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

Evening!
was at the plot today , but sorting out the shed we are leaving for the new half plot owner , and it has been used as storage , so it took ages !
tiz - in truth, I only had one place to put my greenhouse , and its not in sun all the time , so mine has the end door facing southish , long side facing westish to get the most of the afternoon sun .
Wow sack - that isn't many leaves!
I am truly lazy laid back about tomatoes . I leave them to get on with it , and just have taken off some of the lower leaves so it is easier to water . I like that they take a bit longer to ripen , as I believe ( though I could easily be wrong) that they taste so much better . These are mine , in my greenhouse tonight - they are ripening right in the middle, you just have to furtle a bit!

So we went up to.thr plot on Saturday to clear it to give it back. Honestly it wasn't as badly overgrown as it was earlier in the season (maybe it's three strikes and you're out!).

The guy on the plot next door said "you've had your letter then" - turns out the guy the other side is giving up half of his plot too. The woman the other side who I have seen once in 5 years was smart putting down carpet and planting fruit trees (actually I think she must have inherited the trees as you're not allowed to plant them).

It didn't take too long to tidy up. Yes the path needs mowing (the asparagus the previous person planted still pops up on the pathway - used to be mowed down when someone at the allotment mowed paths for me!)

We dug out a few things, uncovered the soil that has been covered for 3 years (still doesn't look great!), collected the tools and right then I thought "well maybe I could do this"

And then I realised I'm kidding myself. I'm going to email them to day to let them know I'm done and I'm happy to furfeit my deposit if they want it completely cleared because it wasn't when I took it on, the other plot they offered me is still, 5 years on, waist high in couch grass and poppies and I just don't have the time.

It's a weight off my shoulders. I salute all who can spend the time on the plot. I'm going to refocus on my garden and sort out my raised beds there. I'm going to dig up my strawberries which are wonderful if I water then every day but I don't, and I don't think I need plants that can't survive in my conditions (low rain and cold strong easterly winds). If you have suggestions for low water vegetables I'd be grateful.

I'll continue to linger on this thread - enjoying your stories!

Wow sack - that isn't many leaves!

I'm ruthless.

Actually what I want is to underplant so as soon as I can I whip up the leaves and get something else planted underneath. Also to prevent botritus at the end of the season. Next week my niece is up and I'll be getting her to sow a load of lettuces and spinaches and maybe even fennel anywhere there is soil space in the greenhouse.

Tonight's pickings. The cucumber is HSL Perfection and it really is.

well, my post disappeared! - A quick resume
Afternoon
didi - I am in the dry east , I have never watered strawberries . I water in the greenhouse , also squashes and courgettes . Everything else only when it gets very very dry. So I think depending on how much space you have , you will beable to grow spinach, salads , cabbages , climbing beans , leeks perhaps .
This afternoon at the plot DH cut the grass , while I picked french beans , raspberries and plums . I gave away some plums , and got 2 courgettes back ( though I now have 2 courgettes nearly ready to pick! ) At home , I harvested the first plum tomatoes , and more aubergines - they will all be roasted with onions and garlic to make the first pasta sauce of the year made all with home grown produce :)

More courgette mysteries as I was certain I planted patty pan in the compost heap but they seem to be golden courgettes instead. My very late planted cucumbers planted alongside are climbing around quite happily too, plenty of flowers but no sign of cucumbers ( it's a mini variety).

Picking blackberries everyday, didn't quite get the succession planting of my beans right so a brief hiatus there, plenty on their way.

Courgettes remain manageable in numbers (I think in a more normal year I'd have had way too many)

Chillies ripening nicely and a few aubergines coming along. I need to check the variety as I'm not sure on what size they're meant to be.

Still picking onions as and when we need too which is great as onions were useless last year.

I picked a rainbow today
I have 1 aubergine fruit growing, it's a white variety and now I know why the American's call them egg plants!

Evening!
that s such a pretty trug Pyxie - and the harvest too!
tiz jealous on the blackberries , I have to go and beg some, as I don't have them myself.
Well, I dug up all the remaining potatoes today - its been probably the best harvest I have ever had .I also pulled up some of the lettuce which are bolting , looking like a forest . I hate to waste them , so made some soup .
Had to dig up a couple of overwinter cauliflowers - dratted cabbage root fly

Luckily for me , I didn't need to water today - we had some rain last night , and a few small showers today . But will need to over the weekend by looks .

Hi all, hope you don't mind a new addition to the thread.

My DH, bless him, spent his day off knocking up some raised beds for me. Our veg patch is finally underway - it's taken a long time to get the area cleared, as the whole garden was terribly neglected (ten foot brambles)

I haven't planted anything for the last two growing seasons, since we moved house, and I've never bothered with winter veg before.

What can I plant now? I'm absolutely itching to grow SOMETHING edible. Would kale take, or is it too late?

I've just sown more kale. As the bloody cabbage whites ate all mine.

But may i suggest SPINACH!!!! I will have 3 arieties growing this winter.

And winter lettuces. Fennel you should get enough to flavour a few soups. Pak choi. Bok Choi. All the Chois. Spring Onions. and soon you can put overwintering onions in, plus garlic and broad beans.

