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

(self collected seeds from friends)

Afternoon
IT IS NOT RAINING !!!!!

Don't worry, booky - it is of course, raining here . My garden ducks are still here. We even had a little egret the other day, probably on its way to its summer home in scandiwegia.

So still outside gardening for me. Instead I've had a play with my seeds - I've sown my last sweet peas, as my germination previously had been atrocious. Also sown more mange tout peas - green and purple. And use had a prod of my courgettes, none of which are showing. They're in the heated propagator now so fingers crossed.

And I popped by Morrisons and somehow bought a teeny plum tree (Czar) and some wild/alpine strawbs. And lots more compost.

Do wild strawberries cross with cultivated ones, does anyone know?

That is some lovely PS there, booky - and lovely spuds from the swap!

Hounds I struggle to keep parsley for more than a few months, and something always chomps it. I have grand plans for successful successional sowing of parsley this year. Of course, none as yet germinated...

Lovely to see you again, timtam !

Brownelephant heat does indeed speed things up, mine took a few days in a heated propagator. In the best i’ve Put some damp kitchen roll in a container with lid, seeds on top. Lid on and into picnic bag with hot water bottle, they germinate pretty quickly then and can go into compost.

Very impressive haul Bookbook and I do like to see a bit of muck. Not on the car floor as happened last week though!

We’ve actually had a couple of dry days and there is less water in my little ditches around the beds. Some are even dry. It’s been about a month but it actually looks like an allotment now. Breaking up pallets to edge the paths and have a lovely shed which was a total night,are to get up as very heavy but a lovely place to sit and have a cuppa. Got a heap of free topsoil and a free water butt whichmade me very happy.

Got someone in to felt the roof. I had been painting in the shed then decided time for a tea break. A guy came over to ask the code for the gate and I could hear the man up the ladder say ‘ the lady of the plot is in the shed having a cup of tea’ I was very embarrassed but had to

One section was very grassy and is very claggy clay. I’ve turned the it over in squares burying the turf as well as I can which worked better as I got more efficient .I think no dig is the way to go here, need to get some stuff to go on. Have some rose manure but it’s not rotted. Will I regret putting this on now and then trying to find compost to chuck on top ?

there is sun!

Ah, I was wondering what the glowing orb in the sky was!

We too have Sun. Allegedly we have two weeks of this to come. I'm now waiting for one of the plot holders to start complaining that it's too dry or it's the wrong sort of sun!

it's glorious!
just back in for lunch after potting out green zebra toms (went a bit leggy), mowing lawn and tidying some bushes.

the green zebra all have funny shaped leaves, sort of curled.
is that because I've let them get leggy?
will they be ok?

Had a lovely day up the plot, painted shed, created strawberry bed and sowed some salad. Hope I’m not speaking to soon,but it really feels like the season has begun!

Lovely day here too. I planted some more seeds this morning and spent the afternoon at the plot. I finished moving the strawberries, edged another bed with gravel board and planted another row of spuds. Shame it's forecast for rain tomorrow here and then glorious next week when I go back to work.

Hi all! I have neglected to read up on this thread about the same amount as I’ve neglected the garden!

I’ve been so fed up because it has been too wet to get any kind of work done on the front which is supposed to be fully prepared for veg about now - it’s only just dried up from the swamp that halted work on it back in November! Hopefully this warm weather we are expecting will help dry it out enough to be able to finish it.

I’ve done some work on the back garden - the aim is for that to be mainly perennial fruit, veg and herbs mixed with flowers. My perennial cauliflower is doing well (thanks for the recommendation on that book!) and we also have asparagus, strawberries, raspberries, rhubarb, herbs and a dwarf green gage. I’m leaving lots of gaps in it at the moment, incase the front garden doesn’t get finished and I need to grow annual veg out here too!

How is everyone?

First sunny day and I was working, annoyingly. Popped by the plot on the way home though, too exhausted to do anything useful apart from marvel at the rate of weed/grass growth and feel a little smug about my lovely tulips and all the seedlings turning into plantlings in the greenhouse picked some tulips for the flat and also had the first picking of rhubarb. Feeling good that things are getting going. Potted on melons this morning at home as well, already done aubergines and the tomatoes are starting to look snug, they’ll need potting on soon too.

Early to bed tonight hopefully to muster some energy for plotting tomorrow! Good to hear everyone getting going and feeling the new season vibes.

Hi Gin, and thank you for reminding me about a question Serendipity. My rhubarb seems to be flowering, I've never seen this before but I assume I just cut the flower head off?

Afternoon!
Spotted - I haven't sown any of my curcubits yet - :)
brown - re tomatoes - they do look a bit leggy, but could they have been a touch waterlogged? They look a bit pale, but that may be the photo .They should be fine though . I have just pricked out mine, and just planted them deeper !
welcome back Gin - its all looking great! ( my perennial cauliflowers are just perking up after the winter)
elephant - cut off the flowers pronto - they usually throw them out when under stress, or at the end of the season , it makes for very poor rhubarb as they use all the strength for flowering .
Glorious here this morning , but had a couple of things to do before I could get to the plot, so basically I have planted out my potatoes and thats all. But not the pink fir, as I have to shuffle my plan around to see where they are going, and get it prepped up. Weeds are getting going ...

