Allotment/Veg Patch Thread 9 - Spring is sprung, its getting really busy!

[bookbook]

Well, the last thread filled up quickly - maybe due to the horrid weather . Its time to battle slugs, snails and weeds !
Last Thread HERE

Wh0 I saw that just after I posted!

I agree with WhoKnows -wind I suspect Gin - its batters the leaves , even if you have watered well.
WhoKnows - a nice satisfied glow of getting there! :)

I'm listening to the wind and worrying! I was so looking forward to lots of peas. I've got a few dwarf plants in which are trained into hoops and might be more sturdy. Growing things is so stressful! I spent time with my uncle and aunt on their farm a few years ago and it was a constant round of waiting for rain and then rain arriving and then worrying about too much rain/ hail etc. I do remember thinking it was a tense game.

Hi everyone I've been keenly reading through this and the previous thread with interest ! We have had some beautiful sunny weather here the last few days but very windy .Had a great crop of rhubarb this year and got loads of hearts from a neighbour so fingers crossed they will come on well for next year. Have planted peas,mangetout,swiss chard ,cauliflower, cucumbers,pumpkins,garlic, beetroot and gourds in the last few weeks .Flowerwise have planted pots of Lily's and gladoli as well as sweet pea and narsantiums(sp?!).

We have red current,black currents ,blue berries, summer raspberries, autumn raspberries,strawberries,pineberries,plum trees,apple trees both cooking and eating variety, and two gooseberry bushes and all seem to he doing very well .

I have a shady both facing wall so hoping to pick up a clematis and a Jasmine climber this weekend to start there.Also hoping to pick up a cheap little polytunnel tomorrow in a sale at our local diy shop and start tomatoes etc in that. We grew tumblers in hanging baskets last year and they were a great success

That should say north facing wall!

Forgot that we also planted spring onions , lettuce and wild rocket .Our potatoes are in our neighbours plot across the road and are coming up well so far ! I was delighted to see all the herbs I planted last year are all starting to grow back.I picked up a gorgeous pot of lemon thyme last week still deciding where to plant it

For the past two years I've sown carrots and spring onion seeds directly and got about 4-5 measly offerings from a whole packet of seed. I should give up but spring onion are one of my favourite veg and carrots are so fun for kids to grow.

Morning!
grey here, but no sign of rain.
Cath - the weather is the biggest worry always - even weeds and pests can be controlled in part, but not weather.
Welcome BeTheHokeyMan - that sound well under control - and handy being able to use someone else's plot! ( whereabouts are you?)
Lulooo - I almost gave up with carrots - I have stony ground here. So now I sow the short stumpy chanteney in plugs as thinly as possible, and then plant out. It works okay - not brilliant, but at least I can get a crop!

Lulooo try welsh onions, they are perennial and you just pick off the tops. Start them in little clusters in modules. Another spring onion failure here.

I have never had any success with carrots and soring onions in the ground (clay/stones here), but in a raised bed or container of compost they work well. I have two very small raised beds at home and use one for direct sown salad/veg and one for flowers. I have taken the easy option this year with the veg bed and bought a paper mat pre-populated with rows of radish, lettuce, carrot, beetroot and a couple of others, it was about £4 for 2m in Homebase and so, so easy, just laid it out and sprinkled compost over it.

I'd hoped with the slightly warmer weather I might have seen a few more signs of life this week but everything appears to be in stasis. Except the dandelions in the lawn which have gone to seed and providing a nice buffet for the goldfinch

tip for carrots - my parents almost gave up too, they live in slug infested lands...
what they do now is germinating them inside toilet rolls (1 or 2 seeds per roll) and the planting out the whole roll.

Hello, been skimming these threads for a while and have got lots of inspiration for our veg garden so thanks
I wondered if anyone on here could help me with my timings for planting out seedlings please?
I lost my first lot of runners and courgettes a couple of weeks ago due to frost. Do you think the replacements will fare any better yet? The runners are getting in a tangle and could do with something to climb.
I've also got celery and leeks at about 6ins high and looking healthy but having never grown them before I don't know if it's still too cold at night to plant them out?
Broad beans too, I know they are pretty hardy but don't want to open the curtains to another load of black plants this year.
We're in the midlands in a valley so we get extra hot days when it's warm but plenty of this relentless cold wind
Tia

Luloo - Ive never had any luck with carrots either I've tried twice and it was a disaster. a friend of mine has had great success planting them in the plactic crates that tesco deliver your shopping in .She found themuch easier to thin out and take care of that way so might try it next year.This year is also my first year tying spring onions and I've directly down the buggers so let's see how they get on !!

