Allotment?Veg Patch Thread 10 - Plotmenters busy into summer ! and loving James Wong

[bookbook]

Last thread has filled up so quickly! Thought I had better get one up and running before I get off to the plot.
Busy, busy people, just waiting for the harvests to start, fighting the bugs, slugs and weather :)
Last thread here
THREAD 9

Book I don't think I will have any strawberries left in the freezer for a 'coulis' or 'compote' the DCs keep nicking them and either putting them in water as ice cubes or eating them like ice pops! We will pick the wine berries and blackberries later in the season so maybe I will have a freezer winter stash. There has been really good, soaking rain here since 3.00. The grass is looking greener on this side of the fence.

Lots of catching up to do!

Planting out my beautiful brussel sprout seedlings on Friday, I am well proud of them.
My asparagus seedlings are ready to be planted out too.

Can't wait for my summer holidays to spend lots of time at my allotment.

Away to catch up

My greenhouse replaced a shed so is on concrete. Like book, everything is grown in containers.

My greenhouse is on concrete too.

I think if you have beds in the greenhouse you are supposed to replace all the soil occasionally to or enemy a build up of diseases. But it depends I think on what yo grow . A friend has half and half. Does her toms in grow bags on concrete and uses the earth beds for growing runner beans.

book how is your greenhouse anchored down?

I can't decide where to put it. We have two spots - one would be on soil, the other would be half soil, half concrete. (Unless we prepped the ground for full concrete I guess)

Or I wonder if it would be possible to build it against the house, on top of patio?

para oh yes, I think I remember someone saying changing soil now you mention it. Can't remember if it was on here or GW. That sounds far more effort than I'd like

I think our greenhouse is going to end up on the foundations of an old summer house currently infested with bindweed so I will be going for as thick an anti-weed barrier as I can manage. Our neighbours had a raised bed (about a foot deep and wide) along the side of their greenhouse which they used for tomatoes. I guess you're less likely to be doing proper crop rotation with greenhouse crops so changing the soil could be beneficial to avoid depletion/pests/diseases.

Gin she only grows beans in the earth side so has only swapped the soil out once in about 10 years as she reckons they don't build up diseases the same way as toms might.

Morning!
Rain here - forecast all day, but hoping to just pop in to get the courgettes.
Gin - DH made a rectangular base with 2" x 2 " hardwood . He then drove angled galvanised builders stuff into thel evelled ground in each corner so the hardwood frame sat just inside them, and screwed through that to the wood , trapping the weed membrane underneath the wood . He went down as far as he could with the strip , leaving enough out of the ground for the screws , but as we are on chalk/flint, that was about a foot, maybe a bit more. The greenhouse is 8 x 6 , so he didn't use anything down the sides , but if we get a bigger one , that will be needed . The greenhouse base had screw holes in the bottom to screw into the wood - need to do that before putting in the glass obvs! Hope that makes sense :)

I kind of want a greenhouse but have no space for one. Bummer.

We've got heavy rain and strong winds forecast tomorrow. I am worried about my blackcurrants. They are nearly ready - another few days!

We enjoyed a lovely dessert of our own strawberries this evening. So good.

I spent far too much time today traipsing round the garden in the rain measuring out the greenhouse in various spots. Couldn't make a decision. Asked DP for help when he got home, to which he said 'oh don't worry about that, we're having it in the top corner.' I started to argue there wasn't enough space up there, to which he replied 'aahhh I'm just gonna take out the back fence and make the garden slightly bigger' - righto! Plus side of backing onto your own farming land I suppose?

I keep seeing greenhouses on our local freecycle site, about 5 this month. I could put one on the plot but then would be so tied to opening and shutting it during spring, it would become a real pain. Some plotmenters have them, some share them but these people are mostly retired. If anyone wants a free greenhouse and can afford the ferry fare, look at www.wightbay.com/freecycle regularly.

I suppose you could fit automatic vents to a greenhouse on a plot and set up a drip watering system.

I put mine at home even though one at the plot would have been bigger and sunnier as I didn't want yo gave to HK look after it all the time. People do manage though.

Paradoxical I could set automatic vents to a greenhouse on a plot and set up a drip watering system as a project to my DT students . I know how to do it, I just need to be retired to have the time!

Hand up here - my greenhouse is at home , because I don't go to the plot every day - same reason I will not attempt keeping chickens, even though I like the idea!

Morning all

We don't have a greenhouse yet. Am unsure whether I will bother on the plot but will have one of thosr tiny plastic ones at home next year to set stuff off in.

Am definetly having a polytunnel though. Dp is going to build me a timber or metal frame apparently and then you can buy the plastic sheeting seperately. He has a few projects to do bless him. He needs to finish the chicken run, build a chicken house, make some brassica cages, fruit cages for next year, finish the fencing off and whatever else we decide on. Good job he is a builder and a bit handy! Though after nearly 11 years together it's the first time I have appreciated it as doing DIY always leads to a row.

