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

Afternoon!

• long day No rain at all , just humid .. Spotted - can use use boiled water out of the kettle ? tiz - lovely shed ! Managed to get a lot of the brassica cage work done, just need to fasten the last bits together and then the net can go on. That may be next week, as DH is worn out. Have started to give the bed were it was a weed and fork over, ready to spread some compost and plant up sweetcorn, spinach and beetroot. I had left the last PSB plants in , but they have not been touched, so I have picked just a bit of the last as I was taking out the plants. Also picked some off the new perennial cauliflowers, which look remarkably like sprouting white broccoli, with slightly bigger heads . Frouby - oh the plans sound great - its the really exciting bit, just before the hard work, with ideas buzzing. It does look like a lot of work, but near a tap and the path is a big bonus! We have an allotment BBQ coming up in two weeks - they have a plant swap table, so I can hopefully get rid of all my spare brassicas by then . Pic of one of the perennial cauliflower before picking - the other has a slight green tinge interestingly. And vegetables for tea :)

frouby great plot and great potential! Look forward to comparing before and after pics .Great that the fence posts are done already and that you have a lovely apple tree also .Definitely keep an eye on local Facebook pages and freecycle groups/websites you might be lucky and pick up a lot of what you need there

Loving the perennial cauliflower pic book - when did you plant the plug plants? Is this your first harvest? You'll have to tell us how they taste!

And probably a very obvious question, but what is the cage for over the brassicas? Is it to protect from whitefly?

Gin - the plug plants arrived at the end of September - had been waiting for them forever! They needed to be grown on, so I didn't plant the out until spring. I lost one to the dratted slugs, so have two left .I had taken out the centre, slighter larger head about a week ago , and they taste just like cauliflower.
The brassica cage is useful for a lot of reasons. I have a proper butterfly net , so very few cabbage whites can get in - we also have a terrible pigeon problem , so it keeps those out as well. I spent a few years just putting netting up and around them , but it was awkward to weed and work in there and harvest ( I am tall, so ended up bent double!) and we grow a lot of brassicas. The commercial polytunnel hoops came for free - its vey large - makes a cage 4m wide and 7 m long . I can go in and stand up and work in there easily :)

Hello everyone! Can I join in? I have been growing veg with varying amounts of success for the last 8 or 9 years. A few years ago we moved up to the NE Scotland (do I win the Furthest North prize on this thread?!). This spring I have bitten the bullet and am in the process of having my veg patch completely redone with raised beds and paved paths - I'm terribly excited. Previously it was a bit random, not a good use of the space and had gravel paths which grew a load of weeds when I used the sprinkler. As we're so far north the growing season is only just starting here. I've started a few things off indoors and will put them out next week when the new patch is finished. My new plot includes a space for a greenhouse but I probably won't get around to getting one this season. I'll post a photo next week when it's done!

Welcome GardenGert - that is pretty well north - I am fairly sure Grouchy is further south than you.
I suspect you have to tailor which varieties you grow, to allow for the colder and shorter season ?
It may be worth watching The Beechgrove -( you can find it on iplayer - the garden is at Aberdeen, so may be helpful :))

Very exciting about the plot, Frouby - and a piece of luck to get the better one

Welcome Gert. Having an organised veg patch is my dream but it's not about to happen any time soon.

We've had RAIN today! 💦💦💦 Quite a heavy downpour, then a few scattered showers, but interspersed with bright, warm sunshine. All my veg plants are still inside being nurtured, because my garden's in a frost pocket and I just can't risk it. It's not unusual for us to have frost well into May or even early June

My gigantes beans have finally sprouted, though. Hoping they'll take off like rockets. Tomatoes doing OK too. Must go and buy growbags ready to transfer them to the greenhouse.

Hi Gert. You're definitely further north than I am (I'm central belt). Your garden plans sound amazing. Looking forward to seeing the pics!

Thanks all! As I've been waiting for my patch to be redone, it has at least saved me from doing what I usually do, which is to get all excited in April and plant stuff, only for it all to die, and have to start over in May! Good idea bookbook, I'll check out Beechgrove. I'd heard of it, but never got round to watching it. I've also just ordered a book about growing fruit and veg in Scotland which gets good reviews on Amazon. Hopefully that will save me from a few mistakes.

It's definitely the better one Halsall. According to Keith who has a plot just across from me the bottom corner floods and I have good soil on mine.

