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

[bookbook]

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

Evening!
Welcome TiddleTaddleTat , join the clan - sounds exciting , new garden and all :) . I grow Lovage - it is very strong , you don't need much in the cooking . Being nosey as usual , do you care to tell whereabouts you are? North/South/East/West
I managed to get to the plot this morning!! Hair now like a bush , as it is wild out there , but no rain , at least.
I cut off the sprout tops to take home , dug up the plants and weeded and dug . Dug up a couple of leeks , and cut the PSB . , oh , and managed to dig some couch from around the grass paths too .

Thanks for the welcomes
I'm up North , it's still fairly cold here but my seeds are germinating in the conservatory (unheated, east facing). Got cherry toms, yellow courgette, chillis down and then a ton of flowers including nasturtiums, marigold, lobelia, ... but I suppose over here you're less interested in the flowers!

ah Tiddle -
I am in Yorkshire , so maybe not North North! I will be sowing my tomatoes and other tender stuff in about 2 weeks time .
I do flowers too - very important to attract the bees :)

Nice to know I'm not alone in being behind.
I've got seeds germinating in the polytunnel but outdoors I've got all the beds covered with black plastic weed membrane to help them dry out and warm up enough to sow soon.
The water table is so high that the soil is really cold.

@bookbook I used to live in York! Really miss it. Are you anywhere nearby?

So flipping cold here still (South East), planted a few potatoes and onions today but more to give the (very keen) DC something to do than because I have much hope for them... the DC then went off and had more fun moving mud from one side of the garden to the other, next time I'll just let them do that

@RubySlippers77 - very near - about 15 miles away , just a bit nearer the Wolds :)

Hello all.

Marking place in hopes it will motivate me to get started on seeds. But it's jolly difficult with all the wind; might have to do it all inside this year instead of using the picnic table.

@bookbook I am so jealous that you can visit Bettys tearooms whenever you like!! I have to make do with frequent mail orders

@GrouchyKiwi I lost two seed packets in the garden today when they went flying in the wind!! Perhaps I'll end up with random parsnips and carrots dotted about?!

@TiddleTaddleTat Chiltern Seeds are good for unusual herbs. but I suppose over here you're less interested in the flowers! - nasturtiums are edible! And marigolds are whitefly-deterring companion plants (if Tagetes), or edible (if Calendula).

elephant I grew white strawberries once, I thought it might confuse the birds. It was very difficult to tell the difference between a ripe white strawberry and an unripe one, at least when you were picking at speed.

I'm also Yorkshire, but further west so not so bitterly cold in winter. I sowed my tomatoes in the propagator a fortnight ago. They're up, but don't yet have true leaves. I shall be growing them in the greenhouse so don't have to worry too much about late frosts.

I am so jealous that you can visit Bettys tearooms whenever you like It's better than that - you can visit the RHS garden at Harlow Carr which has its own Betty's.

Mere I kind of thought of that too. And do already have enough strawberry plants really and the white ones are quite expensive................so I will go for jumbo strawberries I think. The Dcs have loved the giant ones from Waitrose but they will just eat strawberries until the cows come home so trying to extend the season is my goal.

Ruby That will make weeding fun!

The weather has been awful every weekend here for the last age so I've had no chance to get in the garden. I need DH to be home to distract the giant dog so she doesn't jump all over me while I'm weeding the garden beds.

Waves at Grouchy - hope you are well now after the poorly elbow . Your puppy has grown a bit then! It is all the wind here - today though sunny , it is a howling gale again .
ha Mere - we visit Harlow Carr and sometimes Bettys! ( Plus Harrogate has the best cheese shop , but I digress ..... )

Hey books. The elbow is more or less recovered now. Puppy is giant but still a puppy (and actually small for her breed, which is good).

One day the wind will stop, right?

Grouchy I would love a puppy to distract me whilst gardening! We sometimes look after our neighbour's dog, who is lovely but has never had any training, so all he does is leap about like a mad thing. Will your puppy get much bigger?

Went to Aldi earlier and got some more seeds and also some onions, which can go outside now. Can't believe it's still so icy cold though!

Started clearing my raised beds today and found a few surprises, a few leaks (I think they are leaks unless they are spring onions that re seeded), a few beetroot and whilst digging I found some random potatoes.

Now starting to plan what to plant and what not to plant going on what was successful last year. I was over run with beans last year, both runner beans and French beans, not sure if I will grow both this year as they take up quite a bit of space, same with peas. Tempted to plant some raspberry canes in one bed but I know I won’t get a huge crop this year?

Planted a few seeds today, I know it’s early but I don’t have much space to plant loads at once so I have planted cauliflower, beetroot, carrots (will plant some direct too) and a few tomatoes. I think I will draw up a plan of what I’m going to plant and where.

My rhubarbs on it’s 3rd year and I don’t think it’s going to give me loads this year so I might have space to plant things near it.

