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

[bookbook]

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

I have black currants which are almost ready, not a huge quantity as it’s only their 2nd year (didn’t have any last year), what does one do with a small amount of black currants? Add them to something. Mix them with cream and fill a sponge cake. Scatter them on breakfast cereal. Use small bunches of them to decorate a cheese cake.I speak as someone who regularly harvests two or maybe 4 cape gooseberries

Afternoon !
well, warm and humid here , no rain as yet .
I tend to open freeze all the berries I don't need and just keep adding to a bag when frozen . Its lovely in winter to beable to take some out . I will mix them with almost any other berry , or apple to make a pie or just a berry compote to pour on yoghurt or ice cream .
Everything is coming on nicely - redcurrants are nearly there . So today was more bindweed digging up ( getting there early for once ) and I planted up the last 3 spare PSB plants I had . I have sown some more cauliflowers and savoy , as not many germinated from the last sowing .
Started to cut off the flowering stems of the perennial spinach ,and pulled some of the leaves . Picked the few strawberries , sweet peas , dahlias and peonies
We have eaten our first mini cucumber this lunchtime - not quite ready , but not bitter .
tiz - my basil has only just germinated . Last time I had bitter cucumbers is when we had a cold snap and horrid winds , seems it can cause them to produce more curcubitins (sp? ) , so fingers crossed it was a one off

Can I join? 😀 first time growing veg properly instead of the odd bit of lettuce! I'm so excited about my yellow courgettes they're very tiny and I keep going out to check if they've grown!

Welcome rensfield!
Courgettes are starting to flower, cherries all gone, morellos are getting close. Black currants are starting to come along.
First beetroot picked-is it too late for another sowing?! Healthy chop to my out of control bay bush.
My pear tree has pear rust I think-anything I can do?!
At home have planted more lettuce and Asian veg.

@bookbook yes, I read it can be a sign of plant stress, to be honest it could be any one of too hot and too dry in May or too cold in June! At least with mini cucumbers it's not quite so disappointing.

@Whattodowithaminute Not too late to sow beetroot, I normally sow through end of July

Oooh everyone's plants are looking fab! renfields I love it when the first new little fruit/veg appears!

I am getting super pissed off with the pigeons. Just leaned my head out the window to see the rain and noticed the pigeons have flocked to a patch of bare grass I just seeded and are eating all my grass seeds! I am going to have to take some netting from the beds and use it on the grass grrr!

I have picked all the early carrots and radishes now. Just the onions, parsnips, potatoes, beetroot and pumpkins left. I too am on heavy clay soil so all these are in raised beds.

Can't do the winter beds till I get more bird netting. They are fast here and seem to be one step ahead of me with all my planting so I can't put anything in the ground without protection! It's weird as I never realised pigeons were such a problem rurally - now I know!

The melons are still indoors but really need a frame as they are starting to wander (just leaves at this stage). Greenhouse is still too hot so not sure where to put them! And the tomatoes still never flowered!

I don't have bird netting over the berries either come to think of it - the gooseberries and the black currants the birds don't touch (they just eat the ones that fall) but they raspberries are gone almost the minute they go red!

My pear tree has pear rust I think-anything I can do?! One of mine gets it every year. Doesn't seem to cause major problems.

raspberries are gone almost the minute they go red! - interesting - mine are untouched. Our birds go for the redcurrants and the early apples. Also the mulberries, but we still get more than enough.

Should my cucumbers be in my mini greenhouse? They seem a bit healthier outside.

I’m picking a fair few strawberries every day now. My blueberries are almost ready too - they are really big this year and I have chicken wire to keep the birds off.

I keep seeing sparrows on my peas - they seem to just be pecking at the leaves rather than the peas though, but maybe that’s wishful thinking.

Should my cucumbers be in my mini greenhouse? They seem a bit healthier outside. What did it say on the packet? There are both indoor and outdoor cucumbers.

This is what Thompson and Morgan say about the two types: "There are two main varieties of cucumber: greenhouse and outdoor. Greenhouse cucumber plants produce long, smooth fruits, much like the ones you find in the supermarket. These plants don?’t need pollinating - in fact, you should remove any male flowers to prevent pollination happening or the fruits will end up bitter. You can buy all-female F1 hybrid varieties, such as cucumber bella, so that this won’t be an issue.

Outdoor varieties, meanwhile, are called ridge cucumbers. They tend to be shorter, plumper and they’ve got a rougher skin. These need to be pollinated as they produce male and female flowers. But this isn’t usually a problem as insects will most likely handle this for you!"

Maybe the sparrows are after insects on the leaves?

Evening!
Welcome RenfieldsAfoot :) lovely pic ( as I am a nosey soul , whereabouts are you North/South/East/West ? )
Bluewave - pigeons are the bane of my life - you have to cover everything that is green and edible! I don't however cover raspberries , but blackbirds will strip any currant bush if given half a chance
Wilderness - as Mere says , depends on the cucumber variety , so check the seed packet if you can .
I was down at the plot this morning - basically juts checking over , digging up bindweed and weeding in the fruit cage . The first of the blackcurrants , redcurrants and white currants are nearly ready to pick . Lots of lovely flowers opening on the courgettes , and the first of the squash flowers opened too . No slug damage apart from a couple of nibbled strawberries atm , so I think the courgettes and squashes are safe now .
We have had rain showers on and off for the last couple of days , no downpours , but enough to not to have to worry about any watering .

Thanks Mere and Bookbook, the packet says they are indeed outdoor cucumbers, so should be OK.

