Allotment/Veg Patch - Thread 7 - The Harvesters Arms

[bookbook]

Well, it's been an interesting summer, to say the least.
We are now heading into the season of mists and mellow fruitfulness :)
Everyone welcome to join in and ask for advice , share their woes and just enjoy growing!
previous thread here

Yes, I totally take your point! I always forget how frentic things are in April/May too - you probably don't need the extra work at that point in the season!

And oooooh a Rhino! I don't think you'll be disappointed book - I love mine! The base is really great - you literally just bolt it down.

The height - in the range I bought, which was a fairly basic one (Harvest I think), the eaves height was a bit higher than on other makes. I can't remember whether this was just how it came or whether I paid for extra height... I remember it being something I did quite a bit of angsting about. DH is over 6 foot and we wanted him to be able to get in and out without any bother.

Rhino do go to some of the RHS shows - I saw mine at Malvern - and they sometimes have super-special offers (really a lot cheaper even than the January sale) if you have transport to take away the greenhouse on the day. But I think it's a bit chancey if you get the thing, IYSWIM. You could ring them and see which ones they'll be attending? I guess if you're not ordering to October, it gives you a chance to view and decide!

I really struggled over the coloured frame. It's very pretty and all, but it's a lot of extra ££ for a colour.

Dimensions... mine is 6 feet across and there is quite a decent amount of space for a row of staging either side and then room to move in the middle. If I had space, I think I might just be tempted to go for a longer narrower one and then leave a gap on one side if I needed a bit more of a turning circle or potting room. But this is driven entirely by greed since it would be all about cramming in maximum numbers of plants!! I'll see if I can get a picture as it might be helpful!

Here's a quick snap, 'scuse the mess!

I have 2 kinds of 'staging' in there from Aldi - some deeper stuff that is about 60cm deep that is basically the stuff that is sold as a plastic greenhouse (I've removed the cover) and some narrower stuff that's only about 25cm wide.

than you so much shove :)
We went out and had a big discussion, along with measuring , and I think it will be 8 x 10, as it fits better between my raspberries, cherry tree and bird feeding area ( no problem haha !) . We also did a lot of checking what you get for what. I think it looks as if the eaves heights are all the same. The only difference between the Harvest and the Premium that we can see is an extra, rather fancy roof vent. And as I am in Yorkshire, not hot and sunny, I think I could cope with two, not three.... DH very taken with the ground fixing. I have those Aldi staging things too, but the top doesn't fit in, so they are decapitated :)

Good afternoon. I am feeling quite inwardly happy . Today I bought a dalek composter for £10 from our local ad site, I went to poundland and bought bare rooted tayberries, raspberries and gooseberries. I'm not too fussy about the varieties yet, so I will see what will happen. I also bought a Reader's Digest guide to 'Food from your garden and allotment' which looks pretty comprehensive for £2.50 from a charity shop. 'Weather forecast says sunny tomorrow so off I will go to the plot with plants in my birthday wheelbarrow. Happy days .

Hi, I should be doing some cutting back in the garden, a clematis is taking over a whole area...
should I actually do that when it's frosty?

It's great to pick up a bargainElephant - sounds like a wonderful hoard, happy wheelbarrowing :)
I think you can get away with it Pink - anything but group one clematis can be cut down winter/early spring, but I rarely prune much when its actually frosty, as I feel ( rightly or wrongly?) the cold could cause a bit of die back That didn't help, did it ?

hmm one is an evergreen winterflowering one...
it's totally taking over the honeysuckle and deuzia. I think there is also some solanum kreeping over from neighbours.

will probably give it a go tomorrow anyway. with my luck the next few weeks will be miserable and wet and booom there is spring.

have sown leeks today (indoors)

Afternoon!
well, I only had to go and pick enough vegetables for tonight and tomorrow, so decided to go after lunch. It was lovely this morning, after lunch,< brrrr> and trying to snow . So some very cold fingers here, along with some sprouts the size of baby cabbages !
So last picking until I get home , and I have tried to make all things secure, and put the bench in the shed :)

book your box looks lovely! And those sprouts are huuuuuuge!

