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

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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

Garlic harvested - possibly a bit early but they were starting to get rust and I'm very happy with the size of the bulbs.

Everyone sounds so busy! I have been pottering about outside this afternoon and have finally got round to putting my tomatoes into grow bags. I have 1 grow bag in the greenhouse with my smaller plants and 3 outside. Hoping to I will get something from them!
I have started to pick some of my sweet peas, they are so pretty. My runner beans that I planted just over a week ago have really taken well and have started to grow up my little frame I made. (rather chuffed with that)
Today I bought some little beetroot plants and hoping to plant then=m tomorrow alongside a couple of cabbage plants and carrot plants too!

Is it to late to plant potatoes?

All your pics look so lovely.

*Elephant, I sympathise with the bindweed, I'm overrun with it at home and at the plot. I generally just dig out as much as I can in the spring before planting out, then it's damage limitation after that by pulling it out wherever I see it. I know the roots stay in, but it does keep it somewhat under control.

I managed an hour this morning and an hour this evening at the plot. Got runner beans planted out and cleared another area for planting tomorrow. Also picked more strawberries.

Redcurrant harvesting - I haven't had a crop for the last couple of years but now I have netted them they are doing well, there are lots of little bunches starting to turn red. However in each bunch some are bright red and some are still tiny and green, what's the best thing to do about harvesting them?

Also, how do you know when gooseberries are ripe? I left them too long last year and they vanished overnight, how soft do they get? Mine are still like underripe plums when I squeeze them.

Re bindweed WhoKnows when I moved into my current house 20 years ago the small lawn I had was woeful. With DCs I covered the lawn and put down bark chippings. About 8 years ago I lifted the chippings and the weed suppressant fabric and pulled up yards of bind weed roots. I have put it back to grass and the only bind weed I get now is from the neighbours. On the plot I have moved the strawberry bed which was riddled with bind weed and covered it with black polythene and it will be like that until next spring when I hope to make it into an asparagus bed. However I may leave it for another year. I think the main roots are in that bed as strawberries are quite difficult to weed at most times of the year. I might have got on the win with slugs, snails are not fighting back much, I am tackling bindweed, creeping cinque foil - you are next. ............Oh and then the nettles and the unwanted brambles.

Yes, my strawberries are where the worst bindweed is but they are hard to weed round as they are so shallow rooted it's easy to dislodge them. My raspberries are infested with it too, I pull out great armfuls of it from around them. At home it is in amongst all my shrubs and impossible to dig out, but I am careful to stop any creeping into the lawn.

WhoKnows you see that's the problem I think, if you keep pulling you just potentially make more bindweed plants. I will try and post some photos tomorrow of the experiments. The theory is that the bindweed will keep taking in the 'poison' and it will continue to travel down the plant to the roots, that is what 'round-up' claims. However if the growing tips are killed by the poison, as they do seem to be, is it still going down the plant to the roots?

I am also of the opinion that if you keep having a go at weeds that they will eventually surrender and curl up their toes.

I hate bindweed. My plot is infested with the stuff.

We covered a lot of the plot last year with membrane and this year have covered the membrane with wood chip. It has reduced the area we have to keep weeding which helps.

Most of my beds get a few bits popping through and I just keep pulling it and trying to get most of the root out. There is definetly less than last year and its smaller and weaker.

My strawberry beds are the worst too. But they weren't covered over winter. Will possibly move them to a different bed at the end of the season and tackle it properly.

Brassicas all in pots now. 😐 Bugger. I have lots of each though, 12 sprouts, 12 cabbage and about 20 cabbage so will have to pick the best out of each and hope for the best. The beds that are ready are for beetroot and lettuce, spring onion, and dwarf french beans and possibly radish.

If my brassicas don't make it I will have a rethink for next year. They need to go in the potato beds really as dh is going to make me a frame for the nets and wanted 1 big bed rather than lots of small ones.

If it doesn't work out I will do 2 beds of spuds instead of 3 next year.

Or build more beds 😁.

Chicken run is more or less finished. Chicken coop being built today.

Everything seems to be doing really well. One of the old boys on our plot commented yesterday that I had green fingers and how healthy and big everything looked. He said he was a bit unsure when he saw us building lots of small beds last year but that it seemed to be working well for us.

Up again today. Will hopefully finish chicken run, build coop, dig over the 3 beds and start sowing the seeds I want. And give the strawberry beds a good weed.

