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

how long for 'summer' caulis to form a head?
got plug plants a month or so ago from garden centre.
plants look nice and juicy, but just leafy.

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

Was back at work the whole week, the weather has been pants apart from Wednesday and I didn't manage up at night. The wee man has a virus.

Was raining this morning, managed up this afternoon. We had very heavy rain with bad winds and my cabbages and sweet corns suffered a bit. Cabbages sorted and sweet corns looking a bit better with a bit of sun. The onions suffered too, but looking good. The glass on my cold frame smashed, I didn't realise the wind was going to be that bad and left it open.

Back to rain tomorrow, managed to get all the hoeing done and weeds under control, thank goodness.

Found these beauties today, had to move them from where they were under fleece I had to fix back in place.

Harvested the first turnip today, it will become turnip risotto tomorrow, using the tops and root.
The ladybird family and lacewing larvae arrived so we dashed off and introduced them to their new home. Hopefully this will create some balance on the plot.
Mange tout and some main-crop peas were very welcome as the revived the left over soup.
yellow ginger flowers are beautiful. We used to grow them in the the avocado pot. So indoors.

Rained torrentially without let up all day. Looks better tomorrow. I've got one of those ton bags delivered from jewsons of bark chips I'm supposed to be doing the borders with. It's sitting on the drive making me feel guilty. Rhubarb looks amazing in new bed- it's huge and I'm sooooooo tempted to pull some and I know I'm not allowed.
Hope all the thread's children are feeling better soon

Haven't caught up with the thread yet, but we had a lovely day, warm and breezy. I've had a few setbacks with things being blown over in the wind earlier in the week (beans on a wigwam, several of my sweet corn), but hoping they will survive.

Weeds galore, I really need to get back on top of those. Harvested my first strawberries yesterday. I think I need to go and buy some plug plants, I haven't sown enough stuff this year and not all my seeds germinated, think I need to clear out my seed collection before next year.

The plot next to me has clearly been abandoned yet again, it has had 4 owners in the 4 years I've been there, it's in a pitiful state now, it seems to be an unlucky plot. Someone did take it on this year but they cleared about 1/8th of it ages ago, didn't plant anything and disappeared. Weirdly the bit they cleared has stayed totally weed free, I don't know ho they managed that.

Sorry to hear about everyone's wind damage - the weather is a bugger sometimes isn't it?

We had glorious weather here yesterday, but unfortunately my hay fever was off the scale so I could only manage about 5 minutes at a time in the garden

I did have a nice swim though. I've also noticed the asparagus finally doing something, after thinking I might dig it up and start again next year.

Good morning! How is everyone doing?

A bit envious of people's harvests starting. We will have to wait a few weeks before really starting to take things away from the plot rather than taking things to the plot IYSWIM

I think this is the first year that we feel properly on top of things on the plot. The extra space we took on at the start of the year has meant that we can space things out better. This has made it easier to get to the bigger weeds which has meant that we are now able to get the hoe between rows.

We will need to start a new strawberry bed this autumn so any recommendations on varieties would be appreciated. We will plant three varieties.

I was expecting to have a whole day of sorting out the garden today but it seems like there's remarkably little to do.

Just eagerly awaiting the first harvest now. Mind, I've no idea what potatoes I have so no idea when's best to lift.

Newt, I've tried the three sisters in the past but it didn't work for me - the sweetcorn never seemed to get tall enough to get above the squash leaves let alone provide support for the beans! But recently I was reading that apparently you're meant to do it with field corn (the non-sweet type) which grows more quickly. I'm doing a modified version this year by planting dwarf french beans among my sweetcorn with squash just to the north - so the sweetcorn will get lots of nitrogen, the beans will have a bit of a support and the squash will give their roots a bit of shade without completely swamping them. Will see how it goes.

Also interested in ideas on creeping cinquefoil as we have a big problem with it in my future perennial bed. The RHS site says it's very difficult to get rid of manually because you've got to get rid of every scrap and the tap roots go very deep, so I think I'm going to have to use weedkiller and then put down weed control matting to see if I can clear the ground ready for planting next year.

What I have read of the three sisters method is that it is really only properly effective in a very hot and sunny situation.

Great photos tizwozliz!

BTW, how does everyone store their seeds? Mine are in plastic bags by month but it's a bit of a mess and it's not great for plants I keep sowing in succession, so I'm thinking of getting some plastic boxes and storing by type instead.

Cannot give any pointers there, mine are just stored randomly in old biscuit tins.

Morning all,
Gin My fav broad bean recipe is from shouty Gordon: broad beans, peas, couscous with chicken stock, pancetta (I use bacon instead) and mint. I tried to post a picture of the page but my phone's refusing to load it.
Baby is still covered in spots but starting to scab over, temperature come down, and is returning to her cheeky self. We all had a good nights sleep which makes SO much difference (3 hours Thursday night was not good). So today I'm feeling optimistic.

Trying again with the recipe pic.

gosh this thread on fire - just started up next one , but in a rush - !
NEW THREAD

Thank you very much Need - MN is playing up for me this weekend and not letting me view pics, so I'm commenting so I remember to check back tomorrow when MN is (hopefully!) fixed!

mn is a bit funny atm.

I would need plant id, the 'bee friendly annuals' have turned out not to be marigold and borrage...