Allotment/Veg Patch Thread 15 - will winter ever end?

[bookbook]

Hi everyone , just putting this up quickly , will add on later
Everyone welcome! :)

Windy here, that annoying wind which means your hair constantly flaps in your face.

After an hour or so I gave up before I grabbed the secateurs and cut my hair off

I’ve ordered a tall, thin plastic laundry basket and a burlap sack. Saw a YouTube video for using this to plant strawberries and got some plants on the way as well.

Gnome that made me laugh, maybe try a hat next time.

Gnome Never mind, by the end of this, your hair will have grown so long that you can pin it all back out of your way.

well , got my pricking out done yesterday, some more tomatoes have germinated overnight too .
Pretty chilly and rainy this morning .

looking good bookbook, what is that you have there?

summer cabbages and cauliflowers Gnome .
The next lot (brussels sprouts) are just germinating now .
Too many for myself on the cabbages , but like to have back up , and give some away too :)

Has anyone grown sweet potatoes with success? If so any tips?

I’ve watched a YouTube video about cutting a potato up and suspending the chunks in a glass of water until it goes roots/slips. It didn’t cover what to do next. I think you pull the slips off and plant them?

Would you use a potato sack, put them in the veg plot? Do they take up much space? Do they need deep,soil? Do they produce much?

I grew them for the first time last year Viva . They need a long growing season , and warmth . I bought it as a small already getting going plant . I grew it in a reused big compost bag in the greenhouse . It grew really well, but at the end of the day it only produced 5 medium sized small potatoes , so I am not going to bother again .

Similar experience to bookbook but with even less success.

Thanks, I’ve only got one of those tiny plastic greenhouses so will give it a miss.

No success for me Viva but didn’t use shop bought slips.

@bookbook we had snow here yesterday too! Only a few flakes but it was a bit depressing after last week's lovely weather. My sweet peas were doing ok outside but I think it may have killed them off

Planting some boxes of wild flowers in the back garden this week

I have saved some large flat boxes which I intend to put on the grass where I want them and then fill with topsoil and then set seed

The idea is that as they develop th cardboard should suppress the grass whilst the perrenial wild flower mix takes hold

Struggling to buy runner bean seeds, not even sure I want to grow anyt his year, I have French bean seeds left from last year and am growing peas too, I don’t need more beans do I?

Managed to find swede seeds online yesterday and tomato but unsure when they will come.

Butternut squashes are starting to germinate, never successfully grown these so keeping fingers crossed.

Snow?!

I've only just started sowing seeds. In fact I don't yet have any germination at all! I've sown 1st tomatoes (obvs), chillies and a few peppers. I do still think it's quite early for courgettes and squash and that a month of grey skies could see mini plantets struggle. Maybe easier if you have a really well-sited greenhouse, which unfortunately I do not.

I got my last seed order through the other day and am glad as now the company have said that they're not taking in any new orders. So if I need seed, I'll have do a supermarket trip to lidl (quite good seed range!) and cross my fingers!

Have heard that most Lidl stores have no seeds left due to everyone wanting to grow their own ☹️, I was thinking of going to see if they have any fruit plants but I don’t think they will.

I’m down south so it’s warming up a little here, next week is looking warmer, won’t be planting anything outside this week.

I’m hoping to have enough rhubarb to make a crumble next week, my plant is 3 years old but the stems don’t seem to grow very long, not sure why? It’s planted in what was my old compost heap (now raised bed).

the stems don’t seem to grow very long, not sure why? maybe it's in good light? Lots of plants grow longer stems in the shade as they're reaching up to the light.

@Lovemusic33 , you could try a rhubarb forcer. It causes the plant to grow longer to reach for the light. You can buy them, or you can make them out of an old large plastic bottle.
Cut off the top and bottom and line with newspaper or card, or wrap around & tie with string to the outside, to create the darkness. Then place it around the stems to encourage them to grow longer.

@TheSpottedZebra, re your question about re-using compost, Vertical Veg has an article about it here: verticalveg.org.uk/how-to-re-use-old-compost-ten-useful-ingredients/

I always reuse compost, normally supplement it with comfrey tea or the stinky juice from the bokashi bin and a few handfuls of homemade compost. Only exception is for tomatoes and chillis which are fussier in my experience. Keeping my fingers crossed that I'll be able to get some grow bags by the time the tomatoes are ready for them.

But compost/soil, or lack thereof, is going to be my biggest issue. I'm building some more raised beds/large planters and not sure I'll have enough to fill them. I have a couple of daleks behind the shed but I've not inspected them for a while now, and it never goes as far as you think it should.

Also going to have to sort out the old plastic greenhouse as a temporary staging area. We were in the middle of sorting out a much bigger replacement but that's on hold for the time being.

@tizwozliz You have a couple of Daleks behind the shed?

Well we decided to drive to allotment at the weekend so could take the manure and children, so we could both go. I have a small propagator but have 4 courgette and squash plants potted on and hope the rest germinate! Then will put cucumbers in. I think my first tomato plant has germinated. Chilli plants on my windowsill. Windowsills will soon be full!!
So pleased we got the seeds early this year!

Going to try Kalettes as a new thing this year - has anyone grown them before? Plus a ginger plant.

I pricked out lots of cauliflower seedlings at the weekend. Need to sow some broccoli and leeks. I'm definitely missing the sunny weather of last week. The only seeds I don't have but had planned to grow is butternut squash, I guess I'll wait until next year.

Mere you are probably right, it is in good light (pretty open space), I have another plant which is in shade and produces slightly longer stems. I think next year I will use a forcer. I love rhubarb so was hoping for a better crop.

Sewed some reddish seeds today and a few flower seeds incase I can’t get any bedding plants for my front of the house pots. Also showed more peas (can’t have too many).