Allotment/Veg Patch Thread 6 - Weed 'em and Reap!

[bookbook]

Thanks WhoKnowsWhereThe Time GOes for the title of the new thread.
So, we head into summer, praying for sun, gentle rain and no slugs
Everyone welcome to join in and share joys and woes and advice, given freely!
Previous thread here
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/gardening/2582241-Allotment-Veg-Patch-Thread-5-The-Diggers-Rest?pg=1

Yes, not jam sugar (as that has added pectin) .
Ah SmallLegs - I use a fabulous old fashioned book by Marguerite Patten called ' Jams, Preserves and Chutneys" and she insists you should do the fruit first :)

So NOT preserving sugar. Is that because the fruit has pectin in?
I do randomly have a bottle of pectin.

its confusing isn't it - :)

use preserving sugar for fruit high in pectin like raspberries
not jam sugar

I've been making jam for years , and I made gooseberry jam 2 years ago accidentally using jam sugar - we had to use it in slices to eat with cheese

If I'm not using jam sugar I just use normal caster.

My problem is my fussy family - they'll only eat strawberry and I don't eat much jam either, but love making it.

I too love jam and chutney making. I give a lot as little presents, so am always hoarding 'pretty' jars . I have just been given a friends piccalilli recipe, as I haven't managed to get it quite right so far, so as soon as green beans are in flow will be trying that one out

I just use granulated. As long as you give it time to dissolve it is fine.

You don't need a thermospoon. But mine was one of my best b'day presents ever. Esp.as you can use it as a meat thermometer.

I used to make lots of chutney too until I saw all the jars in my cupboard, dsis cupboard etc. Now I make it less often but should you ever grow marrows it is an excellent way of getting rid -marrow and pineapple.

I will be jammin this year I think as the josta berry bush is laden and I still have fruit from last year to use. And many requests for blackcurrant and star anise jam.

I find all the people I could give it to either aren't keen or make their own and don't really need it. It's frustrating as I love the process of making it. I try and do very small batches of everything now except strawberry jam. I made about 6 jars of runner bean picallili last year and although it's delicious we're still on the first one, we just don't eat chutney much.

Just popping in to say hello - had friends to stay unexpectedly early (were supposed to come early July, not mid June)and not been near wifi bar much. I can see I've got a lot of catching up to do.

Meanwhile:
I think it's going to be a good courgette year, now picking them regularly.
Padron peppers are forming - will be able to start picking in a couple of days.
Runners - have just started to pick.
Last day of rain was 17th June.
Beetroots are forming at last.
A few parsnips have germinated, but not many.

Will read all the news and post again.

(Oh, and I had to bury a hedgehog last Saturday )

Right weather you can now officially feck off. Have all jam making paraphernalia at the ready. Just need some more raspberries. Just finishing putting my shiny new wheelbarrow together to wheel some stuff down to the allotment. The heavens have opened. Grrrrr.

Poor hedgehog.

Afternoon!
was invited out for lunch, so going to the plot was thrown out of the window :)
So have came home and pottered in the greenhouse. Cut my first cucumber.Netted the jostaberry as they are starting to ripen.
The little apple tree is absolutely full of baby apples. Waiting to see if a June drop happens - (well it hasn't so far...) and then will have to be a bit ruthless with the thinning. The pears are not so thick this year - a combination of a bit of a heavy lop last year, a bumper crop the year before, and a bit of a late frost on the blossom.
teacup it hasn't rained for nearly 2 weeks - a record, surely ? poor hedgehog...

We've had masses of rain this week but today has been glorious. We went to the PYO farm this morning to bulk pick strawberries for jam, also got tayberries, sunberries and broad beans.

I am planning to get up to the plot later with the strimmer, it's inspection week next week and I am still twitchy about them. Did a lot of weeding and a bit of digging yesterday, need to go and de-grass the clods I turned over yesterday so my leeks can go in that strip.

good luck with the inspection!

wild shot: does anyone know about bonsai?
dc has a sycamore seedling in a pot. it's about a foot high now and in a 20cm pot.

for everyone dealing with slugs/snails/blight/poor dead hedgehogs
All its done here for the last week is rain. Going up tomorrow hopefully to do more weeding and a bit of burning.

whoknows good luck for the inspection!

So on closer inspection my raspberries are a bit sorry for themselves. There is mildew on alot of them and lots of thr fruit coming through looks small. I picked what I could and cut off the branches that were very mildewey thunking
that the energy should go to ripening the best fruit.
I am not sure why. It could be the canes are old, or I left it too late to pick, or the rubbish weather. Any ideas?
I will be pruning the whole lot back once harveseted and I think maybe get rid of some (there are lots).

