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 all.

He loves his little spade bless him. And no doubt will need a little wheel barrow too when we buy one at the weekend. He wouldn't use his spade to dig some manure up tho. Didnt want it to get dirty. So used my hand trowel instead. Sigh.

Had to do housework today. A weekend of plotmenting had left a trail of filth on all the downstairs floors, plus baskets of dirty washing. All done now though.

Have ds's swimming lesson at 3.30pm and I have to get in with him plus dd has a swim too. And then have to meet dp at the plot. He has liberated enough scaffold boards for 2 more beds plus 2 more pallets. Am not sure whether to get him to pin the pallets together for a compost bin or use them as raised beds.

Saw something in fb the other day. They had used pallets upright as a herb garden. And also on the floor for lettuce/salad.

I suppose I could try them as beds and if it doesn't work then convert to a compost bin.

Really unsure about what to do with the bottom half at the moment. We have strimmed it down but it's full of weeds which will no doubt grow back pretty quickly. Am going to cover it for now I think but debating a weedkiller as well.

I know they are a bit frowned on but we arent planning on growing down there. Eventually it will be the chicken run, shed and a play bit for ds.

Will have to do some googling I think.

If you're going to put chickens on there Frouby they will clear it of all vegetation in about 3 minutes flat.

ok slight exaggeration but they will do the work for you...

Afternoon!
glorious here. Spent the morning planting out all the winter brassicas, and making sure the net was secured down properly, and no holes. Also put out the purple french beans Cosse Violette - they were so big, I risked it.. The rest - Cobra and runners will be a bit behind.
This afternoon I have potted up cucumbers, aubergines, squashes and courgettes into bigger pots- I want the squashes/courgettes to be a bit bigger before planting them out , though one of the courgettes already has flower buds forming.
Frouby - we bought DSGS a Rolly wheelbarrow, he loves it , but tends to do whacky races around the garden with it rather then use it for any other purpose . Good idea on the chickens Newt . If you don't want to get your chickens yet, is there anyone who has them near, who might have a moveable pen - you may be able to 'borrow' them ?
It is the only downside to plotmenting - mud everywhere !

A chicken question while we're on the subject - we are wanting to clear the bottom of the garden for some chucks, but the area has hedges all around it. If we cut them down to stumps, would the chickens keep them down so to speak? Or would the roots still need digging up?

That job would be so much easier if we didn't need the digger!

GinGeum If you have cats (like I do!) you may want to think about investing in some cheap plastic forks. You can get like 50 from Tesco for a pound or so. Stick them handle down, prongs up like this:

Forks

That should stop the cats digging up seeds and lying about on vulnerable seedlings. This is what I've done in my patch this year and so far it seems to be working!

Thanks Gert! I've got sticks all over the place to stop him digging around little plants, but GinDog either chews on them or doesn't see them and squashes/walks on top of them! Perhaps forks in a less natural colour might be more obvious to him

Gin mine eat certain things. They'll pull stuff like lavender to bits (seemingly just for the fun of it), any vegetables/herbs will be gone in seconds, grass will be eaten completely. Never seen them eating the leaves that sprout up from suckers on the left over trunks when we fell a sycamore though (although that might be because mine have plenty of grass to go at and so don't need to). They will like jumping up onto the stumps though and so I'd leave them personally .

Ah I have such a sweet image of them jumping on stumps

Jumping onto tree stumps is cute and fine. Jumping onto the patio furniture or wandering in through the open front door and pooping on the parquet floor - not so cute..

Its my fault for always having all of the doors and windows open I guess!

Wouldn't it be good to have cats and dogs who were selective in their munching of plants and liked to eat weeds only.

That would be far too practical though Lulooo

I do have to hand it to GinCat though. He is doing very well at keeping the mice/rabbits/pigeons off the veg patch (and next door's) so he does have his uses!

Pics of my plot.

Another one.... Bit slow loading.

Most stuff is planted in now. Going away for 4 weeks now so will see it when I return. Probably be overrun with weeds. Hoping it doesn't dry out more than anything.

The large greenhouse at the end is go ally finished. Needs a proper door but that can wait. The rickety shed attached to the old greenhouse at the other end of the plot is my next project. Will maybe tackle it in the summer holidays with DS (aged 14) who has helped to do lots of the diy on the plot. He's put the fence up and sorted out the covering for the beds to keep cats and birds away.

DD put together a string of rags from an old dress of hers in place of a scarecrow. But a proper scarecrow is also next project lined up with the DC.

A bit ramshackle but I do love my plot.

Evening!
Lulooo - lovely pictures - your plot is so tidy
It can be a bit stressing going away when its all nice , but fingers crossed you will be fine :) Have a good trip !
No plot today- had DGS , so just done a bit of watering and filling up his potatoes with some more soil - the insouciance of his planting is working well so far.

Very impressed Lulooo, that does look very organised.

Got back after a couple of days away visiting DD1 in Worcester. Hurried back to the plot to check up on things. Would you believe it, the courgettes are gone again! Every last one. This despite protecting them. So this means another trip to the garden centre for replacements. We think it might be slugs so will go all out with pellets. I am also considering Razer wire and a machine gun nest!

Lovely looking plot Louloo. I have plot envy. Mine is a looonnnggg way off that level of organisation. I need to make a list of all the kit I need/want and keep my eye out at the end of the season for sale bargains.

