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

Actual proper frost here too this week. No gardening to report as it rained a lot on Saturday and decided that the plot would be too wet on Sunday to go and stand on.

DH is on the mend thank you bookbook

Whoknows It is good when you can do some steady weeding done so that it doesn't get too overwhelming.

Frouby nice to have a proper shed.

Good looking picture of brussel sprouts - get them boiling now and they'll be ready for Christmas

Morning
well, it started off a bit grey and dreary, but went up to the allotment. I have finally sown my overwintering broad beans. It started to rain, but by the time I had hooped and fleeced them , it had stopped, so managed a bit of weeding as well .. Picked some perpetual spinach for tea

It is glorious now - typical!

Proper frost here too - have harvested my massive tromboncino squash and put in broad beans and a few more overwintering onions. My physalis plants are enormous (crowding and shading my kalettes and pak choi) and have lots of little fruits but not ripe yet so hoping that they will keep going. Oh, and I put a few persian shallots into my edible ornamentals bed.

We've been eating pumpkin soup this week. DH made a big pan of it earlier in the week. It was delicious. Think we might try stuffing one next.

Hello, may I join in?

I started a thread about spinach to ask if it matters that we’ve been eating slug nibbled spinach.

Perhaps you can tell me Bookbook?

Just learning how to grow veg - complete beginner!

I am just place marking, I seem to keep falling off this thread.

evening!
welcome izzy :) - slug nibbled spinach . In truth, I don't see a problem - I have been eating it for years along with other slug eaten leaves ( well washed of course! ) .
Ask away , and we shall try and help :)

Thanks book book ☺️

Afternoon!
it is bitter here today - a frost, and now a really cold wind too .
But, I managed to get a bit more forking and weeding done this morning, before wimping out. Picked broccoli , and dug up some leeks.
I wish the weather would sort itself out though - I managed to get the grass cut yesterday afternoon as it was finally dry ! But why we need to cut grass in November ....
Must get on top the green manure too - its like a forest .

Bloody cold here too Book. Managed a full 20 minutes on the plot this morning. DP was out yesterday on a very rare night out and was very green looking. We got the final bit of fencing up before he was whimpering. And that was it.

Got the garden packed away for winter instead while dp lay on the sofa. All the pots are emptied and stored away and the decking has had a good clean. Guinea pig cage moved to their winter spot and a general tidy around.

Need to get some manure on my beds soon. Just so busy at the moment. Business is busy with paperwork to do. House needs a good pre Christmas fettle. It's ds birthday on 13th December, dps 50th on the 18th and we are away to Tenerife 13th to 20th. Not a thing bought for christmas yet either. Sigh.

And we have a wedding to organise for may too. At least I will be thin for it with all this work to do!

just giving a quick wave.
my veg beds are resting under a thick layer of grass cuttings and horse manure (thanks to riot police).

I have kept a few seeds of the halloween pumpkin, will that work?
how about other supermarkey veg? butternut squash?
or should I better buy seeds.

I'm afraid I wimped today, although you might think our temperatures were positively tropical to those up north. I froze watching DS playing rugby this morning and I am only just feeling warm again. I might need to get the long johns out.

Purple if you want to grow pumpkins for eating you don't want to use seeds from a carving pumpkin - likely to be woody and flavourless. Other plants may be ok but there are 3 possible problems; varieties bred for supermarkets often prioritise shelf life/ease of handling over flavour and ease of growing; if grown overseas they may not be suitable for our climate and finally seeds saved from F1 hybrid parents are unpredictable. I would suggest buying seeds and, if you want to, you can save the seeds from the plants you like for future years.

Well, I grew carving pumpkins this year from the seed from a bought one last year, I cooked one up yesterday and it is lovely, just like mashed swede. I agree it's hit and miss though.

No plot for me this weekend, it's either been raining or we've been out. Hoping to get up there tomorrow.

Afternoon !
A bit warmer, but greyer and damper too.
DH came and strimmed all the green manure today before lunch , so I have started turning that in. It was a bit later than I wanted, so will have to finish it tomorrow now . Goodness knows where the time has gone .
I often think that saves sees seem to germinate somewhat easier than the more expensive bought ones , but it can't harm to try - you can always use them as ground cover, and next years carving pumpkin :)

I put down mixed wild flower seed on a smallish patch in the beginning of last month. The wildflower seeds seem to be coming through sparsely but the grass seed is not showing at all. Was I too late?

not sure izzy - but grass seed is very slow to germinate in good conditions . And birds love grass seed as well - it needs a bit of protection

I raked it in and the cat is keen on bird-watching ! Maybe I’m being impatient!

Morning! We managed a trip to the allotment last Sunday morning. It was chilly but sunny. Was clearing weeds from the bed which had beans and peas in it. First fork went in and I found a potato plant . A few had grown from the previous year among the beans but I did think we'd harvested them all. Anyway a small bonus crop of rather large sized main crop potatoes - shame I forked a couple of them.

This week we've been eating spinach, chard, kale, leeks, beetroot, onions and potatoes all grown on the plot. Coming to the end of the beetroot now. The late planted ones didn't really grow very much so I was probably too optimistic there.

Loads more to do so hoping it stays dry this weekend.

Morning!
Glorious and cold here - spent a good hour yesterday, and this morning finishing digging in the green manure . I have turned up so many potatoes - that is after digging them up, weeding the area and re seeding with mustard seeds ......
In the tray are yesterdays and todays potato harvest (I have another half dozen from the day before! ) with a savoy and some celery leaf

Cedar we managed a successful late crop of turnips this year so you might want to try them instead of beetroot (we sowed a late crop of beetroot last year and it didn't come to anything) - assuming you like turnip that is!

Pulled up my first leek yesterday - it was about 3 cm in diameter and about twice as long as the ones you get in the shops (the white bit alone was about the length of a shop bought one!). Really pleased as it is the first year I've grown leeks.

New house and new keen gardener here...

Several smallish beds cleared and only spinach planted veg wise. Strawberries , gooseberries and rhubarb planted but is there any veg I can put in now or do I need to wait for the new year?

I know I could read a book but I thought I would ask the voices of experience first.

In the South West and everything seems to grow.

Izzy you have probably just got some time to plant some autumn planting varieties of garlic and onions but you'd need to be doing it this weekend. They won't be ready until summer next year but they need to be planted now. So I guess depends on whether you want these taking up space?

It is probably a bit late to be planting anything outside for eating during winter or spring time but my view is clouded by being in Scotland which is a lot colder than rest of UK!

If you have a greenhouse there are things you can grow in there all year round like salads and herbs.

izzy
soil improvements. if you can get your hand on manure and straw or cardboard great.
and look through seed catalogues etc to see what you like to eat and could grow where you are.

izzy - as clara says, you just have time for garlic/onions/shallots. Other things you can overwinter are broad beans , and some varieties of peas "Meteor" is one I seem to think. BUT they will be still growing when you may want the beds for spring grown things, so plan a bit and then plant /sow soonest :)