We have discovered this afternoon that whoever had it before covered a load of it in membrane and woodchippings. Which isn't a bad thing. Most of what we havr cleared was brambles and nettles. Nothing major. Chopped about a 5m square down of the top bits this afternoon. Built a burning pile. Found a huge mound in the middle of a mix of soil and rubble. Found a mini skip thing we have filled. And have learnt that if I ring the allotment bit of the council they will come and collect the broken glass and any other non green rubbish.

Showed dp the other plot we would have had. He just said it was a good job I said the right things to Tim from the council and.managed to get the good one instead.

We have some help tomorrow from dps labourer so hope to get loads done!

Just back this evening after being away at work all week, the few days of warmer weather seems to have done the trick and everything's got a move on. I'll need to top up the soil on my potatoes again in the morning.

The rain has brought out the snails and slugs though, will have to bait the beer traps.

We have some rain! A millimetre or so. But rain!

@the spotted zebra - wouldn't the public brook be also likely to have similar dissolved minerals to the local tap water though? Unless the local water supply comes from a very different area geologically to where you are...
I am going to get my manure tomorrow. Quite excited. The only problem is I can't remember if the man I was supposed to speak to is called Michael or Cristopher...

You'll have to call him Chrismickle. Or maybe Miketopher.

is it just this thread where people get excited about getting manure ?
Frouby - it sounds as if its getting better and better!

bookbook I suspect it is. At work I do get a lot of this face when I talk excitedly about shovelling horse poo!

We have finally had a decent amount of rain. We had a late frost earlier in the week which seemed to be quite localised. My dahlias in a poly tunnel cloche caught it but the next row along was untouched.

DH has dug over an area which was under an old shed so we are going along to the garden centre to buy some herb plants.

Frouby I am very pleased for you. Getting a plot going is hard work but very rewarding.

I am looking forward to spending the weekend on the allotment after a week spent in the office looking at outside.

We also finally had some proper rain on Thursday night so I took advantage to clear a few more of my stubborn couch grass patches yesterday, also planted out some more broad beans and my celery. We had a proper frost earlier in the week too, so still hesitating to plant out tender things, but they are all getting leggy in their little pots.

I've sown a small patch (about a square metre) with wildflower seeds, poppy, cornflower and ox-eye daisy. Also stuck some nasturtium seeds in next to my row of chives, I like orange and purple flowers together.

A little bit of dampness does make it easier to pull weeds doesnt it? Too dry and they just break off, too wet and they get caught up in the mud. There is something deeply satisfying about pulling a weed and all of its root coming up!

All my chive seeds have failed this year. I've a feeling the birds or something else are eating the seeds sown direct outside. Although even the chive seeds I did indoors didn't work either. All different packets too! Can I give up and buy a chive plant?!

Gin - I've never sown a chive seed. When we bought our house 15 years ago there was a broken plastic supermarket pot of chives lying on it's side on the patio. I potted it on into a proper patio pot and it's still going strong. About 5 years ago I decided to divide it up as it had grown into masses of smaller plants. I put some in the school garden I used to run with my friend, they are still going strong. Others I potted up for the plant stall at the school fete, they didn't all sell so my friend and I took them for our allotments (we are on the same site) so we both have a row of chives from that original bashed up supermarket pot as well as my original pot at home. So I'd say just go and buy a pot of them, well worth it to get started.

Gin I think that would be okay

Gin - agree- buy a pot. This happens with me and parsley - I have never managed to get the dratted things to germinate.

The only herbs I grow from seed are coriander and basil, everything else I buy as a small plant from the garden centre (usually on 5 for the price of 4 or similar) and replace every 2-3 years when they get woody/straggly/dead.

Good morning. Gin I was in Tescos a couple of weeks ago and they had 'gardening herb plants' and their normal 'kitchen herb plants'. You can guess which were cheaper, and some even reduced because they don't consider watering them to be cost effective. However if you buy the supermarket herbs really soak them and then divide them as so many are crammed into a pot. We have had rain again earlier this morning so after I have done DC taxiing duties I am off to the plot to clear that last bed. All my marking is up to date as I worked like a trooper last week to have the weekend free.
Hello Gert -sorry no advice as I am at the opposite end of the country to you and I've haven't yet been to Scotland .
Frouby your plot looks like a challenge but read all the advice on here, especially Book's 'It is not a race'.

Oh good, that's what I wanted to hear. I've got kitchen herbs on the windowsill from Sainsbury's that I bought ages ago that are still going strong, so maybe I'll grab a chive plant from there next time I'm in.