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

zebra How exciting that you might have a snake!?! What else could it be??? You have to find out for us!
book I am always jealous of your dinner pickings!
I have spent a wonderful sunny day in the garden. I've planted out my cucumbers, coriander, parsley, dill and courgettes. Tomorrow, I'm planing to plant out my squash and sweetcorn plants.

zebra do you have a recorder? Could you sit cross legged on the floor and coax it out? My guess though it is a deflating football. I got the PSB cage poles up today and the hula hoop is excellent at its new job. I will be planting them out tomorrow.

Apparently blue tits and barn owls also hiss as a defense mechanism! Although whyvthrh would be eating near the ground I don’t know. And hedgehogs who don’t hiss as such but are very ‘wheezy’. It’s been an enlightening google. book I am also in awe of your constant pickings! Yes two of the surviving plum trees are last year’s bucket arrivals but one has been established 4 years.

Question about watering: we don't have rain forecast this week till Saturday so how often should I water the garden? We get a lot of wind and everything seems to dry out quickly.

(Hissing) Sid definitely isn't a blue tit - they're higher pitched. And not a hedgehog as I know their sound too. A barn owl? I'd love that, but it's an idiot one if so as too low down.

Erm, I DO have a recorder but perhaps I won't try and coax him out with a tune. Certainly I won't sit down anywhere near - as I am scared and need a quick getaway.

I'll probably do what I used to with a dodgy car noise, and just ignore it and hope it goes away. But probably won't do my intermittent weeding of that end, where i shove my hand into the long grass and pull out big handfuls...

No plotting for me as have family stuff and too hot anyway. But I may sow my squash - can't believe people are planting them out and I haven't yet sown. And also, despite the fact that I have way too many tomato plants, I dint have some of certain varieties that I do love. So yes, yes I may sow a few more...

aw, I try to work it out so I always have something to pick - lots don't bother over winter, but thats almost the best for me. Only trouble is caulis - I know I planted a few ( well - 10 , 5 each in staggered plantings 2 weeks apart ) but you wait , and wait, and then they all curd at once! But yes, I love going , and having to think what I can do different with the things.
Grouchy - my advise is to water really, really well in the evening ( I know that is not good slugwise though) , as it gives the plants a chance to take it up in the cool - and if neccesary, first thing in the morning. I don't think you get the benefit of water in the heat of the day .
Spotted - hissing sid !

Wow it's hot here. Tried the plot for an hour but couldn't face digging a potato bed over which was the plan.

Been to B and Q for a few bits and bought 2 sad trays of chilli and peppers. £3 for 6 plants as 1 in each tray was dead or dying. Didn't want to bring them home and shove them in the greenhouse in case they were diseased so planted them at the plot. Hoping we don't get any frosts in the next couple of weeks. Also bought another rhubarb crown so back up to 3 again.

Do you think I should email where I bought the original 3 from and complain? Only 1 ever germinated and they weren't cheap? And the blueberry bushes I got look shocking too. But that might have been me not using ericaceous compost.

If it is a snake, this warm weather should kick start it, and he should slither off by himself. At least it's the wrong time of year for babies I think !!

Not digging today, it's just too hot. I have an adaza coming this week, but I'd rather a rotavator which should help a lot. My poorly cucumber is gone. Just wilted despite good watering, and it's not rotted off. But, I think I have a chinese snake cucumber coming up! I got the seeds on ebay on a whim last year and none came up. So I just planted all the seeds left, just to get rid of them really. I still have courgettes coming up, my squashkins (has anyone grown these?) came up in the night.

Watering outside at night, greenhouse first thing as well. It has to be 40° in there. We are forecast mist tonight and rain tomorrow.

I want all year cropping, hence why I'm building a poly tunnel. Do I need to start winter cabbage and leeks now? I've never tried to grow over winter before (except forgotten tubs of spuds).

Afternoon !

Today went to pot - visitors ( lovely i truth) , so ended up just popping down to plot to drop off new palletts for manure bin and break up the old ones and take to the tip. For rotten wood, they put up a fight ! tip. Nearly an hour , and that was too long for me in the sun, so did nothing else , but slunk home to sit in the shade!
Lonely - Leeks, get sown pronto - I do mine in 2 week stages, and I will be sowing batch #3 this week . They are as tough as old boots with the right varieties, so you could plant them outside. I haven't sown winter cabbage yet - probably another 3-4 weeks at a guess. The overwintering things I grow all live outside without any protection - kale/sprouts/ sprouting broccoli/ cauliflowers/ savoy cabbage/ perpetual spinach ( chard ) . I do have to net though for cabbage whites and birds .

PSB cage is up and populated with seedlings, I managed to gain some red cabbage ones as well. I've planted out my so say blight resistant tomato plants and strimmed all the paths. 24 degrees here so progress was at half pace with lots of stops for water.

*29 degrees, I've just been corrected by Dd.

stupid potato question: in a bucket when do I put more soil in? when green tips are showing or do I need to wait longer?

My house is now free of seedlings! Most of it has gone into the greenhouse for the time being. Forecast to get cool again at the end of the week so going to wait another week or so for the courgettes and squash to go out.

Direct sown peas have just emerged in the last few days. I also have some in pots that were insurance as there has been lots of squirrel and pigeon activity around that bed and i didn't hold out much hope but looks to be a pretty successful germination rate. Not quite sure where I'm going to put those. They may end up in a large container if I can find/make a suitable structure for them to climb.

Still no sign of climbing french beans though, this is the second lot I've sown and it was a brand new packet bought this year so that's a bit annoying.

