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

Hello, just checking in. Have had chance to get in the green house and down to the 'plot' (bottom of the garden!).

Lost a row of broccoli-not sure what to, but I've kept everything under fleece and this row weren't quite covered so I'm guessing it's frost or something.

Everything else doing remarkably well considering I've not been attentive.

Cucumber seedlings are really coming in in the green house, aubergines are proving slow, delicate and tricky!

I'll take some pictures later.

Morning!
been busy with family ( they have just left after staying over)
Its been busy on here !
Welcome tibni and whataboutbob :)
tibni - good advice already, just take on a bit at a time to dig, and cover the rest, planting through - as upthread, squashes and courgettes do well this way, and over a lot of ground. Could you set up a little folding table for DS , buy one of those plastic potting trays to sow beans/ peas into pots perhaps , to let him feel part of it.
whatabout - potatoes will come back. They may have taken a bit of a hit, but they are determined growers, so I would hold fire, and see what happens . I suspect they will come up, just a later harvest .
Well, it was supposed to rain all night - it hasn't. Still windy, but warm . I risked leaving the tomatoes in the greenhouse ,and they are fine. The only small casualty is a bit of wind burn on DGS sunflowers, and a snapped sweetcorn seedling.
Grouchy - thats so dispiriting. The bushes will get stronger, they are all still getting settled in. But I her you on germination, its been good, but a bit patchy. My purple french beans have all popped up, half of the green french beans, and so far no runners . These were all sown within an hour of one another... No cuucmbers either ( though it was old seed to be fair).
It is looking faintly black now, just praying it actually rains...

That was so long , but just wanted to say as everyone else, those plant labels are great Lulooo - and the poytunnel finished, and ready for business- I take it you are not going to attempt to dig it this year?
Ilporcupino - just - upside down !

I'm loving the image of the upside down courgette!

We finally have some rain, although still not a good rain fall. We keep being teased with drizzle! I've managed to plant out the tomatoes, courgettes and have a big of a jig around with some rhubarb plants. Also planted some iris plants up the path alongside the veg patch, and getting quite excited for everything to start growing bigger.

Feeling a bit happier today. A few more tiny seedlings are popping above the soil - peas, nasturtiums, sweet peas and spring onions.

Have put my fig into the garden and dug in the bottomless pot.

I am envious of the rain you've all been getting! Hope you get enough.

How often should I be watering, btw? The soil is very dry beneath the surface. I gave the garden a really good soak yesterday and a lot of it is completely dry already. Should I do it every morning?

Cucumbers, the plot and aubergine seedlings!

Peaches really coming on, tomatoes from seed and pumpkin seedlings all coming on nicely too!

Oh-it keeps messing up the order of the photos!

Last one-the plot again.

Afternoon!
DoIt - lovely pics - such a tidy plot ( I must try harder..) very of your peach. I tried growing a fan trained one years ago on my south facing wall. Never got a peach at all, but peach leaf curl four years on the trot so It got turfed out....
Grouchy - tricky isn't it? If its very dry underneath, I would do it every day - the wind is just desiccating, isn't it?
I have faffed in the greenhouse, sowing a few insurance brassicas, also another go at Good King Henry and cucumbers, as mine don't seem to have come up ( Of course, I had already done the same thing with courgettes, and now they have all decided to germinate ) and then pricked out seedlings. Will leave basil and coriander for another week I think.
I realise I am soft - I find it very hard not to plant up the runts in the pot . I start with all the big strong ones, have plenty, and then there are the little strugglers, only just germinated sat on the bench in a little clump. I know they won't do well, really, but I like to give them a chance....

Thanks book I'm a neat kind of person and it drives DH bonkers that it extends to the garden too! He starts his stints working away on the flower shows as of Saturday, so it's all up to me now-we'll see how things go!

I managed to give away the last of my cauliflower seedlings, only completing a few of the runts, but it hurt to do it!

*composting

Has anybody seen any slugs yet? I've not seen a single one, or seen any evidence of one yet. Is it the dry weather? I'm wondering if I've got a hedgehog living under the shed!

book I sowed some insurance beans and LO and behold, they and all the stragglers from the last lot have come up ... I now have too many beans.

