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

well, it's tricky. I think Gin did, and din't get a reply? - I don't want to pressure anyone who doesn't want to post, or needs a break from MN, or is basically busy with other projects.
Overwintering stuff . I rely on harvesting perpetual spinach/chard / lots ( and lots) of leeks, savoy cabbage. I also do winter cauliflowers 'Aalsmer' ,( I picked my last one about 3 weeks ago.) and a lot of PSB - at least 5 varieties to take me from August - April
I haven't managed to germinate the Good King Henry I was gifted - I have tried twice with the packet of seed , but I must be doing something wrong ,- I may try some fresh seed.

As for snail raves, I have curtailed two festivals by my front door, under the rosemary bush. As for slugs I have picked off all the usual suspects but in the last couple of days found some really weird light green mottled ones. I may turn into Mr Crowley talking to slugs and snails and suggest to them if they don't keep their friends off my patch I will salt them.

I can never get Good King Henry to germinate. I have one in a very big pot, if I ignore it, it makes baby plants appear. If you transplant the stuff, it can lay down and sulk for a week. Also the leaves always seem sandy, despite us being on very chalky soil.

Definitely interested in ideas for good winter plants. I'm planning to turn one of our flower beds into a big perennial ornamental veg/fruit/herb bed - garlic chives and sorrel which I've done before, and I already have a chilean guava and a pineapple guava (though I need another of the latter if I want fruit). I would like to try globe artichokes, perpetual kale and spinach, maybe a few biennials like angelica. I've been reading Homegrown Revolution and that's giving me loads of ideas - quite like the sound of hemerocallis flowers, saffron crocus, hardy ginger and skirret. Not sure I can get my head round the idea of eating dahlia and canna roots though!

I'm a big fan of lovage - a few dried leaves in hot water makes instant stock.

To add to the overwintering discussion, I can't believe how easy the broad beans were. I also used the variety "Sutton" as the packet said they were good for autumn sowing. Did same as Book, planted them late October under fleece & hoops, they poked their heads out around 3 weeks later and then just slowly grew over the winter with no input from me. By the time spring comes and they get a growth spurt, they are mostly beyond the reach of the slugs. The only thing I've had to do is put cane supports in when they got taller (they are around waist height at the moment).

I also overwinter garlic, kale, chard & perpetual spinach. Again, all dead easy. This year I've also tried overwintering onions for the first time. I picked a red variety (can't remember name, sorry) and they are about the size of a radish at the moment. Next year I'm going to add leeks and celeriac over winter. They're just tiny seedlings in the greenhouse at the moment.

Una - I definitely recommend turning over one of your beds as you've suggested. One of our borders is basically a mish mash of perennial ornamentals and edibles (edibles are various herbs, rhubarb, hawthorn, elder and sloe), with some annuals chucked in for interest in summer. We put some stepping stones through it and its fun to meander through and munch on some things whilst admiring others. Will try to take a picture.

Pest I got some ladybirds off Amazon last week. Of the 25, only one looked dead when they arrived. However, I can't find any ladybirds in my garden one week on so I don't know whether it was successful or not!

Broad beans are a favourite in this house so I'm going to try overwintering some this year.

I'm 'Plot Gossip' today. I arrived with my new (to me) petrol strimmer. I have a battery one but it does not last long enough. Lots of conversations and comparisons , but at least my paths are looking tidier. I knew it needed to be done when one of my plot neighbours offered to lend me theirs on the weekend . Anyway I am very pleased with it, I bought from our free ad site from a bloke who seems to buy petrol garden equipment and get it running again and sells it on. £40 seemed very reasonable to me. The peas are now in again and fingers crossed this time. I also moved a couple of rogue runner beans to my wigwams so I hope they will do ok. Next mini project is the melon growing. I looked in my first compost bin to see if I could start a sort of hot bed. This are hot and composting well but mainly due to orange ants. Is this a problem?

*This is hot

Evening!
been gadding so no plot or gardening at all :)
Pest - I'm glad to hear that! I will have another go nevertheless :)
clara - I do overwintering shallot and garlic (and this year onions) - I started doing shallots to save time in the mad spring planting rush, and they do well- forgot I do kale too- brain fade.....!
Grouchy - sounds like they have flown away home.....or have theyeaten all your aphids, and had to move on?
elephant - your dedication to slug extinction is second to none! I suspect you have the very common yellow meadow ant -so I don't think there will be a problem- and good news on the petrol strimmer - they are heavy though!

