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

Hallo thread people btw! I used to be on these threads but dropped off, repeatedly.
But it's mid Feb and soon it's time to sow, so I am back!

Our garden also needs an awful lot of sorting @Notsogreenthumb I'd done about half of it before December, then DS1 was off school sick, then of course the DC haven't been back to school at all... every time we go in the garden now my bit of tidying is more than negated by them happily digging in the mud and/ or planting random things in compost bags!

Good thinking with the peas @TheSpottedZebra

@ClaraTheImpossibleGirl I know how you feel! My DS1 is walking now so most of my attempts at clearing anything have been sidelined by my attempts at taking pebbles and other hazardous objects out of his mouth r.I.p turf till we meet again.

I've given myself these next two weeks to clear it as much as possible and have the husband take DS1 since he'll be off work!

Hello everyone.not sure if I’ve been on this board before but I’ve lurked for a while. I’ve had my allotment for about a year. Finally found a free shed which I’m going to attempt to collect tomorrow. I’m also getting 2 tonnes of mushroom compost delivered later in the week so I can try no dig method. I’ve potted on some chillis and sown some cabbage seeds today. Cant wait until it’s warm enough to start lots more things. I’m struggling to sit on my hands.

Hello everyone! Just got our first allotment, a half plot, pretty overrun with weeds but hoping we can turn it around in a few weeks and get growing. Looking forward to chatting all things veg and picking up a few tips! Can I ask about polytunnels? Any recommendations for good brands? Have been looking at First Tunnels but pretty pricey at £400+.

Can i jump on too? Just got my first allotment! I've been without a garden since divorcing 6 years ago, so very excited.

I have a big patch of very overgrown raspberry canes. No idea which type, any suggestions how to tackle them?

What a lovely time of year to be getting allotments! Enough time to get started on clearing, to grow whatever you want from seed (if you wish). Yes, I am ignoring the weather -i hope your plots are not as wet and swampy as mine.

courgette I know nothing of poly tunnels so cant help you with that, alas.

mango raspberries can either be summer or autumn fruiting. Summer ones fruit on last year's canes whereas autumn canes grow and fruit in the same year. Either way, the advice is the same - cut out any that have fruited! You might see the remains of fruit at the top, or they'll look more like dead sticks.

@TheSpottedZebra thank you, that's helpful... I've only had autumn fruiting ones before which were easy, I just chopped them down every winter. I'm thinking I'll just prune them all right back and hope for the best, even if it means I'll have to wait tilnext year for fruit. Its so overgrown I'll have to move them anyway if I am to properly sort the ground out.

The plot is near the top of a hill, so hopefully will drain well - and has the bonus of a fabulous view!

I've just logged into mumsnet for the first time in 4 years. Headed in here to see if you guys were all still here and you ARE! lots with the same names too!
I'm getting back in to it. Now with two mini gardeners in tow!

Morning all!
welcome newbies ToubleInSnowland , crazycourgette Dreepmango - let us know whereabouts you are - North/South/East/West and waves at Spotted and BellaGoth - and Notsogreenthumb lovely to 'see' you ! :)
Clara - that is so not on by your neighbour . Could you put a compost bin there ? But asparagus peas is actually inspired Spotted and myself have both tried them - they are basically inedible !
The reason I am here this morning - it is raining

I have been so busy in non growing related stuff this last month , I am still just basically running in to the plot to pick veg . I still have plenty of leeks , kale , savoys and the sprouting broccoli is coming on stream , along with the first spring cabbages . I solitary celeriac left too , along with sprout tops , and a few tiny caulis that have finally decided to curd - these were autumn varieties ! I have sown 2 lots of broad beans in the greenhouse ( along with sweet peas) to hopefully get a slightly earlier crop . Have to sit on my hands for another 2-3 weeks before I really get going on sowing though . At home , thug rhubarb is doing well , and shrugged off the bitter cold and thick snow blanket :)
Next week , weather permitting , I shall be getting going sorting out prepping up beds and doing any weeding - it has been much too wet ( and cold) to walk on the soil so far.

ooh , a quick memory flash maybe? Bella - did you have the dog who ate the chillies in your greenhouse? Or am I thinking of someone else?

Bingo.
Dogs that ate everything. I'm BACK.

My last post was way back on thread 8!
I shall try and catch up with everyone tonight.

New season has started! I've sown broad beans, radishes under glass, tomatoes and chillis in the propagator. And I've planted out autumn's sweet pea sowings into tubs which will stay in the greenhouse until they're big enough for me not to worry about slugs. The winter/Covid cloud is lifting and there's the suggestion of sunshine ahead.

Good evening, I made it to the plot today and weeded the asparagus. I put some manure down too. I have had a few spears in previous years but too soon to cut yet. However the crowns seem to keep jumping out of the soil. I know I planted at the correct depth originally. Anyone else had this happen please?

thanks @bookbook we are in London. Have sown some sweet peas, radishes, chills, peppers, broad beans and lots of flower seeds so far.

