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, I hope you don't mind me posting on the thread. DH acquired his allotment last summer which was very overgrown so this year has been mainly about prepping raised beds etc. He has a few crops(?) So I'm going to read this thread and get some tips for him. I pop down for watering and weeding but would like to get more involved.
The thing is, what do you all do at the allotment when you need to wee? Sorry for the totally random question but it's so much easier for men isn't it? I promise that I'm not the pee troll I don't like to ask the other people at the allotments as they'll have me pegged as the weird newby.

DeadBod most people I know have a bucket in their shed in case of emergency, the contents can then poured on the compost heap. I'm quite lucky though as I live a short walk away.

Morning all!
Absolutely blimmin' roasting here already ...
welcome DeadBod :) - there is nothing you can't ask here - we are all about poo/manure etc ! As re weeing - I'm lucky, as our site has a toilet . Mmm , if you can bear it ( as all wee can go on the compost heap ) a simple camping toilet if you have a shed ? Or a sheewee perhaps?
Frouby -sorry I forgot to say - I don't see any problem with the poo - agree ^^ 6 months is usually fine for use, and it breaks down a bit quicker if you add it as a top dressing in autumn, and fork in lightly - it will be ready fro spring planting ( maybe not seeds ) , but fine for squashes , pumpkins etc
Post - that sounds lovely , have you got any way of harvesting water ( for when the rain arrives ! ) Its surprising how much you can collect off quite a small roof of a shed or greenhouse.
Having said that , all 3 of my water butts are empty. I am keeping fingers crossed for Thursday , and maybe a few light showers tomorrow.
DH and I went up to the plot yesterday afternoon just to water the squashes beans and courgettes., and I panted up some savoy cabbages too . I had to scrape off all the eggs from the cabbage whites - I hadn't protected them at home while they were waiting to get planted up ( the cabbage whites are absolutely everywhere at the moment - loads of them)
I went early today, as I knew it would be too hot for me later - well , it was too hot for me anyway ... 22º at 8.30 this morning .
I planted the last leeks, and the beetroot that has been waiting for a week to be planted out ( all on the hope of some rain tomorrow) . I pulled up all the broad beans , poor little things, and picked off anything useable. Pulled up the first row of peas too. Picked green beans and 5 courgettes . The stripey 'Romanesco" plants are producing 3 courgettes every 2 days , so prolific , the "midnight" plants only 1 a day
so I can't remember - who was it who had the abundance of courgette plants ?, just wondering how its going, :) or struggling under a courgette landslide ....

Harvested 250g of purple podded peas last night (which resulted in 110g of peas ) and 500g of raspberries (hadn't collected any the day before, hence the larger harvest).

Also pulled 3 very small garlic bulbs. Have about 15 more to pull - but I think they'll all be very small. They were put in very late though (although they did get the Beast from the East) - I'll be better organised this year.

The runner beans and broad beans in the legume bed have now started to set. The French beans are tiny but also have tiny French beans.

My romanesco cauliflower is still resolutely refusing to flower

I may have damaged the potatoes in the 2 potato bags (which to be fair are "extras" over those in the raised bed) as I ran out of time to water them one night and yesterday the shaws had collapsed and look like they've been damaged

All the tomato plants have now set. The 3 courgette plants in the greenhouse are trying to take over. I'm discussing with dh how I can raise the shelf that the 2 hanging tomato plants are currently hanging from so that they can be out of the way. He's wary of moving the "nut and hole" thing technical term to the roof struts (and then use butcher hooks to hang the baskets on) as he's fearful that the roof struts are not strong enough.

In good news, it has just started raining here in Glasgow. Hopefully it will last a while.

Morning all,

Been up to the plot this morning to water as we've been away for a few days. There hasn't been a drop of rain here for about 3 weeks now, and that was only light drizzle, the last proper rain was on 31st May. The grass everywhere is yellow, most people's plots look a bit the worse for wear, it is not very encouraging, although on the plus side the weeds are struggling too. My courgettes are finally starting to grow a bit and make some flowers, I have never seen them so slow, it must be 6 weeks since I planted them out and they are not really any bigger than they were in pots. Cosmos has started to flower and runner beans are covered in beautiful red flowers, so at least I have some colour, if not much in the way of crops.

My broad beans are doing well though, no aphids to speak of and lots of pods. Tomatoes are setting well at home, just waiting for the first ones to ripen.