Lovely few hours t the allotment with a sleeping toddler! Potato bed now ready for planting and digging started on the area the beans and peas will go. Rain today has meant that will not be finished frustratingly.

Harvested a bit of rhubarb for apple and rhubarb crumble.

Charlotte potatoes got planted into bags. They're up against the south facing wall of the house temporarily which should be protection enough from frosts for the next month.

Tomato seedlings are just emerging, but no sign of anything else.

Compost bin completely emptied into the raised beds - pleased with how compost like it is! - and resited in a more convenient place. I think I probably need another.

Quick question about brussel sprouts, do they just keep growing? I pulled up what was left of mine when building my raised beds last week and left them laying on top of another raised bed. The top has now turned towards the sky and there's signs of new little brussel sprouts on the way.

Rain has just arrived here, but forecast for the rest of the week looks promising. Aim is to build some sort of cold frame type affair ready to harden things off.

bo idea about sprout, sorry.

the garden is buzzing with bees today, I wonder where they come from. I know a school a mile away keeps bees, but that seems quite far away.

strained my first batch of comfrey juice at the smell. I hooe the rhubarb likes it, I need a lot for a cake mid may

I planted out a row of peas which were getting too rooty to stay in the tray.

We lost a rhubarb which got badly frosted and took fright and died so have replaced it with two new ones from the B&Q sale.

Really hoping we do get the promised dry weather. The ground is so soggy at the moment.

Trying to work out where things should go, think it's going to be something like this. Might squeeze in a few more carrots between the leeks and the peas as the leeks get harvested.

Peas and broad beans planted at the velodrome plot today, plus maincrop spuds in bags on the advice of another plotter who said that his first and second earlies do well in the ground but the maincrop get feasted on by slugs. Manured and covered a bed that I think we are going to use for "sundries and experiments" and for some tomatoes that there is no room in the greenhouse for.

I haven't been to the plot in a week or so due to other stuff going on, and was pleased to see all the random unidentified fruit trees and bushes are starting to come into leaf. I think we have a couple of apples and pears, some currant and raspberries, a mature cherry tree, and if my suspicions are right, we will be drowning in gooseberries, come the season for fruiting. I've never eaten a gooseberry in my life!

Elephant, honey bees forage up to 3 miles so a mile is definitely in range.

Chockaholic that sounds great. Gooseberries are lovely - they make fantastic jam, crumble, pie and ice cream. You need a fair amount of sugar because they're pretty tart, but the flavour is fantastic and most varieties fruit really early which means they really extend the soft fruit season.They go particularly well with elderflowers if you have any of those nearby (throw in a few flower umbels while cooking or add a slug of elderflower cordial).

Good to see so much planning and plotting going on - feels like spring is desperately trying to catch up after its slow start. I've not managed to get much done this weekend, would like to get my beans and another sowing of peas done tonight if I can.

Hello all-so good to be hearing all the spring planting talk- it seems really late this year. Radishes are coming up in the raised bed which is pleasing and I’ve got the peas planted out into the bed and some baby leeks, and beans germinating in greenhouse. Weather has been really rubbish the last two days and back to work tomorrow just as the forecast improves. Dandelions have gone ballistic throughout the garden- I think I need to have a dandelion death day with a pokey weeder thingy. Rhubarb is coming up all over the place and my gooseberries have survived- I was worried as I have them in big pots and I hadn’t got the drainage right and they filled up. chocaholic must be so lovely finding out what trees you have!

Glad people are able to get a bit of planting action! I’ve found a jar of dried beans from a good few years back. After a bit of wrack8ng my brains as to what I grew and Googling I think they are Cherokee Trail of Tears , Cosse Violette and Yin Yang beans . Have stuck them in damp tissue in old takeaway container to see if any germinate.

Site manager came and saw me last night and said how pleased he is with what I’ve done given the difficult weather so I think I have brownie points which will carry me through when I’m out of action later this year. Have to say I’m pleased with what i’ve Done, starting to look like a proper allotment. He also said I can have a little triangle bit down the end and expand the rest up to the fences.Got my spuds in yesterday and planted some radish, parsnips, spring onion and lettuce.

Everyone seems really nice and very helpful, two of the old boys saved us getting the shed up when we were spectacularly failing for which I shall be forever grateful.

una thanks for the tips - gooseberry ice cream sounds beautiful, I had visions of eating nothing but gooseberry fool for the next six months! I have an elder growing through the privet in my garden so shall harvest!

cathpot it's really exciting. Our plot apparently used to be a community orchard (which is still there, just a lot smaller) and I think we struck lucky with our plot when they divvied it up as we have seven trees. Definitely two apple (the plotter next door thinks it may be a Russet), plus the pear, cherry, and possibly more apple. We'll have to wait a while before we find out though, and have not pruned this winter/spring, somthat we can see what we've got. I'm thinking of investing in a larger fridge-freezer!