Allotment?Veg Patch Thread 13! Are we weathering the weather?

[bookbook]

well, we have got to August , had heatwaves and thunderstorms. Goodness knows what happens next!
All welcome to join in sharing the highs and lows , tips and experiences of growing your own :)
Previous thread HERE

Pyjamas - I suspect the enormous bush is a Jostaberry, which is a gooseberry/blackcurrant cross in fact. They do need pruning as they grow huge ( I have one) , but prune as a currant bush- the currants are delicious cooked .( You do need to protect from birds though , as they love them! ) . Take decisions a bit at a time , you cannot hope to know what you will be happy with until you start in spring I suspect , when the work really comes in. Its all to do with how much time you can realistically give to it on a regular basis . Why not try one area of no dig , see how it goes , and then re asses?

Turned over some of the raised beds earlier, found quite a few carrots, small but big enough to be worth eating. Also picked one of the last beetroot.

Thought I'd be able to have a few sprouts but the larger ones were covered in white fly, thought they might still have been salvageable after prepping but they were right in amongst the layers :-( Got plenty more plants though with smaller sprouts that look less affected so hopefully the whole crop isn't a write off.

Oh, and I'm looking for suggestions of interesting varieties of seeds for growing things next year , I'm going to ask for some seeds for Christmas and I'd like things that aren't just run of the mill (even better if they're varieties that you've had success with!)

Evening !
well, it wasn't raining this morning first thing, so I made a dash for the plot . I managed nearly 2 hours before the rain came back. I got some more weeding done, shifted 4 barrows of manure, and harvested a swede , some chard and sprouting broccoli. I feel a bit better now - the rain has just seemed so relentless. I am glad I am on free draining chalk - hate to think what is happening on clay atm .
tiz - well, I can certainly give advice on what not to ask for - cucamelons and asparagus peas - cucuamelons were okay, but asparagus peas were neither like asparagus or peas, no taste at all , and went from tender to tough if you left picking them for a day or two. I have tried mushrooms, but with absolutely no success , but am thinking of having another go. I would actually like to try growing samphire, but haven't looked hard to see if its possible

All seems fine with the asparagus bed. Phew! No washing off of soil and still weed free thanks to an 84 yo Dm. I managed an hour today when it was just misty not actually raining and had a go at weeding the raspberries and strawberries. It felt good to get out into the fresh air.

tiz - i try and grow something unusual each year. Salsola, Minutina, i havent got on with - just didnt like eating them. Miners lettuce is good as its very easy to grow and likes shade and is there during the winter when nothing much else is. orach was also good as its very easy to grow and is a bit like spinach.

this year i'm growing lots of unusual beans. yingyang i like as they are easy and look really pretty.

cucomelons just didnt grow for me and i tried them for 2 years.

watching with interest for other ideas

Nothing to report here plot wise as far too wet to even think about going there. I am gardening on clay so it will probably dry out for about 2 weeks in March and then bake rock hard and be impossible to dig!

We are trying a winter mix of salad leaves next autumn. I notice it's got rocket in which I don't actually like but packet says you can sow up until October so we'll see what happens. Also trying a white pumpkin (Old Boer maybe haven't got the packet with me) and a red coloured pumpkin.

Vegetable soup for dinner which is largely a squash. We also had squash with puy lentils this week which was very nice.

Afternoon!
well, it actually stopped raining last night
Yesterday I needed to go and harvest some leeks, so while I was there I moved 5 barrows of manure onto the beds - just tipped from the path, it still needs spreading around.
Today, the sun came out, (and the wind is picking up ). I managed to weed around the spring cauliflowers and cabbages - chickweed everywhere . I managed a bit more weeding by standing in the edges around the beds too , so another bit is sorted, ready for manure . Slowly, slowing getting on top of jobs that should have been done and dusted a month ago .
I put my bench in the shed, as its supposed to be gales overnight .
Onward and Upward!

The leeks look good.

We had a beautiful day here but in between rugby drop off and pick up and Christmas shopping I only made it to the plot at about 3. I have dug up the rest of the spuds and harvested Christmas tree branches and flowering ivy. It is the school Christmas Fayre on Friday, we can have a stall and raise money for our department. I've been feeling a little guilty as our technicians have been manufacturing like mad. So I am going to sell the spuds at 50p or so a small paper bag and do some table decorations type things. This is my mark one, the candle, fabric and ribbon were what I had to hand without delving too deeply into my stash so are probably going to go red or gold. The holly trees around here are bereft of berries, can anyone suggest something common and natural that I can add to add some zing?

they look lovely elephant - any hips/haws/cotoneaster or berberis around ?
I managed a small amount yesterday in the drizzle - hoed a bit of weedy ground from the path.
Today it was gorgeous , and of course, I had a day out ( arranged weeks ago) with my daughters - the way of life !
Thank you HockStock - they took a bit of getting going during the very hot, dry weather, but have made up for it since!

Hope everyone is happily getting on
I managed a little bit of work yesterday - more manure spread around and some hoeing.
Today it was glorious, so I got down to some proper weeding . My hip is sore now ...but I picked a cabbage for tea
Threat of snow at the weekend

Nice looking cabbage.