Dead - sorry, no answer to that question, I rarely spend more than a couple of hours at my plot so the need doesn't arise. Most people don't have sheds so I don't know what they do, theres not much privacy either as we are overlooked by houses. I get the impression a lot of people live very close by and are little and often visitors like me.

Thanks everyone for answering my query. I thought a bucket was the answer but I didn't want to break any allotment etiquette.
I'm looking forward to having a good read of this thread and seeing how everyone is getting on.

Deadbod i have a little rubber trug in my shed for that very reason. Before the shed if I was desperate the pub over the road didn't mind us nipping in as we usually had a post plot pint.

Very, very hot here. Must be in the 30s.

Have spent a good few hours yesterday and today getting stuff done. Planted.out my caulis, sprouts and savoy cabbages. DH has made me some half hoops out of somr metal stuff he uses at work and we got them netted this morning.

My PSB is currently uncovered as I need to get something else to make hoops with. I don't mind the butterflys having a few of those leaves as it's just the flowers I want but will try and get them renetted this week.

Resown beetroot and peas. Planted out some sad looking lettuce seedlings. Sown some spring onions.

Picked 2 huge courgettes for dhs mate at work tomorrow. And 3/4 of a big bag for life of runner beans and 2 cucumbers.

Have had 2 strange cucumbers though from the other plant. It hasn't provided any cucumbers so far. Had a rummage and found 2 round cucumbers about the size of satsumas. They were cucumber inside but much paler than a normal cucumber. The chickens enjoyed them but I don't think I would have!

Welcome, Dead. I don't have an answer either as I just garden at home, but I'm very interested to learn that pee can go on the compost! Makes me feel better about the amount my small and terrible children pee on the lawn.

I have little green caterpillar things in my blueberries. How do I stop that happening again next year? And if I get rid of the berries with holes will the intact ones be ok?

are your cucumbers all female Frouby - wonder if they got pollinated by some other lurking curcubit ?
Grouchy - I don't grow blueberries, but just looking on RHS , they say fruit fly ( drosophila) is becoming a problem in the UK- so maybe that ?
( that brings back memories of school biology and doing gene stuff with drosophila!) - you would need fairly fine netting I think for protection , maybe enviromesh

I wonder if the hot weather has made it worse and next year, when we have a more normal Spring (please) it will be OK.

Could it be lemon crystal or green Apple ( or something like that) ie. one of the round cucumbers ?

Post you might have the answer! I think I randomly bought a lemon one from the garden centre after all mine failed bar one. I bought 3 from the garden centre, had 1 lonely one that survived in my greenhouse. I had 4 in at one point. 2 tom thumbs and 1 lemon one and 1 from home. Lost 1 in the wind last month and I bet I have 1 lemon, 1 tom thumb and 1 normal one left.

They were very spikey though. Would have to peel them to eat. How big should they be before harvesting? Lemon sized I presume.

I think about tennis ball/Apple size I think from memory. They’re quite nice and mine were fairly prolific once they got going.

Welcome Dead, I have a shewee and bottle then dump in compost.

Bookbook I have a water butt but it leaks and has been empty for ages. Got another couple I could take down and was lucky to find some free guttering but doesn’t seem much point at the moment. I’ve forgotten what rain looks like !

The cucumber plant I have produces quite prickly fruit that need to peeled. No idea the variety as it was given to me. Should have two more cucumbers this week, judging by the speed they grow. A further 3 tiny ones.

The rain gave me the night off watering but wasn't really the proper soaking I was hoping for. Struggling to keep the tomatoes watered in the greenhouse, even after watering early morning everything's dropping by mid afternoon.

Picked the first blackberries today, it's a bit odd as nearly all are entirely green apart from the ripe ones i picked, nothing in betwen.

Courgettes, squash and beans still going well

It's been raining on and off steadily but lightly since 11.30 today

Not enough to get through the tree canopy (so will still need to water the rhodendrons and azaleas under the pear tree) but plenty to give the raised beds a good soaking - along with the planters on the patio.

I've even closed the door to the greenhouse, that's how much the temperature has dropped

Prettybird - 30C, humid but no rain here again today. I did some late evening gardening jobs at home tonight but it really isn't much fun at the moment.

I thought the yellow fruits on my pumpkins were ones that hadn't been fertilised and would rot and drop off but it seems my pumpkins are just yellow. In the past they've always been green like the ones PostNotInHaste has. Must have bought a different variety this year.

