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

Evening!
welcome to alicemalice and Surpriseeggsforbreakfast
Jump straight in and join the chat. As I am exceedingly nosey, would you care to let us know approximately were you are ? There is such a divergence of growing climes !
IlPorcupino - I am no expert on aubergines - its my third year of trying. I managed to get 1 last year. They need a lot of light and warmth I've surmised. That is why I am trying to get the to a good size by May, so they can get going in the greenhouse. I grew them in compost bags, just like my tomatoes.
I pot up my PSB up to first set of leaves and plant out in very solid ground - they have to stand over the worst of the winter gales.
Gosh it feels chilly tonight, just been to bring in my tomatoes, and its windy too...

I haven't done any gardening today, but had a lovely time at Kew! I took some pictures of their Royal Kitchen Garden for inspiration.... ha ha ha! If only. I particularly liked the perennial bed with herbs and rhubarb mixed among the flowers. And the tiny herb plants framing the veg beds!

One can dream Gin. I hope you had a really good day. It looks lovely and sunny in your photos.

Well as per Wong book I ordered red PVC material to go under strawberries (note to self do not google red PVC when you have a child watching. There were questions) and some edible grade jasmine oil. This was harder to find than I thought- maybe now is the time to invest in case the world is about to go Wong crazy. Then we spent the day at the beach so no gardening at all but everyone was happy. It's lucky it's not bare root season because The Book is making me crave the purchase of large numbers of slightly obscure fruit tree varieties.

Weather looking a bit grey this morning. Glad we did Kew yesterday while it was still sunny!

I'm going to line the veg patch paths with bricks today (well, start to) and then head to the garden centre to get some sort of mulch. Am kicking myself slightly for not making my own in the Autumn with all the fallen leaves, but I'll remember to do it this year.

I'm bursting with ideas from Kew yesterday, but must calm down...

Managed to get up to the plot yesterday evening, and get in first early and salad potatoes (I'm late with the former!) and to plant out my broad bean seedlings, which I grew in pods - they had nice strong roots. I put both into beds where I'd dumped manure and woodchip over the winter, and the soil underneath was looking absolutely lovely, so really pleased with that

My purple cape caulis are starting to head up, and I have hopes that my PSB and perennial caulis may start soon (how are yours doing, book?). I'm starting to get a few asparagus spears too, hooray!

In the greenhouse, my leaf celery and celeriac 'tellus' are through.

I'm going away tomorrow for a week - so feeling a bit like I am abandoning all my baby plants at the most delicate stage! Today will be about cutting some capillary matting for the greenhouse to try to get them through. I'll leave the door open and just pray that it doesn't get too hot...

What are perennial cauliflowers shove?! Are they really perennial?

And are you off anywhere nice?

Perennial caulis are a Grand Experiment book and I are conducting for the greater good of humanity!

Well, not quite. But we did both buy them independently yet simultaneously from the same nursery!! Which was OK, but the plants did arrive just a little bit more beaten up than I would have liked.

They are supposed to produce small heads in season for something like 5 years! I am impatiently waiting for my first...

Oooo. That sounds like something I could be interested in!

Morning!
When you see veg gardens out and about they are amazing. I saw the one at Harlow Carr last year, and yes, full of ideas.
Cath - it is the tomato Crimson Crush I am going to hunt for next year - he recommended it for flavour (and blight resistance for extra usefulness)
shove - the perennial cauliflowers are looking very healthy, and growing on nicely - I am going to have to change my little mesh tunnel for hoops and nets soon, but no sign of a curd yet. Mind you, I haven't furtled in the greenery as such :) -( they do like to hide, don't they). And snap - finally my leaf celery has just shown some of germination - its tiny! . I was starting to think I had done something wrong, checking every day for signs of life , but they have started to pop out . Is that your new replacement asparagus ?
Tricky with the greenhouse - I think its going to be quite cold overnight, warm during the day- gardeners worst scenario. But have a lovely time away .
Very grey here too, but am out all day today - I haven't done any proper work at the plot since Sunday. Need to get into gear and get stuck in tomorrow.

