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

[bookbook]

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

@MereDintofPandiculation I lovingly hand made nets for the mange tout, but they've had to be 'guided' every few days to keep them on course

@bookbook thanks for the reply. It is a bit odd, the label actually says 60-90 days. Have attached photos. I also read about Endeavour says it’s a winter variety so I’m really confused.

BlueWave my cauliflowers were droopy too (not helped by the cat treading on them). I cut some Pringles tubes into collars to help them stay upright for a bit - seems to have worked a treat.

ooh wilderness that's a good tip. I shall go and see what I can find to sort them out! Poor cauliflowers! I always hate it when plants look all sad and droopy

I lovingly hand made nets for the mange tout, but they've had to be 'guided' every few days to keep them on course Every year I find myself unwinding beans from the stick in the neighbouring pot and re-winding them up their own stick.

Your veg garden is impressively neat! That's a much sturdier pea frame than I ever achieve.

Afternoon!
another hot and dry day. Only popped up to the plot to plant out the rest of the courgettes and water . I ended up digging up a bucket of bindweed whilst doing so as well. I have a bird box o the side of the shed , and I could hear babies twittering , and mum and dad popping in and out . Only sparrows , but lovely nevertheless :)
Wilderness - weird , but they are well grown plants already

Lovely weekend here. Decided, despite shielding to go to the plot - first visit since March! Drove to out plot, kept car next to it ( not meant to but nobody was there) and as nobody was there apart from one man whol was at opposite end and only came as we were packing up, was able to stay for ages. Doctor said if touched nothing but on our plot it should be ok. Going again tomorrow and then probably have to leave it for a few weeks. Been able to plant beans and squashes, water, water and water!,

Had to accept one quarter is full of weeds, cannot use it or deal with it, apart from a quick cut with shears. Decided to try to rescue the potatoes by earthing them up more as frost got them.

Was bliss to see something other than my garden. Children were great, which was a surprise as quite young! Took hot water, soap, etc as well as hand gel.

Were very lucky gates were open on way in and out. Did not close them - so unless someone with C19 has been touching my plants, hope a rose was worth taking. Have not even been for a walk in 10 weeks!

Hi everyone,

Please can I join in, I've joined before briefly a couple years ago but gave up growing last year but we're back trying again this year.

Lovely to see some things have been harvested already.

Can I be cheeky and ask for some advice, my tomatoes are going really yellow and my courgettes aren't growing any leaves. Please see my photos. Does anyone know why and what can I do to save them

Thank you

Hi everyone,

Please can I join in, I've joined before briefly a couple years ago but gave up growing last year but we're back trying again this year.

Lovely to see some things have been harvested already.

Can I be cheeky and ask for some advice, my tomatoes are going really yellow and my courgettes aren't growing any leaves. Please see my photos. Does anyone know why and what can I do to save them

Thank you

Sorry for the double post, not sure what happened

@Motherofmonsters welcome! I can't help with the tomatoes unfortunately as mine aren't growing well at all this year I don't know if they don't like the greenhouse - they did fine indoors - but they are still tiny at the moment!

Glad you enjoyed your plot visit @RhubarbFizz

How lovely to hear the birds @bookbook! We haven't had any in the garden (we have a cat who probably scares them off!) but the DC are entranced by the cygnets not far from us.

@livingit38 thank you for the link to the red sunflowers, I've ordered some seeds. DS2 loves sunflowers and grows them enthusiastically. Unfortunately he is a bit too enthusiastic (he's only 4) and not many of them survive his 'care'

Thanks Ruby the plot visit was lovely. A day in our garden today, thanks to another lovely sunny May Day. Am not a tomato expert at all, but have you fed them - I just use a tomato feed once a week. My courgettes were going yellow before I planted them out as they needed bigger pots and a feed.

Oh a slight change of name!

Ah no I haven't fed them, i have got some so I'll give that a go. Can I feed the courgettes with it to?

I do and it keeps them healthy. I do it once a week.

We're new to this. Railways sleepers and top soil are coming tomorrow to make raised beds, then I can plant out the corn, broad beans, courgettes , tomatoes and lettuces. Exciting!!

