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

I am experimenting with my dehydrator dried tomatoes, runners and courgettes. The courgettes are getting munched as they make quite nice crisps - tomatoes I've jarred up in oil (apparently it's reasonably safe from a botulism point of view if you've dried them thoroughly first).

yes. clean jar. fill with boiling water for 5 min. tip out and immediately fill with boiling sauce and close the lid.

They really need about 90mins after that in boiling water - like you would a steam pudding.

Muffin tin sounds like a great tip. I was going to freeze them in ice cube trays which is how i freeze stock but 'pucks' sound like a better size for tomato sauce.

The silicone ones are best because you can push them out so easily.

It's a lovely day here, so I've done a bit of weeding and clearing up. Some of my pumpkin plants have died back so I've cut the pumpkins from those. Also harvested some misshapen carrots - heritage mix hence the colours - and a load of chillis.

Debating whether to pull up the courgettes, as the plants don't look healthy although there are still male flowers on them.

Afternoon!
Spent most of the morning at the plot - forking/weeding/prepping up. Then had a round up of all sorts of bits and pieces - a few french beans, some raspberries , 2 courgettes, 4 beetroot. I decided to have some chard to make pesto . Had a look at my squashes - it must have been cold the other night, as there is quite a bit of what looks like frost damage on the leaves - gone black and curled up . I picked the 2 baby butternuts which have started to go orange, then checked the stems on the crown prince - they have not completely hardened yet, so they will wait for a couple of weeks yet, weather depending . Cut a lot of dahlias too. feels a bit like a mini harvest festival :)

Popped into Wilko (for a new mophead), ended up with £13 worth of seeds for the grand sum of £1.50. They were selling off their own brand packets for 10p & Johnson's for 30p. Dates are 2019-2021. I never get a bargain so was chuffed to bits.

Hello all, Can I pick your brains and see if anyone can identify these mushrooms that have sprung up under some trees in the kitchen garden? I think they might be Ceps?

They're the size of dinner plates and so if they're edible then that would be good!

Oh, the £1.50 haul included; runner beans, chard, spring onions, cosmos, basil, radish, red cabbage, little gems. Worth a punt if you're near a Wilko.

Thanks for the tip FlyingMonkeys I can get to Wilko on Tuesday, hope there's some left.

I'd be terrified trying to ID mushrooms *cloudtree"!!!!

Cedar they were definitely climbing beans but they were not new (2 year old packet)...Think it was the heat.

Book the edamame beans were 1,2 or 3 to a pod.

We had sufficient rain in the spring which I why I think our onions were OK (they were autumn planted). It was only June/July that the weather was particularly dry here. The spring planted shallots did really well too.

Impressive chili haul liz. I pickled a litre jars worth of jalapenos on Saturday. They are serious hot hot hot!!!

ID'd (by someone who knows) and in the dehydrator. They are boletes two different types including porchini!

Noooooo! I emailed to say I would take the allotment and just had a reply to say he was sorry, but he'd made a mistake and that one wasn't available after all, it was the one in front, which I don't remember being in especially good nick.

Humph.

I was sooo close to a Wilkos today but on an errand with my dd. Not even my plaintive looks over my shoulder at the shop made her up for a trip.

I dropped into wilkos yesterday but they were almost out of seeds and didn't have anything I wanted. Not surprised at that price mind you!

Ended up shifting several barrow loads of manure on Sunday. That wasn't part of my plan but when I got to the plot my neighbour told me loads had been delivered. Did a few trips but it got too hot and I ran out of time. Hopefully can get more next week.

I must have a look in my Wilkos later this week and see if there are any bargains to be had.

Greebols disappointing about the plot. But was the one in front just a bit overgrown or badly overgrown? A plot that hasn't been looked after for a year can look bad but underneath are the bones of something better.

@Greebols that's a shame but could you split the half plot in half again or quarter a half, and cover the rest? We got our plot this summer and it had laid untouched. We split it in half to work that section and get some crops straight in. I think it definitely seemed to spur us on vs just endless digging forever with no finish line in sight.

Afternoon!
i really like Wilkos for seeds - I did that eevry packet 10p thing a couple of years ago for some flower seeds, and the germination rate was very good indeed . Sadly, I don't get past one often now.
Greebols - rats and double rats .Ah well, you will have to try and remember which other ones looked more promising than not. But as Cedar and Flying point out , its a good time to get one - you have all autumn and winter to get some planning and digging done. Definitely dig, weed and plant if possible, and yes to covering up, and pulling back when you have done a bit. and are ready . Lots can be planted - so do a serious plan of the plot when you get it, and decide where you want things to go.
Cedar - the joy of manure barrowing !
I spent a couple of hours this morning , digging over and weeding some bare patches , which are covered in annual weeds - that bit of rain was just like lighting a touch paper for them.
Hoping to get my overwinter onion sets in this weekend, and I must remember to order garlic and shallots.
I picked my borlotti beans - some a bit riper than others. I open freeze mine , and then bag up , so i like to pick them before they are truly dried . Once podded got 1.46 kg of beans :) , and there are still a few youngsters growing . Some runners still coming too. The courgettes are gallantly plodding on , raspberries okay ......and I went to pick some sweetcorn - - two of them badly nibbled - 2 out of the 4 good ones left of course . But, I have picked the last few, the wildlife can have anything left, as I will pull them up this weekend . I think I have had 29 /30 cobs off 30 plants , the small second cobs didn't come to anything (due I think to the dry weather,) so am happy with that .

bookbook you did well with your sweetcorn. We stopped growing because mice kept nibbling them. It seemed a long time to wait for something to have it eaten before they were even properly ripe!
I'm also jealous of your borlotti beans as I wanted a good crop this year and failed to get them going at all. They did well last year for us. Must try harder!

greebols I took on an overgrown plot at about this time of year a few years ago. It looked awful but we covered it over and gradually dug out the weeds over the autumn/winter. By the spring we were ready to plant things. Once you've cleared the worst out it will be fine provided you keep on top of it.

My sweetcorn struggled this year. I had 20 planted in a block but the pollenation rate wasn't great and so most cobs have some undeveloped kernels (mainly at the top)

Went to plot today and something had eaten my entire sweet corn crop apart from one cob. Here’s a picture of my entire 2018 carrot crop. Did take 3 pumpkins home though.

Post :( - how depressing/upsetting after all the hard work . I had some nibbled last year too, but right at the end of the harvest again. I wonder if its because I grow an early one due to being further north?
cloud - I got quite worried about mine, it seemed as if all the male flowers were out before the female tassels appeared. I gave the stalks a little tap everytime I went past anyway.
Cedar - I had trouble germinating my borlotti beans this year. These were my second attempt. They were a couple of years old, so second sowing I put them on damp kitchen towel inside a margarine tub with a lid on. That way, I only sowed out/planted the beans that sprouted.

Thanks Bookbook. I was a bit pissed off but something stripped my strawberries so it shouldn’t have been too much of a surprise. I’m in a corner and closest to a field and trees so my plot is first port of call and the price I pay for view over fields. If I want crops I will need crop protection is first year lesson.

On the plus side my hastily netted Kale from a while back is recovering and my perpetual spinach has lasted the whole season, desperately needs cutting again.

Crop protection is a must here too - pigeons and rabbits predominantly , but cabbage whites too. But as you say its always going to be a problem. Our site is large, but surrounded by farmland over the hedges. there is no way you can stop mice and rats though - they can get most places . We have a big problem with rats due to the number of people keeping chickens - the feed attracts them . We do have a new incomer though - a red kite arrived early this season -(a beautiful bird ) - and there is a noticeable lessening of pigeons - !