x post!

book - it's going to be quite overcast here by the looks of the forecast, with quite a bit of rain. For once, instead of comparing the east of England to Sheffield and having a sulk about the lack of sun where I live, I'm actually grateful! I'll leave the door open with mesh over it in case it turns out sunnier than anticipated. (I'm off to Aldeburgh, where it is due to be much sunnier, hooray).

gin - we got them from Victoriana nursery, if you want to join the experiment!!

ooh lovely shove - we were there last year in the most amazing B.&B. Loved the beach and the scallop . Have a lovely time!

That's quite a trek for you shove! Have a lovely time. We are off to North Norfolk for the weekend so I shall wave to Aldeburgh on the way past!

And, I think I might look into joining the experiment, although perhaps an amateur shouldn't be branching away from beginner veg yet

My parents and sister and increasingly disreputable 90 year old grandma (who now goes around the world hitting things with her stick and loudly commenting on womens' weight in public) all live in Suffolk, so I'm going to be seeing a bit of them too, which will be nice.

I do like North Norfolk too (though if any fellow Suffolkers hear me say that they will be demanding my gun and my badge). I spent a very good long weekend in Holt a while ago, and it was lovely! Have a wonderful time.

And I think you'll be fine with the perennial caulis, gin - they really aren't difficult at all. They come as plugs - all you have to do is whack them in and water!

I was sceptical about North Norfolk when we first started going there because it's so flat (I'm Welsh and like mountains and uneven land ) but we have a passed-down holiday cottage on the harbour, and it's just an easy place to go with family/dogs etc and not too far away. It's also about the only place we ever go, because we can never book holidays in advance, and DP can be convinced to leave his tractor for 24 hours on the promise of golf!

I do like it, but I'm definitely not one of your typical Norfolk holiday-er in a Breton top and designer dog

Anyway. Enough non-gardening rambling! Sorry! Am off to start lugging bricks up from the drive...

Feeling a bit glum about the weather today. Light showers and a bit windy too (West Yorkshire). DH is at home today morning and we'd planned to go and put the polythene over my greenhouse. Now he's moaning a bit and has put the heater on and snuggled up with his work in front of it and it's going to be a mission trying to coax him away and come down with me to the plot.

I've started hardening off some of my peas, beans and spinach that I'd started off indoors. Hoping to plant them out next week. This year I've got palak spinach seeds from India which has germinated well. I'd grown spinach beet and chard for the past two years but as an Indian family we usually eat 2 types of greens the most- palak and fenugreek. I grow fenugreek regularly and just buy a pack of seeds from the Indian grocers that I scatter in any bare patch for a quick crop but couldn't find palak seeds anyway so got some posted from India. They seem to be doing well so far. I have a fair bit of extra seeds so if anyone wants some, please send a pm and I'll post some out to you.
I also have some 'papdi beans' from India that seem to be growing well. Papdi is a Gujarati word; I'm not sure what we call them in English. Google tells me they're called green flat beans. They're my favourite type of beans so I got some of those seeds in too. They can be cooked in the pods when they're tender and the beans can be removed and cooked separately too. Again, if anyone wants some please send me a pm and I'll post some out.

These are my palak and papdi seedlings. Palak looks a bit clustered now so really need to get a move on with pricking them out and planting out.

I always thought palak was spinach! Clearly not from those seedlings! What does it taste like?

Never heard of papdi beans either! They are pretty seedings. I googled them and it said they are the source of guar gum, which is one of those ingredients you see everywhere and wonder where it comes from!

I LOVE people growing unusual things I've never seen before! It's so great!

Palak is a type of spinach. But it's not the English type, IYKWIM. To those of us who've eaten palak all our life, it tastes distinctly different. I tried to fob some spinach beet off to my mum telling her it was 'like palak'. She was a bit miffed when she saw it.

