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

I do love seeing pictures of the plots. Luloo yours is so organised and tidy.

I have about 4 tiny carrot seedlings in my garden! After a good few days of rain they've finally decided to raise their heads. And my dwarf purple beans have made an appearance too.

Bought a couple of books to help me identify what the seedlings are in my garden. They don't. But they're useful in other ways (and the one about weeds is very funny!) so I will keep them. I like books.

Gin DH's cats (I refuse to own them) like to sit on my garden too. It is very irritating. There's a whole load of lawn they could curl up on instead!

Am I way too late to plant sweet peas (I know theyre not veg but they're so pretty). I've just found a packet in the back of a drawer. I had scattered marigold seeds around in the potato beds but then when I topped up the soil level at the weekend I think I probably killed them

Looooook!

Most impressive Gin. Tomatoes are going to come a plenty

Lovely, Gin!

My ladybirds arrived today. I took great delight in feeding an aphid to one of them.

This is my little ladybird hotel in the garden.

It was GrouchyBaby's birthday today so I didn't get much done in the garden, apart from applying ladybirds and shifting a couple of unhappy shrubs.

Happy birthday GrouchyBaby !!!

Hello, dashing in. Should be working. French beans are getting hammered- I think my nematodes might not have made it through the dry spell. Frankenstein pear tree doing really well so I'm pleased , but Gage tree is completely grumpy and pretending to be dead. Cucumbers are growing away like crazy- presume I pinch them out at some point?? Love the photos , hope everyone gets to enjoy the weather

I share your gage rage Cathpot. We have a golden gage which is supposed to be a prolific fruiter. So far it has produced about 3 gages since being planted 5 years ago. I am hoping it is going to be a late developer!

Do you have a photo of your gage? It may be something we can have a stab at diagnosing.

Well we've had a rather eventful morning so far. Looked out of the window and saw a huge rabbit hopping about the veg patch. I went to go all Mr McGregor on it (in my night clothes at 6am - the neighbours must think I'm crackers) but GinDog and GinCat decided to work together to sort it out. Very weird - they normally ignore each other. But there we go. The veg lives on another day.

GinDog is now massively sulking though, because I wouldn't let him bury said rabbit on the veg patch.

Morning!
no plot today for me - looking after DGS at my DD's house. So will be planting up his sunflowers, and nasturtiums .
Una - thanks for that - I may well have a go - I'm sure I still have some copper tape from last year , though will have to have a rummage in the shed .....
Newt - i would give them a go , I bet they sprout quickly, if you give them a soak in warm water first.
Cath - really hope the gage is okay - is there no sign of green? I seem to remember you bought via online , so I would message them re that if so - if there is a problem , its flagged up to them early, for refund/replacement.
My gage and plum are looking good, they had loads of flowers, but then we got that few cold nights, and I can't at the moment see any fruit ( they didn't have flowers or fruit last year - 1st year of planting) so this year may be a washout too.
Ah well, patience
Gin - tomatoes set - nearly summer! and rabbit chasers ,- they are obviously very proud of your veg garden!

Newt I think Monty said it was too late for sweet peas sometime in April - I remember because my first planting didn't sprout and I was disappointed. May be worth a try if they're going to run out of date, if not I'd save them for next year!

I think plums and gages may have been hit by the frost - I managed to save a few blossoms on my plum with fleece, so we have some fruit but not as much as previous years - that said it's only been out of its pot since the spring so may have a bit of transplanting shock.

Beautiful weather we're having!

We planted out our french beans at the weekend and will plant out borlotti beans this weekend I think. I'm going to direct sow some beans as well to fill in a few gaps. The slugs had a bit of a nibble on the bottom leaves of the runners so I had to put some pellets round but so far the beer seems to be working at keeping their numbers down.

My peas are growing this year - last year I reckon the mice got the lot - so putting holly leaves round them definitely helped. Carrots have germinated and I'm hoping the slugs won't get them this year.
Gooseberry bush we've inherited has a few gooseberries on it now. I thought it had more so some may have dropped off. The inherited currant is a redcurrant but doesn't have that much fruit coming - some formed then shrivelled but lots did nothing so I reckon a good prune and feed in the autumn and give it another year. There are still some brambles trying to grow through the middle of the plants which doesn't help!