Thanks @bookbook, I’m in the southwest. I’ve dismantled my free shed, moved it to the allotment and it’s rained ever since 😃. I’m hoping we’ll have a dry day this week so I can put it together.
It’s also been too wet to get compost delivered as the access road has turned into a swamp. I’ve read a few bad reviews about the delivery I’m getting so now I’m dithering over whether to get from somewhere else. I’ve got the number for a chap with manure but it probably won’t rot down in time to start growing in it. I’m debating whether to get some delivered and just stick it in a pile for 6 weeks with some cardboard mixed in and hope it decomposes very quickly. Sometimes there’s just too many decisions to make.

Hi everyone, so glad to be back on this thread! I always get so much encouragement/ inspiration from everyone.

I was just going to ask if it's too early to start sowing but I see some of you already have! I think I shall aim to do that by next weekend!

@bookbook may I one day be like you and able to pick veg all year round haha! Amazing stuff 💕

I’m not in the UK (Sydney Aus) but our summer has been a bit of a write off.
Last year was punishingly hot with major water restrictions (ie no watering at all after months of only before 9.30am with a hand held hose with a spray attachment) and then this year is revoltingly humid and wet.
(Cucumbers and zucchini’s have really bad fungus when normally they are fine)

So we have taken the time to mulch and fertiliser everything and leave our raised beds fallow or grow green mulch crops to dig in.

@elephantoverthehill suggest you post your asparagus query separately - you might get answers from people who can't be bothered to follow a long thread like this

hello all , and welcome Mypathtriedtokillme - we do have another Australian ( echt ) who pops in from time to time - it is a different growing experience , no doubting!
aw thank you Notsogreenthumb - its not perfect , and I have to work hard in my head to sort it , but there is nothing like being able to pick veg in winter , however little or frost damaged!
elephant - I have not had this with my asparagus , rather weird eh? are they getting wind rocked perhaps when in full foliage ? That is the only thing I can think of .

@bookbook a compost bin may be a good idea we certainly have enough food scraps to put in it, I always fill my kitchen bin!

So pleased the DC will be back at school on March 8th!! I have big plans for organising my gardening/ planting/ seed collection; once I'm on top of that it'll be much easier to give the DC 'jobs' to do whilst I get on with the proper work...!

Hi everyone! I hope I'm okay to join too? I've read through the posts from this year and looks like there's a few people joining.

We have spent the last few weeks really sorting out the veg growing part of the garden and I'm excited to get properly into growing things this year. I've dabbled before, one year I had huge success with onions, but have spent the last few years either pregnant or with small children. The children are still small but one of them I don't have to watch like a hawk now and the other usually naps!

The "plot" is 2 raised beds, which I'm busy moving soil from a landscaping project into (and compost). One is probably 6x3ft and has our old and usually not so fruitful rhubarb in it. The other is 6x8ft roughly and still needs me to sort through and barrow soil into.

Elsewhere we have a couple of blueberry bushes, a couple of small apple trees, a new cherry tree and some raspberry and loganberry that we bought the end of autumn and are just sticks so not sure if they'll do anything!

I always fail with garlic but that seems to be doing really well in pots this year, fingers crossed.

Got sweet peas on a not too sunny windowsill to germinate and pepper, tomato and jalapeño seeds in propagators.

Hi @JanuaryEl5ieBill, this is a really friendly group. I'm just coming back after a 4 year break from mumsnet and this was the first thread a looked for!

@TroubleInSnowland I'm also in the southwest. Very wet and boggy here!

I had some very unexpected child free time yesterday (organised childcare for the day... Forgot I'd already booked leave until I logged in and my boss asked what I was doing )

Used the time to get some seeds in. Cucumber, courgette, cherry tomatoes, climbing beans, butternut squash, and pumpkin (seeds from our whopping 19 kilo beast!). The cucumbers better grow, I accidentally bought fancy snack cucumbers at £4.25 a pack!

My hands are itching to start planting seeds. Dd and I are going to plant a few tomatoes later and maybe some leaks and lettuce. I have so much to do in the garden and I need to clear the greenhouse/potting shed. I’m in the middle of extending my raised beds and replacing a few that are rotting, I think I’m going to need a big delivery of top soil at some point 🤣.

Things I am looking forward too this year and doing differently than last year...

Looking forward to cucamelons now I have a greenhouse, they didn’t do that great outdoors last year.

Looking forward to some different varieties of tomatoes, again the greenhouse is going to make a huge difference.

Not doing radish this year or peas so I have a bit more space for more lettuce and carrots.

Hoping I have more success with squash this year after last years disaster with some kind of cross pollination with a ornamental squash variety.

Hoping to buy a fruit tree, possibly plumb but have no idea where it’s going.