I also tried growing two more of our favourite veg 'guwar sing' which is cluster beans in English, I think, and bottle gourd. Both failed and I've got zero germination from the cluster beans.
However, another plot holder on our site grows lots of bottle gourd so next year I'll ask him for some seeds rather than trying to get some from India.
I actually have a few heads poking out from the bottle gourd. Not sure if it's too late. I read they need a long growing season but I'll carry on and see how far I get with them.

It has been pretty much dry here for a couple of weeks, with strong drying winds to go with it. I've been watering the garden nearly every day, which is so weird for Scotland!

Might be seeing some little pea shoots popping up but will have to wait till they reveal their true selves! And I found what looks like a broad bean sprouting up nowhere near where I planted the others. No idea how it got there but since it seems to like the area I'll leave it for now. Might use it to plug a gap if the rest of the ones I sowed fail to grow properly.

I do love reading about what everyone is doing!

And Gin: you're very bad. I am now coveting a brick border along my gardens but convincing DH that it's a Good Plan we should spend money on will take some doing!

My peas are not appearing at all yet - sown about 10-12 days ago at plot, under netting - I wonder has a mouse made off with them? I can't see any disturbance though. Will have to do some in pots and see if they come up. Perhaps they were duff seeds (might have been old ones).

I am now wondering whether the palak curry my local curry house serves has 'real' palak in it or whether they have substituted another kind of green leaf! Can you grow the bottle gourd outdoors where you are lulooo or does it need to be in the greenhouse?

grouchy - yes, really dry here! But due to rain this week.

I love growing new things though there's always that feeling of not knowing what on earth you're doing and indeed whether you're going to like them! This year we're trying cucamelon, hamburg parsley, inca berries and hyacinth beans - all James Wong's fault!

Porcupino, last year I sowed peas directly and ended up with maybe 3-4 plants. I sowed more and spent ages erecting an elaborate netting over them that would deter birds and still nothing. My plot neighbour who has had her plot for 25 years (my 2nd year this year) told me that mice always get them and not to sow direct. So this year, I've sown at home and will take them over to the plot next week.

shove, your local Indian most likely has palak. When its in season, it's cheaper than chips to buy. Most Indian shops selling 3 bunches for a quid and sometimes 5 bunches for a quid. Out of season, it's a bit dearer but not that much. The spinach from supermarkets is actually dearer than palak.

Bottle gourd can be grown outdoors. The family who grow it on our site grow about 30 plants and get loads of them. I don't know what they do with them all. They can't eat them all, surely. Someone mentioned that they sell them at a market.
They gave me a couple last year. I haven't seen them around this year and their plot looks a bit neglected too. I hope they come back soon. They're a really helpful family. We have a bit of a ghost site with a few empty plots and quite a few occupants have mentioned in passing how that family has helped them clear their entire plot, or put up a fence or dig up a tree stump or lifted heavy things for them. One elderly gentleman who is in a wheelchair took a plot and they spent a whole weekend clearing his plot which was in a terrible state. I was amazed when I saw it. The elderly lady to my left always waits for them or some young lads to move stuff around for her. Theres a bunch of young lads about 17-23 years old who have taken a plot too. They spent a few months last year clearing it and are still at it this year. About 7 of them; all young Asian lads. They've erected a fence successfully. A bit of an eyesore but an excellent effort. It's refreshing to see a bunch of young boys take an interest in gardening.

We have quite a diverse site. This family is Pakistani, I'm of Indian origin. There's a Jamaican gentleman who grows nothing but kale as they use it every day in cooking. I say kale, because thats what he call it. It doesnt look like any kale that I've seen in shops though. We have some European plot holders and one of them, a Latvian lady who speaks very little English and who I communicate with gestures only, has the most amazing plot. Very simple and clean with soil that looks so light and crumbly I want to bathe in it. She has these clever methods of recycling and making use of twigs and branches and grasses etc to tie and protect stuff with. I feel silly spending money on twine and clips when I see how effectively she does the same things for free.
There's so much to learn from other people and cultures and methods. I do love it.