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

congratulations Frouby you look radiant.

very pretty frouby ! congrats to you and mr frouby

Frouby you look wonderful. Perfect weather for you as well!

You look fabulous - greta picture :)

great

We are having a lovely drop of rain at the moment. I'm really glad I got my beans, courgettes and artichokes planted out this weekend. I have over done it a bit on the beans and courgettes this year so I have donated the left over plants to the school garden.

Thank you all, am very happy!

Had an hour on the plot this afternoon. DH (seems weird typing that!) got the posts in for the chicken run and I planted 5 tomato planta and 4 courgettes out. 4 is probably 2 too many but you know, spares!

Gave everything a good soaking. Lost a couple of chilli planta in the cold snap last week I presume but have a replacement one. Everything else is looking fab. Might be a couple of strawberries ready tomorrow.

Also potted on a couple of pumkins, a couple of melons, 4 strawberry tomato plants and some basil. And we bought some herb plants to do the tub i am keeping at home.

Need to get to the plot tomorrow and finish planting tomatoes out. Ds isn't very well and didnt want to stay long

planted some mixed leaves today.
some out in the veg bed, some in pots by the house, in case the snails are quicker at eating than us...

I hope they germinate for me.

Evening everyone. Another very hot day at the plot although we have had a few light showers of rain this evening.
Most of my time was spent trying to water the plants, and trying to fill my water butts (again! I think this'll be the story of my summer). I planted out a batch of sweet corn seedlings and put bottle cloches over them, also planted a nice blue lupin which was an impulse buy from the local plant nursery yesterday.
I was too late to get tomato seeds planted this year so I bought two "Sungold" from the nursery, they are my favourite tomato. I'm going to propagate a few more plants from the side shoots.
Tomorrow I need to take some canes up to the plot, make a wigwam & get my climbing French beans sown, it's forecast to be warm again so I'm aiming for an early start.

Congratulations Frouby - what a lovely picture.
timtam your watering system sounds complicated. No wonder people use hoses to water when no-one's looking. Have you asked if they can install another water tap a bit nearer?

Well my beans were looking decidedly sorry for themselves after being planted out last week. I think the combination of wind and sun has given them a bit of a shock. Hopefully they'll start to perk up a bit this week.

Almost none of the seeds that I've direct sown are showing much evidence of germinating yet. The peas had managed about 5 plants from two rows so I soaked some in warm water and curry powder and resowed on Sunday. We'll see what happens with those.

Hard to tell with some of the others whether I am being impatient or should resow. I'll probably resow this next weekend I think.

On the positive side the potatoes are mostly all up, the onions and shallots are looking healthy, strawberries have lots of flowers and the blackcurrant has a lot of fruit on it. And I've managed to strim most of the overgrown grass.

DH dug out the perpetual spinach which had all bolted - they have massive roots! I bought the plants last year and might do the same this year unless I can find some seeds in my collection. They were cheap at about £2 for a strip. We planted out about 20 plants and ate quite a bit of it.

Things are progressing along nicely here. Ordered some netting and a couple of tattie bags from Amazon so should be here tomorrow. Local woodchipping place apparently leaves out skips where you can bag up as much as you like for free. So we'll be popping along there with bin liners and using that to make paths on the lining rolls we had already.

Wow I missed the new thread by over 200 posts!!! I hope everyone is OK as I haven't RTFT. Been away on holiday which for a gardener is a hassle in terms of getting plants watered whilst away! Luckily parents stepped in and they have had a care package to say 'thank you'!

What does everyone else do when they go on holiday?

ps congratulations Frouby!!!

Have had to get the hosepipe out tonight, water butts are just about empty, could really do with some rain.

Is it possible for it to be too hot for things to germinate? None of my latest sowings have produced anything yet and it is a bit sauna like in the greenhouse at the moment.

We had another short sharp shower this afternoon. My goodness it brought out the slugs and snails, so I have been on a killing spree. I nematoded my garden, these are definitely immigrants. These showers have been great for the plot and garden, the last couple of evenings but not for me as they have happened just as I have returned from work. So no quick snooze, in the sun, on the deckchair for me.

