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

Thanks for the welcome - am down in London.

I do very little watering usually but am thinking will have to soon! Haven't seen a drop of rain in ages.

lulooo - your site sounds LOVELY! I am . It sounds like you have a lot of different kinds of crops, and a lot of different approaches there, - it's great to be able to learn from other people and different traditions like that. I often feel like I grow really standard things, so it's great to hear about new crops and new ideas!

And it's SO encouraging to hear about youngsters taking on a plot. One of the things that's bad about Sheffield as a city is that we have the highest rents in the country for plots, and it really stops youngsters (and some older retired people) from being able to afford a plot. Some had to give up sites they'd spend years caring for when they suddenly increased the amount it cost. That just doesn't seem right.

I wonder if the 'kale' could be callaloo (Amaranthus)? That is used in a lot of Jamaican dishes!

When I get back from being away, I am going to hunt down some proper palak. I live in a part of the city with a lot of Indian grocery stores, so I bet I can buy it just up the road if I know what to ask for. Is there anything I need to know about cooking it that is different from spinach? I would LOVE to get good at cooking curries. Mine always taste rubbish compared to my local Indian (Kashmiri Aroma, I think they might have West Yorkshire branches too!).

Stop it you lot, I've just text DP if we can have curry tonight, and I hold you responsible!

Don't forget the naan bread gin!

And what about some gulab jamun for dessert??!

Well, just back in,
went out to water everything - righted the mini greenhouse ( luckily nothing in it yet). It is incredibly breezy out there, and bone dry.
Loving the sound of your site Lulooo and the spinach and cluster beans :) Its such a shame when a stalwart goes missing, and you have no idea if they will come back. My DH hates the wind - so no chance that I could drag him anywhere in this!
alice - dry everywhere I think! We normally are - I am in East Yorkshire, but to have no rain, and watering outside stuff is definitely a bit weird for April here.. I grew cucamelons last year, but tbh not overly bothered with doing them again. But very prolific !- Just really, really don't bother with asparagus pea. Just saying
Gin - definitely curry ( gah - out for a meal tonight - really want curry now) and lots of raita - we tend to make our own.
Peas - I have sown some direct , but as most of last years did not turn up ( yes, I do believe mice) I sowed a lot in pots at the same time. They are hardened off just about, and just getting their tendrils going, so I will hopefully be planting those out this weekend. I will then do some more for a bit of succession.
Grouchy - i find bean seeds everywhere - considering their size, how do they get dropped, and you can't see them?
Did I say that DGS and I planted up 3 potatoes in a pot yesterday? We shall see if the planting technique works.

1. fill tub halfway up, grandma adds fish, blood and bone, stirs in, adds a layer of compost.

2 DGS picks up potato tightly by the chitted stalk and drops from about 8" in to tub.( grandma winces)

1. DGS chucks more compost on top, and enthusiastically waters .

I await results...

gah ! It was Una trying the James Wong cucamelon recommendation - Welcome! - serves me right for reading too quickly....

love the potato-planting technique book, it really made me laugh! They have clearly been planted with gusto, and will no doubt grow big and strong as a result!

Don't you just love the delicate touch of a child book? hope the potatoes work!

Here's a quick picture of progress so far. Not very exciting, but slightly more exciting than the patch of mud! I haven't finished laying the bricks because I ran out, but I have planted creeping thyme between the bricks and the paving stones. I'm really itching to paint the wall, and to get rid of the hedges at the back.

Everything I plant in that bit beneath the wall always dies. It's very annoying. The only things I've tried are things that are supposed to survive anywhere! I'm wondering if sedum might survive, but I think they need a bit more sun really.

It is looking good Gin - love the paths . in front of the wall looks tricky - is it always in shade? Could you put pots there to raise the plants above the wall? shove is the shade expert here.

Thanks for the pea tips everybody

I'm just sitting here looking at my garden and realising that I have to cut the grass again - only did it on Friday! We haven't had any rain in ages so I don't know why it's growing so much - the overnight dew must be keeping it going.

Weeds in plot and flower beds are also doing very well!

It is always shady, and the back garden seems to be a heat trap, so anything gets very warm and dry in that spot as well. Not great conditions! I thought of having something grow above the wall to fall down, but MIL pointed out that any plant would lean the opposite direction as that's where the sun is!

