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

OMG! Many apologies! Silly phone said it wasn't posted 😶

hahaha! welcome Flying ! :)
horsetail is a pain, we have people on here who cope with it.
So - whereabouts are you, ( North/South/East/West) and is it in a real state? Just got it in time to get stuff growing .
Gooseberry - well, mine is just in flower now, so i suspect yours may be too. Its a bit late for pruning, but you could get away with cutting out any dead branches, anything that crosses and rubs other branches , and maybe any weedy looking ones. Then I would leave well alone , weed around it well, and give it a good feed and water . Sort any 'shaping' for next year, about Feb/March, before it has put out any leaves

Welcome Flying!

I have horsetail/marestail, and honestly, it’s not that bad. It never quite goes away but I just pull it out when I see it and stick it in plastic bags to die. It lessens over time if you keep doing that, it doesn’t really get in my way.

I’d probably leave the gooseberry to do its thing for now and worry about pruning it next winter, tbh.

Lots of weeding and tidying at my plot this weekend. My PSB has finally done some sprouting too and DP is currently preparing some for dinner along with the first picking of the asparagus :-) tulips have done really well too and I have 2 bunches for the flat this week.

Potatoes are up, I’ll let them grow a few inches more and then earth them up. All the herbs are putting on lots of new growth, fruit all in blossom and bees buzzing everywhere. Sadly my crispy peas did not survive the greenhouse furnace! Lesson learned. I’ve ordered some more and will have to direct sow now.

Does anyone else have trouble growing carrots on clay? Not so much the knobbly shapes, I could live with that, but just getting the damn things to germinate in the first place. Last year I sowed some quite late and they came to nothing, and now my early sowings under cloches have done nothing either. I’m considering making a container/high raised bed for them instead now.

Welcome to the thread FlyingMonkeys. Gooseberry I would wait and see what happens this year. As bookbook says they should be in flower (or will be imminently) so don't want to disturb that.

I have horsetail in my plot. The only thing to do is to remove the stems as you go, hoe it off during the summer and don't put any of it on your compost heap. It's annoying more than anything really, it doesn't affect the growing of crops if you keep on top of it. Also covering the beds with cardboard/plastic/tarpaulins during fallow times will help keep any weeds down.

Lovely day here. We've put a lot of work in the last couple of days. Finished planting onions, then added beetroot and peas. Have also caught up with some of the weeding and managed to get the first lot of seeds sown into pots. As Zebra said the weather made me feel like I was behind but I remembered that last year we had frosts at the end of April and people who had planted out things like beans early lost them so I'm feeling a bit more relaxed. Well, knackered too

Yes, Cedar I've now read that temperatures are going to suddenly drop next week - with frost in some places - so I'll be relaxing a bit and holding off from planting out for a while!

Thanks for the welcome guys! 😆 I'm in the NE. Plot is a 1/2 size which will suit us fine this year, we may have the opportunity to take over the other half next year if it gets let go (but we're more than happy for now). The soil is pretty decent in itself, we're planning on a polytunnel, raised indoor beds, the usual veggies, tom's in growbags, plastic trug containers for pots, strawbs. Companion flowers, nasturtiums & geraniums.

We've got 3 fruit bushes to keep potted, and we're looking to do a small seated area. This year it'll be trial & error but hopefully we'll get some decent crop & have a clearer idea for next year. Attaching pics & hopefully won't post it 15x's...

Does anyone have any experience with water butt pumps? I'd really like one so I can use the collected rainwater more easily and move some water from the mini water butts collecting from our shed to a larger water butt close by.

Welcome flying!

We have a water butt pump but haven't used it in a while, it was quite slow and got clogged up easily.

Frustratingly current progress pic won't post grrrr... I'm off work tomorrow so will be popping down to clear some more then. We've got seedlings set away on the kitchen windowsill; peppers, carrots, nasturtiums, geranium, and DP couldn't wait so we've got a few rows of red/white onion in the ground already. Thanks for the advice re: gooseberry & horsetail 🙄

Welcome Flying !
blue Yes - I actually think it does. Never used it before, though....
Thanks for the tip of freezing chillies. I would never have thought of that. Fingers crossed that I get a ridiculous glut of fruit!

Feeling like I'm making a little headway 🙄

Welcome flying!

Cannot remember the name of the chef but I remember hearing that he always freezes chillis, then just grated them (still frozen) into dishes as and when he needed them, so that was going to be our plan with any surplus.

Was working all weekend so missed the plot but dh did go up and finish painting the shed and fitting the water butt.

I’m trying to sort out a wildlife area but stuck for ideas, can’t really put a pond in as much as I’d love to as we have a toddler bumbling around. I got some bee and butterfly friendly plants yesterday but does anyone have any suggestions, was thinking of a hedgehog house?

