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

Eugh...yes we've all been there with slugged potatoes [sorry]...you need a variety next year that is resistant to slug damage...

www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?pid=716

Slug-resistant cultivars: ‘Charlotte’, ‘Estima’, ‘Golden Wonder’, ‘Kestrel’, ‘Pentland Dell’, ‘Pentland Ivory’, ‘Pentland Squire’, ‘Stemster’, ‘Sante’ and ‘Wilja’

ooh Sack - that explains it - I've grown Charlotte for the very first time , and it is the first time I have never had slugged potatoes :) . I only grew them as I had spare space to chuck them in , and its the best harvest I have ever had. Still a couple of rows to dig up yet

Thanks Una and Book. Will be runner snipping tomorrow!
Agree, just too much going on at the wrong times this year for organised gardening. Agree with Bellinisurge above that the best course is then to concentrate on building up beds for next year!

Yes, almost certainly slug damage on the potatoes. So disappointing when you realise that there's not much left of your lovely potato. Charlotte potatoes are a lovely variety - make a good potato salad at this time of the year. Our crop did really well.

For clay soil add plenty of compost and also some sand to help break up the clay a bit. It will eventually become better soil - and the clay is great because it holds in the nutrients as bookbook said. Also growing potatoes does help to break up the soil even if the crop this time around has been a bit of a disappointment. You might also find growing a green manure will help a bit.

We harvested our first ever red cabbage the other day. It made a lovely coleslaw - well half did, got to find something to do with the other half! I've sown some spring cabbages and winter salad crops so we'll see what happens with those. I've direct sown them rather than starting them off at home as we're away on holiday soon so we'll see if they get going and survive the slugs.

Must take note of that list of slug resistant potatoes for next year!

Tiz haven't grown those but my general principle with courgettes is harvest them as small as I can - better flavour and texture and it reduces the glut!

If you have a general problem with slugs anyway then use nematodes to get the population down and this drastically reduces the number in the first place. Use them first around the end of April and beginning of May or earlier for first early potatoes

Afternoon!
Gorgeous day here , before horrors tomorrow ( allegedly )
Was down at the plot first thing , and ripped out the second row of peas , managed to salvage the last pods . Tidied up a lot of bits of weeds , and put new chicken wire around the next lot of germinated peas . A bit hit and miss on the germination , but if it gives me a picking , I'll be happy - it was a gifted packet of some old maincrop peas - about half have come up. Pulled out all the broad bean plants , and did the same so salvaged a few pods there too. Went and picked some french beans - the ones I missed yesterday......and pulled 2 cabbages . Cut all the flowers I could ahead of the rain - the sweetpeas are just about done , so they are ready to be dug up I think . And chatting to another plot holder , I acquired 3 cucumbers . Also cut some seed heads off a really pretty poppy . Job for tomorrow is in the greenhouse , taking all the bottom leaves off the tomato plants to let in more air and light , its a right jungle in there!

@bookbook..thanks for the welcome and advice..very useful

@sackrifice.. Thanks for the ideas for slug resistant potatoes. The ones i planted were cheap ..they were called Cara.

@Cedar03.. Thanks for the tip.about Charlotte pots and the useful advice about clay soil. I had thought about planting a green compost..Maybe comfrey might work?

What a beautiful day it's been today! I managed to get a few things planted out: a few lavender plants, cauliflower and cabbage seedlings, all bargains from b&q!
Picked some more runner beans, courgette, patty pan, kohl rabi and pak choi.
I think my tomatoes have blight. I pulled one plant and have heavily pruned the others. Luckily I have some at home in pots and they're all looking healthy. I've attached a pic of the plant I pulled, bit of a crap picture but does it look like blight?
I'm jealous of your cabbages and cucumbers book, cucumber seems to be my nemises plant

I couldn't get to the allotment last night as the combine was going outside our front door and that brings on my asthma so I had to shut all the windows and doors and stay in.

Been tonight though and there has been an upturn on the summer squash front with the rugosa friulanas starting to produce. So took a light picking of beans and took the cucumber off as we need the plant to keep producing. And another decent beetroot is ready. Smashing.

Popped up to the plot tonight, it has been warm but humid and overcast here today, with torrential rain yesterday so no watering required.

Picked my first cucumber, then propped up runner beans which have fallen over (we are predicted strong winds over the weekend so will need doing again no doubt).