Potatoes are going great guns and strawberry flowers have just emerged today.

bluerunningshoes I cover mine as soon as I see them, they growing so fast at the moment though it seems to be a daily activity!

Everything is now in the greenhouse here. Spinach has failed to germinate twice so need to buy different seeds. The cucumbers are not looking great - 1 has a grey mottled leaf already. May need to sow again, quickly!
As usual May and sunshine has caught me behind with sowing, so a busy week ahead! Holding off from planting out just yet.
Made comfrey "stew" for feeding my plants at the allotment, watered and a bit of weeding - and gave up in the heat! Paddling pool instead for hot little ones.

Everything is in my greenhouse too. Sweetcorn has geminated over the last 2 days - 19 so far out of 24, so pleased with that. I have just popped another 12 seeds in today , I have the room, and DH is a convert after having fresh sweetcorn straight from picking. I've done my last sowing of leeks , as I was in the greenhouse potting up aubergines and peppers - they are finally starting to grow on nicely. My spinach has only just nicely germinated, that has been slow, but I seem to have hit it right this year, though the beans are not through yet, so I better not count my chickens....
i do need to do another succession sowing of beetroot , and broad beans - the first ones I planted out at the plot have started to flower

I've forgotten to sow beetroot how has this happened?? Will have to buy some seeds. Choggia are my favourites.

My sweetcorn failed to germinate. A plot friend has offered to do some in her heated propagator. She's very kind and helpful. I bought some corn on the cob last week to go with ribs and coleslaw, my Dcs were very disappointed with it, hooray I might be winning them over!

I’ve been very behind with sowing this year - chucked everything in seed trays in the house last weekend and to my amazement I have cucumbers, tomatoes, courgettes, peas, sugar snaps, sweet corn, leeks, broccoli and cauliflower all germinated and most of them big enough to transplant this weekend! Just waiting on peppers and aubergines. I’ve potted the bigger ones into small pots in the greenhouse - I am not risking putting anything outside until next weekend at the earliest and I might wait for the last weekend in May as I’m in northern Scotland so last year lots of things got killed by snow in mid April! I’ve put carrot, parsnip and some pea seeds directly in the ground but no sign of them yet, onion sets are just getting green tips. Will do the second sowing of those plus broccoli and caulis next week. Need to get some netting up too as birds seem to love my pea seedlings. The fruit all seems to be trundling along in its fruit cage - I guess I don’t need to put straw down for strawberries yet?
Also need to figure out how to feed things as I may have skipped that key step of digging in lots of well rotted manure...

Thanks for the watering advice, book.

Have just planted out my sweet peas and potted up my little bush courgette seedlings. They have a lovely root structure so I'm hopeful they'll do well this year.

Looking sternly at tomato seedlings did not do the trick. They are just sitting there 4 leaves in , sunny greenhouse, plenty of water, doing nothing. Odd. I’m going to try not looking at them this week before I panic and buy some. Garden is lovely at the moment as last owners planted lots of azealea so there are crazy colours everywhere. My cucumbers are coming up nicely , and as ever I have over - beaned. Took someone’s advice and put cut down plastic milk bottles rounds my pea seedlings when I planted them out and it does seem to have helped with slugs. Certainly the ones I didn’t bother with have come off worse.

Afternoon!
another hot one !
elephant - my germination rate was always poor on sweetcorn, and I still don't know why it is now okay - it used to be about 40% , even with fresh seed. I think I was trying to sow too early, and its almost more to do with day length than heat .
Lonely - I always seem to forget something, even though I have a planting plan !
Cath - I'm wondering if the compost has gone sour in your tomatoes? If you are watering and with no growth, it can often be a problem. If you don't have too many to do, I would consider repotting with fresh compost .
DrWhy I'll be laying straw sometime this week - they are full of flower, so won't want to muck about with them much when they start to set.
I went early to the plot again, to miss the heat. I watered everything - first time of many I suspect. I also sharpened and used my hoe for the first time this season in amongst the potato rows - they are just showing the first leaves through. Did a bit of general dandelion digging out - we have a dandelion plot next door but one , so try to keep on top of those ( no chance ....) Cut absolute loads of asparagus. Then dug up some PSB plants that had finished and gone to flower. Picked loads of that too - still have 4 plants left, should get another couple of picks off yet.
I may have to make soup :)
At home , the first french beans are just starting to pop out - 'Cosse Violette' ahead of the Cobra - no sign yet of runners or borlotti ( though I have to keep my fingers crossed on the borlotti - they are old seed )

My berlotti and ying and yang both failed, old seed (3yr +) to blame I think.

Am contemplating another Marshalls seed order. Winter stuff, and some beets and carrots.

Was chatting to my neighbour (whos garden resembles more of an allotment than mine and they have ducks), and she thinks my soil looks really good. I was going to dig out and make new raised beds for my poly tunnel (plastic pipe dream), but think I'm just going to dig some manure through and go for it.

My second bought cue is looking very sick now, maybe it is the compost. I did a bit of mix and match.

Raining here, so just the greenhouse to water tonight.

Thanks book I didn’t know about that , I’ll pot them on this weekend and see if they perk up.

Aha, found you! Good to see old and new people all busy growing and enjoying the weather. Slugs have been taking their toll on my pumpkins and courgettes - removed lots of them this morning and one came away with a leaf attached! But the soft fruit is flowering and budding nicely, the tomatoes have their first flower buds and most of my new perennial bed is now installed all of which are positive feelings!