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

[bookbook]

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

Evening all!
welcome bobofthelob - that is tough - clay sets into hard clumps of stone when dry - I know a few on here have spent years sorting . Very tricky unless you get some rain . In the long run , you need some grit/sand / any sort of compost and manure and keep applying to get some air and looseness to the soil . Sounds mad , but maybe a pickaxe or lump hammer in small areas , then water well so at least you can plant ^something* out .
choc - oh dear , that is a picture in my head I wont forget! We have a lot of older men who like to get down to vest and baggy shorts , but thats about it :) . BTW - if you have a big plot , I would definitely ask her to back off if you can .
Spent my exercise today putting up bean wigwams - our ground is so dry , DH had trouble getting the canes in - had to fork over to break the ground . Picked one of the last (winter! ) cauliflowers , and some spring cabbage . The wind was horrid , so that was it for today

Can I join? I’ve been lurking for ages but I took over a plot in February. I’ve sorted nearly half of the overgrown plot and got some bits planted. I’m in the south east so it’s fairly warm here - I’ve got onions, leeks, spinach and carrots planted. My brassicas are still in the greenhouse and don’t seem to be doing very well 😭

welcome Trebolla - we can all shove up the bench . :)
Brassicas - if germinated properly , and pricked out - they really don't want to be in the greenhouse . They don't like the warmth , so find somewhere sheltered and chuck 'em out the greenhouse - just make sure they are protected form cabbage whites , -( I have seen a couple of early bird ones in the last couple of days .) You have time to resow if they are really poorly -mine tend to germinate in 5-6 days inside , they get pricked out pronto , and then outside next day .

@bobofthelobs
When we first used a pick-axe on our clay, like Book suggested, it was a revelation! Lots of people on our site use them - or a version of them I think is called a mattock? - to get through the clumps. Tho obvs they do also chop up any bindweed roots you might not have picked out yet.

They are quite satisfying to use!

Tangelo that sounds a great idea - will also be good stress relief with being at home with two very hormonal teenagers!

Evening fellow allotmenteers!
First time on the allotment since before Easter... been having a rough time with DS’s first teeth coming through. I was pretty disappointed to find that the patch I’d been working on already has couch grass poking up all over it . But today’s mission was Operation Apple Tree! The little guy at the north west corner of my plot was completely overgrown and choked up with raspberry plants, brambles and mostly dead bindweed. A few hours of sweating and cursing and lots of scratches later, I finally have a tree! Have added some before and after pics

For some reason the after pic is in the middle... but if you look at the before pics you can see that all the greenery is actually the raspberries/brambles. I haven’t pruned the tree at all. It looks so bare compared to all the other trees on the site covered in lovely blossom!

Oh Angelo! It must have been so satisfying to have your tree revealed at the end. I love an allotment day that ends in visible improvement (many of mine seem to end in not very much changing!). Hope you aren't scratched to pieces.

We're not allowed any fruit trees on our plots that are above about 6ft, which is annoying as I wanted a quince but can't find a little one. But I am lucky I have an old and very bountiful apple tree in my garden. The apples are red with marbled pink and red flesh and quite sweet - I still don't know what variety they are.

Oh, somehow I dropped off this thread again

Wow, you've really liberated the tree Angelo - but it looks like there is some blossom on there, or is that from something else?
Happily, my plot apple tree IS in bloom this week. I had not a single blossom last year, which meant... not a single apple, obviously. I've been trying to make some fruit appear about lower down and it looks like it's worked a bit.

Anyone who's been on here yearsmignt remember that from time to time I yearn for the next door plot. At first it was tended, then he left. then I wanted it but too late and it was let again. They only came a couple of times. Then the same happened but it was a young chap who it was clear wouldn't last. He didn't. Then I asked for it again but was told that plotholders cant have a 2nd plot if there is any waiting list. Well that seems fair really (although galling that there are quite a few people already with 2, 3and 4 plots).

ANYWAY, a new couple have taken it on. They seem nice, though they are friends with the weed spraying aggressive man who I cant abide. He has done so MUCH! He's literally there all day every day and has cleared, built raised beds, finished our joint path, sowed seed... all in a week. He's the opposite type of gardener to me - he uses a ton of weedkiller, rotavated and is very tidy, but i shall forgive him as he has a nice dog.

I still want the plot though

Tangelo I know you haven't extressed a desire for one, but did you know you can now get a pot-sized mulberry? I don't know how good they are - a lot of fanfare on their introduction about 3 years ago hasn't been followed up by lots of people enthusing about them.

A friend of mine has a Chaenomeles (Japanese Quince) - I know it's barely related, but the taste is similar - which has relatively large fruit, about golf ball size. That might be an adequate substitute for the allotment. But agree the real thing is great - takes a warm year to have a good crop, but there's just something about seeing a tree hung with fruit the size of large baking potatoes.

I have 4 quince trees in my garden. I cant give the bloody things away! People might have a couple one year, but they never want them the next year.
I love them,but they do take a lot of cooking and are beasts to cut.