I'm just swinging by to say have a VERY HAPPY HOLIDAY! I hope there's plenty of sun, well-deserved relaxation, excellent food and some nice wine!

Freeeeeezing here this morning - a very, very hard frost that wasn't forecast to be anything like as deep as it has been. (The forecast seems all over as far as our part of the world is concerned). It is, however, bright for the first time in ages... a definite sense of promise about the light returning now!

Thanks for the tips about borlotti beans. I will try to remember them come harvest time this summer!

This is the first day for several days where we haven't had a frost although it is still chilly. Lovely and sunny. We had very hard frosts over the weekend. On Sunday the local lake was frozen apart from a bit in the middle and the ground was frozen all day. So needless to say no gardening.

I do have a bit of greenhouse envy. I wish we had space for one. But our garden is quite small and with a DD who likes to play ball games in the space we do have (never mind next door's children who often send their balls over the fence) it wouldn't be practical. Maybe when I can afford my mansion with the massive garden

cedar - you'll be able to have hot AND cold glasshouses when you get the mansion! The 4mm toughened glass I have is really, really strong - I reckon it would easily stand a football, though perhaps not repeated strikes from a well-bowled cricket ball! But I appreciate it may be something best left until your DD is a little bit older!

First morning for a while without a hard frost today! And after what has felt like decades of darkness, the mornings are starting to lighten! Hooray!

Hello all. Again had to wait for the prompt of my garden helper arriving to get out on Sunday and actually do some bits and pieces . Almost dead headed the hydrangeas but didn't and then we had frost so I was pleased I was cautious/ lazy. Pulled up rest of the chard and stuck some manure in the raised bed. Need to think about nematodes next month I think. May have found a space in one of the main beds for rhubarb- I'm sneaking it into a space so DH doesn't notice , apparently I'm not supposed to annexe any more garden for crops. He's not completely over the new raspberry bed that went in while he was away.

Well rhubarb is a nice looking thing. I had mine in an ornamental garden, and I replaced it with ornamental rhubarb when I took the eatin' one to the allotment! I reckon it'll look handsome in your mixed border!!

I am on my phone and can't check, but I think the time for nematodes might be a bit later on?? I think the soil needs to be warming up a bit... Not sure though!

Cathpot your dh will hardly notice a rhubarb The leaves do have a lovely ornamental structure and the stems are such a pretty pink/red.

Which reminds me that I will get around to having some rhubarb this year. My plot neighbour promised me some over a year ago but then his plants didn't die down so he didn't have a chance to split them. I may just buy one rather than politely waiting any longer. Apparently the new half plot we've taken on did have a whole row of it (the plot was once gardened by an old chap who kept it immaculate) but a previous plot holder managed to kill it off by applying weedkiller to it.

I must investigate nematodes as well - although hopefully the cold hard frosts we've just had will go some way to killing off a few slugs. It's a real bitter wind out there today and a bit icy but no frost.

I have no luck with rhubarb...
last year (second year after planting) it came up tiny. I gave it lots of feed and it's in a good spot, so hopefully I don't have to give upjust yet

Hopefully this year you'll have monster stems PinkSwimGoggles I know nothing much about growing it so have no words of wisdom to offer.

I'm sure it'll be better this year pinkswim! Mine really struggled the first year after being planted and again after being moved. They are hungry plants and seem to need loads of food at the beginning. I only crop them heavily in the 3rd year, just taking a light load in year 2. After a few years, the stalks can be huge. My Dad has one that's so well-established it has a name. We call it Fred.

Talking of rhubarb, the first stalks of my earliest crown are pushing their way up. I LOVE the way they look - the bright yellow of the early leaves and the pink stems. It gladdens my heart - one of those early signs of spring!

cedar - weedkiller on rhubarb? What on earth was he doing?

I hope so. I bloody love rhubarb!

when do you start your tomatos? I'm in the se, so frost free from april usually.

