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

Thanks blue! Do you think they are ready for pulling, hanging and drying or do I need to wait a bit longer first?

Is it a single clove variety of garlic?

I am racking my brains to think where I read it, but I'm sure I came across something recently that suggested you could get ordinary garlic to grow as a single bulb if you did something planting-wise. If anyone can put me out of my misery trying to remember this, please help!

I've just potted on some tiny fuschia plugs which are specifically for berries, not flowers. #YearofFruit

It is supposed to be cloved!

It needs to experience a certain amount of frost to clove and if you put it in late it may not get cold enough to form cloves and instead will look like an onion is my understanding.

Elephant garlic doesn't always clove well i think.

Afternoon!
ethelb - the top still looks a bit green to me - have you cut the garlic across the middle, so we are seeing the cloves cut in half? It is looking okay to me if so, but the skins needs to be papery to dry and store well. I thought you needed below a certain temperature for it to spilt into cloves, as you said. I suspect planting it deeper would make it stay as one ( less temperature drop?)

If its very rusted and you want to pull them up, you could just chop them finely and freeze ? I've had to do this before. If you freeze in a very shallow layer, eg on a baking tray, and then bag it, it doesn't clump so badly and is easier to get small amount out.

Well, we have another storm, with thunder and lightning. I'm not at work today so had hoped to get to the plot this afternoon. Oh well. I did have to go to homebase earlier, and I did pick up a reduced 3 - pack of chillies, as mine are rubbish.

I've been harvesting more broad beans and broccoli raab. And I never did quite do my succession sowing of the raab, so I really should get to it. If it ever stops raining...

It's . It's.

I can use an apostrophe, even if my autocorrect refuses to play ball.

Yeah, those garlics are not ready yet. Give them another month or so.

Evening
well, managed to get down to cut grass today - good job as if we had left it any longer, it would have needed a scythe.-
Oh Spotted - a thunderstorm- and I had to water my courgettes and squashes - unlike lots of you, we haven't had any rain.
But my broad beans are nearly ready to pick - this weekend fingers crossed.

Still way way behind. Kale and beans that I planted out almost completely decimated by slugs - boo. Cherry toms now in hanging baskets and doing really well. Most greenhouse stuff needs planting out, but will have to wait until this weekend.
MOST exciting though - my quince tree which dh bought for me 2 years ago has FRUITED!!! I have lots of baby, furry quinces and couldn't be more delighted. Can't wait for them to get bigger; just hope it stops raining soon so they don't rot.

I'm lagging again, every time I've been free to go up to the plot this week it's been raining. However I managed half an hour tonight and laid a load of slug traps, was pleased to discover that you can buy 4 cans of Sainsburys Basics bitter for the princely sum of £1.05. Put two in the garden too, came back out a couple of hours later after rain and they were working.

Still haven't got my tomatoes planted out, they are up there waiting, meant to do it but a thunderstorm started.

In sad news (in a first world problem sort of way), I broke my favourite fork tonight. I've had it for over 20 years, my dad bought me it when I had my first garden and it has served so well. I was trying to dig out an overgrown celery plant from last year and overdid the levering. I know it's silly, but I loved that fork, it's a long handled one (about 5') and makes digging so easy. Going to try and get it repaired.

your slugs are happy then WhoKnows -( I also have Sainsburys basic bitter in a trap and not an insect let alone a slug has been in there )... and many, many commiserations on the fork. Hope you can get it sorted. I had mine stolen in a spate of thefts at the site before gates were installed. Mine was a present form my dad too, but obviously had to break a new one in. Just about there after 4 years

Just been back out to reinspect traps and "help" a few slugs off my sunflowers and into the traps. They just started climbing back out again! Obviously not good enough for them. Sorry you lost your fork too Book.

Well I have finally planted everything on the plot for the season, yeepee! The last things to be sown were coriander seeds...And have now started the cycle of succession planting by sowing lots of rainbow radishes. new lettuces at the weekend. It never ends aye?!
Favourite crops of the moment: kales and rainbow chard. So beautiful, plentiful and really delicious indeed. I am loving the plot.

It's raining again here. It hasn't stopped for more than 5 minutes since Saturday and much of the time it's been torrential. I am starting to feel really under siege. It's just awful.