Afternoon!
Hello and welcome TimeWastingButFun - yep , definitely exciting . Are you growing at home ( and the usual nosey question from me - whereabouts are you - North/South/East/West ? )
pull up a garden chair Motherofmonsters - plenty of social distancing room around here :). They look some sad plants there. Definitely feed them - both tomatoes and courgettes are greedy , and yes you can use the same feed . Can I ask what compost you have used ? there is something really odd going on with the courgettes -.have they just dropped the leaves , or did they not get going to start with? Fingers crossed , just feed and water will do the trick
Rhubarb - what a joy for you to get out and get to your plot - could you cover the quarter with weed membrane/cardboard for this year ? just to make it easier when you can get down and get going again.
Another hot day - was at the plot this morning , and planted out the rest of the squashes , watered courgettes and the newly perked up germinated swede seedlings ( hurrah - they are starting to look as if they have survived the pigeon plunder) , and managed to pickaxe fork over another last bit of bed ready for planting out autumn cauliflowers in a couple of weeks time . Praying for rain now .
Stripped a lot of perpetual spinach for tea - well and truly bolted , but still some decent leaves to pick

@rhubarbjelly what a lovely visit. I can only imagine how it felt having been stuck inside so long!

@motherofmonsters my tomatoes aren't doing great either! But I think they've been too warm and comfortable!

How often are you all watering everything in this weather? I have raspberries in 2 different places and in one they are v behind (don't think I pruned them back enough and they spread everywhere!). The gooseberries and black currants are formed and ripening but my raspberries are still just finishing their flower.

My first tomato is set, beans and a mini cucumber also on their way. Something had been digging last night and broke one of the garlic plants so that got pulled too. Not the biggest garlic in the world but pleased to see it had formed cloves which my garlic failed to do last year. Picking radish everyday too. So things all going well. Even my courgettes which I'd written off after they were caught by the frost are growing again.

I'm having to do a lot of watering though and even my reserve water butts are close to empty. Grass isn't growing so no cut grass to use as mulch either.

Think I'll get some more beans and/or mange tout sown this week. Probably beetroot too. Will get some of the stinky comfrey tea used this week too and start a fresh batch.

I don't feed my tomatoes until the fruit is set.

Evening all. rhubarb it sounds lovely to be back at the plot. The evidence for being outside away from people indicates the covid risk is very low so I’m sure you will be fine with some conscientious hand washing.
We had a surprisingly productive afternoon at the plot-I’ve built half a compost bin, weeding and watering. DS has planted more strawberries-we have a ridiculous number but he’s getting a lot of pleasure from it. Sweet corn has doubled in size since last week, 2 of the courgette plants have been well chewed but the others seem ok-beer traps down. Variable success with raspberry growth so far. The cherry trees are looking good with plenty of fruit some in the edge of turning red-I’ve tried netting one today but I’m worried about the birds getting caught. Rhubarb is doing well and other fruit bushes look ok for year 1.
At home I need to sort my lettuce patch-more seed coming this week, beans are getting eaten by something...
Forecast for rain on Wednesday 🤞

Bookbook we've used compost that came direct from a local producer, were doing up the garden so had 3tonnes tipped up. On the top is just some hedge that my husband chipped.
The leaves sort of shriveled at the edges and died when we planted them in the beds. My husband wonders if the compost is to hot or not finished enough? Could that be it?

We've been watering twice a day.

We had some success, managed to harvest some rocket and tat Choy for our salad this evening.

agh Mother - I bet its the chippings !!!! Not good for mulching around seedlings/young plants . Only use those as a mulch around mature stuff

from RHS site -"Wood, including bark from larger, mature trees can be chipped and applied as a fresh mulch on both unplanted areas and around plants on well-established beds. However, be aware that woody materials may contain compounds that harm plants (phytotoxic) so avoid using fresh broadleaf chippings on newly planted beds

Ah I didn't know that, we've got it on all 6 beds, going to be a fun job tomorrow scraping that off. Thank you for your help!

How often are you all watering everything in this weather? I'm not watering anything in the ground, although things are wilting in the sun, so I will have some decisions to make soon. I did give each of the apple trees a coupe of gallons about a week ago, and 4 gallons to the quince. Don't want them deciding to drop their fruit!

Containers are being watered every 2 days, quite heavily, and I'm checking the greenhouse daily - not everything needs watering every day.

I’m watering tomatoes and containers twice a day (morning and evening) and watering the raised beds once a day. My potatoes are looking pretty sad by 5pm So sometimes I give them a bit of extra water during the day, my potatoes are in bags.

I’m watering reasonably heavily on Mondays and Fridays, my fruit trees are new so want to give them a bit more love than I might in a couple of years time. I’m working tues/wed/thurs so don’t really get to the plot then and weekends are a bit more hit and miss.
Spontaneous decision to dig a small wildlife pond today which kept the kids happy but meant I didn’t finish my compost bin construction... tried to get some grow bags or compost today for repotting the Toms without success.