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

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

We look to have had a bit but not much. Ground is wet and there is still misty rain in the air but not the amount I was hoping for. Its grey and overcast though so maybe more later.

no rain here - off to the plot .....

We painted our shed a pale blue colour and then thought it looked rubbish so we've now painted it a dark green so that it blends it a bit more.

We had rain overnight. Hooray! I did actually go and water yesterday anyway - ground was so dry. So a hopefully everything got a good soak. Some of my potatoes did get a bit frosted - only the charlottes as the main crop weren't up - but I think they'll be OK. It's ironic as we've not had that many frosts this winter in general, just a late one to catch us out!

Our beer traps have been very effective - cleared a surprising number of slugs out of them yesterday. DH has been instructed to buy more beer when he goes to the supermarket later (he's been grumbling about the waste of beer )

Does out of date beer work? Neither of us drink beer and so when we buy it for parties etc then we tend to get a few bottles sitting in the cupboard until it goes out of date.

I'm assuming the slugs are not fussy about the date on their beer?

and its not a bad way to go really...

Morning! I have had only a smidge of rain, and my blueberries are now officially parched. I have no more stored water. And I am on REALLY hard water, which is too alkaline for my blueberries.

Do I a) go and buy some cheap spring water from lidl? Or b) go and steal some water from the nearby, but very public, brook? A dilemma.

Out of date beer is fine. It's the sugars that they are attracted to anyway, I think. The date thing probably only means that the fizz has gone a bit and the taste has dulled.

Well after several days of lovely sunshine the heavens have opened here ! Woke to torrential rain and while a good shower was badly needed its so heavy I'm afraid it will do damage

On a happier note my peas have started to appear but no sign of my mangetout yet though .Strawberries are also doing great but my pineberry plants are still very small though they do have some blossom on .

cedar03 we have a pallet 'fence' around our compost heap and thought it would be a good idea to paint it blue too ....it stands out a bloody mile it's like a glowing beacon I'm after planting some nasturtiums in it in the hope of softening it up I'll see if I can find a pic

No rain here either, but we might get some at the weekend, though they keep downgrading how much there'll be.

Spent the whole day in the garden yesterday. Have put some of my far-too-many tomato plants into the sunniest (and most sheltered) part of the garden to see how they get on, and potted up the rest. I have loads.

Managed to give away a full tray of red Brussels sprouts seedlings, so that's less wasteful.

Still no sign of carrots, marigolds or yellow courgettes. Sowed some more marigolds yesterday but will give the others another few days.

I love the colour of your shed, tiz.

Spot the blue fence!

Also treated the whole garden to an Epsom salt bath, which took ages. Next time I'll sprinkle it around before thoroughly watering instead of dissolving it in the watering can.

Oooh, Kiwi you've put tomatoes out now? Interesting. Maybe I'll risk a few too.
I've not planted anything tenderish out yet, save for a runty courgette, and that was for the compost heap anyway. But I have tomatoes and courgettes and runners that are getting too big now...

I love the fence, Hokey !
But then I do love smurfs.

what is the epsom salt for?

thespottedzebra Damn is it too early for tomatoes? we have our tumblers out in hanging baskets find that they always do well for us and they are in a very sunny spot .We have 6 other tomatoes plants ,can't recall the name ,and they need to go into growbags in our homemade hot house thingy (how knowledgeable am I eh !?) ,but have been sitting out the back for over a week now and seem to be ok.

Cheers at least someone likes the blue

Also interested to hear about the Epsom salts kiwi

Spotted I'm doing a test run on the tomatoes because I have so many spares, so it doesn't matter too much if it's too early for them. I'll be able to replace any that die.

Epsom salts are magnesium sulphate. The magnesium is good for growth, especially in things like tomatoes, peppers and roses which aren't good if the soil is deficient in magnesium. The sulphur is great for encouraging tiny plants. I do the whole garden once or twice early in the growing season and my tomatoes and roses more often throughout Spring and Summer.

how much would you use?

Heres my plot! Bigger than I thought. Full of rubbish and needs some serious graft but it's in a brilliant spot bang across from the tap and near the gates.

Wow, Frouby! Beautiful, so much potential! Good luck!

How exciting Frouby! I'm looking forward to seeing the transformation

We're having some good rain now. I've never been so happy to see this grey, wet sight!

Frouby Looks like a great site.

Red You use 2 tablespoons to about 9 litres of water. The salts are also great as a refreshing bath after a hard day's work.

Gin I am so envious of your rain!

We have rain too. Bloody typical when I have my keys! We need it for the summer grass for the ponies so I suppose it's a blessing really.

Cant wait for dp to come home so we can make a bit of a start and have a proper plan. Have sorted a few tools out we had left from the old garden. Found the 2 stroke for the petrol stimmer. Found some wd40 and oiled the secatuers and clippers. We need a shed for definite. The chicken run and coop. Timber for the raised beds. Some stock fencing to attach to the posts. Lots and lots of things really. Will take us 12 months I reckon to get it properly sorted.

The good news is whoever had it before us cemented in new fence posts around the 2 sides that needed it which is the hard bit. Oh and it already has an apple tree that are nice eating apples according to my allotment ndn who I met this morning. So it's a start at least.

Off to join some freecycle type sites and local selling sites to see that I can source cheap!

The rain has now passed here and the sun is out.

I'm sitting here very surprised to see shoots coming up from some other seeds DS2 and I sowed a week ago (tomatoes - I know its late). The seeds were from little kits I bought as party bags for DS1's party nine years ago. There were reduced and approaching expiry date when I bought them. I genuinely didn't expect them to do anything but found them in the back of the shed and thought it couldn't hurt to try.