Oh yes, has anyone ever seen Swiss Chard do this? It's bolted and developed a huge thick flat stem covered in tiny leaf shoots.

Ooh, fasciation. Wow, thats fab.

gosh Expleteive - it looks like a giant tongue / triffid!

Yes, it's a bit creepy looking!

Pyxie..i've never seen tomatoes like that so not sure if it's blight. Shame you had to get rid of plants.

sackrifice.. beautiful photos. The colours
are so bright! You could sell your veg at a farmers' market and do really well.

ExpletiveDelighted.. def. a Triffid

Well it's been raining heavily all night and i'm worried my tomatoes won't withstand this and the gales predicted today. I have a lot of green ones and they need sun

You've definitely grown a triffid Expletive! Fantastic but a little bit creepy too. Never seen anything like that - my chard normally just grows a bit flower stem. From your photo it looks like a giant tongue eating a chard plant.

BooseysMom did you mean grow comfrey as a green manure or use it as a fertiliser? I'm not sure about using it as a green manure but I know there are other people on this thread who do grow it so will be more knowledgeable about it. I normally buy a seed mix from the garden centre.

Rainy here and I think it is supposed to get windy later so hoping the beans will stay upright as I had to buttress them the other day. Picked the last summer cabbage before the slugs ate it all. I'm definitely a lot less picky which I've grown it myself - slugs eaten some of the leaves and a little bit of the heart? It will be fine to eat. I'd never actually buy one that looked like that though. Which is, of course, why supermarkets don't sell them.

Our cucumbers (plants donated by a plot neighbour) are just growing madly and none of the buds are actually flowering. Whereas plot neighbour has given us one of the cucumbers off his plants. Probably should pinch out the growing stems I guess. On the other hand, less weeding where they are growing!

I have to say I don't like my triffid at all but am weirdly fascinated by it. I think I'm going to take lots of photos then dig it up, my whole plot is getting taken over by self seeded chard, so I'm not short of it. I am finding them useful to drape all my cucumber stems over to keep the fruit off the ground though.

Morning!
It is a bit grotesque, but weirdly fascinating!
Pyxie - I cannot really see from the picture , but is any of it black? Could it just be general mouldy stuff going on as its been damp and warm? I have just taken off a couple of tomatoes that re mouldy around the top , still on the plant .
Rain here , so spent a bit of time in the greenhouse , hacking back tomatoes to let a bit of air and light in . Found a couple nestled right in the middle which had ripened . Lots and lots to come . Then found the ever elusive cucumbers whilst tidying those- I know they are mini ones , but they shouldn't be able to hide so easily! Had to tie up the aubergines again - there are just so many on the plant . It is a mini variety , so chopped off a few to help the others along .
Doesn't look as if the rain is clearing here , so no plot

Cedar03 i meant grow it as a green manure. I know i've seen something like this used on GW or something. I'll check the garden centre for a seed mix. Thanks for the tip

Rainy here too and the wind is strengthening. So much to do and the pesky weather is stopping play so nothing for it but to eat cake and drink tea

sackrifice.. beautiful photos. The colours are so bright! You could sell your veg at a farmers' market and do really well.

Thank you - I did used to grow to sell when I was a head gardener at a city farm, now it's just for us. Which is nice and alot less work!

I missed it earlier but you don't grow comfrey as a green manure as you will never get rid of it. You grow comfrey and cut its leaves and then use that, dunked in water, as a fertiliser for fruiting crops. You should plant Bocking 14 only, and plant it where you are never going to need to grow anything else, as that variety has sterile seeds and won't self seed everywhere. Don't sow comfrey seeds as you will end up with it growing all over the place and once it is growing you can't dig it out.

But by all means buy green manure seeds, they won't be comfrey though.

Wow Expletive that is bizarre! It reminds me a bit of the pictures of mutated sunflowers I've seen, but a lot more strange looking!

Book those aubergines are beautiful. If I get one fruit this year I'll be happy!

I've had a few cucamelons now and I am a fan but my toddler is not (win!) We've had a lot of rain and sunshine today, it's been quite strange.

If you google 'Fasciation' there are quite a few examples on line.

Thanks Sackrifice I've had a quick google, I'd never heard the term before. It is so weird, the shoots are in such straight lines.

Went to the plot half an hour ago when it was getting a bit dark. Chopped off a bag load of tomato leaves from the toms in the greenhouse and took some pickings. First yellow beans, and took the first tomato out which was a Maskotka bush down at the very start of the year.