Allotment/Veg patch thread 11 'We bid farewell to rainbow leaves but will keep plotting along'

[bookbook]

Well, nights are drawing in, leaves are starting to turn, harvesting carrying on
What a summer it has been!
Join in with the ups and downs of growing our own into autumn.
Last thread www.mumsnet.com/Talk/gardening/2951768-Allotment-Veg-Patch-Thread-10-Plotmenters-busy-into-summer-and-loving-James-Wong?msgid=71770088HERE

We have raised beds, Situp, they're 1m40 wide which is a bit too much for me - though if you have long arms it might be fine!

Congratulations on the shed Chockaholic. No idea on the bamboo I'm afraid.

Morning plotters!

Well it’s a cold but bright and clear day here, no rain forecast, so I’m going to head down to the plot shortly, do some pottering about (plottering about!) until I want a break, and then I’ll drive up to the garden centre to get some wood chip to go over the new heavy duty weedmembrane in my fruit area. And some seed sowing compost, a few more seed trays etc ready for first seeds to start! Whoop!

Morning!
welcome Situp :) - ooh Austria - are you also at a bit of altitude? that may affect growing a bit too. Uma has it about right - raised beds can be as long as you like, but optimum width is about 1.5 m , or the right width so you can reach to the middle from both sides . Try to make it a minimum of 6" deep, preferably 12" for a good root run.
choc - lovely shed ! - the bamboo could be a problem - even the non-invasive stuff is a thug , but getting the invasive stuff out is going to be hard work . Digging down and down, and maybe putting some sort of barrier may help the situation , good luck! . I would put a little primus and some tea and coffee making stuff in there - that should help encourage folk to drop by :)
It was a tweak cool, but dry this morning , so I just popped for an hour to the plot. Tidied up the brassica cage and picked the last of the sprouts. I've left the stalks, because sprout heads are delicious. The next variety of sprouting broccoli is finally showing signs !! - Just two of them, another 3 are just looking very healthy atm. Dug up some leeks for creamy leek gratin for tonight too. And I found that the autumn cauliflowers, which I had given up hope for ( but just left in) have tiny curds formed - a bit frost damaged, but will make nice soup nevertheless. It was too wet to go on the land, but I did a dig up a littl patch of couch grass next to the fruit cage, by standing on the grass path, so every little helps :)

Something's eaten half the cauliflowers I planted last autumn, not sure what the culprit is but I keep finding evidence around the garden. Any ideas on what it might be? I could net what's left if it's likely to be birds

tiz - I would net , as it can't harm - but it almost sounds like rats/mice or , maybe rabbits if you know they are around.
Well, I bought my potatoes, so have set them off to chit. Was getting all geared up for sowing a few bits and then notice we are due the coldest week of the winter so far coming along

Some serious chitting going on here too but I am in Da North so I have to add at least a couple of weeks onto any planting suggestions.

I have a net of seed potatoes in my shed at home. Glad I didn't take them up to the plot to start chitting as it's going to be freezing next week.

Not been up since last monday. It's far too wet at the minute. Been looking at little greenhouses to set seeds off in at home. And need to sort through my seeds and see what needs starting when. Am trying to hold off as I only really have the kitchen windowsill that is out of reach of Ds and have visions of seed trays stacked up.

Really fed up of cold and wet now. Hoping next weeks weather is the final sting in the tail of this winter.

Well, my poor rhubarb is now in the ground! I practically heard it groan with relief!
Otherwise, I have mostly been tinkering with seeds/seedlings. Even though I've been growing from seed for years now, I still find it just as exciting! I'm particularly in awe of tomato seedlings - from such an insignificant looking seed to such a rambunctious grower. And so quickly!
Frouby I want to buy a little greenhouse this year too. I've got a spot in the garden lined up for it...just need to convince DH that it is an absolute necessity. Obviously.

No rabbits, but I did see a fieldmouse out there one evening, and we also have a resident squirrel. They normally stick to the bird feeders though and don't touch the veg.

None of my brassicas were netted last year until the cabbage whites came out and they're in exactly the same sort of position. I woudn't have had any in the ground this time last year though.

Rhubarb is just poking up here now. Going to try and force some of it. Nearly come to the end of my frozen blackberries so be good to have some rhubarb instead.

We have a lot of clay at our allotment which limits what we can successfully grow
So far I have forced one of my 6 rhubarb crowns ( we rotate which one we do each year) and have some potatoes chatting. Too worried about cold weather ( am East) to start any seeds.

Good evening. I fell off the thread yet again. Another seed order has arrived today. DS hid the package and whispered to me where he had put it. It's DD's birthday tomorrow so he thought it was something more exciting. Anyway it contains 'Fandango' tomato seeds which are the GW's recommendation for blight resistance so I shall wait and see. I have cleared off another window sill to start seedlings next weekend.