My soil has gone very sticky with all the rain, so literally just went to check my weed membrane hadn't blown off and to add some vegetable peel to the compost bin.

Itching to clear the rest of the weeds, but soil feels undiggable at the moment.

I think I have managed to position my mini greenhouse now in such a way to stop it blowing over and have put in some broad beans. Every time this weekend 'I think oh I can go to the plot now' it starts raining again.

I harvested stuff for Christmas dinner on the basis that the weather might turn again and I won't get another chance-ill advised pre Christmas work on the house.
Sprouts (my fave with bacon) carrots and parsnips.

Evening !
It rained and rained yesterday afternoon into the evening , so it was very damp still this morning. I shifted manure instead of risking going on the soil. I tipped it from the path, and flung forked it so all the fruit bushes have a nice thick mulch now. It was wall to wall blue skies , which was a small joy.
I did harvest a few little sprouts from the bottom of the stalks - I have a few that will be big enough to pick on Christmas eve, but wanted to see if they were going to be worth picking . Took some broccoli too - most of the late autumn sprouting is just about over, and the purple sprouting is just starting, so I like to encourage some extra side shoots .
The sprouts were delicious even if they were a bit fiddly to prep :)

Hello- been out of the loop for a while immersed in building works. Dies mean I can now sit and have breakfast looking out of a new window at the garden which I’m very happy about . Nice to read through the thread and catch up- I am always amazed by people still harvesting now . Having said that I went out to the greenhouse for a clear up and found a good bowl full of chillies on plants I thought were finished. Smugly made chilli jam this evening. Less smug when I realised it hadn’t set , which will teach me to try a new recipe (I am looking at you Nigella) so I have four jars of dipping sauce instead. So much to do in the garden which I’ve not got to- I’m on holiday at the end of his week so I intend to be mostly outside regardless of the weather. I also have fruit on my cape gooseberries in the greenhouse- I’m wondering if I can over winter then, does anyone know- and if so do I cut them back? They are massively long.

I don't know anything about cape gooseberries so have no advice to give. We made it to the plot last Sunday when it finally stopped raining. DH lugged more manure, while I tackled the blackberries and a buddleia which were trying to take over. Loads more to do, hope it dries up enough to get some clearing done. Can't dig as too wet so will have to be patient.

We still have chard, some cabbages and perpetual spinach to harvest. And more squashes to eat. But we've run out of staples like onions and potatoes which normally see us through a bit longer than this.

Cath, I always take the nigella's recipe off before setting point and put it in a bottle rather than jar and use it as a drizzle rather than jam. Or reboil and add a bit more pectin.

Happy Midwinter's day growers.

I'll be sowing next years onions today.

Am still harvesting loads at the allotment and greenhouse:
outside: spinach, lettuce, fennel [the thinnings out between the ones that are marching ahead], kale, pak choi, kohl rabi, coriander, parsley, claytonia.
greenhouse: lettuce, chinese cabbage leaves, [spring onions when they thicken up a bit.]

still outside and to come: bunching onions, overwintering onions, garlic, broad beans.

and got cabbages to come yet...

Afternoon all
Nothing doing here. I had my first free day to go to the allotment , and its been wet all day

Cath - lovely to see you ! I don't know if cape gooseberries overwinter - my NDN at the plot had some outdoors , and the frost the other week did quite a lot of damage ,, but in a greenhouse I don't see why not , especially if you can do a bit more protection if it gets really cold.
I still have plenty to harvest - sprouts/kale/cabbage ( green and savoy) /chard/ perpetual spinach / swede/ sprouting broccoli/leeks - just need to keep an eye on it all , as its too wet to do anything other than harvest atm

Hi book, been very caught up with building work and ironically given we lived in a tent in the garden for 3 months, have got almost no gardening done at all. I’ve asked for pruning shears for Xmas and I’ve got my apples to prune and all the autumn raspberry canes and just a huge amount of tidying and muck spreading . I’m going to try leaving the cape gooseberries and prune them in spring as they are massive rambly things. It’s a lot of faff for a small harvest but as only I like them in our house i get to eat them all. I read somewhere there is work being done to breed or possibly genetically modify them to be more compact and prolific so they are easier to farm.
Thanks for Nigella advice sackrifuce~ I’ve ended up with sort of half jam half jelly this time but can’t be bothered to redo it- tastes ok and only giving it to family .

Fruit tree people any thoughts on a plum that’s unhappy in a pot- can I just dig it out now and plant it in the ground?

Morning all!
pouring down here again , so will have to wait until tomorrow to go and pick veg .
I think I recognise the veg selection there sacrifize - :)
Cath - as its been so mild, and at the moment no signs of much in the way of very cold weather, I think I would get the plum tree in the ground. In truth, if it gets very cold, its roots are better protected underground anyway .

Howdy all - we've just had a multifuel stove put in - gardening tips with the ash, please. I only fruit/veg garden. I have a compost pile on the go. I'm burning either dried wood or smokeless coal. Assume the ash alters the ph of the soil so I must be careful.

Ash goes around the fruit. It is good for potassium.

And anywhere you are planning to put potatoes or root crops as it also has phosphorus.

Plum trees in a pot can go in the ground any time of year.