Reading with interest re sweetpeas.

I planted out my sweetpeas last weekend and they've been munched by slugs and/or pulled out by my toddler. Think I'm going to need to buy some established plants from the garden centre which I hate doing if I can avoid it!

Also victims of the slugs this week: one bean plant and a squash plant. Again probably going to need to go via garden centre for replacements :(

I know I'm going to sound like a right idiot but how does the seed actually know what month it is? I struggle to remember what day of the week it is and I pride myself that I have a little more brain power than a small black seed. Is it really sitting there saying "That's it! it's May not April and there is no way I'm going out now - I hate being late for anything!"

I get of course that if you plant too early it might be too cold but planting late? Surely the only impact would be that they won't flower for as long since it will get too cold for them again at the end of summer

Newt in my mind planting late meant they didn't have as much time to get established and then to be able to flower before it gets cold, but I really know nothing about gardening! Will be interesting to hear the reasoning behind it. I think I'd just give it a go if I were you!

Seeds are now soaking in warm water. I'm giving it a go to see what happens. I think the packet cost me all of 20p so its no great hardship if it doesn't work.

I think it is because the plants might not get established enough to flower much or it might be that it becomes too warm and then the seeds won't germinate because it's too hot for them. I reckon I'd give it a go. My first lot germinated but second lot didn't do a thing for some reason.

Will catch up on thread!

We had lightning, thunder and crazy rain on Monday night. It was brutal, but all my plants survived.

No plot today, baby Ickle had his first nursery time so lots of cuddles this afternoon and I caught up on paperwork the 2hrs he was in.

Very hot here today, things are growing super quick. I need to plant winter onions and leeks.

Here's some updated pics.

And

Oooo look, courgettes too! (Does this excitement over the start of vegetables wear off in time? Or will I forever be excited about the first sign of tomatoes etc?)

Ickle that's not plotmenting thats farming! Wow!

Impressive stuff Ickle! That is definitely uber plotmenting!

I was going to spend a few hours moving weeds and brambles to build a bonfire but I actually think it's too hot! Although it's just starting to cloud over slightly so not as intensely hot now.

I bought myself a wheelbarrow this morning. And have just built it up. So am tempted to road test it. Had a bit of a meltdown in B and Q this morning tho trying to buy one there. Had checked online and it said 4 in stock. Looked around garden bit and couldn't see any. Went around builders bit and still couldnt see any. Asked a staff member who said they were outside on gardening bit. Went and looked and couldn't see any. Asked another staff member who sent me down another bit, no barrows. Asked someone else who sent me to a different bit. Still no.barrows.

Went to ask at customer service desk who phoned 4 people before deciding they didn't have any. An hour of my life wasted. Sigh.

Glad they didn't in the end as they were £45. But went to Tool Station instead and it was £30 for the same thing. And I got a free wheelbarrow extender thing.

Who knew a wheelbarrow bargain could bring so much joy.

Wow, Ickle! I can't believe you've done all that with a little baby!

Gin This is only my second year but I do find it very exciting when things start producing. I keep showing things in the garden to DH. He's very long-suffering.

Hooray for wheelbarrow happiness, Frouby.

Horribly hot in our garden today (and I'm a wimp). Everything's looking a dash wilted so I think I'll have to water this evening to lift it up again. Meant to be even hotter tomorrow.

What sort of wheelbarrow frouby? I need a new one -old one tyre imploded beyond repair and it's rusting to bits. Gage seems to be just sulking. It is literally a bare stick whilst the other two plums I bought with it are starting to leaf. I cut a small bit off and there is green wood inside so I'm giving it a bit longer. Was on a friend trip today so all day on the beach - so lovely

We had to take down a fig tree that was pushing over a wall and it's made the raised bed more exposed to wind- peas are all straining sideways at the moment which isn't great. Bought yet more coriander seeds. This will be attempt 4. I like the copper tape on water bottle idea as well, will try that. Has anyone sprayed their tomatoes with asprin? I can't bring myself to do it- feels like I'm deliberately upsetting them!

Does anyone have a non plastic plot? I was reading an article in the RHS magazine about it and then one of the parents at school who has an allotment said they have a group of them who are going to start trying to grow without plastic.

I have a feeling it would just work out an awful lot more expensive. Plastic might be bad but its durable.