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

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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

About half of what I planted indoors last week has started germinating already. I don't think things germinated nearly as quickly last year. Although slight hiccup in that the permanent maker i thought i'd written my labels in wasn't permanent I'm sure it will all become apparent soon enough

I've only had success with physically blocking the beds to the neighbourhood cats - so mesh, sticks etc.

Tiz I know what you mean about things germinating quickly. I at last replanted my seeds after the mini green house disaster and my bag of compost had lots of seedlings in it as I had swept up the compost and put it back in the bag. I could identify the peas and so potted them up but I do have a seed tray which I labelled 'Who knows?'

I LOVE mystery seeds, elephant - like a lovely, natural roulette.

So, gardening year 2019 has finally arrived Chez Zebra. I've sown lots of tomatoes, chilli, tomatillos and inca berries (using up the last of those James wong packets). And also some tomatoes. And sweet peas, and sugar snaps and cosmos and marigolds. And I bought more seeds, as I seemingly needed them. More tomatoes, obviously, and other bits.

Maybe I shall do some plotmenting tomorrow and get some things planted up there too. I'm actually quite on top of things up there at the mo, until the weeds start growing in earnest...

Well the cat is currently sunbathing on my patch 😐, I have planted some mint today and just cleared on of my smaller raised beds. My rhubarb has doubled in size in a week, looking forward to my first crop.

Planted some more seeds today but mainly flowers for my tubs and baskets (don’t just want veg).

Just been sorting out my strawberries which seem to have spread everywhere, I have about 20 runners which I have removed and will give away as last year we couldn’t keep up with eating strawberries.

I also cut back all my weeds along the fence and found my cherry tree, I’m not sure if it’s still alive , any ideas how to revive it? It was here when we moved in so I’m guessing it’s about 8 years old but still very small.

Afternoon!
Lovely sunny day, but the wind is sharp, and a lot cooler than recently .
Cats on beds - one thing that works reasonably well, is to mix up a lot of chilli powder in warm water , and water on the beds - it has to be quite strong.
Love - I would have thought buds would be out on a cherry tree by now, but can you gently scratch a bit of bark away from a branch, to see if its green underneath? If so, I would try and make sure it is weed free around it ( sounds as if you have done that) then feed ( or mulch) and water
Mm , mystery seeds - I had a disaster a couple of years ago, and I ended up with a right mix of brassicas ( because of course, they all look the same! ).
Did a good stint at the plot this morning - will have to up the prepping now, as weeds are starting up in the ready to go places , so need to keep on top of those as well . Harvested purple sprouting, leeks, kale and the very last 2 little swedes .
I have just spent a lovely hour in the greenhouse sowing my tomatoes, peppers and aubergines - they will go on my sunny windowsill inside. Then did a first succession sow of spinach , along with some brussels sprouts . Will be going back out if I have the time, to pot up my dahlia tubers . Its the shuffling around stage - chrysanths need to come out of the greenhouse, to let the dahlias in :)

Lovemusic I have a similar problem with strawberries, I think of them like naughty teenagers who won't go and stay where they are told. I made the mistake of going to Poundland today so I now I am the owner of another gooseberry and blackcurrant bush, seed potatoes and shallots. All planted at the plot this afternoon as well as the sweet peas that survived the mini greenhouse incident. I'm quite pleased with my efforts this weekend . Ooo and I have buds on 3 of my 6 new fruit trees.

They are like naughty teenagers 🤣 I will remove some more today, I do love strawberries but I find once you pick them they don’t last long and there’s only so many I can eat.

Today I’m. Getting my garden cleared (and 2 sheds) after rats got into my sheds from next door who keeps chickens, I will then have loads of space for all my gardening things which are living indoors and my mower which is living outside, I’m tempted to get rid of a shed and get a greenhouse but I will have to wait till next year when I can afford one.

On a late shift at work today so time for gardening this morning, one more raised bed to clear and some climbers to plant.

I have also had problems with labels and "permanent" marker - mostly different varieties of tomatoes though they're all indoor cordon types so shouldn't be a major problem. Have started using wooden lolly sticks and biro.

Sadly my cherry tree is dead, went to scrape away a bit of bark and the whole tree came away from the ground (it was only a small tree)

I might have to replace it with another fruit tree of some sort, something not too big, I already have a apple tree (Dorset Apple I think). I like the look of the small fruiting trees that seem to be popping up on my Facebook, are they any good?

