Allotment/Veg Patch Thread 14 ! growing into summer

[bookbook]

Well, here we are - its the end of May and after a cold spell , we are heading for summer .
Everyone welcome to join us in the joy of growing your own , sharing the ups and downs , tips and advice
previous thread HERE

Lovely photos! Weather was much more reasonable today so I managed a good hour of weeding/deadheading, plus some weeding at home, planted out some shallot seedlings which have been languishing in the greenhouse and picked strawberries, raspberries, chard and baby leeks.

160g of raspberries and 40g of wild/alpine strawberries. Checked the blackcurrants and redcurrants and they're some way from being ripe.

Morning!
Had a windswept trip this morning to the plot - its a bit cooler , but very breezy.
Expletive - so your self seeded leeks are already for picking as babies? wow!
pretty - I have never managed to pick alpine strawberries much , I had a pot of them , but never seemed to get more than 6 or 7 at any time - delicious though :)
I hand weeded my asparagus bed today , so its looking very tidy - fed with fish blood and bone . Need to get some protection for the stalks up to stop them snapping now .
Then watered squashes and courgettes . Didn't have a lot more time , so started on the currant picking . The small, earlier blackcurrant bush mostly done , another branch of the white currants , and the start of the redcurrants - mostly not quite ready , but picked the most ripe , just to reduce picking time later. The big 'Ribena" blackcurrant is still a way off yet , and so are the jostaberries . The very first loganberies and tayberries are turning a tiny bit pink .

bookbook - I have a few that are "weeds" around the garden and my neighbour (who is now away for 3 weeks) also has some. I sometimes pop a couple in to a glass of bubbly/Cava to make it a wee bit special, or adding a few to a bowl of fresh raspberries but usually just end up adding them to my summer pudding mixture

We went back to our plot on Sunday and had a look under the membrane (the team on the site had strummed the lung grass and laid the membrane quite recently when they realised the plot wasn’t being maintained). There is a lot of long grass and weeds but there is some evidence of raised beds under there. We have covered one bed with cardboard and manure so that we can try to get it going as a no dig bed ASAP. I have a load of mulch and topsoil which I can add to that this week. The boys seemed happy to help and enjoyed exploring the site which had a wildlife garden attached as well. Everyone very friendly.
From our home garden this weekend we’ve had our first courgettes and some larger than planned spinach too. Feeling very positive and looking forward to getting more time on the plot!

Reporting back after the weeks of rain and mini heatwave. I'm mightily impressed by all the lovely produce you are all growing. I aspire to pick an entire tubful of something one day soon.
Thanks to your advice on how to deal with my overgrown plot. It's looking much neater now, having literally chucked a tonne of shit over it, covered with some membrane and planted it up with pumpkins and beans. I can see why the committee were getting a bit worried now, it was a mammoth task, lugging it all up the hill and sorting it out.
It was all looking good and growing well, and then the weeks of rain came. And the slugs. They have decimated the plot - cucumber plants, most of my runners, several rows of lettuce and about 20 little sunflower plants. All gone. I've a few runners left, and they didn't like the pumpkin, squash, peas or onions. So still a few things left. I've watered some nematodes in and sown some beetroot and more lettuce (I'll be watching it like a hawk and picking it as small leaves as soon as it appears!).
Now it's just a battle with the bond

Oops. Finger slipped. Bindweed that should say! Although that's proving not to be a problem compared to the creeping buttercup.

On the plus side we still have the slow worms and a frog hiding out on the plot.

Is now the time to mention i picked the first red tomato yesterday.

On a Maskotka bush tomato, sown Feb time. Put into the greenhouse in April. Get in.

I have been sneakily scoffing the first few tomatoes myself - surely a legitimate gardener's perk!

I only have green tomatoes so far

Book my leeks self seeded at different times by the look of them. I had half a dozen or so bigger ones that were about the size of big spring onions but but were showing signs of bolting, so I picked those. The other hundred or so are still tiny, like chive leaves so hopefully they will be ready in autumn/winter.

I only have green tomatoes too

makes sense Expletive !
Beanpole - sunflowers and slugs - I planted some out in the garden last year - ( good tall ones ) next morning , just stalks ... . But sounds like you are making progress :)

Hello everyone, signing in to the thread. Nice to see a few familiar names from elsewhere on MN. I am new(ish) to gardening - we moved into a flat with a garden two summers ago, but unfortunately newborn DD scuppered most of my big plans. This year I have tidied up a section of garden, put in raised beds and planted courgettes, tomatoes, cucumber, chillies, strawberries, herbs and a few flowers. There are also blackberries and blueberries that I managed to plant last year, though so far I’ve gotten precisely one berry per bush from them!

It is still very early days for me but I’ll try to update when I can, and I love reading about what others are up to.

Hello! Managed a bonus 2 hours with the DC after school today. Added mulch to my raised bed so I’m hoping to put some established plants in the ground at the weekend. Stripped back more long grass to find a paved area and paths-so much to do!

Advice please-I’m really keen to grow asparagus I know you need to leave a couple of years-can I get some crowns in this year do you think? And rhubarb? Where should I be going to buy? Any great online options or garden centres what have people had success with?

Thanks

Hello, has anyone spotted blight yet. I’m in south London and this is what I found on my tomato today

I should add, they are outdoors on my allotment. I pulled up the most affected plant, a Roma and bagged it and binned it. I cut off the bits on a couple of other plants that were mostly in side shoots/ the apex. I just hope to god it isn’t blight as I am devoted to my tomatoes.

