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

Just had a quick google LaContessa - D T Browns and Mr Fothergills are saying despatch in 7 days - maybe worth an ask- or are you after a particular variety? ( I know they lie mind...)

book thanks, I have seen those - was just hoping for a personal recommendation as Thompson & Morgan will definitely take your money for said vegetable and then return it with a sad face!!

I will probably ask around on the plot next. I don't know why I've got a bee in my bonnet about them but I really fancy trying them this year!

I wonder if I could just try growing one from a shop?

LaContessa jerusalem artichokes are something you beg, borrow or steal from other plot holders.
Bees are out in force here, they love the rosemary, so have put one of the bushes on the allotment.

Ask around for Jerusalem artichokes first. I've got loads coming up and would happily offload a few.

I have dropped a suitably obsequious note on the group FB page - thanks! You never know......

Quite the frost this morning, but then it turned glorious. And a bit scorchio.
So off I went to my parched plot in the middle of the day to plant my peas! I'm doing Shiraz again, a mange tout. They seem healthy enough plants, but that is a veggie miracle as I grew them so badly. I bunged far too many in tiny pots, as I'd run out of deeper pots sowing and re sowing my broadies. Yet the broadies rotted, and my peas thrived. Most odd.

I watered, a lot, too. My blackcurrant still isn't in leaf or flower - I wish I knew what variety it is, it is so late compared to my others. IIRC, it's also my 1st (of many) blackcurrant bushes. The fruit is setting now on the redcurrants and gooseberries, and the raspberries are popping up all over the shop. I've relocated so many rasps already -on the plot, in my and my mum's garden. I had better have a glut this year...

We've had some gorgeous tulips popping up here, no idea what most of them are but I hope they keep coming back!

Hello all, lovely hearing about all your plots! I am dispirited about seeds - planted bn squash, cukes and courgettes in pots in the greenhouse on the 7th April - no sign yet so I've brought them into the laundry which is very warm, one cuke has popped it's head up but nothing else yet. Bergamot is not doing anything in greenhouse, nope awe, only 4 out of 16 sunflowers ..... Aargh! Will try sowing again if nothing happens by the weekend. I may be guilty of keeping old seed packets so perhaps that's the problem.

my tulips are all gone now.
blue bells and mayflowers are up.

my red and currant bushes are in flower - lots of flowers.
the tomatoes suffered a bit with the dry weather, but still some nice strong plants.

Finally managed a trip down to the plot today. Still so much to do. I usually make a list of things to do when I'm home and then pick stuff depending on my mood that day and the time I have.

Today I decided to extend some of my beds. Two of my strawberry beds end about half a metre before the edge of my plot so I removed the planks of wood marking the end and dug up to extend them right to the edge. I should hopefully have enough space to fit all my little strawberry plants in now.

I also dug up another bed next to a rarely used pathway that was quite wide. I now have a narrower path and a wider bed. Pretty pleased with both efforts, although I haven't finished yet and need to tidy up and dig over again.

I realised that rather than hankering after a new plot that I will most likely, not be able to keep up with, I should make better use of the space I have on this plot.

Porcupino, don't be too disheartened. I've often had hit and miss with my seeds. Some things thrive and some don't even see the light of the day.
My courgettes looked like they'd never appear but just last night I noticed a few head popping up after 5 weeks. Only 3 of my 7 butternut squash had germinated too but again, yesterday, I'd noticed another tiny sliver of green in the compost. My sunflowers have not shown their heads at all. I sowed about 30 this time as I wanted to line them up against the fence but I don't think I'll even have one. But I've got lots of stuff that has germinated and from experience for the past couple of years I've realised that it's just trial and error and a lot of luck, wishing and praying.

Evening!
Spotted - that is not sounding very good on the blackcurrant does it - but great to hear the others are doing well.
IlPorcupino - its sometimes hard to know what is happening. This year, we had such a warm spell, everything popped up really quickly - now things are colder , its slower. I peer at my curcubits every day, no sign yet...o
Lulooo - its surprising that a bit here and there add up to quite a lot of space who needs wide paths anyway? -( I am going to be harvesting my perpetual spinach to try out your recipe tomorrow :) )
I did another bout of prepping today, just plodding on , lovely day though.
My direct sown peas have all come through - the mice didn't get them and then heard that next week we have Northerly winds , cold with possible wintry showers

I'm not looking forward to going back to work next week but at least I may be able to spend a couple of evenings at the plot. I have finished planting the last few stragglers of the broad beans, but still have another two trays in the mini greenhouse due to the slow germination of some very out of date beans. I have planted my first row of spinach seedlings in the plot and have earthed up my first row of first earlies. Up by the 'not so leaning shed' I have been pulling up old carpet and putting down the paving slabs.
Question - At the allotment people are sowing pea seedlings but covering them with either cloche type cages or plastic veg boxes, is this to guard against pigeons? If I let my peas get a bit bigger before planting out will I need this type of protection?

elephantoverthehill sounds like you have had some very productive time on the plot. We had a week off at the end of March and that week off was a real boost to getting the plot 'open for business' for the new season. I hope you find you have benefited in the same way (not to mention the fresh air!).