I usually do flatpack myself as he doesn't have the patience but he has done a good job on the chicken run so far!

Haven't been up to the plot since sunday but hoping to get up today for a couple of hours depending what time a delivery comes. Will need to do my twice weekly battle with the bindweed, pull the last of the plug lettuce I put in and have a check around.

I don't think I have sowed enough peas. Have about 20 plants in I think. I have 1 spare bed about 1.4m by 1.2m. Am debating just sowing it full of peas. I have the current ones growing round wigwams but pea fields don't have supports do they? Need to dig the packet out and have a look what it says.

Morning. Frouby I think with peas it will depend on the variety, how tall the plants grow and how windy your site is. Mine always seem to get blown around quite a bit so some sort of support does help. Also the pigeons attack them which is annoying. I've got some horrid looking plastic bean/pea support stuff which we inherited but it's done a good job even in the windy weather we've had. I spotted Poundland selling it the other day - not sure how good a quality theirs will be though. I'm growing a heritage variety of peas (seduced by the idea of purple pods) which are much taller than Kelvedon wonder which is the modern one's I'm growing. They definitely need supporting.

We had a couple of hours up at the plot on Sunday afternoon where we managed to finally plant out our leeks and the last couple of squashes/pumpkins. We have enjoyed our first peas, lots of mange tout, perpetual spinach and chard (once I'd realised that what I thought was a row of beetroot is actually chard!). Nice lot of rain on Tuesday I am sure will have helped things along (hopefully not the slugs though).
I might get the chance to pop over there later to harvest some more fruit, spinach and hopefully peas.

Disaster. DH grabbed the neighbour's gardener last week and asked him if he'd come and do some bramble clearing in the woods. Which he has done but in the process has decided to strim to the ground the raspberries, gooseberries and redcurrants too.

I know they look similar (ish) but he's supposed to be a gardener!!

[cross]

Oh no Newt

Morning!
I came on to have a little moan, then read your post Newt - thats just - hope you told him politely what an horrendous job he has done .
I didn't get to the plot yesterday - it never stopped raining , and it was so cold ( outside temp gauge at 11º in the afternoon!)
So, popped down this morning- got on with hoeing around in the brassica cage , picked courgettes then decided to go and cut sweet peas and flowers - walked up there and flushed out a hiding rabbit ,:( . It doesn't seem to have done a lot of damage , as most things are netted or covered in enviromesh, but my peas and french beans have taken a battering. I then spent half an hour checking around the rabbit fencing, and trying to get the rabbit to run out. But I didn't see it again after that first glimpse, so am hoping it went out through the open gate I left. Then I noticed that the big blackcurrant bush ( but I think is a jostaberry) had about 4 blackbirds inside the netting, stripping the ripe fruit. Spent another 15 minutes trying to rearrange the netting - its very big.
home sulking now. DH and I will go back this afternoon and have another go at checking the rabbit has gone - I wondered if I had trapped it in after the last time at the beginning of the week, when I realised they had been in.
Onwards and upwards .....

oh no newt
if they are not too badly damaged they might recover.

or you have a great excuse to go wild in the garden centre :o

Booo newt My DH does this sort of thing all the time!

Bloody freezing up here in Scotchland too! But at least I don't need to water the garden for a while....

Cedar I have been up this morning ans the ones I have planted already have shot up and clinging to their canes so I will need some sort of support I think. Have got about 20 canes left I think so might just do enough to go around those.

Harvested the last of the lollo rosso lettuce which has just started to bolt. Guinea pigs will be happy anyway. And will have plenty for us for tea. And 3 runner beans were ready so picked those to stop them going stringy and hopefully the other half a dozen or so that I can see will be ready over the weekend so I have enough for a portion each.

I also picked a few more courgettes off that weren't growing and the flowers rotting. Some long, thin ones coming now with healthy flowers on the end so will hopefully have courgettes soon.

It's rained for the last 2 days here and everything is looking very sodden but seems to be growing almost as quickly as the bloody bind weed lol.

If it dries up a bit this afternoon going to have a rummage through seeds and see what I can start off to go in as stuff comes out. And maybe some more peas.

Newt that is really annoying! How could a gardener not tell the difference?

bookbook hope you find your rabbit. I think the pigeon managed to get my blackcurrants. There weren't that many on the bush but the whole lot disappeared. I wouldn't mind but there is plenty on the plot that isn't netted that they could have had. Lesson for me for next year to net properly.

Ah no Newt! What a shame.

And that sounds irritating too, books.

Birds still haven't found us, which is great. Just hope the wind doesn't knock all my ripe blackcurrants down. I should be able to harvest most of them in the next few days.

Very, very wet here. Ground has gone from too dry to too wet. Moderation is what we need, weather.