Afternoon!
gorgeous day here , another morning digging out bindweed and hoeing . Needed to water courgettes - one of the plants looks like a bunch of flowers , so lots to come , fingers crossed .
Cut sweet peas and dahlias - black flies all over the dahlias they are everywhere atm .
Strawberries seem to be taking their time to ripen , though as they are only 1st year runners , I didn't expect a bumper crop this year .
And now it looks like its going to be really hot this week , just when its almost time to start picking currants

Such is life !

Good afternoon all. My strawberries on the plot are now finished . I've got a few in the garden still. I've had problems with tomatoes and cucumbers this year. I only had 4 tomato seeds left, they've germinated and the plants are doing well, but I wanted a few more plants, cherry tomatoes, so I ordered some more seed just about the time of lock down, they never arrived. So I ordered some plugs from T&M and they arrived yesterday, if you've looked at another thread you will see a photo of the sorry specimens. I'm not looking to blame anyone, it is what it is atm. Three out of my four cucumber plants were eaten by slugs I suspect. So anyway I bought a couple of replacement toms and cuc plants from Waitrose last week. All good. Today I went to an Abbey, where the monks are fairly self sufficient and sell surplus plants and bought another cucumber plant and a Tomatillo plant. It's a new one on me and quite exciting. Anyone grown them before? There seems to be some controversy about whether you need two. I've only got one so I think I will stick it in the middle of some potatoes and the tomatoes.

Thanks for the advice. Had a trip to the garden centre today and bought dwarf peppers, cucumber and chillis plugs. Will plant out in pots tomorrow and keep in the coldframe. Also bought spring onion, cauliflower and sweet potato plugs and need to find a space in the raised bed. Have got some lettuce ready to dig up tomorrow so hopefully I'll have enough space!! Also found more lettuce seeds in the shed, so have planted them in trays in the cold frame.

gah elephant how annoying about the T&M seedlings - I saw the picture , they are truly sad . I hope you complain . I am trying to think who grew tomatillos but cannot recall ( I haven't ) .
I am so incredibly lucky with our allotment site and facebook page - there are always spare plants etc mentioned, and left on our share table
hi sandwiches - a lovely selection , but a word of warning -sweet potatoes need a lot of warmth - they work best in a greenhouse or under a cloche even . They get very big too.

My strawberries are taking an age too, although I have a plentiful supply of wild ones in the meantime. I'm picking the odd bean for the freezer but they also seem to be taking forever to reach a decent size.

Mange tout are doing great, picked a few for dinner this evening, although just been out again and noticed I'd missed quite a few. looking forward to the purple ones which will be easier to spot.

I think at least one of my courgette plants is actually a crown prince, so it's roaming all over the place. I have crown prince in another location where there's a bit more space but obviously a mix up.

If anyone's still looking for plants, aldi had chilli and aubergine plants out the front today which looked reasonable.

elephant my tomatoes were a disaster this year too. They are still outside, with no flowers, waving at me as if to say 'we're still here but no tomatoes for you!'

I dug up the winter beds today. I forgot how much hard work clay is after the rain! One bed is covered in home made compost, one is as it is and the other got shop bought compost. I've sowed out kale, cabbage, corn, courgettes and a 2nd attempt at cauliflowers after the pigeons ate the last lot. Thought I had enough insect netting but I'm short so had to improvise. Also disturbed a massive ants nest so not sure how I'll go!

Have started some peas inside after your mouse tip book

Had to transplant a giant pumpkin as he got so big but not sure it worked as he looks unhappy.

We picked about 1kg of gooseberries - half went to jam and the other in a crumble with the rhubarb.

What do you use to stop the birds on things like cauliflowers? I have insect netting pegged down over the soil but when they get bigger, I'll need something larger.

elephantoverthehill I sowed some tomatillo seeds but only one came up, it's a huge plant but I'm so fed up as all the gardening sites say you need 2 or more plants to get fruit. Mine is in my pollytunnel but is taking over, it has flowers but as of yet no fruit, even the bees don't go near it. It's crowding out the Achocha and I'd rather save that than the tomatillo. I'll give it another week and then it's going on the compost heap I think.

Real Seeds confirm you need two plants of Tomatillo. They grow their own seed so their cultivation advice is usually reliable.

www.realseeds.co.uk/physalis.html

(Don't be put off by the "physalis" in the url = tomatillo is on the same page)

I get a lot of seeds from Real Seeds but the tomatillo seeds I got when i was in Canada and it wasn't written on the packet that you need 2 plants, at least I know for next year. I'm not too keen on the flavour of the green ones but apparently the purple ,which I have, are sweeter.

Evening !
well, sun and rain today .
Did a bit of faffing mostly at the plot - cut down the flower stalks of the perennial spinach , but left the plants in , as I don't need that bit of space until the winter cauliflowers go in . More bindweed digging , and picked a couple of little sweetheart cabbages for tes - not quite finished hearting up , but its DH's favourite , and it is Fathers Day :)
So many weeds germinating as soon as you turn your back , perfect weather for it!

Hello you lovely knowledgeable lot. I'm a novice veg grower who was donated this vegetable plant from a friend who believed it to be a courgette plant. Only it doesn't look anything like one. I've got cucumber plants and it doesn't ressemble those but honestly I'm baffled and can't find anything online.

Could anyone help identify it please? I've had it about 4-5 weeks and it's growing slowly and wilts after it goes dark (possibly because it's in a pot that's not draining)

Thanks

Thanks for the advice bookbook I've put the sweet potato in the cold frame as I don't have a greenhouse instead of the raised bed as I had planned to.

Hi lymphomenia
looks like a squash of some variety - they all look very similar , along with courgettes and cucumbers . If so , it is in a very small pot - they are greedy feeders :)