I found one slug on the plot the other day, it's bone dry up there, but was delighted to find a small toad yesterday so maybe he's been on patrol and keeping them down. I hope he keeps at it!

DoItTooJulia I am impressed by the order and tidiness of your greenhouse!

Another greenhouse potterer here. Potted on my outdoor cucumbers, started my sunflower seeds and also put some dwarf french beans to start in the propagator.

I will need to decide which of my courgette plants will make it to the next round.

gnome do they have to dance or cook?

I still bitter that my runt that I set free next to a bus stop did much better than my prize plants at home. without and watering or feeding...

Steady light rain all day again which was good . I copied luloo and the girls and cousins had a very happy afternoon with pebbles and a pot of sharpies . I had a very happy few hours on my own in the drizzle planting plums trees and pottering about. I've ended up ( after a plum tree

Summit with DH ) one in a bed, one in a pot and one sort of in the lawn but tucked next to a granite post so out of the way

I threw caution to the wind and put the corgettes outside, potted up the last chilli seedlings and now it's just basil to sort out. The ground was really dry digging holes for the trees so they will need watching. I've done lots of reading about pruning plum trees but I'm waiting until we are properly in summer. Happy. Wish I didn't have to go and park myself in front of the computer and work now!

Just really playing a waiting game here, hoping it will warm up soon. Harvested a bit more rhubarb, topped my slug traps up with beer, did a little weeding. Potatoes just showing first signs of life, have a load of berries on the gooseberry bush already which seems kind of early compared to everything else.

Also wondering about what's worth sowing in the first couple of weeks of June. We're on holiday for a couple of weeks mid May so don't want to start anything off now.

Thanks for the welcome. I think table is a good idea, there is one old plastic chair on the slot and ds has already been testing that.
We had rain last night and all morning. Managed to get to plot this afternoon and the rain has made the soil far easier to work. Lots of evidence of worms too.
Covered about 60% of plot with weed suppressant fabric and managed to dig another section. Have started to weed around fruit bushes - some type of current but not sure what but I have 15ft of them so hope they are nice.
Got a welcome from another couple of plot holders and offer of space in one of their 4 poly tunnels.
As it was raining nipped to garden centre - we now have more veggie plants. I already grew bits but our garden is small so as well as cucumbers, peppers, beans and tomatoes that I'd grown from seed I have French beans, Chinese broccoli, sprouts and peas to try - couldn't resist and should have waited really but ..... currently all in our home greenhouse.
Still feeling overwhelmed but happy

RedBugMug what I really want is for the prolific ones to make their intentions known. I have room for nine but which to choose?

Here is this week's picture. Not much change on last week except that I planted up the first of the flower beds then protected them all with polytunnels.

I swear the dahlias were looking smug all protected and not windblown unlike me!

It was a lovely day here, a sunny warm afternoon but really we could have done with a bit of rain. I visited the plot and it is so so dry. Just a brief visit to plant a couple of sunflower seedlings (under plastic bottle cloches as these seemed to work really well with the broad beans) also added a small foxglove plant and some London Pride saxifrage which I'm trying to grow in clumps along the front boundary of the plot. I'm doing a James Wong tip of sinking upside down bottles into the soil with their bottoms sliced off, to act as water reservoirs to get water deeper into the soil. No red PVC under the strawberries yet but I'm going to buy some molasses tomorrow for the dilute molasses watering sessions, and I found a spray bottle in readiness for the soluble aspirin drenches

I spent yesterday making a kind of trellis out of some old shelving slats someone was throwing out, as my plot is quite small I'm going to try training squash vertically rather than letting it sprawl. It was a bit chaotic, sawdust all over the kitchen floor & the DCs getting in the way, but even DH said i made a pretty good job of it in the end.

The weather forecast looks very warm, dry and windy all week, I may water again tomorrow as after that it'll be hard to nip down again until next weekend.

Got our irrigation set up - kind donation from PILs :) - ready for going on holiday. Any thoughts on how long to run it for? It's so dry here but we don't have a rain detctor and I don't want to swamp everything if it rains while we're away. We have 2 soaker hoses and about 35 2l drippers and it's currently on for 15 minutes every 3 days.