Evening!
well, Blue - I did have a bonsai for a few years, but it was bought for me as a present, already trained. It sounds a bit big.... the idea being to trim the roots, and the top. Mine was in a smaller pot than that , the plant was in a stone trough about 15 cm x 8 cm by 6cm deep , and it was in proportion with the pot. Very little water/food, and taken out the pot once a year to trim the roots. Thats all I can remember, sorry....
WhoKnows - I cannot believe you will have a problem - you have been doing such a lot! I wish you could have come and picked my strawberries - even giving a load away, I still have about 1lb left in the fridge after we have eaten as many as we can without whist risking strawberry poisoning :)
Hope it stays dry mogs
Bellende - how old are the canes ? I think the wet is mostly to fault - there is an immense amount of mildew around. Maybe thin them hard after fruiting, and then give them a really good mulch . I wonder how many problems are due to leaching as well.

Thanks book I am planning my first mulch after the harvest. Have enough to make first jam. met another neighbour. Got some rhubarb and some lovely looking spuddies. Even though it hasnt stopped raining, even though the slugs have eaten everything in sight, even though my raspberries are covered in mildew, I loves my allotment. What is leaching btw?

leaching is when nutrients are drained away due to rain, and there has been a lot of rain....

There's certainly been a lot of rain!
belle I love your positivity
Is dry but cloudy. Can't get up till this afternoon (church then out for lunch with pil). It will stay dry it will stay dry it will stay dry

Just a forlorn check-in from me.... I have never seen so many slugs in my life as in our garden. They have decimated my seedlings (3 types of kale, chard, globe artichoke, climbing and dwarf beans, pumpkin) that have been put out, and are in the process of eating the strawberries, few raspberries, peppers chillies and aubergines in the greenhouse.

My flowering shrubs in pots are the only thing doing ok, and cherry toms in hanging baskets. Oh, and the fruit trees are fabulous, especially my beloved quince. Still in there for #yof.

The cordon tomatoes need to go in the greenhouse ground, but honestly I am so disheartened this year that I can barely be bothered. I'd like to sow some last minute salads, beets but not sure if even worth it. Is it too late to use nematodes now???

And the weeds.....aaaaargh!

I bought lots of cheap lavender from Aldi few weeks ago, and have potted each up. The front garden area that I glyphosated is at least now clear, so hoping if I dig plenty of grit and coconut fibre into our heavy clay soil next to the house, I can turn that bed of weeds into a lavender hedge. I got these compressed blocks of dry coconut "compost" from Home Bargains (yes, classy, me!) , which you rehydrate with several litres of water. It makes a great addition to clay to break it up and stop clagging, although looks like it is nutrient- free.

Looks like I am joining Zebra and Shove in the gardens of challenge this year!

I don't think it's too late to use nematodes. I've also found the wool has been reasonably successful but less so for things in pots because the blighted just go up the side of the pot onto anything hanging down. Otherwise it's cull them every time it rains.

Anyway our potatoes have blight. The wiljas which are second earlies got it this week. So we harvested them yesterday and I went round the charlottes and the Desiree and picked off all the leaves and stems that were affected. We got a reasonable crop off the wiljas. Not outstanding but they'll keep us going a few weeks. Fingers crossed for the others now. I reckon if the Desiree have then we won't get much off of them at all as it's far too early to harvest. The damp has helped the tubers to swell so the potatoes weren't too bad a size.

Teacup how have you got runners ready to pick already? Mind haven't even started to form the beans. We did pick our first raspberries off our new plant and they taste delicious so that is good news. And other things are doing OK - sweet corn, celery, pumpkins are all growing well.

We went strawberry picking today so I'm going to make jam in a minute.

Evening!
quince - its really easy to get disheartened, its as if the world is against you, but it is a long haul ,and you have got a lot done this year, even if you don't have the harvest coming to show for it.
The potatoes here are still okay I think - we haven't had the same amount of rain as everyone else, but I am supposing they are going to be full of holes because of slugs, sadly.
On a brighter note , was down at the plot this morning, and planted out the last succession of beetroot, and the last spare insurance beans. Better that than nibbled to death by slugs at home. Did a fair amount of weeding and hoeing. Must remember I need to sow some more cauliflower as the ones I have already done will be due to plant out next week.
One of my broccoli plants had caterpillars on it in the brassica cage. Just the one plant - so picked them all off, but wondered how they got in
mmmmm..
This afternoon, DH and I went back and while he cut the grass I picked strawberries , and some yellow raspberries ( mind you they are more an insipid pinky peach colour, and taste of - you guessed it - raspberries!)
My first squash plant has set a fruit, and all the other squashes seem to have settled in, and got growing thank goodness. Picked my first courgette as well.
I cracked folks, and made jam this afternoon - an interesting mix of stuff as `I'm not keen on strawberry, so it was 1lb strawberries, a stick of rhubarb, 2 ripe bananas and the weight made up with redcurrants from the freezer. Its not bad actually :)

I am finding the ring of salt and wd40 is working quite well now as is spraying wd40 on the pots. No murders since.

If my courgettes survive my week.away, when I plent them.out I plan on putting a sandpaper collar round them.