Evening!
oh Lovemusic - what a shame :( . Small fruit trees are becoming popular as gardens shrink I think. Do you have another apple to pollinate the one you have ? ( or others around you? ) as that may be worth thinking about. If not , then something you love eating - even a fruit bush perhaps if space is at a premium .
strawberries as naughty teenagers -- mine are like crawling babies that need coralling in a playpen - for which reason I will be digging mine up and replanting in their own raised bed .
Well I wasn't due at the plot, but plans changed , so DH and I went down to start up the lawnmower and get the grass cut, discuss netting the new brassica bed ( were did the spare netting go ? no idea ) , and place out the new raised beds. I was offered some open bottomed crates that hold granite ( I think ) - beautifully hinged wooden boxes which stack on top of one another -they fold flat for storage, and you just open them out to make a nice box 1.2 m x 0.8 m - perfect and free !
So - got a bit done , but the lawnmower would not start . On a plus side , i got my spare broad beans planted out with the overwinter ones .

ooh, I forgot - spring is really nearly here !
asparagus sprouting , and plum blossom :)

I have been planting today, probably too early but sewn carrots and beetroot in to my big patch, I couldn’t wait any longer 🤣

I have peas which have been out for a week and are doing well, everything else is undercover. Planted more tomato seeds today. My list of veg is getting longer. I’m going to look at buying a fruit tree next week, maybe another cherry tree.

My outdoors carrots and beets are already germinated - they will be fine.

That’s good, I remain hopeful then, I’ve not had much luck with carrots in the past but have only planted the smaller round ones (which popped up in random places over the garden but not in great quantities), hopefully I will have more luck with these regular looking ones. Never grown beetroot before so I’m a little excited about those.

I'm going to try a golden beetroot this year in the hope that it less messy to prepare, does anyone know if this is the case or is it just wishful thinking?

I grew a mix of beetroot last year, including golden, it shouldn't stain everything in sight. The stripey Chiogga is still my favourite though and that's an improvement on regular beetroot in terms of staining.

I'm going to have to pot stuff on already, i'm not prepared for how fast things have grown.

Golden beet and chioggia are dream to prep. No messy scenes from The Killing.

Yes, the golden doesn't stain in the way the normal beetroot does. I find the easiest way to cook it is to steam in the oven with a few herbs and a little bit of oil.

Planted my first earlies and Charlotte potatoes at the weekend. The first earlies had gone mad with the chits so don't know how well they will do but they are in the ground. We have a slight problem with where to put the potatoes for chitting. Last year they were in the shed but some got too cold and rotted. This year they were in the attic but, of course, it is too dark up there.

We did have an air frost earlier this week - on the roofs and the cars.

Hi all. Got my half plot 2 months ago and have been clearing, working the soil etc since then. Am finally ready to start planting after I finish the paths tomorrow afternoon :) I will have 12 beds measuring about 1.4 by 2.8 metres plus a section for currant bushes. There are some there at the moment but they're looking pretty dead so if they don't come back to life soon I'll dig them up and replace. Built a pallet compost heap today and then there's a large space in the middle of that and the bushes where I will plant raspberries in the autumn. Potatoes have been chitted and should be ready to plant soon. Got lots of seeds for everything just need to get organised and figure out what's going where!

Afternoon!
welcome Titsywoo :) - that looks like you have put a lot of hard work into it . Being nosey - whereabouts are you -East/West/North/South ? Sounds like you are good to go !
I grow chioggia beetroot, and no , they don't bleed too badly at all, and are the favourites of everyone here for flavour too . Not tried golden ones in truth .
Had a nice time this morning at the plot. Thank goodness the green waste trailer had arrived -it has been missing for a while because the tractor that brings it needed mending. So first job was to get rid of all the buckets of weeds that I had been storing behind the shed . Got quite a lot dug over, so I can hopefully move the last of the manure onto the land, ready to get DH to make the new manure bin.
Picked leeks and went for a spring cabbage - and found a baby cauliflower which had been lurking near the cabbages , so I'm not sure if it got planted there by mistake ( me! ) or got mislabelled (me ! ) either way , its in the pot tonight :)

Thanks for all the beetroot feedback, my Dcs like it raw and chopped into matchsticks so I will see if this works with the golden. (Anything to get more veg into Dd).
Titsywoo it looks like you have really worked hard.

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This is the link to the allotment Gardeners' World allotment thing, if you want your allotment to be featured on the show. It failed earlier but might work tomorrow.

If your kids will eat veg cut into matchsticks, you have absolutely got to grow Azur Blue Kohl Rabi, or as i call them purple spaceships on stilts.

They grow quite fast, and are really crunchy and ecellent in coleslaw.

They look amazing sackrifice - on my list for next year