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

Spent most of today in my garden in the sun, but with friends and kids so more playing than gardening. The kids (girls 4-6) had a whale of a time making mud pies and potions out of leaves and mud and sticks and all ended up very messy but very happy. It was fab!

I did manage to do a bit of weeding and planted my final spuds - Kerr's Pinks from Ireland. And I got masses of lovely rhubarb from my allotment neighbour :)

So a much less disheartening day than yesterday!

Back from a weekend spent doing good works on the allotment. Only one more bed on the new plot needs to be dug and rotavated.

Wonderfully sunny weather. Seems almost unbelievable that we have such bad weather in store this week. However, I have taken note of the warnings and fleeced what I can.

Here are this week's pictures. I am trying to keep a photo diary of the year. I am hoping it will encourage us to keep on top of things.

grouchy - yes please try PVC and then you too can post picture of ashamed strawberries and I can feel less alone. Siena this morning on the beach and by the time I got back the greenhouse plants were all drama drama flopping about. I am currently veering between overwatering so I feel like I am 'doing' something and cooking them.

Went to the beach! I don't know any Siennas.

I read it as 'siesta' on the beach, which sounds like bliss :)

gnome your allotment looks pleasingly best and very professional.

I potted up new gooseberries in two massive pots as I've realised I have no bed space left for incoming plum trees and no plan. I have a bit of bed I can use but it's quite shady and dry so not ideal.

I did get to read my book while the girls mucked about so it was as close as I get to siestas and was very lovely. Not sure if it's the weather but lots of agave type plants have got these ridiculous huge flower spikes on. Saw one the other day which was massive with a bulbous end and about 5m high. Staring at it with my in laws - all of us studiously not mentioning how rude it looked.

gnome what lovely big beds!

I've got a load of runner bean and courgette seedlings in one of those mini outdoor greenhouses (a crappy ones with just a PVC covering over a frame) and am panicking they're going to die off in the cold nights this week! There are two tiny frozen patches on my runner beans where I think they've been resting up against the cold plastic overnight already.

Shall I bring them back inside do you reckon, or will they live? They're almost a month old and fairly well established (as far as I can tell!)

Thank you Cathpot! Edging the beds does make it easier to keep the paths tidy. The plots are all the same size to make it easier to re-use things like weedproof matting.

just looked at the weather forecast for my area.
this night should be mild (double figures, just) but the couple nights after that drop to below 5 degrees. so that means the pineapple needs to come in and maybe the tiny toms needs to as well.
or what can I use to cover them?

evening!
Gnome - your plot is just so tidy- and beautiful fruit trees in your orchard.
Cath I have never seen anything like that around here!
Rose - in truth, I would bring them in - better safe than sorry
RedBug - bubble wrap would do if you have any , or I keep all sorts of stuff that may come in useful -( that strange soft polystyrene sheeting put in to protect things in boxes works well,) or even a tablecloth could do at a pinch . But again, if they are tiny , it may be wise to bring in

I meant to write pleasingly neat!! (Before I kick off allotment favouritism fall out-) but it is a VERY lovely one indeed. I am a huge fan of the raised bed but clearly not proof reading.

Spike look liked this but more ... arresting

good lord - thats - erm large and spiky

Don't worry Cathpot, I assumed that's what you meant!

That is a truly frightening plant!

I would bring plants in if frost is threatened. This time of year plants have a lot of tender new growth.

Thanks book and gnome- seedlings are back in and windowledges are now heaving with pots once again!

Haha @ cath I love agave. We have 2 plants we bought in 2011 which were tiny and came in those plastic coffee cups you get in those nasty klix machines. They are now in 12" pots and are very spiky indeed (although no flower spike, think that happens after a few decades!). We need to get some more but they're difficult to source.

Thanks for the commiserations regarding my propagation disaster. I've probably got some time to start again with some things...What a numpty!

Some fab pictures everyone! gnome your plot is huge! So jealous....

May not have time this evening so have tucked up as many plants as possible for frost - not expecting a harvest from most of the new plants but I don't want to shock them too much. I suppose it was inevitable that there would be frost as I've just put my first seedlings out, being on the south coast I get a bit blase come April! Here's hoping for milder weather than forecast.

We have rain! At long last.

My broad beans have just started poking through, and the rhubarb plant I pinched from MIL's patch has started to grow a new shoot, and we have teeeeeeny tiny potato seedlings poking through. We have been a bit late planting everything, but hopefully we will get something edible this year!

I'm hoping we might just about avoid the frost tomorrow night as it's due to stay cloudy/rainy, but I'm not going to plant anything out yet just in case. I think I will this weekend though...

Morning!
yes - heavy rain here, and windy too Horrible out there ... no plot today!

I want some rain . Still dry as a bone here. Might get some drizzle on Weds according to the forecast. We are also forecast frosty nights, so I made straw nests round my strawberries yesterday and covered the whole bed with fine mesh, there are a LOT of flowers on them.

Also spent quite a lot of time patiently digging out bindweed and couch grass from the concrete-like soil over the weekend. My DD (11) has suddenly become interested again after a couple of years of total disinterest, so she is helping out too and we have a friendly robin who will come up to within a few inches of your hands when you are picking out the couch grass roots, he's gorgeous.

I would gladly send you some WhoKnows - our tradesman man was due today, but the rain and the forecast has made him cancel. And we have been warned of sleet tomorrow . I'm twiddling thumbs now . I love robins - ours are not quite as tame, but the blackbirds hop all around to snatch worms where they can . Nice that your DD has come back to it :)

Robin

Ages up the thread one or two people were talking about things they’d planted vanishing from the ground. Voles are usually the culprit in my garden.

I have some broadies in the ground and some in a trug (vole proofred). Both lots are covered in flowers but none are forming any bean pods. The older flowers are just shrivelling and dropping off. I’ve noticed that (apart from aphids and ants ) there are no insects around them to pollinate. Other parts of the garden are buzzing with pollinating instects. Mystified.

Waves back at book

(Crumbs, we'll need another thread soon).

I went to my allotment today to clear some weeds - I thought I would ops there for an hour between the school run and eating breakfast, I was there for 3 1/2 hours! The time just flew by!

There's a bit too much for me to manage at the moment so I covered an area as it was covered in weeks and too dry to remove them.

What would be a good thing for me to plant into the ground now. I have courgettes on the window sill ready to go but would like to put some seeds in the ground. Thanks.

Here are a couple of pictures.