Evening
Welcome MadameAlbert - we can all shift up on the bench .Are you North/South/East or West ? ( just nosey you understand!) loads to be planted soon . Garlic/shallots/overwinter broad beans later on . You may be able to pick up some plug plants , I am about to sow a row of beetroot . Leafy greens - spinach etc will be fine .
I have planted all sorts - including some spare cabbages and calabrese , to make up for cabbage root fly .
I was due a quick trip to the plot today - just to pick some calabrese . Didn't even get to pick raspberries- Unfortunately , some had been and jemmied a load of shed doors , let out chickens ,and forced the big roller shutter on the councils store . Some council strimmers were taken , but nothing too much from plot holders ( though a set of battery powered lights were taken ). So a full on morning trying to help folk , and catch chickens .
We have gates which are locked , but it would appear they managed to find a gap in the hedge near a road and squeezed through . doesn't cover it

We've just had my first and only golden beetroot in a salad for dinner, we had it raw in matchsticks and I was impressed. I've got perpetual spinach, leeks and savoy cabbage ready to go in next week to overwinter, can I do more beetroot too *Book? And I WILL remember to do overwintering broad beans this year.

Thank you for the welcome! I'm in NI, but my area is unusually warm and dry due to the proximity to the Gulf Stream, so a surprising amount of things tend to grow quite well here compared to the rest of the country.

I have bought some kale, spring onions, lamb's lettuce and perpetual spinach, which I will sow after sorting out the beds tomorrow. I'm getting a greenhouse in October plus wood for the rest of the beds - we've just cobbled together some old pallets for now, as we were making the compost heaps anyway, and I can't wait any longer!

I also have beetroot seeds- when can I plant those? Have never grown it before

@bookbook how awful- I hope all the chickens were safely retrieved!

Well, I am going to do a row of beetroot- more with fingers crossed than anything else ! You can use the leaves in salad , and if its a kind autumn I may get a few little ones . For me it's worth a try - we love beetroot .
Madame - I succession grow my beetroot - short rows from about May - once the first lot has germinated ,and got going , I sow some more . That way , you don't end up with loads of big beetroot all at once .
worth a try elephant is my motto , and if you have spare space .:)
Last chicken was rounded up about 3 o clock - she had had a good look around I think , and then decided she preferred her own home!

Sod it, I'll throw some in then. I love beetroot, and I was at a National Trust place the other day where they were giving out a fab looking recipe for beetroot fritters.
We're hopefully getting some rescue battery hens at Easter - love a few chickens pecking around the veg!

haha Madame - you will need to protect the veg then - Cathpot has chickens and they decimated her peas I seem to remember!

Yes! Mine devoured the radish leaves on minutes (the radishes weren't doing much so it was no great loss but if something is properly growing...)

Haha! We'll be building a massive coop, so chooks will only be wandering free when the veg are safe

Hello hello, I've fallen off this thread a bit, but I've still been plodding away at the plot. Welcome new people! My new plot neighbour came to see his plot yesterday. He seems very nice, a totally self-admitted beginner. He said ooh, is that rhubarb? Readers, it was a big dock. I give him a few months, but maybe I am being a meanie because I want his plot

Talking of wrongly identified things, I clicked on book's pic of the asparagus seedling -goodness me it looks like marestail! I've been plucking the odd seedling of marestail that has been sneaking on to my plot. But maybe it was asparagus?

My courgettes never did come good, bit I am now knee deep in tomatoes, and loving it. I've grown a new hanging basket/bush tomato this year called Sunstripe. It is SO GOOD. Very tasty, almost slightly salty. A slightly thicker skin though, so not good for my mum anyone with dentures.

I too am mourning the caterpillered loss of all my kale. Maybe I'll sow more tomorrow...

DH made me this planter out of an old chest of drawers. It's a bit rough looking, but it will house my winter leaves this year, then I may turn it over to strawberries and let them run wild. We are going to put a summer house right beside it, so I have wonderful visions of grabbing a handful of berries then retreating to the summer house with wine and a book...

Afternoon!
hello Spotted - lovely to 'see' you .
haha on asparagus - I suppose I was very near my asparagus bed , so had a comparison .
Today has been too hot for me , so only a quick trip to the plot this afternoon , to water and pick raspberries . I have my first 2 courgettes from the late sown plants . And then another plot holder , who I know quite well, came over and gifted me this gorgeous cauliflower - perfect timing!
Had to water in the greenhouse twice today , the sungold cherry tomatoes are now just getting to the stage of having too many to eat from one picking . Joyous indeed
All else is well, apart from the overwinter caulis- they have now all succumbed to cabbage root fly but on the upside , I have now got as an alternative a lot of calabrese /cabbages/savoys and PSB to look forward to!

Hi, yes Book I am now picking more tomatoes than we can eat in a day. Tonight I made a tomato pasta sauce for dinner and to freeze. I roasted the tomatoes and the left over beetroot, carrot thinnings and courgette. Very tasty I would recommend it.

More potatoes today - not sure on the variety, they were left over seed potatoes out of their net that I chucked in an old dustbin with some soil fairly late. Courgettes and blackberries also coming along nicely.

I managed a bit of weeding and planted some more beetroot. Might try and get some spring onions in too.

Forgot to attach photos

Hello booky! Lucky you having the 2nd courgette sowing be fruitful. Most of mine got chomped, bit 2 are still alive... Do you know, in all my tomato obsessiveness, I've never actually grown a sungold. Not sure I've ever actually eaten one! Maybe I ought to rectify that next year...

Lovely blackberries tiz - do you know what variety they are? I always said that I'd not grow blackberries as the hedges near me are full of them, but a plot chap gave me a plant that he had no room for last winter. It's fruited this year and it is lovely - big and tasty, and fewer pips. I accidentally broke off a bit of the new growth so am trying to make it into cuttings for new plants.