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

Hello nearly yes it’s me! How funny- first time I’ve bumped into anyone I know in real life. Hope all well. Will try not to be too jealous of your sunshine and pomegranates! It’s properly raining here finally. Weather is all over the place- we were messing about in the sea on Sunday and today it’s grim. Hoping to do some netting of strawberries and organising of the greenhouse this weekend- I’m running behind on everything. Does anyone order compost online? I need loads of it and I’m fed up of hauling bags in and out of my little car

Morning!
welcome Nearly :) - no need to ask where you are! seedlings are a pain to identify while little . Sounds like being fairly north, it won't get quite so hot in summer ( or is that just plain wrong? ) When you go on holiday , (dependant on how long ) , have you a big sink ( or bath) that you can line with towels - put plug in , run water and really get the towels sopping wet , with a bit of spare standing water , and stand the pots on top . It keeps them in reasonable condition for up to a week . Jealous of the pomegranate !
It ;looks like we are all suffering from lack of germination . My tally is -
cucumber 4/4 : courgettes 4/6 : butternut squash 3/4 : crown prince and autumn king 0/8 . Sown more of those last ones so will see ...
Up here in Yorkshire there are a few successful melon growers on my site , but all grow in polytunnels.
Never done that Cath , interesting thought to get online though.
Yesterday , went to the plot in the afternoon and managed to get the grass cut before it started to rain. DH finished sorting the brassica cage net , so I can start planting out shortly .
The rain has started here now , forecast is due to be heavy rain all day . Just need to put the canes in the tomato pots and prick out calabrese , basil and some of the flowers - so inside the greenhouse :)

Heavy rain here too, greenhouse work only for me today I think. The plot badly needs the rain though so I'm not complaining, I'm off to work now anyway.

I decided to give courgettes a miss this year as no one eats them except me. Pumpkins are doing well though and DD bought a pack of cucumber seeds at the weekend so we'll give those a go in the greenhouse. Busy at home too, we are planning to replace the harden fence and need to clear a lot of brambles first .

Cath - looks like you can. £119 for 900 litres. I’m paying €4 for 20 litres in the supermarket so that seems like not too bad a price including delivery.

www.compostdirect.com/veggie-gold-compost/p4

Similar weather here! DC in the sea weekend before last. A week later we had three inches of rain and the mountains had 1 metre of snow!

Don’t give up hope if you plant melons. We planted our seeds on the 23/3. I’ve still got some germinating now!

Our weather is quite humid but we’ve got a patio that’s a real sun trap. It was often over 40 in September. But maybe if I get some of those under bed drawers from IKEA the plants will survive a week home alone!!

I think lots will be too big to move at the end of summer or will be attached to trellis.

It's worth looking for local companies who deliver bulk bags - I get 750cubic metre bags delivered for £60 which is great for topping up beds and filling planters.

I put nemaslug on the raised beds yesterday so hopefully will be able to start planting out at the weekend - fingers crossed they don't all get eaten again! Looking forward to freeing up some bench space!

Cubic centimetre... That would be a bargain for that many cubic metres!

Welcome to the thread Nearly - looking forward to seeing pictures of melons and pomegranates in a couple of months. Maybe you should look at investing in a proper watering system for times when you are away as it will be both warm and dry. In the UK I normally put them outside and assume it will rain at some point during the time we're away which it normally does unless it's like last summer.

I realised that my runner beans didn't germinate because they were very old seed. So I've resown with some newer seeds. My first sowing of squashes was good - 6 crown prince all germinated. I put them in a plastic bag in place of a propagator which seemed to help. I've only just sown the rest as I'd run out of space in the house. Climbing french beans - only half have germinated but I put two in each pot so that's OK.

Actual proper rain yesterday which is very good news for the garden. Dry this morning but more rain forecast for later. I saw swifts over the house for the first time this morning so spring/summer is definitely here.

B&Q had their seed potatoes down to half price yesterday also clearance on summer bulbs.

Afternoon!
well, it has drizzled/rained all day here - and rained properly all day yesterday too.
But I managed a quick trip to the plot this morning . I planted up sprouts, brokali and some of the purple sprouting broccoli too . Nice and damp.
But then it started to rain properly , so I ran and cut asparagus ( which seems to have slowed down a lot ) and pulled some chard , then came home :)
Cedar - I do all my seeds like that - in pots, covered with a plastic bag , on a sunny windowsill. Just my crown prince and autumn crown on a no show :(

Hooray for rain!
I've planted out purple sprouting broccoli, peas and some nasturtium. I've also put some cardboard down over my un-dug bed, I'm thinking of just dumping compost on top. I'm sick of digging!

