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

I'm glad I don't have to do exam invigilation anymore, but my heart went out to those poor candidates with hay fever.

Popped to the plot this evening to stake my tomatoes and do some watering. You could almost hear the ground sucking it up and the plants, especially the lettuce, doing a little happy jiggle. Much easier now I have permission to use 'Grumpy's tap'.

Quick question about strawberries - I've put straw around them, but DP says not to water them now because wet straw will be a haven for slugs. Is that right? So I shouldn't water them anymore?

I don't water my strawberries full stop Gin :)

I only water the ones in pots. the ones in the bed are fine without.
slugs and woodlice find them anyhow...

I have watered mine twice, when some of them really were not swelling and looking ripe but shrivelled, but then I didn't put any straw down. And yes the woodlice are very partial to them.

Oh no, does this mean I will have to stop using the sprinkler and water plants individually so the strawberries stay dry? How annoying

Gin I think the straw will act as a pretty good mulch and keep the soil moist.
I probably wouldn't water them just now. I put straw around mine about 2 weeks ago, then we have had very wet weather over the last 10 days and the straw is really damp. The slugs are now out in force having a good munch at the strawbs but there isn't much I can do about it now.

Plotmenter alert!

The MSE website has an exclusive Thompson and Morgan discount. If you use this link you can get ten seed packets for £5. I've just bought seeds worth £27.89 for a fiver!

www.moneysavingexpert.com/deals/thompson-and-morgan?utm_source=MSE_Newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_term=13-Jun-17-16788553&utm_campaign=nt-blaggedformse&utm_content=2#seeds10

Thank you very much Newt - I have ordered some seeds!

Our garden centre do a 50p sale in the autumn, followed by a 10p sale, but you can't always guarantee there will be anything useful!

Coming on here for some advice please as I am clueless!

This year, we've planted blackberries, summer raspberries, autumn yellow raspberries, blueberry and tayberry (in raised beds) and some strawberry plants (in a terracotta 14 inch diameter pot).

I don't expect the raspberries, blackberries or tayberry to fruit this year, but how should I look after them? They are growing, and all I am doing is watering them a couple of times a week.

The blueberry has fruit on it. I am guessing that I should now net it?! I pot some ericaceous compost in when I was planting it, and all I am doing is watering it a couple of times a week. Is that enough or should I be doing more/something different please?

Finally, the strawberries. I put straw on top. We've had maybe 5 fruit. I water it every day. I've netted it. That's it. Should I be doing anything else please?

We are really enjoying our growing. We have garden peas in a pot with a wigwam, which again I am just watering every day. The rhubarb looks after itself. And I have an indoor baby tomato plant. And an outdoor chili plant which is ripening well. I am very envious of the lovely large plots that you all have. One day!

Is there anything that I can grow from seed now please? I have some space in the garden for a few rows of things. They need to be easy to look after as I have no idea what I'm doing, as you can probably tell

Hi Well. I'm new to all this too and so I'm also working out what to do and when but I planted more peas and carrots at the weekend, they seem fairly easy judging from the rate of growth on my first lot. Rocket and spinach also went in very recently and courgettes can still go in.

I have sweetcorn planted out already but the seed packet says these can still go in too. I'm not planting anymore because they take a lot of space and you have to sow a block because of the way in which they pollenate.

Someone more knowledgable will be along to help though

Thanks for the info re PSB, books. We don't have pigeons around the development (yet!) but I've seen the occasional white moth/butterfly so will have to look into nets. Will shift some of the plants as they are bunched up quite a bit - certainly not 24" apart!

Made some spinach & walnut pesto this morning using the spinach I pulled out. It's tasty, though I think I'll use plain olive oil instead of EV next time. Have enough of the pesto for something like 6 meals.

Some peas are nearly ready - I'm so looking forward to giving them to the children to eat fresh from the pod.

How warm does it need to be for sweetcorn to be happy? I like the idea of growing some.

My sweetcorn was planted out at the beginning of May in the East Mids and seems happy enough. I'm not entirely sure how quickly it should grow though. The plants are 3/4 times the height they were when planted out.

I only just planted my sweetcorn out last night, it's about 10cm high. I'm behind with most things though.