Can I join? I don't have an allotment any more but grow veg and fruit in the garden. First seeds sown this week: peas and broad beans outside and chillies, tomatoes and early salad leaves inside. I have also potted up some tiny self-sown redcurrants as our NDNs will be starting on an extension soon which may disturb the big bushes. I'm in the south east on relatively well-drained soil and it's been quite spring-like the past couple of days. Temp in the greenhouse got up to 20 degrees today

Ruby I'm not sure that she'll get much bigger, though she should get a bit broader. She's about 20 months now, so close to full grown.

My fruit trees are getting lovely little flower buds on them. I love this time of year.

Aww she's beautiful Grouchy!

I finally got my second raised bed set up last weekend, just needs a bit more compost in and then to decide what's going in there this year. I've sown tomatoes, cauliflower, leeks and radishes. I've already got my onions, shallots and garlic in and some broad beans that have overwintered.
My purple sprouting broccoli has been a bit of a disappointment so far. And the kale has gone to seed now. I need to plan better for this hunger gap next year.

Soo cute grouchy you can see the energy in her though!!
DS has hold of a catalogue with a modest plant order in his basket close to £200-he’s 8-is this unreasonable order encouraging?!!!

Hello can I join in?

Got an allotment last summer. Actually really bad timing but I've been on the list for years ago I took it. It has been neglected for years, has terrible drainage so is really boggy in places and was waist high in nettles, dock leaves and assorted weeds.

Last summer and autumn was killing weeds, cutting back, rotovating and covering to attempt to control regrowth. It gets very windy down there so covering has been hit and miss as even weighed down with bricks the tarps fly off.

Over winter I've put in 2 cordon apples along the fence and some bare root autumn raspberry canes.

Today the first raised bed got built. Only a little one made from pallets but it is a start.

Raspberries showing the smallest hint of new growth as are the apples. I've put my wire along to train them and tied them in as much as possible.

Soil pretty terrible as so boggy all need to get a bulk of top soil I think for the raised bed.

My plan is to ultimately end up with the traditional permanent bed and then 3 beds on rotation. I'm starting with root veg just because they are easy so hopefully I can get a bit of veg this year and also build further beds.

I'm fairly useless, make it up as I go along. Also have very limited space for seedlings etc so fairly stuck with things I can sew straight in the ground at the minute which living in the north east isn't great.

I also have some raised beds around my yard at home which I use for salad and for the kids to muck around growing the occasional bits and bobs and I have a big one with strawberries and another with a couple of patio raspberry and a big blueberry bush. Nice to just grab a handful of the way in and out of the house. I've just knocked down my tumbling down garage so hopefully next year I will have a little greenhouse which will in turn create enough space in my outdoor store to have a little chest freezer for all my hypothetical produce.

My nemesis is the tomato. I can grow them lovely, big, lots of fruits, but they never, ever ripen for me. I think I'm always slightly too late and them they don't get enough sun to ripen.

First seeds started off indoors today. Not too much, as i'm limited on greenhouse space and it's normally mid May before things like courgettes can go out here. I've done a few tomatoes and chillis but will keep them indoors longer, and then do a later sowing for the majority. Luffah seeds and some black hungarian chilli seeds arriving next week.

Looking for tomato recommendations, I'll grow some money makers but would like something a bit more interesting alongside - any suggestions?

Welcome, Oakley . Ok I've not actually been on this thread before but I was on the previous versions. And I'm BACK, thread friends.

Oakley, booky will want to know whereabouts you are, so you may as well tell us...

Me? I'm centre of the country, more or less. I've a small 1/2 allotment very near to my house. I've just lost my job ( ) so I'll have loads of time on my hands for the next few months, and really I need an outlet from all the horrors. I mostly grow soft fruit and my obsession TOMATOES. But I'll expand it a bit for obvious reasons...

Oakley and tiz -let me issue you a tomato prescription-what are you looking for in a tomato? Size? How sweet? Purpose -cooking, salads, sandwiches etc? Grow outside or greenhouse?

Looking for a couple of recommendations of cherry tomatoes for salads/snacks. Interesting colours are a bonus. I grew Ildi last year and wasn't particularly impressed.

Morning all!
sorry been a bit awol the last few days . Not been down to the plot , and busy elsewhere.
squashyhat and OakleyStreetisnotinChlesea welcome both! :) we can all budge up on the virtual garden benches . Squashy - SE eh? my greenhouse has already been getting pretty warm too! sounds as if you are up and running .
Oakley - that sounds like some plot you have taken on , but with time and patience it will be productive . Motto on here is - It is a marathon , not a sprint . Take it steady and don't knock yourself out. If your ground is very boggy , add as much extra organic stuff as possible -compost/wood shavings/ even some horticultural grit to allow it to drain and open up a bit - every little helps .
Spotted - lovely to see your name pop up , so sorry to hear about the job though .
I have just started hardening off the broad beans that were in the greenhouse . The seeds I sowed last week are all through and growing up .
I spent an hour yesterday potting up dahlia tubers to begin work on getting greenhouse ready for the coming weeks .
tiz - my absolute favourite cherry tomato is Sungold . I grow it every year - it comes early ( a bonus for me) crops really well, keeps going and is a fabulous sweet flavour ( yellow /orange , not red) .
The rest of the tomato recommendations I will leave to Spotted - the tomato queen!