We put fleece over our direct sown peas as much as anything to keep pigeons off. I think that once peas are going and have a bit of root down in the soil then they are less appealing to wildlife.

I forgot to mention, while on the allotment on Sunday (shovelling horse poo - oh the glamour!) I saw a fox run across the field. No skinny urban fox this but a really healthy stocky looking creature.

It reminded me of the time I noticed some digging on my plot and found a goose egg! A fox must have carried it right across the field from the plot with geese to bury it under my french beans!

IlPorcupino relax, it has been less than two weeks. Yesterday I verbally abused the courgettes for not growing, today it is evident that four out of six are growing, just not as fast as I would like. Today I was checking on gherkin seed, they are just starting to split and would probably prefer me to not dig them up. Hang on in there and sow another lot next week. Tends to prompt the first lot to germinate and the worst outcome is you have baby plants to trade.
elephant I have just planted out the first lot of peas, without any real protection, just lots of twiggy sticks. I do seem to be working on a reckless do or die this year. My spinach is so out of date, germination rate is in single figures.

I tend to use canes and chicken wire around them to give the peas something to twine up- the pigeons do tend to demolish unprotected stuff here, of anything edible !
Gnome - we have rabbits ......
I work on the sowing twice as well :) I'd rather have too many, than too few

On the plus side, I have potted up the first pumpkin. Now we just need to remember if the seed was from the giant pumpkin or the really tasty blue one

We sowed grass seed out the front over the weekend, which seems to solely be a food supply for the village pigeons

At least they are keeping off the veg patch, though. For now. We also have crows nesting in one of the chimneys. It will be a miracle if anything grows!

Ha! You're right Pest I am staring at the pots willing them to get a move on, too impatient! Two cukes have appeared in the heat so I'm a bit happier today!

IT IS RAINING
I don't normally shout but yipee.
Leeks on plot still looking like runtish grass but there are still 55 of them alive. First lot of peas are still unmolested by pigeons.
Still on one gherkin

I keep trying to catch up (still only up to lunchtime last Friday). So many new people - hello ( who the hell is she ?), so many pages in one month!!!!!

I'll catch up more and come back later (May?). . .

Morning!

well, it was sunny, and warm , so things were put out to bask out of the greenhouse. It is now dark and ominous, and the temp has dropped 3º . We are not forecast rain.....
I too am urging on the curcubits on my spare bedroom windowsill. If I squint, I think I can see a suggestion of a courgette, and also the second sowing of sweetcorn seems to have 2 or 3 tiny green shoots too.
I have pricked out my peppers - 5 germinated out of 8 planted, so I have enough thanks goodness.
I have sown some red cos lettuce, leeks and winter savoy this morning too, as well as potting up DGS's sunflowers into bigger pots (he must have a green thumb - 7 out of 8 germinated ! ) .
Everything else is pootling along - all the beetroot and carrots I sowed in plugs are up, so next week I will sow some more for succession purposes.

Just been catching up with the thread. It's moving fast at the moment! After a week away we ended up planting potatoes on the warmest day of the year so far. Then last week I was off work and managed to get quite a lot done at the allotment so don't feel like I'm as behind as I was. In fact, I'm not really behind because I'm planting about the same time as last year. It's just the weather has been so much nicer that it feels like I'm behind.
Having said that we had a bit of frost on the cars yesterday morning (south east) so still need to keep an eye on things.

We had a bonfire the other day to get rid of some of the rubbish from our new bit of plot. And I've managed to weed around some of the fruit bushes there. Have also planted short rows of beetroot and chard.

We could do with some rain though.

I started some stuff off in pots on Monday and had spent the last couple of days looking hopefully at them even though I know there will be nothing coming up yet

Definitely noticing things are slower now - have done a second sowing of some things but it may just be a bit cold. Not sure whether to resow the sweetcorn or just give it longer - so hard to get it to germinate that I always assume the worst! I have resowed carrots and beetroot as the cat from next-door has dug them all up - have put some wire mesh over and will get some cat repellent to scatter around. But the peas and tomatoes are looking great - so random!