Today I put up two avocado trees into bigger containers and placed them next to the one we've had for seven years - all flowers, no fruit. The newbies are type A - Lamb's Hass and Fuerte and flowered last year, the older one Wurtz (B), so fingers crossed.

Welcome to the thread Essentialhummus that's a nice sized garden you've got there.

Beanpolemalfunction it is so annoying when things get decimated by slugs. I lost all three of the squash plants I was growing on my compost heap this year to them. As well as nematodes you might try putting some beer traps down. They are very effective at attracting them. Also the wool stuff that you can get at the garden centre will keep them off at the start - not forever though.

It could be blight whataboutbob although I'm in the south east and we haven't had the damp, still conditions that really trigger it. I don't normally see it until later in the summer on my tomatoes. Were there black patches on various stems? Annoying for you if it is.

My tomatoes are still at the flowering stage, so a bit of a way to go before I will be eating anything.

We are really pleased with out first early potato harvest. No slug damage and DH has only managed to fork about 3 spuds. Good sized potatoes.

I planted out some beetroot and lettuce seedlings the other day but not sure they are going to survive as they are still looking flopped out. That will be annoying if they don't.

I've two lots of jam this weekend and I'm going to make some more sorbet today to use up the strawberries. Apart from that more watering and weeding!

Hi all. So I am very excited as i was passing a house at the end of my road yesterday (which has sat empty for many years) and saw they were clearing back the very overgrown garden. I had a quick nose and saw there was a greenhouse in it so I knocked on the door and the owner was there. I asked if she fancied selling her greenhouse and she said yes (just a small amount). Hooray! This will mean we can take it apart and transport it across a couple of evenings. Just need to sort a base at the allotment. What do people use? We aren't allowed to pour any concrete and am worried about it moving over time.

Ds took down and moved his dad's greenhouse. He was anal about labelling all the pieces and glass (not that they really needed labelling) and it went back up again easily - as long as he took his time.

He built a wooden frame for the base (also important because on one side, there is the start of a slope) and attached the greenhouse on to that. We put down weed suppressing fabric inside (in fact should have put it down before the frame went down) and then covered it with three paving slabs down the middle and chuckies down the side and across the back. (Or rather, some chuckies - gradually collecting them from a bit of the back garden where they've been mixed into the soil and from SIL who is wanting to get rid of the chuckies in her front garden).

This picture of one of our cats enjoying the late afternoon sun in the greenhouse gives you an idea.

Thanks prettybird. Was the wooden base on top of the ground or did he dig and trench and place it in there?

He must have dug a trench for them (at least three sides of it) as the greenhouse is level with the patio. They were just lengths of 2x2, except the side on the slope, which was more of a plank. He needs to do some more work on that side, now that the greenhouse has been in for a year.

I dip in and out of this thread as I am 100% a complete novice to growing fruit and veg. This year is the first year I have done veg at all, but I am so happy to report that I have lots of peas, and my runner beans are full of flower. All varieties of tomato are still at the flowering stage. Carrots, beetroot and parsnips are looking very promising too. The courgettes, cucumber and chilli are still alive, so I am crossing my fingers!

We've had a fantastic strawberries crop since DH lopped the tree that was casting shade over the patch. DS is so chuffed. We bought a proper frame and netting as last year, the squirrels ate every single one of our strawberries. This year it is like fort knox.

This growing your own is a bit of a bug isn't it?! I can see us doing more next year. Until now, we'd only done blackberries, raspberries, tayberries, blueberries, rhubarb and strawberries (keeping the runners from last year).

I am going to buy myself a pretty trug so that I feel that I am properly playing the part

It's interesting about the squirrels and the strawberries. We don't net our strawberries and have no issues, yet I often catch them eating the Brussel sprout leaves and they had most of my tulip bulbs this year.

Afternoon!
Welcome Essential - I recognise your name from elsewhere :) - nice set up by looks , and the fact you got one berry is a plus - if I don't net mine , I don't get any!
Whattodo - I think you would be very lucky to find any asparagus crowns by now ,they tend to ship out Feb/March , and they are in the shops until April. How about trying some seed ? You won't be any further back if you sowed now ready for next year . Rhubarb shouldn't be a problem , as you can get them in pots , but also ask around - usually someone is digging up a crown .
Whatabout - gah , that does look like blight to me :( - I only grow inside a greenhouse , so have less of a worry . But I haven't heard of any blight elsewhere - its normally damp and warm and later as Cedar says
Titsy - lots of options on greenhouse bases . Flagstones , wood etc . My new greenhouse instructions recommended ( and we did ) straight onto heavily compacted soil , with weed membrane , and gravel on top . Biggest thing to think of is getting it flat and fastening it down solidly on whatever you decide . Mine has angle irons driven into the ground
WellTidy - welcome to the addiction - just being able to go and pick the bits you have grown is a wonderful feeling :)
Its the birds here with strawberries - they really go for anything even vaguely ripe .
Was busy this morning , but DH and I popped up to the plot to do a bit of picking , and net the loganberries and tayberries . Tripped over when my foot caught the net , and gave my leg the biggest clonk on the side of the wooden raised bed. I will have a very big bruise there

So as I was a bit meh after that, we didn't stop long but watered squashes and courgettes, picked raspberries , some gooseberries ( they have a bit of brown on them , but that rubs off ) and enough peas and broad beans for tea . Tomorrow I need to pick strawberries and flowers , should have done them today .

Picked some purple podded peas last night - not really enough for 3 alongside my low carb shepherd's pie, but it was the principle. c40g podded.