It depends a bit on the variety. I have two this year, one of which is very early and needs to go on in February. The other I'll probably leave to March. I started all varieties off in February last year and chuck and book wisely advised me that this was mental, and that if I sowed a bit later the plants would catch up and I would be saved months of trekking seedlings from the greenhouse indoors to keep them frost free.

This time of year, I find it hard to hold my nerve and NOT sow.

You've given me courage I might go and get LOADS of rhubarb and stealth plant it all over the beds. I've got one very unhappy one I can move and I've ordered lots more horse poop. Still haven't cleaned the greenhouse - it's on the list for next week. First camalias out today - and one daffodil- very pleasing!

A daffodil out already! My daffodils are only just trying to poke their heads above the soil. I did spot a primrose flowering the other day but they seem to always be trying to flower either early or late.

PinkSwimGoggles I don't have a greenhouse and very limited space indoors (uselessly thin window sills which are no good for putting anything on!) so the earliest I start to think about planting things is late March/early April. I'm in the southeast as well.

I like the idea of stealth planting rhubarb!

I am EXTREMELY envious of your daffs cath. Mine are a way off even though I deliberately planted loads of early varieties (the perils of a north-facing garden in the north).

And I feel your pain cedar - narrow windowsills in my house too.

Hello everyone. Envious of all the greenhouse talk. Maybe when I get offered a half plot it'll have a shed AND a greenhouse

It's overcast and a bit milder today but my goodness there have been some hard frosts this week! I went up to the plot on Tuesday to drop off some of that builder's piping for future cloche construction, and unsurprisingly noone else was around. I'd hoped to see some of my snowdrops peeking through but no sign of life yet. Everything looks OK under the layer of manure & weed membrane.
I also nabbed some seed potatoes and onion sets, I always get mine in Quality Save (Home Bargains) they are very cheap and as long as they haven't been hanging around in the shop for ages (the staff have absolutely no interest in plants so they get pretty neglected if left) they always seem to grow just fine. I chose Arran Pilot potatoes because with only a small plot I'd like the potatoes out as soon as possible to free up space for something else. And Red Baron onions as I love red onions.

Another find this week from my neighbour's recycling bin - some WoolCool sheets from a food delivery, which I think will be really useful either for composting, mulching or keeping young plants warm. I'd like some more of these!

Hello hello lovely plotters! I was on these threads before, but I gave up gardening for a bit, as life got too busy, and I was fed up with all the things dying basically - had enough of that in 'RL'

Anyway, I'm getting back on it now, so I am back here too! Hope you're all well.

My plans for 2017 (apart from the not giving up bit) are much the same as 2016! I'm declaring it another #YearofFruit #YoF. I've planted some strawbs at the allotment, having chucked out my home ones. My lovely plot neighbour has given up, so I have one of his blackcurrants now too. And I've finally dug up and divided my biggest rhubarb -planted a bit at the shady end to establish a new colony there, but k still have 3 or 4 other crowns so I won't go short...

I did dig up my unproductive goji, but if appears to be growing again, so maybe a bit layered?
Talking of layering, I has a loganberry at home in a big pot, which I got 2 new plantlets from - I looked at hem last week and they were very very rooty, so they've been planted out yesterday with the bigg'un to follow asap.

'Veg' wise, tomatoes, of course. But at home, not at the plot due to blight. Unless I have way way way too many plants, when I might take my runts over, if I have space to fill.

Tomatoes to repeat are: Pineapple, Black Krim, Black Cherry, Garden Peach, Gardener's Delight. Maybe golden nugget in baskets. Not sure about Tigerella or Green Zebra as I didn't get a single fruit from them last year.

No to corn, spuds and big slow brassicas (ones that take ages to grow and need constamt cover) for me this year. But I will try more salads and greens. Probably. Unless the slugs are bad again. Oh, and I am going to crack beetroot and radish this year. And do more turnips.

And Yy to courgettes and squash - I'll never get bored of them. Not sure about the tromboncino again this year though - they were fun, nice and tall as I grew them on an arch, really prolific and good keepers... but so very bland!