Allotment/Veg Patch -Thread 8 - Its spring - time to get busy!

[bookbook]

Thought I had better get a new thread ready to roll!
It has been a long, soggy winter , but the clocks go back soon, we may see the sun , so it will be all go, go ,go
Everyone welcome, join us the celebrate and commiserate on the joys of vegetables
previous thread HERE

Here's my little pond, and some wider shots of the new border garden and the whole back garden, with vegetable patch on the left. I am so happy with how it looks and can't wait for late Spring/early Summer, plus more wildlife (fingers crossed).

Re nematodes 1112: I think they work well. I've not tried beer traps etc because I have small children who like to drink out of puddles...

Had no idea PSB got so big!

Grouchy I love your border!

That looks so lovely and sweet kiwi - you must be chuffed!

Afternoon!
well, got back home after being to big town.
clara - snap - last year the kale was like a forest, this year very poor.
Grouchy your borders and pond are lovely and very, very tidy! :)
I have been back to the plot this afternoon to pick PSB, and made an executive decision to also pick the asparagus . We have been told there is a possibility of a frost on Monday, so I thought we may as well have it instead of the frost nipping the ends. It has been so dry here for the last two weeks - its spindly in comparison to last year, but hopefully the two slightly later varieties will bulk up a bit .

Everybody's gardens and allotments are looking lovely. Meanwhile, mine still look like a patch of mud

MIL dropped over some broad beans, potatoes and garlic to plant - can I plant those straight out now or is it still too early?

Gin - but it's a beautifully prepared patch of mud, full of glorious promise!!

(My garden is starting to look good, but my allotment is still looking quite empty).

nice to see you shove :) - you have got everything moved safe and sound?
Gin - your MIL knows - all can be planted out ( maybe check broad beans are hardened off if they are small)
my allotment is not empty , but just getting to the messy stage - stuff planted out, stuff still under nets, areas getting ready to be shimmed and planted - the chickweed is starting to go mad in the patches that have been mulched over winter...

Hi shove!

Gin It looks so tidy and exciting!

I was looking through photos of my children earlier and found this one of last year's garden (and DD2). It's amazing the difference a few months makes (this would be late July/early August).

Hooray! I've broken up for Easter, now I will be able to really get cracking.

Arghhh - Just caught the weather - its forecast 2º tonight around here !!
Tomatoes in from the greenhouse tonight.

Where are you book?! It's saying 6/7 degrees overnight here!

On the edge of the Yorkshire Wolds Gin - and am out in the country- it says 4º on the web mind you . Whereabouts are you?

Aaah! What a lovely area of the country. I'm in the Home Counties!

book I never ever thought of raised beds. Now I'm wondering if that might be an easier option as I really can't imagine when I'll get it all dug up at this rate.

I've got tomatoes in the greenhouse too. Again, as a very incompetent gardener, I didn't even think I should take them in overnight. But, I checked the forecast for tonight too and 3° (I'm also in Yorkshire) so I'm off to bring mine in too.

I've realised that having so much to learn still, I should just make it my moto to 'do what bookbook does' . She knows what she's doing; she's also battling clay and she's in Yorkshire too. Only difference is she's got loads more experience.

This my greenhouse/polytunnel thingy. It's not actually either; a combination really. Tbh, I would have preffered a flat pack polytunnel that I could have erected in a weekend but I was away from home for a few weeks and in the meantime, DH (who usually hardly ever goes to the allotment) decided to surprise me and construct this. He used all the old hardwood from the old fence around our house and paid someone to give him a hand.
When I saw it, I was a bit worried as I feel it doesn't let much light in but it was such a sweet gesture and he'd put so much thought and effort into trying to surprise me with a gift of something that I'd really like and wanted that I hadn't the heart to tell him what worried me about it. He did buy me a lovely handbag too, and a king size bed for us as I'd been moaning a little about the old broken one.
Anyway, I got back before it was complete and then his schedule got busy at work so we didn't end up putting any polythene over it. He wanted to use polycarbonate sheeting but it would have been far too expensive. We left it over winter and I've ordered some polythene online a few days ago.
The ground within is, as you can see, hard as a rock. Would raised beds filled with multipurpose compost be better? Or should I dig and add manure?