Morning!
oh no shove - :( and everybody else with all this rain. Can only hope it drowns the slugs and snails ( some chance )
I am truly getting the rage now. My lovely plugs of carrot seedlings - just putting out their frothy leaves. About half of them have gone overnight . Will sow some more, and peas as well I think - no sign as yet of the row I sowed about a week go, so won't hurt to have back up.
Well done HiaHia - very organised :)
I'm some way from planting out all of mine - most of mine to plant is now succession -spinach/leeks/beetroot and a few spaces left for sprouting broccoli

Me too, Shove - it's massively shit, isn't it!
I even took some extra vitamin d yesterday as I'm sure I've not had my usual summer amount.
I still have plenty of stuff to plant out, if it ever stops raining.

The one thing growing really well is my... rhubarb. I'll need apply for planning permission for it soon.

I planted up a tray of grass seed modules a la Monty, but I suspect that my grass is a bit more wrecked than that, it's back to squishy again.

at planning permission for rhubarb!!

The rain - along with all the horrible things happening in the public sphere right now - is making me feel really, really on edge. The poor birds and wild creatures will be suffering so much to get food for their young. Even my cat is sulking!

bookbook my carrots have been rubbish this year. I had a small row of them all nicely germinated. Whole lot of them have gone now.

Hiahia I've meant to do more successional sowing this year. I'm not convinced I've managed it.

Shove sounds very wet where you are. We've just had rain on and off. Yesterday it rained, then looked as if it was brightening up but there was still rain in the air.

Zebra I must get around to planting some grass seed - we were sadly excited when we saw Monty doing that on Gardeners World.

I have rhubarb envy.
despite feeding and feeding it, it's still tiny.
probably doesn't help that the foxes have decided that it's a comfy area to lie in.

bluepitchfork Mine were like that at first (and after I moved them, when they all took a hit). I feed them chicken poo pellets each week and one in particular is starting to hit a stride but it's still nothing like as grand and large as they can get! My Dad's is HUGE! I think it might be down to the variety a bit, but also to being really established. Though not sure about that last bit, as I know some people move them regularly?! (I'm hoping mine can just stay put).

I've been up at the plot since 8.45, it's dull but muggy and not raining. Every single slug trap has been used, I think I'll have to comeback tonight to empty and refill.

Tomatoes are finally planted out, last year's celery (that I broke the fork with) is removed and I've done lots of weeding. The benefit of the current weather is that the soil is lovely and soft again (concrete last week) so I'm cracking in with clearing couch grass. I turned over a 3x1m area last week but the clods were so hard I couldn't de-root them, it's easy today.

Spotted - someone here has a gigantic rhubarb, I reckon it takes up about 1/8 of their plot. I think you are supposed to put a heavy mulch of manure or similar round the crown as it dies back.

Shove - yes, I don't want to bring Brexit discussions on here but I am very uncomfortable with the way a gulf is appearing right across society over it and as for Jo Cox .

Right, back to couch grass removal.

Shove I am pleased to hear your rhubarb story - I planted 2 different varieties over the winter, both started off growing ok, but 1 has now gone absolutely mental and the other is just sitting there with 1 small leaf. I dug in lots of manure before planting and then mulched them too but haven't feed them since, so will maybe try giving it some tlc.

Hope you're still dry whoknows!

Fiona - Oooh, I know that frustration. It will come! Sometimes - and this is a bit mental - I feel like if I look at a plant sternly and sort of hold my breath and think very hard about it growing it will help. It is like a secret, adult internalised version of the dance the two girls do to get the seeds to grow in Totoro... vimeo.com/15165227

the chicken pellets might be why the foxes like to sit on the rhubarb...

Evening!
rhubarb does benefit from splitting up, but only after they are well established. Mine are somewhat thugs, but I do pull them with an eye to keeping them strong and healthy. Though at the moment, DH keeps on bringing in stalks that he has pulled so that he can cut the grass - it sprawls everywhere. But one of them has taken about 5 years to get to that stage of luxuriousness .
Been busy today, but did pop down to dig some spring cabbage, and managed to go and dig up obvious bindweed - an ongoing job....
It's finally raining here this evening - a gentle pattering more or less.
Tomorrow its back in the morning for more weeding. And taking yet another squash to plant out. The little blighters have eaten the growing tip out of the replacement plant. Still not touched the others.
I was at my DD's new house this afternoon planting an apple tree. Good lord, it was hard work . Brand new build house. Lovely turf, laid on a spit of topsoil. Below topsoil - yuk. DH and I have dug, used an iron bar, club hammer and wrecking bar to loosen and dig out the stuff underneath. Breeze block chunks, bits of wire, bits of bricks - 2 big trugs full- we have 3 more big plants to plant. DH has decided to take his big drill and the biggest masonry bit he has for round 2 :)