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

Oh no Luloo, that is a shame. We're currently coaxing french beans into life on the windowsill and it hasn't taken too long, so at least you won't be delayed too much. Annoying though!

Excellent find Timtam - jealous!

I've brought in my squashes and oca plants; the ocas are the sole potted survivors after an allotment massacre (pictured). I suspect slugs therefore I've got to treat the remainder with great care!

ASDismynormality I find the allotment is a black hole - time just disappears there! I say to DH that I am just popping up there for an hour then three hours later I get a plaintiff phone call asking if I am coming home tonight!

Agree with bookbook about what to plant in the ground now. In addition I have also planted some chard, cabbages, broccoli. However I think I am a fair way further south so the soil should be that bit warmer.

The weather forecast for later in the week is looking okay. I will be planting out dahlias, zinnias, asters etc. All will be under poly tunnel to start. I just need to get some space in the greenhouse!

Phew, we have escaped the frost last night. The weather is saying -1 but there's no way it's that cold! Let's hope it continues like that for the next few nights.

Hope everyone else survived the frost if you had it.

Morning! quick dip in as have DGS here.
Thickish frost here - everyone having to do a hard scrape on windscreens - and my greenhouse roof is thick white over too, but melting away fast in the sun. Usually coldest bit is about 4 in the morning, just before sunrise .
Lulooo - oh no .... but I only sowed my beans 2 days ago , they soon sprout.
LaContessa - slugs are the worst creatures , I lost half my squashes last year to the dratted things, luckily I had oversown, so had spare. .

Hello everyone. Could I pick your wise gardening brains?

I have three large raised beds outside my kitchen (8 foot by 4 foot and two foot deep) plus another two that are 2 foot square. For one reason or another we haven't managed to get around to planting anything yet this year (although I have a few rhubarb plants in pots sitting about waiting for a home) but I have eight tonnes of top soil arriving on Friday to fill the beds.

I'm keen to then get cracking and get things planted. Prepared for the fact that this year I might have to buy things that have already been started. If you were starting completely from scratch this weekend what would you plant?

Hey newt I would start with 'what do you like to eat'? and go from there!

Hi clara I think for us it might be more of a question of what will grow given that we've started a bit late and given the plot. The space is south facing but partial shade for some of the day since we have lots of tall trees and the then shadow of the house in the late afternoon.

Part of the reason for growing our own is to encourage the DC to be a bit more adventurous. Rhubarb and berries are a strong favourite but in terms of veg, one of them will only eat peas carrots, sweetcorn, broccoli, parsnips, tomatoes and potatoes. Am I too late for getting any of those started? We are in the midlands if that's relevant, or is all of the UK one "zone" for planting purposes?

I am midlands, here is the frost map for UK. Dont take it as gospel as we have been caught a bit by a very late cold snap.

You are still early in the season so there are lots of things still to plant:

• courgettes - green or bright yellow, start them in individual little pots indoors then plant out into growbags
• chard - very colourful stems
• french beans, you can get green and purple varieties
• tomatoes (go for outdoor varieties eg gardeners delight)
• pumpkin

quick check in ( DGS here today!)
Welcome Newt - you are not too late for any of these! Some you may want to get as small plug plants, to give you something to plant such as broccoli- ( the headed variety is calabrese ) and purple sprouting. These are all small at the moment. Then you have time to sow french beans /sweetcorn/carrots ( though to my mind carrots are tricky :) Tomatoes - there are loads for sale at the moment- check your local fb site - I offer all my spare plants on the local gardening site. I would definitely not worry !

the lady sent me the link for making the nematode stuff HERE

Thank you for the advice book. My broccoli definitely aren't happy, some of the leaves have started dying now I think I'll wait for the cold snap to pass then bung them out in the veg patch and see what happens. The rampant runner went out this morning for a while as there was sunshine, but since then we've had hail and wind, brrr. And frustratingly only a tiny bit of rain which is what I think we really need.

Newtssuitcase

You're definitely not too late. We're also in the Midlands and the year we installed our raised beds we planted from seed about this time and harvested plenty.

From memory we did

• peas
• carrots
• pumpkin (ours were orange just in time for halloween, so were eaten and carved)
• courgette
• leek
• parsnip
• cabbage
• potatos

Slugs decimated the courgettes but everything else worked out great

Evening!
well, no plot as I had DGS . But by gum it's been cold today - that wind is nithering. I looked at the readout on my temp gauge about an hour ago , and it had gone down to 4º - its not got above 8º all day. So have very quickly brought in tomatoes, peppers and aubergines early. I think its going to be colder than last night

It feels bitterly cold already this evening down here. NDN say this is the last of it this week though, and then they will let me have the courgette and tomato plants that are currently tucked up in their greenhouse!

Just had an inch of hail [ouch]

hail. outch.

the tiny toms are inside tonight and the bigger ones are in a fleece tent next to a wall, so quite sheltered.

I didn't see it (at work) but we had sleet today, plus a biting cold wind. Forecast to stay cold over the next few nights too. Went to the garden centre with DD after school to buy some pots of herbs, then half an hour at the plot watering, planting a couple of things and putting up a mason bee house. We had the bee house in our garden but due to tree growth it's location was no longer sunny enough, hoping the bees will find it at the allotment.

Nithering! I had to Google it. Sums it up perfectly. DH has gone to work in thermals, he works in a chilly warehouse.

No plot yesterday. We had snow, slept, hail and rain. There was also the crazy cold wind.

Lovely and sunny just now. Just a quick pop in there today to make sure no slug damage.

I did plant my asparagus seeds yesterday. Each one in an individual pot and in a sandwich bag. I only need 10, so hopefully I get at least that.

Morning!
Gnome - its a descriptive word, definitely.!
Well this morning woke up to wet - we have had sleet/snow, rain. Wind has dropped, but forecast sleet and rain all morning. I have taken out all the pricked out brassica seedlings from the greenhouse into the little shelter outside . But my tomatoes/peppers/aubergines are still on the dining table. It is struggling to reach 4º at the moment, so will wait until it gets to 7º before they go back out into the greenhouse.
No plot - it will be too wet ( sorry WhoKnows! - but you have Mason bees !) but do need to go and pick something for tea. Mind you - this is when the frozen french beans from summer come into their own :)

It should say sleet!!!!

good luck on the asparagus seeds Ickle - by all accounts they germinate quite easily :)

This weather is crazy! In the hour I was pottering in the garden, I think I experienced all four seasons! Brrrr

Just been for a wander down the plot. Took a friend to visit. The broad beans and peas have survived, looking just a little battered.
The council have been in and cleared all the rubbish and put up fence posts, very exciting. They have also cleared most of the empty plot next to us. At this rate the water supply, that has been on a promise for years, will also materialise.

Afternoon!
horrible and cold this morning, glorious sunshine this afternoon ( if still a cold breeze)
Everything sees to be surviving. I have had a sweetcorn seedling shrivel up an die though, so hopefully thats just a one off.
so had a nice time in the greenhouse sowing savoy cabbage, a couple of insurance courgettes, and pricking out sprouts and broccoli seedlings .