Allotment/Veg Patch Thread 12! Plotmenters hoping for better weather

[bookbook]

Well, previous thread is nearly full, and I am busy the next couple of days, so thought I had better get this up and ready.
Thanks for the plot title Una
Everyone welcome to join in and share their experiences, tips, the woes and joys of growing their own .
Summer and harvests here we come ( and we''ll do our best to beat the pests)
Previous thread HERE

Hi everyone, I'm certainly glad I had too many courgettes as slugs have already eaten about 15 of them! I left my spare in the greenhouse and they are looking pretty big so I'm going to plant them out and hopefully they're big enough now to survive.

I'm looking for a bit of advice, I've got cucumbers growing (first pic) in my greenhouse but I'm not sure what to do with the tendrils. I had one last year but didn't really grow very far but this one isn't hanging around. I've attached a picture of my greenhouse as it's not a normal one.

Also can I grow a squash in a pot as it's also growing well in my greenhouse and I don't have any bed space for it. I've attached a pic as it's actually growing one

Thanks for the leek advice book Very jealous of your asparagus harvest but we just don't have the space to dedicate to it...

Welcome Trethew I exclusively plant veg in raised beds or pots because our garden soil is crap (basically a metre or so of leftover building site materials and golfballs with a couple of inches of topsoil - our estate was built in the 1970s on an old golf course)

Meep does your greenhouse have any kind of roof rafters that you could tie string around? You can then train the cucumber up the string (tie laterals onto the string)? Squash (and other curcubits) are hungry plants so I'd suggest a big pot! My squash are in potato bags about half full of compost (so around 40 litres).

@clarabellski it doesn't have rafters but could I tie string across the higher levels. Would that be strong enough?

Glad I found this thread again, I did post quite a few months a go (could even have been last year!!)

My little garden is looking good (I am a novice gardener but thoroughly enjoying what I am doing). I have manly flowers growing but do have some fruit bushes, raspberries are looking bushy but no idea when or if they will produce any fruit?! The other fruit bushes at the moment look like dead twigs stuck in the ground with just a little green leaf or two sticking out - my thinking is it won't be this year. Also last autumn I planted up some sweet peas, over the winter I neglected them badly, I have given them a little bit of attention and new canes to grow and some how they have responded and I have started to get flowers off them!

I have been picking my salad onions, they are very tasty, I did plant garlic last autumn but not sure when I can pick them? The other day planted 5 white cabbage plants that I picked up for £1.

I have been given some runner bean plants today - are they best to go outside? Am I right in thinking that they need some sort of cane/trellis/string to grow up?

I have also grown tomato plants from seed, would they be better to grow in my green house or is outside better?

I literally have no idea what I am doing but am thoroughly enjoying watching my garden change daily.

Love seeing all your crops and vegetable patches/allotments, gives me lots of inspiration.

Evening!
meep - agree with Clara - squashes are greedy feeders, so if you can put it in its own compost bag, that would be better as you would need a very large pot. I just tend to let my cucumbers trail everywhere in truth .
hello again ow :)
Garlic - dig up carefully once the leaves start to go yellow. (Rule of thumb - plant on the shortest day, harvest on the longest day )
Runner beans - yes to a trellis or a wigwam of canes - make it sturdy, as they get very top heavy with growth and beans.
Tomatoes - it depends a bit on where you are - down south probably they can go outdoors - up north ( like me ) I have them in a greenhouse, depends a bit on the variety too though

Busy night tonight

Brought some pallet corners & built 4 more raised beds! Phew!

Just need more compost to fill them thankfully Dad has quite a pile

Managed to soak myself 3 times with the hose!

Impressive work love!

There's a promise of thunderstorms here today and tomorrow! So so muggy at the moment so here's hoping. Could do with my waterbutt being replenished!

And gggggrrrr, the gooseberry sawfly is back. Have ordered nematodes from the internet but in the meantime my husband is going out every day with a tub and trying to shake/pick as many off as possible

Even in the south I am doing much better with tomatoes in the greenhouse than I did last year outside,and I'm hopeful that I won't lose most of the crop to blight this year! Runners can go out but they are slug magnets so it helps to make sure that they're good and strong.

I spent a nice quiet couple of hours yesterday evening weeding and deslugging the veg patches. Millions of the blighted gastropods! Still, took out a few hundred last night, nematodes are on the way and I'm potting on the plug plants which I bought to replace my slug-devoured plants, so I can give them a reasonable chance of surviving once planted out.

I'm not having nearly as much trouble with slugs this year though it's hard to know whether it's the nematodes that have helped or just the dry weather generally.

Got everything potted up into large pots yesterday, just need to set up my highly sophisticated watering system before going on holiday - 2 litre bottles with pin prick holes inserted into the soil!

Sounds like a good system tiz. We're away to Spain next week but the family have offered to water for us. OH popped to wilko yesterday and bought some edging so that's made the first of our border paths and will double up to act as impromptu raised beds. Had a nose around the other plots today to pinch ideas.

I'd forgotten about the border edging. Thanks monkeys it's just what I need for the last bit of my veg patch. I even know where two of those rolls of green wavy stuff are. Things are coming along here. My direct sown beans are popping up, the extra peas got dug up and munched, but nevermind. We have had 2 thunderstorms so far today, so I won't need to water tonight.

I have a cucumber half ready. It's quite exciting.

Hi all,

Wondered if I might ask for some advice? I’ve been googling but I’m not 100% sure.