Not done much today. Bought a couple of trays of lettuce and dp made me another raised bed so they went in. And bought another 4 tomato plants, a courgette, a cucumber and a dozen french bean plants. So popped all them in and did some watering.

We have a bed of onions, 1 early potato and 2 main crops, half a bed of leeks and half of chillis, a mixed bed of peppers and tomatoes, a bed of runner beans, a bed of lettuce, a mixed bed of tomatos and a courgette plus a poorly looking cucumber and a bed of french beans. And a few pots of strawberries and herbs at home. Don't think we have done too bad considering the state of it 10 days ago.

Plans for this weekend are to start burning some of the weeds and stuff off. Finish pulling all the rubbish out dumped at the bottom and start covering the bottom up to try and stop it coming back through.

I also need to make my stakes longer for the beans and attempt a wigwam for them or something. And line the 4 pallets dp has pinned together for my compost heap. And finish the fencing off. We are going to a local auction place that has lots of gardening/poultry stuff to try and buy a wheelbarrow plus anything else that will be useful.

Last time we went I came home with a dozen chickens and bantums for about £15 so you can definitely pick bargains up.

Good evening, and what a lovely evening it was!

Luloo your plot IS very organised! I am in awe.

Mine is more, er, free form. And I too have started the planting out. All my sweetcorn, and lots of (but a mere fraction of) my tomatoes, and a few courgettes have gone in thus far. My beans really need to go in., but first I need to do a last pick of my VERY bolted chard and perpetual spinach, which is out there currently. And I have been bunging lobelia, marigold and nasturtium out too, for my bee pals. And the plot has been positively thrumming with bees the past few days, especially on my raspberries.

My self seeded nasturtiums are only just popping up now. Unfortunately I think I have weeded out all the
Self sown marigolds - they look too generic to my untrained eye.

Great photos. I will hesitate before I upload any of mine. I've been out on slug/snail patrol again in my tiny garden, loads of the feckers!

Thanks everyone.
I am pleased with what I've achieved. 2 and 1/2 years ago I took it on as an absolute jungle with weeds, brambles and bushes soaring above my head. I've cleared it all by hand without any machinery but with some help from DH on the really overgrown parts. I started off clearing and digging one bed at a time, edging it with whatever free wood I could source which is why they're all different sizes and materials.

It's a quarter plot and there's an area behind the old shed that doesn't get as much sun where we've planted a cherry, plum, apple and pear trees and some fruit bushes. I've also squeezed a few small squares of planting in whilst the trees mature. All in all, I've reached a point now where every part of the plot is in use. There's no unused or wild areas left. Which is why I want another plot.

I tend to neglect my home garden because of it. Although I love pottering about at home too, the plot is where I go to think or forget stuff. Yesterday was an emotional day because of Manchester and all those poor children, and I found myself over thinking and distressing all day despite trying to stop myself from keep checking the news. But I found my mind finally found some respite when I went over for an hour in the evening.

It's a half plot. Not a quarter plot, sorry.

I am pleaseder than a pleased person to have found my courgettes and sweetcorn I set off on the windowsill have started to come through.

Cheered me right up after a bloody horrible day yesterday.

Back from holiday and happy to report most things are looking good - fingers crossed yours will be fine too Luloo!

I have had to replace one tomato (finally succumbed after frost damage) and one cucumber (don't know what happened to predecessor!). I do appear to have mixed up my PSB and kale plants (used a non waterproof pen when labelling them!) - very sad to have to pull out some healthy PSB plants but they were far too crowded! A rhubarb I thought I'd lost has put out a new leaf which makes me very happy. I've also done another sowing of peas and carrots, put in french and runner beans, and am trying a last chance planting of sweetcorn after the first two failed utterly (trying the clingfilm/kitchen paper technique someone mentioned on the last thread so fingers crossed!)

Generally really pleased by how well things are growing in the new garden, particularly in the raised beds, compared to our old garden which had shockingly poor soil and a terrible slug infestation, so nothing really stood a chance!

I've just been working through Grow for Flavour trying to work out what gets seaweed/molasses/aspirin when. Anyone else struggling with that?

GardenGert I must try that trick with the plastic forks - at least one local cat clearly thinks we've kindly provided him with four lovely litter boxes - I thought none of my carrots had germinated but it turned out that they'd just been scattered all over the place by their digging!

Morning!
my plot is ^definitely free form
Gnome - the slugs went for both courgettes and squashes last year - took out the middle growing tips, so am waiting until mine are a bit bigger before planting and will surround , sadly, with slug pellets to give them a chance ( organic ones, but nevertheless, not ideal)
Just spent a couple of hours planting out carrots, dahlias and a lot of bee friendly stuff - borage etc. Hot!
Things looking okay - no slug damage that I can see to newly planted out stuff, which is good. Peas starting to motor , but not as quickly as the weeds ! :)
So - don't forget the sunscreen/hat anyone out this afternoon.
Off to look after DGS until late tomorrow afternoon, planting out his sunflowers and nasturtiums

Bookbook in the old garden we used to surround the bottom of a young plants with a cylinder cut from a plastic bottle, with a ring of antislug copper tape around it (bought cheap from ebay) and the top edge cut into a spiky fringe to deter snails. Not totally effective with the plague of slugs we had there, but they did seem to make a bit of a difference and might be worth a try.