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

Hope your little one is better soon, Need.

Argh, Spotted, what a shame. Hope they recover for you.

books Great stuff for manning the polling station.

Not much happening here. We're alternating rainy and sunshiney days, which is nice, so there's a lot of growth. Had to go out in heavy rain yesterday to secure my peas and sweet peas as they were lolloping all over the ground all of a sudden.

I think the younger you pick broad beans the nicer they are - JW talks about eating them as mangetout when they're tiny, though I've not tried that. Here's a nice collection of recipes - like the sound of the carbonara.

Hope your plants recover Zebra.

Yellow I've never managed it but I think you're supposed to plant the roots in sand.

Oh Cripes. First I've failed at growing, now I've failed at this thread

I really had to think hard to figure out who was JW in Una's post there ^ Jeremy Worbyn? The Jehova's Witnesses?

It finally came to me.

Afternoon!
oh Spotted - thats not fair at all for you...
thanks Grouchy - done it for years , it used to be a nice day away from the children :) now its a long day, but I don't have to get up early the next day !
Gin - can't remember if you are veggie , but I do a broad bean, shallot and pancetta salad which I think is Delia Smith - thats nice.
Well, had a somewhat quick trip to the plot - meant to cut the grass, but forgot to take petrol to top up the lawnmower.... So, checked everything , all well thank goodness. I assume the wind hasn't been as bad here.
Picked broad beans and strawberries - summer is here :).

Definitely not veggie book so thank you, will search for that.

Gin We're very fond of broad beans here and I just add them to every conceivable dish. They're especially good with anything bacon. My children like them in a pea & pancetta risotto.

Grouchy I did that last year, but found we were both subconsciously nudging them out of the way on the plate

I am going to try some as baby plants.

We make a broad bean dip, a bit like hummus but with bread crumbs, garlic and walnuts. Can't find recipe but google gives me lots of dip suggestions with broad beans in. Must be a thing!

I make hummus with them , but they can be a bit dry/mealy if you use them when they are a bit bigger - borlotti beans I found make a nicer texture hummus

Hello, all - catching up after holiday and manic first week back - everything grew about 3' while we were away!
Una I'm a huge Pratchett fan but haven't read the last book as I don't want to believe it's the last one!
Will catch up this weekend on scruffy garden, plot not too bad but need to pick broad beans and trim strawberries - quite a few got that weird last frost that we had so the flowers blackened and haven't fruited ... boooo!

Gin the TV chefs push the broad beans 'out of their jackets'. I've always found it a bit of a faff, but my DCs will eat them if I do it. I think the skin can taste a little bitter? to some.

Hello, got home in time to help DH wrestle toughened glass into place to finished deck area and then pootled about watering greenhouse etc. My fruit trees look like a page from RHS 'diseases of fruit trees' . I've bought some sort of rejuvenating foliage spray but I'm not holding my breath. About to google 'edges of pear leaves turning black' . Had a sneaky pea pod off the dwarf peas- they are so sweet, I love them raw, don't often cook them. I also don't like broad beans either but a frittata made with feta and beans that have been cooked then squeezed out of their wrinkly skins was nice. Bit labour intensive though!

Cross post gin!

llporcupino I was the same with the last book but I did read it in the end and then felt very sad

I don't want to read it!

Well weather is HORRID, but lovely friend is coming to stay for the night and DH is taking the girls to a film so I am child free and looking forward to coffee and chat . No gardening today unless it miraculously perks up. Planted some coriander a little while ago and now the second leaves are coming I can see that most of the seedlings in that area are actual germinating niger seeds from the bird feeder above. I need to do something about that really . No sign of chard yet. First sweet pea flowers are out- although currently being battered by the wind. First tomatoes setting in the greenhouse and first chilli and cucumber flower.

It is horrid here too Cath - rain all morning so far.
Hoping it fairs up a bit to at least get out and have some fresh air. Was supposedly cutting grass and edges

I was reading a grow your own mag on Thursday, and in there was a suggestion to use up odds and ends of packets of peas to grow pea shoots for salad, so I may just pop in the greenhouse and do that if it stays wet.

glorious sunshine, but very windy today.
will put the ginger into a pot of sand. either it grows or it doesn't

We've had a super day weather wise, a little breezy but wonderful weather for drying washing! I did lots of hoeing and harvested some more garlic and strawberries for DS2's birthday tea. Grumpy 'D', next plot neighbour, he's not really grumpy just sounds like it has offered me use of his tap, he wouldn't let on how he managed to plumb it in and he strimmed the front of my plot. He has also worked out how he knows me and informed quite a few of the other plotmenters.

Afternoon!
Rain cleared up , so had a quick dash to the plot - managed some weeding, and DH did a bit of edging before it looked like it was going to rain again, so came home ( Wimps...)
Slugs are out and about though, so sadly put some pellets around the nibbled calabrese
elephant - use of his tap - he obviously likes you!

I forgot to ask, does anyone have a tried and tested method of getting rid of creeping cinquefoil? It is growing up the sides of my earthed up potatoes so I don't want to dig too much.

Not caught up with the thread yet, but just got back from nearly 3 weeks holiday and everything is looking great.

Some baby courgettes on some plants and flowers on others, beans just starting to flower, potatoes have gone crazy, sprouts growing nicely and no sign of critters. Not discovered any casualties yet and I was honestly expecting some as we only had someone coming in to check over things once. Fortunate with the weather I guess.

Evening all. Horrible day here and so I've just been peering out of the window at the kitchen garden. Pretty sure the weeds I thought I had coming up are actually the parsnips so that's good. I'm not doing very well though at planning so that I have new things ready to plant out when space becomes available. I am going to have a look on pinterest to check the planting calendars but if anyone could tell me what they're starting now that would be helpful.

Giving up on the asparagus trays and ditching them. They did absolutely nothing at all. Disappointing since the seeds were (comparatively) expensive. None of my beans did anything either (which the DC are delighted about. I suspect sabotage ). Second lot of carrots are coming through though and the courgettes are going crazy. Spinach also doing well.

Wondering whether I can plant spinach though the sweetcorn bed. There seems a lot of wasted space in there at the moment (although I know that won't be the case as they grow). I'm assuming if I start a second lot of sweetcorn in the gaps then they will struggle for light as the first lot get tall.

Had a lovely day at Chatsworth Flower Show yesterday. We had the best day of the week I think in terms of weather. Not nearly as impressive as Hampton Court Flower Show last year in respect of the show gardens but I enjoyed wandering around the plant tents. Could easily have bankrupted myself but I resisted apart from some peonies and some beautiful lily bulbs.

Newt - traditionally, you plant squashes and climbing beans around sweetcorn - the 'three sisters' method.
I am sowing maincrop peas tomorrow - last one of my succession rows -trying 'Kelvedon Wonder' this year -( normally do Ambassador, but I haven't enough in the packet.) . Sowed winter cauliflower last week, along with lettuce - will be sowing spring greens in about 2-3 weeks time.
I am planting out this week - succession beetroot and carrots ( in plugs) and the new baby spinach has just germinated. I was gifted a few overflow cauliflower seedlings, so need to bung those in somewhere too.....
I treat myself to a grow your own mag the other day, and that had free turnip seeds, so I may well sow a row of those - they are a quick crop, so they may work in between your parsnips maybe ? ( its the little white turnip - nice grated into coleslaw, )

Oh no Need hope baby feels better soon.
Love the harvest Book.