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

Can anyone advise about sweetcorn plants? Some were going spare at the allotments this morning so I picked up 4 (there were only 6 or 7 altogether & I didn't want to be greedy and take the lot) but have since been told that 4 won't pollinate well. I've planted them in a small block, it's just for fun really as I was planning to leave the plot covered until next year and haven't had the time or space to raise any seedlings of my own. DS2 loves corn on the cob so I thought he'd like to see it growing

Evening!
have a good holiday Doreen
Phoenix - just gently pull the seedling out, or even cut the stem with nail scissors. Try not to disturb the other seedling obviously! And eggshells do not compost well, but food already is a good thing - it is the total joy of eating something that you know everything about .
Cedar enjoy your weekend away.
Cathpot - I garden on chalk, so I have never needed to use calcium the RHS has a good page on bitter pit, with all the relevant info on dosage , including a link to a supplier of calcium for spray- you may have already googled this!
www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?PID=607
timtam - run back tomorrow and nab the rest of those sweetcorn plants. A block is good, but maybe you can gently knock the tassels every time you go past to help . The first year I grew them I had been given 6 or 7 plants. 2 got eaten by rabbits, but I did manage to get about 3 cobs, so it is worth a punt!
Today went bindweed digging and checking my brassica cage for caterpillars- I had seen a white cabbage in there the day before, saw it leave via a tiny gap so sorted that out. So far so good, but will have to keep an eye out. The plants are looking good now after the slug fest early on.I also picked enough French beans for a proper side at tea - they are smaller plants than the purple ones, which look beautiful, and have flowers, but no beans as yet...Had to go and water squashes, courgettes and beans tonight as still no rain. And where oh where have I tidied up the tiles to pop under my squashes? I wish I knew ! Have to forage at home in the garage for some more I guess, and then find them :)

bookbook thank you - I had read that page but missed the link. I am going to pop into a farmers shop in town this week and if they don't have it I'll order from there. I will be so chuffed if it works!

timtam the first year I had 4 sweetcorn in a row and still had plenty to harvest. (at that stage you could have been sure if monty don a gardening expert said 'whatever you do, don't...' I have already done it)

I have two hours to wait til I board so can help the sweet corn query. When the top tassles start dropping pollen, take your hand and brush it up the top tassles and then down the tassles that grow out of the side cobs. Do it as many times as you can. This increases the number of cobs that are pollinated on each full cob of corn.

Hello !

Going to the plot shortly to water and potter about... I hope my brassicas are OK, they've been suffering from pests a little bit I think.

Attached a photo of last week's carrot thinnings. Don't hate me! There is only a very small row, probably more thinnings than actual carrots kept on the ground now. I just replaced all the plot soil with compost and banked it up. Sowed them quite late too... Seemed to have done the trick! We ate the tops in a Madagascan stew with my Electric Daisies (and some baby spinach), it was delicious. Then nibbled the baby carrots as a snack.

When should corn be ready then? Mine is looking tall but a bit yellow. I might give them a feed now!

Garlic was a total failure as the nursery sent them too late and we planted them too late. Ah well. Next year!

I've also got a sickly (dry?) redcurrant bush, whereas the two blackcurrants next to it are OK. Any tips?!

bookbook I do have my 2nd plot! We were going away for a while right after getting it, so in the end we didn't plant anything on it, just covered it thoroughly with thick black plastic sheets. I'm going to start collecting cardboard to insert underneath! And would love to spread manure in the autumn, where do you guys buy yours?

apparently sweetcorn are ready to harvest when the 'tassels' are brown and easy to pull out.

Thanks so much everyone for all the tips about sweet corn. I knew you'd know what to do. I'll make sure I knock the tassels about a bit and hopefully we'll have some success with pollination. It's one of the things I'd like to grow in bigger numbers next year as it's so good when fresh from the plant (I remember my mum growing it years ago). Is it the Americans who grow the 3 Sisters together - corn, squash & beans?