Bookbook-thank you for the welcome ! I'm in south east Ireland so we have warmer and milder weather than the rest of the country grits teeth as I look out the window at rain and howling winds

We have a large plot ourselves but a lot is put over to grass for the kids and also a section for chickens and paddocks .Hoping to get ducks in the next few weeks and add to our chickens too .Would also love to get pigs and a pygmy goat so need to get shelters etc sorted all long term plans will try and get some pics later if it brightens up

Apologies for all the spelling and grammar mistakes as well as the random bolding of words i really need to preview before I post

We had great success with carrots last year. An old guy in a pub told me the following:
Dig out a v shape trench, a carrots length deep. Back fill with compost. Sow seeds half an inch deep in the top. Cover with net and water ever day. Thin out late so you can use the baby carrots. F1 cultivars are more reliable. Never save any seed for the following year, it doesn't germinate once opened.
He knew his stuff, it worked for us.

Welcome Frouby, very exciting!

at the jet wash hose, but for your boys Newt.

Welcome Be I have live stock envy

Welcome Bitch, I am bad for timings and always seem to get the last frost due taking my leave then. I'm on maternity until the start of June so have been able to plant out later this year.

I had some lovely carrots last year, but I didn't put them in the fridge after harvesting and they got carrot fly that way. Will see how they go this year.

No plot yesterday, decided to spend some time with the wee one and went to a national trust house and got lots of plants for the garden.

Not sure if I'll manage today, the eldest wants to go to the skate park.

Will need to water again the plot too.

I can't seem to see any sign of life coming from the garlic and I feel like they've been in the ground for ages. It was a bit of a rubbish batch though. I'm hoping they don't work because I planted them in a stupid place! But would it be too late now to plant more elsewhere?

That's a good idea Bitch, in fact I think one of my fellow allotmenteers does carrots that way.

Afternoon!
Bitch welcome! great tip about carrots ( our champion carrot grower does something similar I think in big deep buckets) Broad beans will be fine , they are tough. Leeks , again will be fine , (though I diibber a hole of about 6" and like to have some leek poking out of the top of the hole.) mmm celery - not so sure on that , only grown them once last year ,and planted out after last frost. Runners and courgettes I would leave tbh - we have had such extraordinary weather, I am leaving mine until past the last frost date for me ( 2nd week May here) just to be on the safe side. The wind tears into them and though they don't die, they don't thrive either.
BeTheHokey - don't you go complaining about rain on here! .....:) sounds as if you will be nearly self sufficient!
Gin - fingers crossed, but I suspect they should be up by now - but definitely too late to move.
I was down at the plot this morning , finishing prepping the area for cut flowers.
So dry now, though underneath my winter mulch is okay, the top is like dust . Another load of horse manure was delivered and needed moving - manure bin is about half full now, so I will get some more.
This afternoon have pulled a great big load of rhubarb, and about to make some rhubarb and vanilla jam .

Vanilla and rhubarb jam sounds lovely, book. What will you have in your cut flower beds? I'm going to sort some too but not yet sure what to plant.

I took some photos of my plot yesterday and have created some before and after comparisons. The before photos were taken in late October so about six months ago.

goodenoughal big improvements there. I always make sure I take 'before' photos when I'm doing DIY & gardening so I can appreciate the improvement. Often put a lot of hard work into things and ask myself was it really worth it and I need the before photos to remember just how bad it was!

book I don't want to move them, but I'm wondering if it's too late to plant new garlic?

Gin I think its gone well past tbh . It needs planting in winter to get it to clove up.
goodenough - those pictures show all the hard work is paying off!
Cutting flowers is a little grandiose for my flowers - just growing the things I , and the bees like , and hopefully cut some for the house :)
I will have sweet peas , scabious, asters, cosmos, dahlias, chrysanthemums , echinachea , and then a load of mixed bee friendly annuals that I sowed at home .
I can put up the rhubarb and vanilla jam recipe if anyone is interested ( I think WhoKnows makes one too )

You've got a good memory Book! Mine was from a book called The Modern Preserver (I think). We haven't had enough yet this year, mine is late cropping.