Hi all, does anyone know whether romanesco will produce a second head after harvesting the main head? I planted some in autumn and have taken off two very large heads today from two plants with five or six more plants well on their way. Will further heads form like broccoli or is that unlikely?

Well, pleased to report that things are mostly unscathed after 9 days neglect.

Something has dug up the garlic but I have some more planted elsewhere, a couple of leeks have gone to seed and the sprouts have a bit of slug damage but nothing major.

Purple french beans are just about emerging, potatoes are flowering, courgettes too - although seems to be only male flowers at the moment. Strawberries are not even slightly red though, but I wouldn't expect them until the end of the month.

Peas are doing well although are going to need some guidance to grow up the wigwam I lovingly constructed for them!

I have some flowers on my tumbling variety of tomato but the others are a bit behind. Chilli peppers don't look too happy, I wonder if it's been a bit cold for them? Of course it didn't help that I snapped one of them when moving the pot!

I have just gone to plant my carrot plants - they are all grouped together in a fairly large pot, I've read the instructions and it say to plant the plant into the ground. Do I separate it or leave it as one mass of leaves?

You need thin them ow. They don't take at all well to being disturbed so personally I'd plant the lot as one big clump to avoid disturbing the root and would then thin them afterwards.

Evening !
WhoKnows - redcurrant harvesting - I let them nearly all go red on the tassel - maybe the last 2/3 at the very end can be a bit green. They go a beautiful jewel deep , rich red, with a sheen. Gooseberries look very solid/opaque green when unripe, that gradually starts to turn a bit see through , the skin thins so you can almost see the seeds inside IYSWIM , and just as they are starting to give every so slightly. If making jam, I usually pick them a bit unripe.
cloud - I suspect you will get some more, smaller side heads - I know I do with calabrese, certainly worth a try :)
ow - if they are the little chantenay carrots, I leave them be , but if they are traditional ones, I think I would do as cloud says - carefully thin when they are settled. Be careful of carrot root fly when you do - they smell the way to the carrot .
Frouby - If they are in big pots, I'm sure they will cope!
The same here with bindweed - there is a lovely time when you can dig and ease it out , all the root, that is , but its a small window of opportunity. I still try to keep on top of it, and it is getting a bit less every year, but turn your back and its everywhere
I had a quick trip to the plot this afternoon to water and pick strawberries . The peony next to my shed is just starting to flower - its a bit of a beauty :)

Hi complete novice/Newby round here 👋. I've been loving reading your chat. So here is a question for you experts. I have 2 lovely new raised beds what would you plant bearing in mind time of year. I've read up a bit about companion planting so was thinking carrots with some leeks. Also coriander tomatoes and some rocket. Am I too late for tomatoes even though Monty Dom is late? 😁 What would be your favourite easy things to grow? I'd love to mix some flowers in too to make them look pretty. The beds are approx 8 foot long by 1.5 foot and I have 2 of them. West facing but urban so fairly shady really. Look forward to any ideas and advice!

Hey Mickey um, ok, that was probably one of the worst pop songs ever, welcome. Firstly I am not an expert by any standard but I would suggest getting tomato plants etc from car boots sales, side of the road if you are rural or as others have suggested fetes etc. Happy planting, watering slug removal and harvesting.
Oh and in other news, in addition to my water snails, newts and slow worms, I have had a toad visit today. I hope the toad is a resident now, she looked at me and I nodded affirmation.

Mickey I am only in my second year so not 100% sure what I am doing but yesterday I planted dwarf runner beans direct and will do beetroot, spinach and possibly turnips this week. Have also set off in pots some more lettuce and some spring onions.

Garden centres still have loads of plug plants too.

Chicken run almost finished, just the door to covet with chicken wire now. So this weekend we should be picking up our chickens. Very excited. Ordered water and feed feeders and a metal bin for keeping the feed in yesterday. And we have 2 little lavender bantums at the stables we are having so they might be home mid week.

My peas are starting to form pods, first earlies flowering, flowers forming on a few tomatoes, got 2 tiny yellow courgettes, and runner beans starting to get flowers too.

I also planted out 3 tiny melon plants. Am not sure if they will do anything, it might be too cold up here in south yorkshire to grow melons outside but am trying it anyway.

Am still having an internal debate about whether we want a polytunnel or a small, polycarbonate greenhouse. My tomatoes did ok outside last year so would only need the polytunnel for setting off tho I know some stuff does better inside.

If you have a polytunnel what do you grow in it? And if you had the choice between the polytunnel or a small green house what would you have?