Evening!
Hope everyone is okay :)
HiaHia - carrots !!! they look much better than thinnings :) Garlic needs to be ordered in time to plant late this year - sometime November/December for best ( folklore is to plant on the shortest day , and harvest on the longest day). Is it a new/young redcurrant? Maybe a foliar feed and a good mulch, along with water should help.
You can try local riding stable for manure if you have any nearby. Just make sure its well rotted. I am very lucky, as we have a big site, a local farmer is the main source ( though it is cow manure) He brings it for you too. I get mine anytime between October/November and leave it for a year, then use it as a mulch for overwintering. Be careful of your source though.
Blue has it - the silky tassels turn brown - but you can peel back a little bit of the covering and press a fingernail into a kernel - it should have a milky juice come out.
I was going to do the 3 sisters this year timtam , but decided against. The Americans left everything to ripen on the plant to store, whereas I want to pick beans to eat as soon as they are ready to eat and didn't fancy trying to reach to pick amongst all the squash leaves!

Hello everyone,

Just wanted to pop in and say a fond farewell. For a variety of reasons I've asked MNHQ to delete my account.

This thread has been a little ray of sunshine in a very dark time for me and although I won't be posting I'll be reading about your lovely allotments and veggie patches. Hopefully one day I'll be in a position to join you all again.

May the slugs leave you all well and truly alone from now on!

Oh and I used to be LetThereBeCupcakes if anyone is confused.

Hi Diamond, I'm sorry you're going to be leaving us and that you've been having such a difficult time. Do keep on lurking, I hope things take a turn for the better for you.

Oh, so sorry to hear Diamond - I will be thinking of you while I post. I hope things improve for you . Take care

Evening!
well, had just a shortish time at the plot this morning, but managed to do a bit. I picked the last of the blackcurrants and whitecurrants, so have left the fruit cage door open for the birds to finish up, and also took the nets off the second strawberry bed. Its starting to look a bit tidier now. I also hoed the leeks, pulled up the first row of peas that have finished. Picked broad beans and beetroot. I found a perpetual spinach plant in amongst them so pulled that for tender spinach. Picked 2 courgettes ( which I gave away- have 3 left from the other day to use yet!) Then picked red and yellow raspberries. I realised my autumn raspberries are starting to ripen
So here is the picking tray - smallest tub is the autumn raspberries. And a picture of some my bee friendly flowers , especially for Diamond-

I will miss your posts, Diamond, and hope things improve for you soon. Please come back soon under another new name.

Well, Although I have been only a beginner gardener for the last few years since having a garden, this has been a spectularly awful one. Slugs have eaten almost every lovingly-raised veg seedling I have planted, many before they even left the greenhouse. The amazingly changeable weather has played havoc with everything, especially given my watering is rather irregular. 3 of my work days are 14-15 hours out the house, so plants get a bit neglected until I do short her days rest of week.
I am left with 3 globe artichokes, 1 lone silver chard, 1 ropey pumpkin and some strawberries from last year. In the greenhouse I have aubergines, Roma/Tigerella/Marmande toms, few chillies and red/ peppers. All looking fairly ropey. The only decent plants are some cherry toms I put in hanging baskets!

The garden is out of control again, with masses of nettles and brambles again ( as I keep being too slow in covering them up - and can't keep up with the amount of cardboard/ shred dings needed). I find weed suppressant fabric an absolute pain, as not strong enough to keep down stron weeds, and gets embedded partially, so can't mow, strim or just trim easily .

Really demoralised, part from my beloved fruit trees! Apples, pears and plums doing well, which were all from Aldi 6-7 yes ago.greengages, morello cherry and quince fantastic. Wild damson plums ripening too.

And breathe. I have loved sitting in greenhouse chilling with radio on, though!. Time to do it properly from this Autumn...

May be quietly come back on here with us diamond under another name? The gardening topic is the most stress free place on mumsnet I think.

Less stress free is the blood fish and bone granules I threw on my strawberries which have gone mouldy and the tiny white fly things ( maybe whitefly but they didn't fly off) on my chillies and tomatoes. I've tried washing them off. I did buy some calcium feed which I have watered chillies with as new growth was suspiciously wrinkly and watered old apple tree with, just waiting for sprayer thingy.

Improvised fruit net is doubling as a blackbird catcher which is unfortunate. I let Mrs Blackbird out this morning and then DD2 went to pick raspberries and excitedly brought Mrs Blackbird into the lounge this afternoon. I think I have found the hole she is using. At times like this DH just goes - and how much does it cost to just buy raspberries at lidl? He is right of course, but also so so wrong.