Dreaming we planted a mixed native hedge and created a couple of wood piles in one area of our garden, to give cover (and berries) for birds and small insects/rodents in what is otherwise a pretty exposed area. We've spotted mice and frogs in the pile so far (and it has only been there a couple of years). We also have a couple of bird boxes and insect hotels but they have not been used yet (probably still too 'new'!).

Evening
well, I managed a quick hour weeding/forking over the next bed ( for leeks) , thinking I'd better take it steady as was due back in the afternoon with DH to finish off brassica cage. Rain all afternoon .So, I pricked out calabrese ( did summer caulis the other day) sowed spinach and perpetual spinach and that was it. Though one small ray of joy - all my curcubits have germinated ! They have been sooooo quick this year, can't quite believe it
Serendipity - I have trouble with carrots . Full stop. The only time I did any good, was when I sowed the tag ends of every open packet I had (- well broadcast them in truth) hid them under enviromesh, and forgot left them to it.. I grow them in pots at home now .

I've sprinkled my nematodes about the place this evening, biological warfare here I come

Welcome Flying
I didn't go to the plot at all during the hot spell, it's on a south-facing slope and I knew I'd absolutely fry. So instead I went there this morning and got soaked in pouring rain & cold. I didn't have too much choice as I'm still trying to steadily move things out of my crumbling shed so that we can start to remove it. I bought a cheap metal arch frame from Home Bargains last year and it's been in its box in the shed ever since. I'd earmarked today to put it up and I also needed to plant out two evergreen honeysuckle which I'd had in pots in the back yard but they were being quite badly chewed by vine weevils (the bane of my life in my back yard!)
The arch was fairly easy to put together although not the most practical thing to wander around with (it's 2m high x 1.4m wide) and I planted the honeysuckles on either side to grow up it. I was thinking of putting at least one blueberry plant under the arch, in a trug sunk into the bed & filled with peaty soil. I also gave the raspberries a drench of iron and did loads of weeding - a lot of bindweed has suddenly popped up all over the plot and the warmth has brought out the annual weeds as well. Plus the comfrey is everywhere of course - despite digging lots out last year I found some huge thick roots today.

Here's a progress pic, it's all looking quite green in the rain! The arch isn't easy to see, it's up on the right hand side near the shed. Hopefully it'll develop into more of a feature if the honeysuckle gets going.

can I ask something about pumpkins?

do I need to pot the seedlings on or can they go straight in the bed?

What sort of size are they?

Mine are going straight in the bed but we're started off in 4 inch pots so they're not really seedling sized now. I'll cover them if there is a threat of frost.

they are just developing the first real leaves but getting big for the tray (soft fruit container)

Morning!
blue - personally I would pot up - its due to be a tweak cold this weekend , and they will grow away that much quicker if they have a good root system too. I put mine in quite big - I found that slugs liked the tender new shoot tips, and had to resort to a little ring of organic slug pellets too , after losing the first ones I planted out a couple of years ago.
I managed an hour and a half of prep work this morning - leek bed all ready to go, and picked another great big load of PSB too. The rain overnight made weeding and forking so much easier - got lots of bits of bind weed , so win win . It is looking remarkably black now - really need to get the brassica cage finished , so praying it blows over ( maybe a bit hopeful.....)

Welcome Flyingmonkeys, definitely progress there.

I need a Trespassers will be composted sign now TimTam

I’d pot on the pumpkins. I’ve chucked some what might be butternut squash in jiffy pellets in that are pretty small and definite signs of slugs. They’re only in as there was an episode with a non waterproof pen and the labels so I’m probably going to resow.

Huge result this morning, walking the dog and found some free guttering someone had put out plus some pots, perfect for my shed. Lovely to be able to work the soil now after a very wet start to my plot. Am doing a no dig squash bed so hauling the contents of compost bin down on regular basis. All the beds are banked up a bit which I hope will help with the winter.

Had a look this morning and can see the top of first potato plant, some lettuce and radish have germinated and some of my annuals. Planted sweet corn seed this morning and some some chicken pellets around the rhubarb and soft fruits. Comfrey patch is dug and I think I can see signs of the first shoots of one of new comfrey crowns.

thanks.
pumpkins are pottet on :o
good point about slugs, I also find I need to protect freshly planted out plants. but once they get going they are fine.

how much comfrey do you have?
I have about 5 plants (plus lots of it's 'sister' alkanet) which give me plenty of comfrey juice.

oh, I have my first ever up-side-down courgette seedlings.

can I just turn them right way up?

Sound like exciting times with seeds germinating and visits to plots.

I am going to have to re-sow butternut squash, but everything else seems to have done well. Still plenty more to sow. Potatoes are half planted (the rain came down!).

blue I just have one large comfrey plant here - well I assume it is comfrey with lilac flowers?- but it makes plenty of juice! I do it in a tub, then strain. Not my favourite Jon though.

there are different kinds of comfrey, mine has white flowers.
rather pretty and bees love it.
the juice stinks. the dc are fascinated by that :o