At the bottom of my garden I have four 5’x3’ raised beds, surrounded by grass. I’d like to put down some bark chippings instead to separate ‘my’ section of the garden leaving the top 2/3rds lawn, and use to walk on etc rather than muddy grass! I’m going off on a tangent now but basically what’s the best way to do this? I’ve read that some people put down plastic, others put down cardboard, some take up the turf and then chuck the chippings down.

Any advice much appreciated!

Lonely it's £3.75 a strip at Wilko and pressure treated.

Meep I just put my cucumber in the ground in my greenhouse nantie it to a cane to climb up - but if your greenhouse is all shelving I would probably put a cane next to it and string above it.

Guy we have bark chippings down on top of liner we bought, to suppress weeds. A black membrane. At our allotment I just used the compost bags cut up!

Most things are planted out now. Just flowers and PSB in the greenhouse now plus need to sow kale as I forgot to do so. Lettuce has again failed to germinate so going to try directly into my raised bed.

I have some cucamelons - something new this year. Do people put them in the greenhouse or outside? Do you use sticks or netting for them to grow up or something else?

Evening all!
hello Guy - I seem to remember you from a while back - I do hope all is okay, and you are well :) . I second Rhubarb - weed membrane on top of the grass, then cover with bark
well, I managed to get a good couple of hours at the plot this morning , and I have planted out the second lot of leeks, and all the flower seedlings ( sunflowers/cosmos/scabious etc) . So that is nearly everything planted out , apart from some second succession stuff - more leeks/beetroot/spinach , then some swede , kale and summer cabbage. But I can take a breather and get on with hoeing ( oh joy! ) .
It is just so dry - the soil is like dust , so really hoping we get some rain tomorrow. One benefit - I agree, the slugs don't seem to have done much damage so far , like you tiz .
Rhubarb - I grew cucamelons a couple of years ago. I had them in a pot outside, and made a little wigwam for them. I haven't done them again though - nobody really liked them , and we got loads
I have lettuce germinated!! - It was an old ( think 2015) packet from Thomson and Morgan of a cross between iceberg and little gem . I put about 5 seeds in each little plug, and they have all popped up . I plan on planting them between the brassicas as a catch crop. But my basil is no where to be seen ...

Bookbook - how nice to be remembered! Yes I was around a while back when I was getting started with my raised beds and everyone here was awesome! My dh was poorly wasn’t he. Alls okay at the moment touches wood

So I don’t even need to take the turf off? Excellent Any recommendations for the membrane stuff or is it just generic? Sorry prob stupid question but thanks loads

I sowed snow pea seeds in the veggie bed today, and gathered armsful/armfuls? of warrigal greens, now plucked and ready to blanch and freeze. God knows why, as they grow all year round and are drought-hardy. I've gathered lots of seeds, and will hand them round to interested parties.

Usually I put excess produce in to bags and hang them on neighbours' door handles, but the plucking of the individual leaves is quite time-consuming. What to do...

Fingers crossed I'm winning the war against the beasties on my broad bean flowers. The washing up liquid dilute spray seems to be doing the trick, so thanks for advice,
My runner beans are nearly at the top of the the 8ft wigwam poles! Sweet peas flowering, toms and strawbs looking good. So veg is good, but very little in flower in the garden. Raining today, so that's a bonus.
Enjoy your Saturday all.

Rhubarb I quite like cucamelons - they're such a dainty vine that I'm just letting them scramble through my outside tomatoes. It is working well and they're not taking up any extra space.
This is one of my favourite things about summer: a daily bunch of sweetpeas!

Morning all,

I'll be off to the plot this morning. We had torrential rain a couple of days ago so the ground is lovely and soft again after several weeks of dry as a bone. I need to plant out my courgettes, a load of sunflowers and I want to divide some clumps of chives to make a row of them - I have three very big clumps in full flower and they look lovely. Far too many to eat though, we have a single pot at home which is enough (the parent plant).

I grew cucamelons a couple of years ago, outside on a small wigwam with string. They were pretty but SO prolific, I ended up pickling them with dill.

Dd2 just asked for cucamelons oddly. My mum my grew a plant a couple of years ago. Am trying kiwi berries (big plant bought from the range) this year. The answer of oversupply is lots of dc's! As long as it's something they like.

After torrential rain, everything is looking very good. My living willow hedge has grown about a foot overnight. One, my one and only striped, cougette has been nipped off at the root such a beautiful plant too. I have no more seeds. I have lots of other courgettes, but that was my only stripy.

The midges are out in force, so I have retreated after a quick check round.

Goodness, some of you are SO ahead of me, what with tall flowering runner beans and flowering sweet peas too. Mine are both just inches high, and I actually only planted the last batch of each out yesterday.

So, in garden news we have a rat. Seems to be under the shed. I guess guess it may have moved out of its previous home due to the recent floods? How do I get rid? We've stopped feeding the birds (babies all seem to have fledged), and I've all seed the neighbour to please stop putting piles of bread out...

I've also had the hose under the shed, and put down vicks and other stinky stuff, and moved all the pots away. NB I am currently without cat, I don't know of any ratting ratting terriers and I'm not using poison as we have loads of raptors around here.

I I want the rat to move on l mean - I know I could use a snap trap if I'm really concerned.

Food source. If it's food is hard to find it will bugger off. We have chickens, so have an on going problem. Dp shot a big one last night. They also hate disturbance so the hose and pot moving will help a lot. If you find a hole, fill it up with water. It will have another exit.

I am also a long way behind. I have first early peas in flower, but my sweet peas are only just getting going.

stupid potato question: how do I know when they are ready to harvest?

I have some in a bucket on the patio and some in the bed between courgettes.