Morning! We managed a couple of trips to the allotment last weekend. Weather was lovely in the sunshine although the ground was wet. Yet more clearing and a plot neighbour let me borrow his strimmer which has helped make it look a bit tidier.

The rhubarb plants I discovered last year are poking their heads up. Am hoping we may actually get something we can eat this year.

Welcome to the thread Situp. I assume you get colder winters in Austria? Raised beds are a good idea - less watering than planters. What kinds of plants do you grow?

RhubarbFizz, we have heavy clay here too - raised beds have made a huge difference in the veg patch!

I managed to squeeze in a bit of gardening while DS whizzed round on his balance bike this morning - planted some raspberries and cranberries and took out some weeds including a thug of a bramble which it was very satisfying to get rid of. I have a heated propagator arriving today so will get some seeds started.

We've also got quite heavy clay soil! Tbh, it's a bit of a delight: we had very light, sandy soil in my last garden and it just held no moisture whatsoever. It has been very cold but sunny here, so I've done a bit of pottering and started clearing/emptying a bed.The only things in there that I really think are worth saving are snowdrops and a peony, both of which I am going to move elsewhere.

Uma A heated propagator sounds very useful. I'm obsessing over all my chilli seeds as not a single one has germinated yet... Does anyone know how long they tend to take?

I know nothing about growing chilli seeds.

I also have a clay soil. It is good for holding nutrients, apparently. The down side is the way it goes from being soggy lumps to dry as a bone lumps in about two days. Potatoes are very good for helping to break up a clay soil and also adding as much manure/compost as you can get your hands on. Also raised beds will help. A plot neighbour has some lovely looking soil in his raised beds - he's gradually shifted tonnes of manure over the last couple of years to get it like that. I am quite envious

Frosty here this morning but beautifully sunny. Sadly I am working not gardening.

Morning !
well, its a bit frosty here
I have been popping to the allotment for picking veg, thats about it. But my autumn cauliflowers have finally got curds! ( only little as yet mind)
elephant - I love seed orders arriving , its a bit like Christmas for me. But I am sitting on my hands re sowing - this next week is supposed to be the coldest of the winter so far .
I am chitting my potatoes in my unheated spare bedroom Frouby - so out of the way .
Hounds - good to hear your rhubarb is nicely settled in. I don't grow chillies, but an allotment friend has set her seeds off - on the floor of her underfloor heated conservatory.... take about 7-10 days I think , so heat is the way to go I suspect.
Una - oh cranberries - do they need a lot of watering, am I thinking of the right fruit?
I sow all my seeds either on the windowsill or the greenhouse. Being in Yorkshire, I leave mine until a lot later - they germinate more quickly and there is longer daylight too

Hounds, I'd agree there's a good chance that they're not warm enough. This is my first experiment with a heated propagator so I'll be interested to see how they do. I have started sweet peppers, watermelon, melon, 3 types of tomato (San Marzano, Gardener's delight and Sungold), tomatillos, miniature pumpkins and cucumbers.

I think the cranberries are technically cowberries so not so fussy. They apparently like the same sort of conditions as blueberries so they've gone in the same bed.

It's clear that the previous owner of the house has worked the clay soil here very well (we found vast quantities of leaf mould in bags when we moved in). The beds are lovely and rich but the unworked bits look more suited to making pots and are soggy in winter and rock solid in summer.

I was going to try and grow new potatoes in potato grow bags - about how many chitter potatoes would go in each big bag?

I think 4-5 potatoes is normal, but it's not something I've had huge success with!

I'd personally use 3-4 , maybe just 3 at most. I have a much used potato tower and this is what we generally go for. Same principle.

Also experimenting this year with putting potatoes on ground and "earthing up" with straw - no dig. We'll see.

Thanks book and Uma - I've moved them to the floor right next to a radiator and they are slowly starting to germinate!

Potato tower

Accidental posting! Was googling potato towers :-)

Nice potter down the plot today. More tidying up, weeded the asparagus bed before it starts, took out some of the brassicas that have finished and dug over the space they’d been in. Spent a lot of time just hanging out and thinking, and admiring all the work I did last weekend. My sweet peas have just started to germinate, which is exciting, although I forgot to label them! I left the seed packets next to the pots but have got all mixed up so don’t know which ones which’s So it’ll be a surprise when they flower .

I’ve sowed my first lot of veg seeds today in propagators on the windowsill of spare room - chillies, sweet peppers and the first round of lettuces. Am feeling very restless to get going more, but just have to wait!