Afternoon!
jealous on the rain elephant - starting to be very dry here , could do with some .
yay agree on the roots from the chard/spinach - Cedar monstrous things.
Spent most of the day at the plot - I have done a bit more prepping for planting, DH helped put up wigwams fro beans. Then started on the big plant out. - Done sweetcorn, then just about all the brassicas -( sprouts and various different broccoli varieties) . Also took some big ,well hardened off, dahlias too. Forgot to take my soaking peas - hope they are okay until tomorrow .
Picked asparagus and some spinach ( that was bay leaf which managed to survive over winter!) . Need a hot bath tonight. Tomorrow hopefully I will do peas and courgettes . Beans and squashes at the weekend.
I'll be honest - we don't go away on holiday in summer , partly due to watering issues!

Congratulations Frouby, glad you had such a lovely day!

We're away for a bit so I'm really hoping all is well in the garden. We have an irrigation system which I hope will be keeping the vulnerable plants alive but it's a bit nerve-wracking!

On the positive side in the place we're staying there's an apricot tree in fruit which is perfuming the air with the most wonderful scent. I may have devoured a few warm from the tree :) Trying not to order one for my own garden as it's bound to be a disappointment.

I have a beautiful mature apricot tree. Ten years I have been staring at it, total apricots:1. My mums, however, that I bought at the same time is a dwarf in a pot, has dozens on every year

Plodding on here, planted out some courgettes, and am just trying to keep things watered. Made a bean cage from some thin pvc pipe...I hope the beans grow soon as it's an eyesore. The shooting star courgette is also there, but too tiny to climb yet. Planted some banana shallots from lidl that were sprouting in the fridge, they are growing strongly! My sweet potato slips have finally perked up and are putting up new leaves too. Will put them into potato bags soon. This is my third go at getting a crop. They will not beat me possibly

I had a peach tree espalliered on my south facing wall for about 6 years. It got bad peach leaf curl every year without fail, never a fruit in sight. It got dug out ..

I also had a dwarf peach tree. It was a present from my mother-in-law for one of my children so I tried very hard to keep it alive and it was in a sunny south-facing spot,, but like bookbook's tree it got very bad leaf curl every single year without fail. I even bought an expensive spray for it which stained everything blue but didn't solve the leaf curl. Eventually I had to throw it out

I nipped up to the plot yesterday evening and sowed my climbing French beans, I only have a small space for them but have tried to squeeze a lot of seeds in! I also found a space for a courgette seed and I was thrilled to see a few little pea shoots beginning to poke through. They have now been cloched for their own protection as there are a lot of birds and squirrels around!

Returning to the recent posts about cordials I've been making some rhubarb and star anise cordial, it's a Sarah Raven recipe. I was a bit shocked by how much sugar was needed but I've found an adapted recipe using maple syrup - which is sweeter so you need to use less of it overall. It's a lovely pink colour and tastes not bad at all! Finally I've found a use for my rhubarb!

That sounds interesting timtam
I ordered gin in the online shop last night to make more rhubarb gin.
Keeping an eye out for elderflowers to make my fizz too. The bush in order garden is probably about 1/2 weeks from flowering (but too young for us to pick from yet).

Set away some little gems lettuce seeds this morning and sweetcorn. So my kitchen windowsill that was free of trays and bin liners for 2 whole days is now covered again 🙄

Not to be beaten I have sown lettuce again!
Still no rain here, and our home water butts are empty so the predicted rain will be welcome.
Planning on planting out everything left this weekend.

Afternoon!
Rhubarb and star anise cordial sounds lovely - . I have loads of rhubarb, will be making jam tomorrow if it is raining - may do some cordial too.
I too have sown lettuce seeds, along with basil and a few round summer/autumn cabbages.
Had a good morning at the plot - lovely and clear, but not too hot . Perfect weather in fact.
I have planted out all the rest of the dahlias, 4 courgettes, and a row of peas that I soaked yesterday . Weeded around the broad beans, which I must admit are looking a bit flea- bitten, but with plenty of flowers on.
Picked some spring cabbage for tea.
If I can find the energy, will go back later to straw around the second strawberry bed, there are strawberries setting on them :)

Your veg always looks lovely bookbook.
My broad beans look great from half way up and are flowering well, but the bottom leaves look as though they've been through a shredder! I have the equivalent of SAS slugs in my garden: egg shells, gravel, copper tape and organic pellets are no barrier. I think they parachute in at midnight.
My runners are doing well and my tomatoes are racing along.
Welcome downpour this evening which saved a bit of watering.