Evening !
so jealous of everyones rain ....
well, it may be a tweak fresher , and cooler , but 24º here and dry
Went to do some tidy up jobs - we sorted the net around the fruit cage , tying it up so the birds can get in and I can weed more easily. Checked and secured the net around the brassica cage, as I found a cabbage white inside yesterday . Watered the plants I put in over the last couple of days , along with courgettes and squashes.
I was a bit dumbfounded, as I don't seem to have any runner beans set . there were lots of flowers, no beans. Just looked on RHS , and it seems too hot weather, particularly on a night can stop germination . So, hopefully as it cools , I will get some. Luckily, I'm not too fussed as the french beans have started, and I noticed the first set purple french beans too.
Picked the courgettes , surprise , surprise , and DH found a few redcurrants and blackcurrants I had missed , and there were a few autumn raspberries just ripening

Well Book if it's any consolation we haven't had any rain either. However I have my first going red outdoor tomato. It's a tumbling tom so not very big. I promised a tomato salad for the end of term bbq. At this rate it will courgette surprise instead.

Shows how dry it's been: even though it rained for c8 hours yesterday, it's made barely any difference

Anyway, picked a summer pudding redcurrants, blackcurrants, raspberries and a few wild strawberries today.

Had to frighten a thrush that was caught in the 3/4 complete netting over the redcurrants that it could find its way out. Still got plenty of redcurrants to pick.

Now have an icecream container full of 780g of the fruit ready to make a summer pudding this weekend.

Plus another 500g of blackcurrants and 650g of redcurrants (haven't picked off the redcurrants as I'm going to make jelly so they can go in stalks and all)

Open froze about 36 raspberries and 220g more in a small container - enough for cranachan on 25 January.

I think I've got enough raspberries to make another batch of raspberry jam. Still cropping them - although I think I've only got another week at most. Need to remember to enjoy to have some on their own just for dessert.

Morning everyone,
I have just taken on an allotment and am so excited as had run out of growing room in my garden. Half of it is very overgrown but they have said they will strim it down; the rest isn't too bad and is at ground level. As the ground is so hard though, I don't think I can do any digging yet?!

Morning!
Cheeky - welcome! :) I am terribly nosey, so would you care to tell us where you are - North/South/East/West? . Yes , ground is much too hard, but good that it will be strimmed for you. Now is the time to plan, and get prepped up ready to hit the ground running. Have a good ferret around - if its long grass, you may have fruit bushes etc lurking in there, it may surprise you , you never know! Get to know your plot neighbours too - at this time of year, there is a lot of swap and share goes on at ours - the courgettes are arriving on the 'share' table! (mmm - I have 10 in the fridge - time to make more soup ...)
Well, we had thunder and lightening last night , but only a teaspoonful of rain At least its cooler today .
Aubergines are looking good in the greenhouse, the peppers not too bad, but too many of them I think - I should have thinned them as the first few are a bit small and squashed in amongst the branches.
pretty - good haul! we had our annual Summer Pudding last week . It didn't last long :)
I open freeze everything now, and then chuck in a bag that I can add to - saves a bit of time and effort .

Congratulations Cheeky! There’s lots of inspiration if you have a poke around on line looking at what various people have done. I planted my leeks today and it was very hard going just getting holes big enough for them.

If you decide you want to have a go at some no dig beds you could start gathering materials for that. I’m quite a fan now and don’t plan on any more digging but did some when I got it in March.

Wish I was a bit more advanced with greenhouse crops but they’ll get there eventually. Current Courgette Count (CCC) is 5. 3 quite decent size pumpkins now on pumpkin plant,

Funny how different plots go so differently, Post! Greenhouse crops are storming ahead here, we've been picking loads of tomatoes and cucumbers, plus today I was excited to discover three melons and two watermelons all swelling nicely. But my outdoor crops are mostly pretty rubbish; looks like I won't get any peas or carrots at all, beans are just starting to flower and my courgette count is zero! In compensation my blackberries are very tasty and had a few delicious gooseberries from my new bush (Captivator).

Jealous of all the rain that people have had - I think I felt one solitary spot today but otherwise we've had nothing for weeks, barely managing to keep my priority plants alive and the cracks in the lawn are getting really bad.

Welcome Cheeky and good luck :)