Allotment/Veg Patch Thread 16 Weather weirdness prevails !

[bookbook]

Hello to everyone !
pull up a garden chair and join in with the trials and tribulations of growing your own , against the odds of weather , pests and diseases.
Previous thread is HERE

Waiting for my cabbage seeds to arrive...

Karccheer

Well what a war, day to garden.

A butterfly got into my brassica cage - so whilst sorting that out found a caterpillar as well. Fun morning!

Slide up along the bench please. Slices of courgette cake are imminent.

thank you Elephant that sounds lovely.

Thank you Book too for keeping these lovely threads going.

If i post a couple of pictures of some things that i suspect shouldn't be in my Kitchen Garden would someone be able to tell me if i should pull them out?

Also I have inherited a Hartley Greenhouse but it doesn't have any Staging. Do you think id be best to buy that from them, or is somewhere else better?

If i post a couple of pictures of some things that i suspect shouldn't be in my Kitchen Garden would someone be able to tell me if i should pull them out? We can't tell you whether you should pull them out, that's entirely your decision, but we can tell you what they are.

Usually, the maker of the greenhouse will supply staging which will fit the dimensions of their greenhouse, but they will charge a premium for it. It would be worth looking around. We've always made our own staging (we meaning DH)

@MereDintofPandiculation

If i post a couple of pictures of some things that i suspect shouldn't be in my Kitchen Garden would someone be able to tell me if i should pull them out? We can't tell you whether you should pull them out, that's entirely your decision, but we can tell you what they are.

Usually, the maker of the greenhouse will supply staging which will fit the dimensions of their greenhouse, but they will charge a premium for it. It would be worth looking around. We've always made our own staging (we meaning DH)

That's great, I think they've probably self seeded whilst the house was empty for 18months - but i could be wrong...

Thanks for new thread. Quick plot dash this morning to water, away for the weekend. First courgette picked....

Morning - wow , what a hot one!
Karcheer - well, depending on the size of the seedlings , I may be able to help identify! Re staging - I got a new ( and to me expensive) greenhouse a couple of years ago . I only bought one 'extra' , which was a divider to make a bed along the side of the greenhouse ( where I put my tomato pots ) . All my staging on the other side DH and I have made . I was incredibly lucky to pick up two bases from old lab benches off a freebie site , and DH modded them to have wire shelves from those cheap mini greenhouses you buy from Aldi . Unless of course you want it to look pretty , rather than just useful? (Though when covered in plant pots , you can't see much of it anyway ! )
I am not off to the plot until tonight to water squashes and courgettes - not sure I should be encouraging the courgettes in truth .
I have found a youtube video , so have just grated 1.5 kg of courgettes to see what happens -
Instead , have just gone out and watered in the greenhouse - suspect I will need to go and do it again this afternoon . Everything is doing well apart from the cucumbers , which are very disappointing - (lots of flowers , cucumber are setting very rarely , and not growing away ) . Won't be growing this variety again . Even the very late germinating aubergine Jackpot is putting on a fair few flowers , even though it is well behind the Money Makers .

Ive three things i don't know what they are...

The first two pictures are a plant that is growing next to a Bayleaf bush.
The second two are growing in a raised bed, all alone.
The last picture is of a small plant I've just uncovered whilst weeding the very weedy strawberry patch... - should i feed that with anything? the strawberries have been competing with a tone of weeds.

The yellow leaved one with the tiny developing flowerhead looks like a hydrangea, though it could be a number of other things. Ask again when it flowers, which won't be long. The final picture is almost certainly a common mallow, Malva sylvestris. It's a UK wildflower with shiny pink flowers (it's related to hollyhock and Hibiscus) and isn't invasive.

The first plant, I think we need a better close up, both of leaves, and of stems, showing bark pattern and how the leaves are attached.

I don't feed my strawberries, and if the weeds are doing well, it sounds as if your soil is nutritious.

Afternoon !
In truth Karcheer I am not sure I know what any of those are - mm though the last one has a bit of a geranium looking leaf , but I believe you can get an app on your phone to identify plants .
I rushed to the plot this morning to water , ended up doing a bit of weeding , thinned carrots and pulled some beetroot . A near plot holder has lost all his courgettes to mosaic virus , so I took pity on him and forced 4 courgettes on him that I had just cut .
I had a good look at the sweetcorn . I can't remember if I mentioned it , but the flower stalks on some were absolutely crawling with black aphids , and I was in a quandary as to what to do . Well, look at this - nature at its finest . Every flower stalk was now being visited by ladybirds :) . Glad I decided not to do anything !

