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

comfrey juice smells incredible even the flies are fooled that it's not shit :o

my dc are fascinated by that stuff. and it works and it's free. I use rubber gloves when handling/sufting it or you can smell it on your hands for a week.

and I'm in awe at the amout of plants doreen

We are a community garden. I wouldn't countenance that many courgettes in my actual life. I am hoping that my deputy has a few yellow ones to add in.

If you add nettle into the comfrey 'teabag' then you get an all round nitrogen and potassium fertiliser. Which is nice.

I had more courgettes than we could possibly eat from just 4 plants last year, I remember taking piles of them to work.

Ooooh I have a fab courgette recipe. For two, take one medium courgette, grate with cheese grater then squeeze out all the moisture. Mix with about 60g of boursin, some pepper, a wee bit of oil. Bash two chicken breasts to about 1.5cms and spread courgette mix on. Bung in oven for 25mins, serve with new spuddies seasonal veg or salad fab mid week dinner.

Had an odd interaction today hot on the heels of the glycophosphate debate on here. Was there for an hour just picking out couch root from the second bed we dug at the weekend. Man from a plot behind comes over and basically tells me I am mad and I should just spray the lot with glycophosphate. He said he did his three times! Now I might be tempted to spray a bit here and there in awkward places, but the idea if spraying the whole lot multiple times with glyco seems odd to me. His allotment was pristine tho. The soil was so fine it looked like sand.

I tell you what, if there was a spray that could get rid of stones I'd be tempted.....

One thing the one application of glyphosate didn't get rid of in my allotment was the stupid horsetail which is, as expected, coming up all over the place. Although in the areas where I had winter manure there seems to be less of it so far, which is interesting.

I've got several potatoes that got missed from last year coming up in my bean bed.

My blackcurrant (bought last autumn) has got lots of fruit on it. We rather inexpertly netted it last weekend. I am hoping that the birds aren't bright enough to crawl underneath the netting which didn't quite reach the ground. Although I expect that they probably are. I will take some more netting up this weekend and have another go (if they haven't stripped the plant in the mean time).

Re birds stealing fruit: I'm disappointed that most of my fruit trees/bushes are too young this year to have much fruit because we get a free bird pass. The only birds around at the moment are crows and seagulls because we live on a new development. I'm assuming other birds will discover us over the next 12 months and next year they'll enjoy my garden.

What's the best way to get rid of weeds between paving stones? Our driveway looks terrible so I need to tackle that today. I'm going to pour white vinegar over the weeds, which works well for a short time, but need a longer-term fix.

flamee thrower!
burns the plant down to the root and lingering seeds and stops it coming back soon.

Yes, flame thrower gets my vote too, very satisfying and efficient.

Doreen - wow, just wow! That is proper industrial-scale growing! I am that you find plants are stolen, though. Some people eh?

I have recently found that the 'comfrey' I have been nurturing is actually a load of wild foxgloves. Not sure what has happened to the actual comfrey .

I also can't tell dormant foxglove/comfrey/alkanet apart.
the only difference is the root (alkanet/comfrey very big/freshy; foxglove thin and fine)
would it be a problem toxicity wise to use foxglove in liquid fertiliser?

Weeds sorted, though clearing them put holes in my gardening gloves. DH looked at me like I was insane when I mentioned flamethrowering the driveway. Can you hire them?

I have a kitchen blowtorch but I suspect that might be too small for the job.

Also had weed wands in last time I went. They are the "flamethrowers". Sadly, a bit smaller and more controlled than something Arnold Schwarzenegger might use in a 90s movie...

Oops. Forgot to say, they're only £13.

I read a tip to use boiling water fortnightly on weeds in paving cracks, which has been working quite well on my patio. I have been using glyphosate on bindweed as I just have so much and I need to get it under control, but sparingly (I'm using the gel on the leaves).

Evening!
a bit of reading back through the thread - everyone is busy :)
Only just home , so rushed out to check on greenhouse and seedlings. Tomatoes - all but Roma ( which is so nearly there) have set fruit, so chuffed about that . The peppers grown , and signs of the first flower buds right in the centre. aubergines have quite a few flower buds on as well.
The carrots sown into plugs have just started to show through , somewhat quicker than at the plot!
Still no rain , dry as dust, but am hoping the forecast is right , as we may get some tomorrow.
Cedar - I have loads and loads of potatoes cropping up - from last year, and even previous years - shoddy digging from me !
courgettes- DH is still insistent that 3 plants is too many. I had a poor year with them last year, so - we have 3 looking really healthy, with flowers just about ready to open. Bet I have too many this year. I have alpine strawberries set, but nowhere near red. I was given them last year, and I have planted them in a couple of pots stood on top of one another-they have loved it. But the fruits are tiny!

My tomatoes are about 4 inches tall. East of England. Weird year for plants...

I'm in East Yorkshire didi , but the tomatoes are in the greenhouse

My tomatoes are inside and are massive, and have grown some flowers. I've decided to experiment by putting one plant outside in a pot against the house.

shove Weed wands! I knew I had heard of this concept before. We apparently have an Aldi near us so will go have a look.

book 3 plants too many courgettes? We have 5 lovely little plants. Will they take over my entire garden? I moved a couple of them today to an empty section so they have more space. I love zucchini.

grouchy - yes probably. it's stunning how big a plant can get from a titchy seedling. first year I had 3 plants and traded the fruits with friends and neighbours. and had the freezer full until the next season.
my toms are small still. had to re-seed so am a bit behind, but the plants have shot up hight last week due to the warm weather.

My tomatoes are about 8" tall and starting to flower, I really need to plant them out, they are sitting in 6" pots on the ground at home, but I still need to finish digging a strip of land for them at the plot and put up stakes.

Managed 45 mins up there today, weeding, watering and got my two butternut squash plants in. I've never grown them before, do they ramble everywhere like pumpkins?

Its not the space per se Grouchy , but once they get producing courgettes, on average you get 1 every day or so per plant. So 3 plants = 3 courgettes every 2 days. Lovely at first , then they don't stop , and you dont pick them one day, or miss one , and you get a marrow, and then start giving them away. And I like them too! Mind you I do have a very good chocolate courgette cake recipe :)

x posted there - yes butternut squash are just like pumpkins - fabulous ground cover !

She does. Have a good chocolate courgette cake recipe I mean! Everyone said last year that my multiple courgette plants were too many, but it was a crap year for courgettes and I had just about enough. So I have more this year, of course.