Book my dedication to snail/slug extinction has meant I have at least 4 perrenials returning this year. I will be a brave person when I try Hostas!
On the strimmer front, the weight and size may have been what caused the interest! I went to the seller and just asked for the lightest £40 one he had for sale. I carried it comfortably from home, strimmed an awful lot and again. Then carried it home. A lovely, more elderly plot owner took great interest as she cannot start her petrol one anymore and is disappointed with the life on her battery one, so I asked if she wanted to try with my new one. She almost got it going but complained that she doesn't have the upper body strength any more to pull the starter. I think I will give her my battery operated one so she can at least do her plot in two halves.

Morning all

I need to get our petrol strimmer looked at. Dp couldn't get it started. I think it probably needs a good service. It's about 6 years old and been stood for about 3 years.

Had an hour yesterday planting out stuff I have set off at home. And building wigwams for peas and beans. It looks like a proper plot now. Need to have another bonfire over the weekend.

And my mum has asked if I can help her put some flower beds in her little garden. She will struggle to do it herself so will have to get up over the weekend and make a start. It just needs a bit of digging over as it's nice and flat. Then will take her plant shopping.

And my little cuccumer I bought and snapped on the way home a couple of weeks ago is thriving! Thought I would lose it. Flowers are coming on my tomatoes and peppers. Potatoes are poking through and been covered again, the apple tree is groaning with baby apples and there is fruit appearing on the little raspberry that that already in.

I have also seen loads of blackberry and gooseberry on abandoned plots as well as a full row of rasperries. The blackberry and gooseberry are hanging onto the paths so a few might find there way home with me. And the bloke I talk to is going to get some rasperries from the abandoned plot next to him so said he will get me some too as I daren't go on someone else's even though she has said she won't be back apparently.

Rain tipped for today which will be good for the new stuff I put in.

Arrgh, my new raised beds are becoming infested with bindweed. I have found roots in my compost heap so I have a horrible feeling that all the nice compost I mixed in is the source of the problem. I have weed resistant matting and mulch around the stuff I planted in pots but the plants I sowed direct are in bare soil of course. I fear some nasty gel weedkiller is the only way to nip this in the bud :(

Morning everyone. I have been lurking on this thread (just enjoyed a mammoth reading session to catch up ) and posted a couple of times on the last one. My huge runner bean (my pride and joy!) survived my rookie attempts at hardening off and is growing nicely in my veg patch. And has been joined by a new one which I sowed direct. I was so excited to see it, out of 9 runner bean seeds 2 managed to germinate!

I also have French beans (which already have some beans on!), rainbow carrots which DD is desperate to pick, lettuce, rocket, baby corn (never done them before, it said you get 6 corn per plant but I can't quite work how that's going to work as they all only have 1 central stem like a normal sweetcorn iyswim), peas, and 4 strawberry plants. But only 1 of the strawberries has flowers and it only has 3 so not holding out much hope there. Oh and a tomato plant in a pot which DD chose from the garden centre (even though she doesn't like tomatoes!)

I was wondering, is there anything else I should be sowing in the next couple of months to give us veg through the winter? I don't have much space (2x 1mx2m beds) but as the carrots and peas start to come out that will make some room. In the past the beds have been full over the summer and empty the rest of the year and I'd like to try and get more from them at other times. But (daft question coming up) - when do you add manure, etc if you've got stuff growing all the time?!

Sorry for the long post! I will try to keep up with the thread and post my updates and questions as I go instead of saving them all up and bombarding you all!!

I have a question about our potatoes - do they look normal or are they way bigger than they're supposed to be? People keep commenting on the size and DP says he's never known potatoes to get that big, and we're a bit worried there's a lot going on above ground and not very much happening down below.

Afternoon!
I had a quick hour or so prepping up next bed for leeks and the maincrop peas, hoping for some rain now - had to water everything!
Frouby - if the strimmer has been stood for 3 years , and had petrol left in, try some carb cleaner ( its an aerosol you can get for cars) -DH says to take out the air filter, spray in some of the carb cleaner and try to start with a couple of pulls. Try some more carb cleaner if it doesn't. If you get it to start, put the air filter back in and pop some petrol in . That will hopefully get it going ( it seems if there was any petrol left in, it evaporates off and leaves a coat of stuff which causes the problem) .
Una - bad luck on the bindweed - though it does keep coming back. We totally cleared our asparagus bed down to bedrock, and refilled with totally clean stuff, but it is still getting in. I just keep digging . ( If you do go down the weedkiller front, the tip I got from an old market gardener - have a plastic bottle with the bottom cut off. Train the bindweed into the bottle via the top. When it has enough leaves , spray into the bottle and leave - hat way, the weedkiller doesn't get blown around the plot. )
jelly - hurrah for the runner bean :) - baby sweetcorn - they set up the stem - and don't do what I did the only time I grew them and treated them as ordinary sweetcorn, I left them until they had been fertilised - they were tough and odd!. Kale, perpetual spinach and chard, along with some leeks may well be the best option for over winter . With the small beds you have, I would add well rotted manure in spring before you plant up, and work it into the soil.( I use mine as a winter mulch - as a bed frees up in autumn, I weed and mulch, then work it in when I am prepping in spring to plant up again IYSWIM? )
Gin - they look wonderful - have you earthed them up at all yet?

