender, but mostly thick. And one of my other varieties tends to stay slender. We mulch heavily in late autumn/early winter. ( I think the advice about not picking after June is mostly to allow the plant to recover for next year)
welcome Treadlightly - thats actually looking pretty good! - Is it you who has stared the digging? What are you thinking of growing? Ask away, and we will do our best to answer!
didi - just had to google black raspberries! I may just have found the answer to an impossible question. I love blackberries ( see you Grouchy !) but DH has put his foot down. They are a true menace to keep under any sort of control. But he loves raspberries ( which are also a thug!) so.......anyone got one? Do they taste like blackberries? Tayberries are a bit different , being a cross between a blackberry and a raspberry. (Just a thought, but Aldi had some in a few weeks ago - in their fruit bush special week -is it worth looking?)

good gracious- I am not typing anywhere near quick enough! :)
Hello and welcome Imnot ! - no not too late at all for a veg patch - just about right as the soil is warming up. How much space do you have?

imnotacele - i use the rhs website, or if you google 'leeds allotment' a site comes up with lots of useful info for each vegetable. you pot them up when they get proper leaves and then put outside once all frost is past - i think its towards the end of may for toms/cuc as they are tender and get fussy about temp fluctuations.

Thanks book, yep we cut the grass and have started digging.
Hoping to plant some potatoes at the weekend & maybe strawberries.
We've got a shed to build and a friend is giving me an old wheel barrow

Apparently the back of our plot has been left for years so not sure whether to get a rotavator (?)
I need to draw up a little plan and have been looking on Pinterest.

Any tips for a newbie? What would you be doing first?

imnot - tomatoes and cucumbers want to be transplanted just as dreaming says. Wait until there are a few extra leaves , and gently prise them out of the tray into individual pots ( not big pots at first ). Depending where you live, and what variety you have, they will need some protection before putting out. Or even kept in a little plastic greenhouse if you have room.
Tread :) it is exciting , isn't it!
Measure up well first. Take time to see where the sun comes up, and where its best to site your shed so it doesn't shade the plants. Are you on a big site, or by yourself?
Do you have access to water? If not, then as soon as you have a shed, get harvesting the water off the roof into a butt. Find a place for a compost heap. Can you access the site - you will need to get manure/compost there.
Take it steady as well
Then decide what you like to eat! DH and I grow a lot of fruit , and things we love , but are never cheap- asparagus etc.
Mmm - rototavating is not my plan, but lots of people do. But it could end up chopping up weeds. and making a small problem worse. Did you notice if there were a lot of perennial weeds when you cut the grass - couch/thistles/dandelions? If not, you may get away with it. The alternative is what a lot of people do, which is to cover with cardboard/straw etc , areas you don't have time to dig ,and plant through. This worked well for WhoKnows last year, and cuts down actual digging :)

Thank you! I'll try an attach a photo of the space we have allocated for veg ( a mess currently ) we need to build a raised bed I think as the ground is mainly clay

Basically this corner is likely the spot that will be used! We will move the slide obv

Oh and the sheep

I measured my plot on Sunday. It's 5m wide and 25m long. There are lots of nettles and there seems to be a big hole at the front.
It's on a slight slope and runs east to west from bottom to top.
Tread You've made a really good start! I can't wait to get to work on mine.

Hooray for new allotmenteers! Welcome all!

My first bit of advice is that there is a lot of work at the start, and it can feel very overwhelming. Digging also hurts if you are not used to it and you do it all day. Psychologically, pace yourself! Make life as easy as possible by covering unused ground with weed sheeting/cardboard+compost. And don't forget to have a break for a cuppa!!

book - thanks for the advice! I shall be patient and wait for greater things from the rhubarb, while secretly stealing sticks because I can't help myself.

I think it suffered a great deal as it was moved from my garden to the allotment and is possibly still recovering.