I have been busy but just thought I would pop back before bed >
Lulooo - you are almost right , but I am not on clay, I am on chalk- right butt up to the Wolds , and not quite so sure about knowing what I am doing......
I would definitely try to break that heavy pan first - a mattock or something, just to get through the compaction. Then grit and loads of anything you can lay your hands on would my plan. I hesitate to say this - but I'm not sure there is enough light in there - is it open at the top?

Old raised beds have now been re-arranged due to cabin arrival. Herbs in the top level and I'm going to stick some veg in the others in a few week as we're still getting frequent overnight frosts here. The bark seems to be doing a good job of preventing their use as a cat toilet so far.

I really want to grow pumpkins again but not sure I have the space now, when I grew them the other year they took over everything.

Any other suggestions for container stuff to grow. We've still got some landscaping to do at that end of the garden so I need moveable stuff until we know what will go where

Morning everyone. Please may I ask advice about sweetcorn? I'm in the North West and have no greenhouse, cold frame or polytunnel so all seeds will be sown indoors, left on the windowsill then hardened off & planted on the allotment. We Dohave very little room indoors so I'll have to find space for climbing French beans indoors too. Do you think it would be too early to sow them now? I'm worried about leaving it too late to get decent cobs but also i can't have loads of large seedlings hanging around the house waiting for the last frosts!

Morning!
tiz- lots of stuff can be grown in them - spinach, lettuce, beetroot etc.
Could you train pumpkin/squashes up a trellis or arch . My friend grows them over a wicker pyramid to take up less room.
timtam - I sowed my sweetcorn last Saturday afternoon. They are on my sunniest windowsill- nearly south facing. I have kept them virtually sub tropical - in separate pots, but inside a covered tray. I have had 16 germinate so far - my best result ever . I will be moving them out to the greenhouse though as they get bigger, so maybe leave a little while longer? Last frost here is supposedly the second week of May.

Afternoon!

Well, it is GLORIOUS here, and I hope it is good for you all too.
I finally did my paths - I went early ish, but still I roasted. I'm actually a bit burnt, despite my factor 50. And an arch went up, my blackberry went in. But mostly I was doing paths, and bagging up couch turf. It is going to the tip - I know that makes me a bad economic person, but I can't make any more weedy hillocks which will bake solid and not as planned, into lovely friable loam.

Then I came home and lounged. Good times. I've not done any more sowing, although I may tomorrow.

Back home, I have this weed, creeping under the fence from next door. It looks a bit like bindweed leaves, but it doesn't have the thick root. Anyone have any ideas? Please tell me it's not a Bad Weed?

YES tiz join the archers. I go vertical as I don't have much space. Arches only about £6. I've grown squash and beans on mine but this year I'm moving to fruit. Last year I had tromboncino squash on and arch, and they were really effective! Grew huge, and the kids loved them. Not sure if I'm doing tromboncino this year as I want to try a new climbing yellow courgette.

Where could I get some cheap wigwam/obelisk type things to grow beans up, does anybody know?

Not much has been done here today (what a scorcher though!)

I've marked out the paths and DP found some gravel at work which he's brought home this evening. He also has a day off tomorrow (hooray!) so we are going to plant the potatoes, broad beans and garlic, and make the gravel pathways. We've got a few other bits to do in the front garden, and then I might suggest we go and raid MIL's garden for cuttings to make the veg patch a bit more attractive.

Evening!
nothing plotwise done here today, due to a catalogue of all sorts .
anyway Spotted - that does look a bit like the white flowered convolvulus, but I could well be wrong...
Gin - try Aldi/Lidl/Wilkos - something like this?
obelisk - only 1.5 m high though

We had a beautiful day too, Spotted, and I also have some sunburn, though I didn't put on any sun screen. Oops.

I spent the day weeding the vegetable beds, trimming edges, sowing more seeds (peas, spinach, lettuce, spring onions, nasturtiums, borage and marigolds), putting out a few trial seedlings since it's so warm here and is meant to continue being settled for the next few weeks, and finally doing my cherry tomatoes. Hopefully they'll grow quickly on the windowsill. I also moved some of the stripey tomatoes to big pots and sowed some new herbs to replace things that were past their best: parsley and sage. I'm trying again with the dill this year, though I have little hope that it will work.

And I made some more structures for my peas & nasturtiums to climb over, so I hope they work! If not, I guess I'll have to get some arches too.