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

I am firmly in courgette corner. I am even plotting to offer them to the new families who have moved into the street. I picked my for outdoor massive tomato today.

Ooops, here it is.

Book - I do use the chicken manure pellets so nutient wise things probably aren't too bad, however I only tend to put them in where I plant, I should probably scatter them all over. Also the soil is so clayey, it could really benefit from a few inches of manure over its entire area to improve its texture etc.

Just got back from watering. Things are going a bit better no despite there still being no rain. I estimate my first courgette will be picked on Weds, my sweet peas are finally flowering properly, broad beans still going strong, runners have lots of baby beans on and my sweetcorn are sprouting cobs despite still being less than 2' high.

Whoknows have you looked into finding a friendly pony stable that will let you bag up their manure and take it up to your plot?

We have communal manure delivered at the other end of the allotments. That means lugging it right the way to our plot in a barrow. And what lets us down is the number of trips we can physically manage when the manure is there - it never goes as far when spreading it as I'd like.

Clay soil is good for holding onto nutrients - I try and remind myself of this when I'm trying to dig it! I am also experimenting with using one bed an putting all the weeds on that. Theory is that they will rot down and then can be dug in. Need a bit more water though. This only works if you have a big enough plot to be able to spare the space.

Love the size of that tomato and the sweetpeas are beautiful. Mine got knocked about by the cat and never got going. (and I failed to re-sow).

Help!

I suggest courgette cake, courgette and blue cheese soup, sneaking them to every meal or a table outside your front gate with a sign 'Free, help yourself'.

meep - - as one with elephant - I have given away so many already , have made loads of soup etc , and I have another 8 in the fridge

muffins, and I use cheddar but doesn't use many
uses a lot, big favourite to go with berries/ice cream etc freezes well

i add to tomato sauces for pasta , small cubes fried with the onions and garlic
In stir fry .
Roasted with garlic and onions
look up a recipe for Briam - thats nice too

That's a bumper harvest. What a shame they all come at once

Cedar - the thought of the mess and smell in the car puts me off a bit I must admit. Them there's the need to rot it down somewhere (I don't have a lot of space). I really ought to ask others at my site what they do, its a topic of conversation that never seems to come up.

My first dish of homegrown courgettes ....fried in butter

lmao @ meep's pic

Your aubergines look lovely book I checked our packet and we have black beauty too. This has been the warmest and sunniest summer I remember in a long time and our yield is not as good as yours but we are further north still...Ah well...

Still no sign of squashes setting fruit here.

We did have our first red tomato at the weekend (the toddler spied it, grabbed it and wolfed it before we could say 'stooop'!). We'll have a good number red by next week too. Can't wait for homemade pizza with tomato sauce made with the san marzano and orange queen. nom nom....

My more experienced gardening friend is trying to tell me to top off my tomatoes to concentrate the plants' efforts into the ones that have ready set - especially as we are in Scotland with a reduced growing season.

Plenty of tomatoes set but none reddening (or yellowing in the case of the Peardrop tomatoes ) yet.

I remain confident in an extended summer

I can also use green tomatoes in my garden chutney if necessary

prettybird we don't do this until end Aug/beginning of September normally (we are Renfrewshire). Ours are in an unheated greenhouse.

Good - my instincts are right then!

Our greenhouse is unheated too but gets plenty of sun: against a west facing wall so a wee sun trap.

Harvests are getting a bit repetitive, courgettes and squash, a handful of beans and a tub of blackberries.

Tomatoes and chillies still to ripen.

Pumpkins are coming along nicely although a couple have been nibbled. Guess I should cut them off to encourage other fruit.

I have an almost ripe pumpkin and one half ripe. They were supposed to be ready around halloween!

Adds googling pumkin recipes to courgette recipes. Sigh. They have done really well though, sowed a pack of 5 seeds, got 4 plants and planted 3 out. They are rambling along down to the shed and are about 5ft long and 3 fr wide. I think there are 2 large, 2 medium and a few smaller ones on each plant plus some more flowers with fruits behind them as well.

Had the first of the lemon cucumber and green pepper tonight. Lemon cucumber was lovely, really refreshing and juicy though not lemony. The pepper was really bitter though so am going to leave them on and see if they ripen to yellow or orange.

Had more french beans yesterday which were lovely and have some to feeeze as well. And had a handful of ripe cherry tomatoes that dd snaffled.

Had heuveros rancheros for tea tonight. Was a nice change from omelette. Seen lots of versions of it around, but I do it with scrambled eggs and tomato salsa rather than poaching eggs in tomatoes. Had a bit.of salad and some fries with it and it was lush.

I've just given away another 2 courgettes . Tizwoz I know what you mean. With me it is berries, courgettes, beans and cucumbers. I went to B&Q on Sunday and bought some reduced strawberry plants. They are in flower so I assumed they must be a late cropping variety so have put them in the strawberry bed to compliment my current very early one. However tonight I noticed my 'early' strawberries are starting to flower again, has anyone else had this happen? Also I am going away at the weekend, kind plot neighbours have offered to water. I have a row of potatoes which really should be dug as the foliage is really dying off. Is it better to dig them now and store them or leave them in the ground?

Evening ,
no plot today, but did manage to palm off cucumbers, courgettes and some green beans on my DD's who were visiting today for tea ( also made another load of chocolate courgette cake to share too ) .
pretty - normal wisdom for tomatoes is to stop after 5/6 trusses have set. I take no notice . I let them grow right up to the top of my greenhouse . That way, any extra summer we have, they keep producing tomatoes. I would rather have smaller tomatoes for longer, than prize winning size ones earlier :)
What I am going to try though is a feed of sulphate of potash , as I have some in my shed. It is in tomato food, but I was told by an experienced allotmenter that it helps ripening . So I am going to feed them that tomorrow, rather than the weak tomato food they normally get.
I am just getting to the stage of freezing green beans here . Too many to eat as they get picked . I don't blanch as I have found from previous years , that cutting them in half or thirds ( depending on size) and open freezing works really well, and saves a heck of a lot of time and effort :) .
It was a bit cooler today, so I have just sowed the cabbage I should have done the other day -Duncan for Winter and Spring greens for - well Spring!
And just to show you - I did sow the cauliflowers on Saturday , worth a go even though it's a bit late - Cendis for November/December supposedly and Winter Aalsmer for Feb/March - and look!!!! the little beauties have germinated already on my coldest north facing windowsill

My harvest from today. Still loads of redcurrants on the bush but have enough to make redcurrant jelly. Picked a few green beans from the small plants - but have eaten most of them raw Very nice they were too!

I have a yummy recipe for a low-carb lasagne which uses courgettes rather than lasagne sheets which I plan to make once the courgette plants really get going.

I am a convert to thinning/stopping tomatoes as I think you get a lot more flavour and flesh from a plant even if spread over fewer tomatoes. Haven't had the guts to try the James Wong one truss tomatoes though!

Can I ask a tomato question. I have one plant bearing decent fruit but some of the green formed tomatoes have developed black areas underneath rather than ripening. Any ideas as to why please?

Ooh ooh I know the answer to that one!

That's blossom end rot - caused by tomatoes being stressed in heat.

Fortunately my tomatoes don't seem to have succumbed. (Been keeping the greenhouse door and window open all the time, plus some water of the chukkies in the greenhouse floor)

Thanks. They are outside in a grobag so doubt there is much I can do

Would watering them more help? I'm not much help beyond knowing what it is

Could you put an upturned plastic bottle into the soil with holes in its lid/a dripper to provide a steady water flow?