Anybody have any tips for perking up my chives. They're in a post flowering funk.

Thanks for the code Newts I have just ordered £26 worth of seeds.

Emergency perpetual spinach question- it's bolting can I just take off flowers or is it game over?

Very late with sweetcorn here, about 6-10cm so not sure if it will make it - that said I only planted it three weeks ago so it's obviously trying hard to catch up!

Well, sounds like you're well on top of things. I love soft fruit because it's so low maintenance. One tip is that if you can collect rainwater your blueberries will be happier with that than with mains water.

There is loads of stuff you can plant now. In the last week I've done another sowing of carrots, some peas for pea shoots, fenugreek (from my spice rack) for methi greens, plus salad leaves and pak choi. Now's quite a good time for veg for the winter like kale and some sorts of broccoli. This might help: www.paddocks-allotments.org.uk/month-by-month/june/sow.htm.

Newt I really don't need more seeds. Definitely not going to click on that link. Definitely. Oops.

Evening all!
Welcome WellTidy - nice to have you on board :) . It sounds as if you mostly have it under control. The only thing to be aware of with raspberries - there are autumn and summer fruiting varieties , and you prune them differently - have you got them separated, so thats not a problem? If they are happy, I wouldn't bother with watering - they are pretty tough! In terms of sowing now , you have quite a choice - carrots, beetroot, baby spinach, spring onions. lettuce even a few cauliflowers if you are feeling adventurous :)
Grouchy - you should be able to grow sweetcorn - there are a few varieties which are better - the extra tender and sweet , something like Lark or Swift, which mature early I suspect would be best . I do Mirai
I use plain olive oil for pesto I don't think you can tell the difference -( I made mine with spinach and hazelnuts as they were the only nuts I had in the cupboard ! )
Cath - arghhh! I would try getting rid of the flowers, but its like everything else, you tend to fight a losing battle. Is it new this year? I would just bite the bullet and get some more sown..
Chives sorry- are they very packed in - is it worth splitting them and replanting in smaller clumps, along with a good feed.
My day - there at the plot this morning, planted out the last of the leeks and carrots. Then took off the hoops and nets over a row of germinated peas , weeded and replaced net with chicken wire and bamboos . I had a lot of people coming for a chat, so didn't get as much done as I would have liked. Went back this afternoon with DH - he cut the grass, and I started edging . Also having a really big net now not over the peas, I re-netted one of the strawberry beds , which had a hodge podge of netting , not very successfully keeping off the birds. Picked loads of strawberries too - they are really getting going now with the warm weather :)

Made an early dart from work today having reached the end of my tether after one too many unhelpful emails from 'head office'. Actually I was so far along my tether I think I was holding someone else's tether!

Any road up, went to the plot to pick strawberries and rediscover my good humour. It took a while so I came away with 4.5 lbs of strawberries!

I have harvested the first beetroot and sown some more as well as planting out some seedlings raised at home. The slugs at the plot know what they like, BEETROOT.
Sown some more radishes, filling the gaps in a row I have been harvesting. Am leaving some to go to seed to get some radish pods. Also harvested the first mooli.
We are experimenting with baby sweetcorn, it is tiny.
Una brilliant am off to find the fenugreek seeds.
No sign of the ladybirds and lacewings but the blackfly are retreating and the broadbeans are putting out new shoots. All may not be lost.

"I'm a tough cookie but I'm just looking for love. Tonight Cilla, my fella must be big and strong with impressive antlers (and a nice pile of rotting wood to lay my eggs in)"

I thought you might need some idea of the size of this lovely lady.

need that is brilliant

Could Cilla be trained to eat aphids, slugs and snails?

Pestilential I was amazed how well the fenugreek germinated - gave the seeds a bit of a soak then sowed them very densely, assuming germination would be poor, and I think they all came up so I had to do some early pricking out.

Gnome 4.5lbs of strawberries sounds like the perfect antidote to a stressful day. Quite slim pickings here - my old strawberry plants are a bit worn out and I am being good about taking all the flowers off the new ones, but I am hoping they will reward me with nice bountiful harvests next year!
Lovely beetle, Need!