Why not give the cardboard a go Pyxie? Anything that reduces the amount of digging/weeding is worth trying out.
Plenty of rain here yesterday. Sun is trying to come out now so I'm going to put out all my plants for hardening off in a minute. The forecast shows it getting warmer at night next week which is good news for getting things planted out.
DH is going to get some cheap beer at the supermarket later so we can set some beer traps going for the slugs.

Does anyone use lots of coffee grounds in the garden, and if so, what do you do with them? I don't drink that much coffee at home, so I usually put my grounds onto my blueberries or in the compost. But yesterday I was in Costa and took a small bag of grounds, then they came and gave me a big sack bag. Which I took. But now I'm not sure what to do with it.

A) more mulch on the rasps, over the top of the recently-added woodchip
B) as above, but underneath woodchip
C) use to build defensive barriers against slugs when I plant out seedlings -but not great for tomato plants I think?
D) add to compost and give worms a surprise

We had a few showers yesterday, been out to check everything this morning, Dog was digging around and dug up my broccoli 😡. I’m gong to look at getting a patch up the allotment next year, it’s a shame as I have the space in the garden but the cat and dog keep ruining everything.

Well that wasn’t so much rain as deluge, completely vertical torrent and then all over in 15 mins.It’s good as I need wet soil for the nematodes which I should get off my backside and do now really.

Thanks for compost ideas. I realise that it works out cheaper long term but it just stings to think about spending over £100 in one go. Maybe the start of the month would seem more reasonable .

Well. Nematodes are done and my main take away lesson from that is do not step off a high raised bed onto a slippy garden bench in wellies while carrying a large watering can. One big bruise on my leg and felt like an idiot but could have been worse.

oof Cath - painful and sore I bet - it shakes you up .
Spotted - need to wrack my brains on coffee grounds - I am sure I listened to a GQT about it last year . It didn't really sink in , as I don't have any . I know the bit about discouraging slugs ,and its best not to put too many in the compost bin , and that is about it for me ...
Just a quick hour up at the plot this morning , prepping beds up ready for planting ( as yet non appearing) squashes . But I did spend a nice hour this afternoon in the greenhouse potting up peppers ,and aubergines , and pricking out stuff. Some of my babies have gone to new homes , freeing up a bit of space , so had a little tidy up too . Nice inside , but still so chilly and a bit drizzly too.

We have terrible problems with the brown marmorated stink bug here. A few of my plants are starting to have chunks taken out of them and I think they must be the culprits. Hopefully they’ll survive the onslaught!

entomology.ca.uky.edu/

Cedar03 - we have a watering system. Ostensibly for the grass. It may get diverted!!! I optimistically turned it on a few weeks ago. You can guess what happened the next day!

Zebra - we used to pick up masses of coffee grounds - to deter cats from pooing in the garden. Worked well!

Hope the nematodes do their job Cathpot and are worth the bruise! We found beer traps disgustingly effective. 🤢🤮

so when do we think french beans, squash, toms, corn etc can be planted out? I'm in the south. I'm getting sick of it all sitting on windowsills and every other available flat spot. But i dont want it all to die. It looks like it might be abit chilly overnight here till wed. Can i risk it then? I know i should bring it in overnight when i harden off but i just wont get time, so it will have to stay in sheltered area of garden for a few days or so

dream I put my beans out yesterday, I’m fed up of it cluttering up my window sills, runner beans and French beans have gone out as well as my squash and courgettes, they will just have to take their chances. I’m in the SW.

If you are putting out tender plants now, just be aware that it is often the wind that hits them not the frosts at this time of year.

If I was putting any out, I'd pop a fleece over for the duration.

Coffee grounds are great at heating up compost heaps, so if you have a compost heap on the go with fresh material, pop it in there.

I don't personally find they are any defence against slugs.

In and out dodging the showers today. A couple of courgette plants are taking their chances outside under a cloche as they were getting too big for their pots in the greenhouse. Had a game of grass or onion and picked some beetroot that were planted late last year.

Contemplated pulling up last years sprouts which are flowering, but they look so pretty and had so many bees buzzing round them i gave them a reprieve. Potatoes poking up out the soil and strawberries in flower everywhere. Think I'll have to get the redcurrants netted tomorrow as they're just developing now and the blackbirds don't wait until they're ripe
.

I accidentally bought a fig tree/plat today in Lidl, any tips on fig growing?

Lidl had fig, lime and orange trees and I just had to buy one,

Figs need their roots restricted

The direct sown runner beans are up but not the climbing french beans . All the crops in the mini green house have now germinated, herbs, sunflowers, cucumber, beetroot, spinach and squash so I reckon half term will fall in just about the right time to start planting everything out. The tomatoes and courgettes are hardening off. I've got berries forming on my blackcurrants and gooseberries, so I will net those tomorrow. And I've got unripened but fully formed strawberries.