Morning
DH is taking me out today for a birthday treat - RHS Harlow Carr gardens ( it has an amazing vegetable garden) and lunch at Bettys there , so no plot, unsurprisingly :)
quince - its a horrible feeling, but you have an enormous amount of garden and making any sort of dent in one season is a bonus. And you are working hard too , so don't beat yourself up, just enjoy the pluses. Its a long term job keeping up with weeds, even starting with a clear patch. The slugs haven't been quite as bad this week - probably due to the ground turning to a stony crust here due to the hot weather and no rain. So enjoy the fruit, and maybe just try to keep greenhouse and one other patch tidy, and take it a bit at a time.
Cathpot - blackbirds will always find any hole. ! I must admit I haven't netted raspberries, they can only reach a few, but for blackbirds, a loose net resting on the top is usually enough . This is what I have done on my jostaberry ( which is ready for picking )
and your DH on buying - that is so not the point! Being able to pick and eat and choose nice flavours is so much more enjoyable than shaking a plastic punnet to make sure they are not mouldy.... On an earlier thread, I mentioned a conversation with a plot neighbour. He grows beautiful stuff, but for size/harvest. He stated it was not worth growing fruit, as it was cheaper in the shops - I was just ! All my plants are chosen for flavour - not size of harvest, or how they look!

Sorry to hear your update Diamond.
Cathpot, quince and book I am very envious of your crops. Especially when fruit trees are mentioned! I agree that you can't beat the flavour of freshly-picked ripe fruit!
Not much to report from my plot, I watered the sweet corn & flowers yesterday but then it rained anyway...
One question about potatoes. I have some main crops which have chitted. Do you think it's worth planting them now? Can potatoes be harvested in late autumn? Also there is a lot of blight at my allotment, most of the potato foliage is affected - so am not sure if my potatoes would be doomed from the start?

Evening!
timtam - rain is good :) Potatoes - I'm not sure on main crop potatoes but if they are chitting, why not? , Its usual to use earlies/second earlies - it takes about 12 weeks depending on variety) You can actually buy seed potatoes for just that. If the blight is only on the leaves, the potatoes should be fine. They don't stand frost, so you will need to have some protection or greenhouse to keep them going once it gets cold, (or clamp them to keep the frost off if they have already had the foliage die down.) I am going to have another go this year- I have only tried once a few years ago, and I think I overcrowded and underwatered, so had a bit of a poor harvest. I had a good look around the kitchen garden today at Harlow Carr - so here are a few photos. I wish mine looked as tidy, but I noticed that my plants are looking as good! I have popped on a couple of pictures for small spaces, as inspiration to those with a limited area , and a general one to give you an idea of how they organise :)

timtam23 I don't think I have enough to qualify as a crop but it is fun picking fruit to eat.

In less happy news aphids are RAMPANT in the greenhouse. I thought it was whitefly but then turned a leaf over, and crucially put reading glasses on, and it's aphids. Of course it might also be whitefly as well . Anyway I've just ordered some lacewing larvae which will bring on aphid amarageddon apparently, but cost me £20. DH isn't here to suck his teeth about the per chilli but it's irritating- I didn't grow from seed this year so it's gardening karma I think. bookbook those picture make me think I could cram far more into my raised bed than I do at the moment, although have still got the peas to go in- they are at about 10cm- plant out now do you think?

Can you help me is this a plant that should be growing on an allotment or a weed !?!

the price of food in supermarkets is so not the point. it keeps me grounded, valueing how much effort it takes to grow food and tasting different varieties than the 'money crops' from the shops.

watching eden also makes is clear to me that it is important that the skill of growing food must not be lost.

no idea sunny first thought was quinoa or millet, but after googling they look different.
maybe someone else recognises it?

sunny - looks like persicaria to me - a weed!

What is the deal with broccoli? Is there any bug alive that doesnt like to eat it? I made a rookie error and planted out purple sprouting a few days before my brassica cage arrived. In just a few days there are eggs, caterpillars, weevil things and wispy white flies. I wiped every leaf off by hand but I cant help thinking I have closed the stable door after the horse has done one. Anything else I can do?