Hello book, yes they've been earthed up lots. They are almost growing through the mud before we've even finished earthing up a row! (Well, it feels like it anyway).

they should be fine Gin - are they earlies, seconds or maincrop? the more leaf on top, then hopefully the more potatoes below !

I've just been reading "All you can eat in 3 square feet" which has some interesting plans for successional sowing in raised beds, either direct sown or sown in pots in summer to transplant once summer plants have been harvested. I've just made a list of the things they recommend planting in summer/autumn for the winter: swiss chard, mustard leaves, endives, winter-flowering violas (for salads), kale, rocket, broad beans, garlic, sprouting broccoli, radicchio, corn salad, pak choi, winter purslane, tatsoi and winter radishes.

Bookbook that's a great idea on the plastic bottles, must try that!

Gin I think they look nice and healthy - if you think they might be a bit leaf heavy at the expense of the roots you could try a bit of phosphorus fertiliser.

Una I am too despairing at bindweed, I've got both the white and pink type. I am employing 3 methods. i) Where it is close to the surface and edges to the beds I follow it along and rip it up. ii) Let it grow long enough to stuff into a jam jar and then put in neat glyphosate, about 20mm depth. iii) Train it up canes and then paint on glyphosate.

i) Is strangely satisfying but no good when there are crops on the soil. ii) Is working I can see evidence of yellowing bindweed away from the jars. iii) Is still a work in progress but at least the bindweed is being trained away from the plants. I start painting tomorrow.

well, I pottered in the greenhouse this afternoon.
Have potted up the aubergines into the big summer pots - they are getting quite big now.
I have sown some more baby spinach for a succession, lovage,( which I had forgotten about until it popped up on here ! ) another go at Good King Henry , and my winter cauliflower - I'm doing Winter Aalsmer as usual, but also trying North Foreland as well this year.
elephant - I am a digger of bindweed , and am slowly, slowly getting on top of it, but the roots go to Australia here- am on chalk, and the old roots grow from the chalk and flint subsoil.

Hello all, I am currently sitting on a balcony in Greece and wondering what the weather is doing at home! Have one friend watering my plot and ndn watering everything I put on the terrace at home ... hope it all survives, and am worrying about weeds! Home tomorrow night (boo) but will have time on Sunday to catch up with stuff (yay!)
pest we found this girl last weekend in our garden

book one of my Good King Henrys has germinated has been in a seed tray for about 3 months, is just putting on first true leaves and looks to be the real thing.

Gin are they pink fir potatoes? Renowned for a lot of top growth.

We have skirret seed. Will update when it has germinated.

IT'S RAINED ALL DAY hooray! I didn't get to the plot today but i went yesterday, watered everything and planted my last 3 sweetcorn seedlings. I expect the snails & slugs will be raving on my plot tonight though - hopefully the courgette and squash are big enough to survive now.

My lemon crystal cucumbers are in bigger pots at home now & I'll try to squeeze them onto the plot somewhere.

Loving all the slowworm photos. I haven't seen one in the wild for many years - i grew up in Kent and they could often be spotted in the countryside but i think I'm in too urban an area now.

I have waited too long for 'Grumpy D' to materialise again to ask if I may use his tap. Opposite plot neighbour has ended up placing the plants he wanted from her by his shed. We know he is ok because some weeding has happened. So I have therefore bought a hose on a reel and connected to my original hose so I can use the nearby stand pipe. Ohhhhhhhhhhh the feeling of empowerment, hose, strimmer and an almost upright and watertight shed. The peas are looking happy and my DCs questioned why there were no strawberries in the 'fridge! It's ok I picked another 4lbs this evening. (Helping me to pick them is difficult due to the JKW issue). Now the shed is almost on the mend I can start doing the drain pipes and filling the water butts.