If I go with a small greenhouse I can squeeze a couple of fruit trees in. And I think we would use the produce from fruit trees more than produce from a polytunnel.

Thanks elephant and frouby for your replies. I love the greenhouse question too.... Something I was wondering about...

Welcome Mickey :) - you definitely have time to find some tomato plants to get in - look at B&Q/Morrisons/Wilkos /Local Market plant stalls- they usually have some , along with plug plants , often being sold off cheap.
Only grow what you like , thats the most important bit - you still have plenty of time for beetroot/spinach/salads/french beans ( climbing ones up a frame, so they take up less soil space. ) . Lettuce you can grow just about all year round, even over winter with a tiny bit of protection. A couple of chard maybe for over winter pickings.
Greenhouse versus polytunnel - I have a greenhouse ( 8 x 6 ) and grow my tomatoes/peppers/cucumbers/aubergines in it , overwinter things, and set off early sowings of things like broad beans . Thats enough for me - its at home, not at the plot as I water every day, and I don't get to the plot every day. Polytunnel - there is a big one next door but one to me at the plot , and am friends with them. They mainly grow all the same as me in my greenhouse ,but earlier cropping as far as I can tell. You could certainly extend the growing season by a fair amount by planting out early. The smaller the greenhouse, the more extremes the temperatures , so just bear that in mind. I do have problems in summer with it getting really, really hot.

That garlic looks great una

I had a root around one of mine and don't think quite big enough yet. picked off all of the scapes last weekend though which have been delicious in salads the past week. Think I will pull up the bulbs at the end of June.

Does anyone grow comfrey? We've identified a patch of garden well away from everything else that we think would be a good space. just wondering if we should buy plants/seeds? If we were able to get it in this year so that it flowers next year I'd be pleased....

clara - I have just been saving a recipe for garlic scape pesto , just in case. Mine are nearly ready too - the outer leaves are going yellow, but haven't looked yet.
If going for comfrey, go for the Bocking 14 variety - it produces very few/no seeds , so won't get everywhere . I haven't grown it myself, but there are a few on here do, they will be along I'm sure :)

I wouldn't say I grow comfrey, rather that it grows itself! I don't know what variety it is as it came with the house but it spreads and pops up everywhere. So I'd definitely try and find a variety that's not quite so vigorous.

Booking 14 for comfrey is the way to go! I bought mine off the internet. But I frequently give cuttings to other allotment holders so ask around if you see some.

It's very vigorous and once it's in it's not going anywhere so pick your spot. I have about 8 plants in reality 2 would do unless you have a huge plot or garden.

Make tea with it for plants and put it in compost bins as an accelerator.

Morning all!
Well, I was abput to do my little update but I am so excited about the revelation that I'd just had. I'd been idly wondering why my garlic had flopped, bit on reading the last few updates, I have just remembered -it is softneck garlic. So maybe it is ready!? I am such an idiot, I have been trying to ignore my floppy garlic for quite a while now, thinking ti was probably kaput, but maybe be it is ok?

I have been to the plot v v early today. I was there yesterday too, and as I approached I saw loads of pigeons flying off my fruit area. Then they sat there wanting me to leave. So today I returned, to run to cover my fruit. Well, some of it -jostaberry mostly as I still have not yet tried one EVER as they always get chomped. I have made a really rubbish contraption out of branches, canes, a net curtain, poundland net, those mesh shelves, many pegs and string. It took me ages. It looks shite. I've planted my fruit too close together, so I had to battle gooseberries with their thorns to get my curtain on, getting snagged and pricked along the way. Gooseberries I have a ton of and they're not my utter favourite so they have to stay outside the curtain.

I've also taken loads more cuttings of blackcurrant. I say cuttings, it's the branches that have been broken off by hungry birds. I have more blackcurrants to cover but I need to do it when no o e else is there as I get so stress with it. Next year, I REALLY must rethink my fruit protection. (Yes, I have said rhat before...)

Also in are some squashes. And I have more to go. I'm not having the best luck with beloved tomatoes however, quite a few are very stunted and dreadfully spotted on their lower leaves. Luckily I over sowed so I have replacements. Quite a few fruit forming on hanging basket toms, so that's good.

I have harvested a very few strawbs (not covered ) and some radish! That is a first for me, even though everyone says they're easy to grow - I've never managed before. They like quite a fine soil, which I just don't have. And I may pick my first courgettes today - variety striato, which I've not grown before.

There endeth my essay

I have bought two comfrey plants, both of which were devoured by slugs. I feel an utter failure as a gardener!