I bring great news. I am with tomatoes

Sungold was the first to ripen, now I have Losetto (hanging basket one -recommended) and Rosella thus far. Thank goodness, I needed that pick me up!
I'm loving Sungold too -ive never actually grown it before although it's really popular. Its lovely! Rosella I grew last year too and actually that's also a must-have now too.

My courgettes are still un-glut like. Or maybe I'm just greedy and eat so many never quite have too many?

My best 'harvest' so far is absolutely my cut flowers. What is unfortunate is that I can't really have them as cut flowers at the mo as I have 2 idiot cats who knock over vases and steal flowers.

Oh, golden nugget hanging basket tomato picked today too.

Lucky you with the ladybirds, bookbook ! Nature is quite awesome sometimes! I'm having a bit of a green fly infestation at the mo, so send me some ladybird vibes please...

@TheSpottedZebra I’m very jealous of your cut flowers I definitely want to keep abed free for them next year.

My tomatoes have come on leaps and bounds since they’ve moved into the greenhouse. It’s not lovely to be able to eat something we’ve grown. My dad got the seeds from an Aldi tomato and grew 54 little plants, so I’ve no idea of the variety!

I have 2 idiot cats who knock over vases and steal flowers. You think you have problems? I'm doing a distance learning sedge course, and my cats steal my specimens, from the table when I'm trying to identify, and then try to pull them off when I've carefully mounted them as reference specimens.

mm though the last one has a bit of a geranium looking leaf Mallow and geranium are often confused, that one is definitely mallow. Leaf less deeply lobed, and the general growth habit of the plant.

Just checking in on the new thread. We're still away right now, so my parents made an emergency watering trip for my tomatoes after Friday's heat. Everything else looking fine apparently, should have a whole heap of courgettes awaiting for me when I get home.

My parents sampled the sungold and said they were great. Thanks for the tip on them bookbook we've never had ripe tomatoes this early in the year before

Morning all
May I gate crash for some advice.

Total novice here,although I grew courgettes a few years ago.
I moved in with my partner and have beautiful raised beds, and the most gorgeous greenhouse, so I thought I would try.
Am now totally obsessed.

So yesterday all the courgettes went into the ground.
I have sweetcorn still in the greenhouse which I hope will go into the ground next week.
And three tomato plants.

But now the greenhouse looks all empty and forlorn.

What can I be growing in there now please????

Yeah, that's fine mere I'll send my idiotcats right round to play with yours. They love the sound of sedge. It's green things that they love. So they take my flowers out of the vase, behead the flower and then run around with the stem, squeaking. Sedge sounds right up their garden, especially the sedge you've displayed all nicely.

Nb they're also partial to beans, sugar snaps (not the purple ones), and young courgettes.

Afternoon !
sounds like it is good that I don't have any cats
Welcome HuckfromScandal - nice set up there ! I am presuming the tomatoes are still in the greenhouse? I will have to wrack my brains , as my greenhouse is a bit stuffed with tomatoes etc , so don't often have to think of this . Most of the salad stuff is well on its way . You could sow some late basil and coriander, salad leaves / cut and come again lettuce etc .
Good to hear tiz - we love the flavour of Sungold , and they keep producing if you let them , until it gets too cold .
Went to the plot with DH this afternoon . He cut grass , and pruned the loganberry . I picked french beans , cut flowers , and watered . Then went to sort courgettes . I have a horrible feeling that one of them is now displaying mosaic virus - luckiy it was the last one I cut the courgettes from (4 !) , but they have that lumpy bumpy look I am suspecting is it . I disinfected my knife , and tomorrow will dig it up . It is away from the other 4 plants , but is next to the squashes Ah well, I really cannot complain about courgettes this year - had more already than the whole of last year .
Came home and decided to start taking some of the lower leaves of the tomatoes in the greenhouse, and found a few , so decided today was the day to start roasting to make pasta sauces . Lovely feeling using ingredients that are all home grown ( well apart form an onion ) - Roma tomatoes /aubergines/green peppers/garlic and basil :)