Loved the liberated apple tree picture! I’ve got a very old apple tree that does lots of flowerIng but only has about 10 apples, then a younger tree that is settling in. I think I could prune it better- it’s not my forte . Finally been potting up and getting things out of the greenhouse and into the ground- peas mostly . I’ve not done very well getting hold of seeds this year but some did finally arrive in the post- salad stuffs and cucumbers. Trying outdoor tomatoes as well as greenhouse ones as I’m determined not to turn the greenhouse into an impregnable jungle this year. Both plum trees are covered in blossom- and a pear tree I moved which set tiny fruit last year which all then fell off , is trying again. I’ve got lovely memories of my grandads espaliered pear trees covered in fruit seemingly effortlessly- I wish I had asked him about it but I didn’t know then I’d ever want to garden! We’ve discovered a new walk through woods we didn’t even realise were there tucked in the bottom of the valley behind our house / it’s covered in wild garlic- anyone got any good recipes?

@cathpot we have wild garlic on our plot and my allotment partner made wild garlic and potato soup last week - looked lovely. The new tenants on the plot near us also put it in dauphinois potatoes, (he’s a chef) so there’s a couple to try.

Thanks!

MereDint
For some reason I thought Japanese quinces were only decorative and you couldn't eat the fruit. Not sure why! I'm tempted to add one to my back garden as I have a couple of gaps at the back of the border. Would be nice to have something quince-like while I jealously think about TheSpottedZebra's collection!

Interesting about a dwarf mulberry - I love to grow stuff you can't easily but and mulberries are pretty high up that list. On which note: I finally got my kalette seeds planted (in pots for taking to the allotment as seedlings). Feels like I might be terribly late on those?

Cathpot pesto with the wild garlic! So so good.

We have a japonica in the front garden. I've made quince jelly from the fruits before, they smell amazing. Ours has great orange blossom at this time of year too. Its more of a shrub than a tree

Hello! Could I join? Novice veg gardener but have just converted half my (small) garden to a veg patch. I needed some advice from the experts on runner beans - everything else I planted straight out, but the runner beans I've been growing indoors. The advice is not to plant out until the end of May/start of June, but they are already pretty big - around 1 ft - and will be massive by the end of May. Should I plant out early? I'm in London. Thank you so much!

Ah thank you for that, @bookbook. I’ve moved them out of the greenhouse and onto a boxed section of the plot that I’ve just cleared. They’re netted as well. I’ve also resown some which are now poking through.
My fruit plants are finally coming now - ordered a month ago 🙄 so I’m hoping they’ll be ok. Raspberries, Tay berries and blackberries. The site ordered from said that they’d be fine as long as I put them in the ground ASAP.

Good idea- I love pesto . I’ll take a bag with me next time!
The pear tree seems to be about to set huge numbers of pears- should I thin them or leave them to drop on their own?

Evening!
welcome licoriceallsort1 - :) mm - just a tweak early for runner beans to be out , they will need a week of hardening off anyway if you have not not done yet , and being in London I very much suspect you would get away with it then . Just keep an eye on the forecast , and cover if need be .
Angelo - good work there - get some feed around the roots , and a good soaking , and good to go!
Cath - I would leave the pear until after the June fall - give it a shake to help .Then , as its a youngster , I would thin after that - you can thin in phases if need be as they grow
gorgeous day here , just still a bit of a cold breeze .
Went and finally planted out sweet peas , DH cut the grass , and I picked asparagus and dug more leeks . Prayng for rain - the top of the soil is like a hard crust , and I will need to be planting leeks out soon ....

Angelo that liberated tree is fantastic!

So frustrated to not have got to the plot the last 4 weeks. Missed the good conditions to weed. One quarter of our plot is already a jungle and was our project to tame. Will not be able to pick soft fruit ( or not it), and so therefore trying to grow as much as possible now at home.

Very limited space at home - would dwarf French beans and Runner beans grow in a grow bag or in a deep pot? Have both and compost just no space in my raised beds.

Spinach is not germinating in the greenhouse but broccoli, kale and flowers have succeeded. The best news is that my second and final sowing of tomatoes has succeeded. Putting them on tomorrow and need to find a window sill for them now. Now for the same success with cucumbers as sowing 2 has failed. I got two that survived from my first sowing and only need two but like to have spares.

I've grown dwarf French beans in pots on the patio fairly successfully

After spending the afternoon eyeing up chaenomeles - I fancy quite a decent sized one as I am impatient! - we went down to the allotment for a couple of hours this evening and dug out the end of our plot. There's the bit that in the year or so we've had it, we've never got to. It was root heaven (of course!) but we got a decent bed dug out and planted nine strawberry plants next to our gooseberry invicta that went in earlier this spring. Is shaping up to be a good fruit bed - - I'll likely add some rhubarb come autumn.

The strawberries are Elsanta rather than anything more interesting - - just what our local garden centre had. But they do look super healthy and have gone into a sunny spot. So I'm hopeful

This is the blossom on one of our new cider apple trees. It is a Somerset Redstreak