That spot had four(!) leylandii in there when we first moved in, and even they were dead on the bottom half. I'm wondering whether to just put gravel down and forget about having something planted there...

Actually, there were five! I've just found these old photos from last spring, which has actually cheered me up no end, seeing how different it is now! (Even if there is still so much to do)

definitely some fruit bushes i pots then Gin :) - how about blueberries?
IlPorcupino - weeds definitely.. the first cut only done last week, but yes, due another one ( though first cut is usually on a high setting, maybe thats why) Peas in pots work well, but you just need so many. I did try germinating in a length of guttering ( pierced some holes for drainage) and that worked well, apart from it not going quite to plan when I needed to plant them out. ( according to the Andi Clevely book, just push them out gently out into a trough made for them - well huh, they didn't push out at all it was a right shemozzle! )

gin - it's looking LOVELY! I can really see your design emerging and it's so exciting!!

I have a couple of suggestions for your dark patch. The first is to put on compost, compost and more compost - twice a year. When I first started doing my current front garden, nothing would grow - not even weeds. I'm serious! It was just this waste of dirt. I decided to double dig it, and I found that the bedrock was about 30cm underneath the ground, and the soil had compacted so much it had formed a pan. Even when that was sorted out and loads of organic matter added, it was a problem. Over the course of about 3 years I've been adding compost and fertilising, and now the soil is good enough for things to grow and thrive - but it really has taken a long time. I suspect that multiple doses of organic matter are sometimes needed to get the soil going again - my (totally unscientific, unproven, and non-evidenced) theory is that things can go badly wrong with the microbial balance and that it can take a while to recover.

The other suggestion is something I mention a LOT for problem places, so you've probably heard it from me before - Campanula poscharskyana. This grows right under privet for me (see picture) - it's about the only thing that does, so I have planted it right along all my hedges in the front. It has a long flowering season, with a star-shaped purple flower, and a slight tendency to climb upwards, which would also help soften your wall! If you can be patient, a small clump each side will quickly spread enough that you can divide it and help it along!

On reading the thread this morning I planted my broadbeans out in the plot, thanks Shove. I was umming and arring as I am going away for the weekend too. My first potatoes are up and the raspberry canes are getting lots of leaves on them. A little incongruity at the allotments today, a policeman wandered in looking for 'Kevin', all the old boys there went very quiet, until the PC explained he was meeting him there and 'Kevin' is the site manager.

I just bought some of those campanula seeds, shove, because I remembered you mentioning them and I need to pretty up my shade garden.

Love the shapes you've defined there Gin - looks very elegant!

Ah thank you guys!

I like the idea of fruit bushes in pots on the patio, so I may try that when we have some large pots!

shove the campanula looks great - it looks really sweet and would blend well with the look of thyme and aubretia around the gaps in the paths I think

Morning! I'm after some advice... my runner bean is growing beautifully, but I don't want to plant it out yet (following advice from this fab thread about waiting until after the last frosts). I'm worried it's getting a bit too big. Any tips on what I should do now? Re-pot? Or pinch bits out? (I don't really know what that means ) It's the only runner bean seed that actually germinated and I'm very proud of it so I don't want to mess it up now

Can someone reassure me that my windowsill germinated and grown seedlings aren't going to die the second the hit fresh air? I read an article online that basically said if you haven't got an indoor grow light set up, don't bother!

My courgettes seem to be thriving (I had to transfer them into little pots yesterday as they'd outgrown the seed tray) and runner beans are all germinating too!

Am I doomed though? I'm worrying now!

I don't have any advise jelly but am admiring the new plant!

Oh rose I hope not, as I'm doing the same! I've been trundling out with the pots during the day for some outdoor time (when it's not been too windy) so I'm hoping the shock of the outside in May won't be too great for them, but I don't really know if that's what you're supposed to do!

Jelly and Rose. It's a bit like having children, as they get older you have to let them play outside on their own for a while. That gradually increases as sleepovers are allowed in your back garden, and finally they are allowed to sleep in another bed. Google 'hardening off' but some sites sound really over careful suggesting cold frames etc.