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

I don't like chillies either 🤣, I started them a bit late last year, kept them indoors until May/June then moved them into the green house, got quite a few chillies off them but didn't eat any. Dd has planted chocolate peppers and a few chillies this year even though I said we weren't going to plant them again.

That's really useful both! Mines called Patio Fire and is a dwarf variety so maybe I'll just keep any survivors on the sunny windowsill.

I don't have a greenhouse but my DP keeps looking at second hand ones and showing me. So far I've resisted because I'm worried I might not be any good at this lark but I have to say it's very thrilling to look at a pot and see a shoot appear, almost addictive 😊

My chillies get started off on a south facing windowsill above a radiator, then normally get chucked outside at the end of May. Every time I've tried to keep them indoors they get infested with greenfly. They've always done reasonably well outside up against a south facing wall. They're much less needy than tomatoes too.

Okie dokie! Right, half of them are getting chucked outside and the other half can take their chances with the greenfly indoors 🤣

Hello all. I've just had a lovely read of what you're all up to and it's given me the beginnings of the feeling of joy I used to get working in the garden. Hopefully it hangs around long enough this year!

I'm starting to plan my year's growing now - thankfully we're in Scotland so I can do things a bit later! We took out the espaliered apple trees I had along the fence in our vegetable garden - have kept one and passed the other two on to neighbours - so I've got a bit more space in the garden this year.

I'm waiting for a batch of flipping cosmos, of all things, to finish germinating so I can get them out of the propagator and free it up for tomatoes. I don't know what I was thinking, starting the cosmos when I did! I can only fit about 90 seedlings in the thing, so I need all of it. Because I really need that many tomatoes...

AppleJane, the heat mat is just to speed up germination. Once they have leaves, they should be fine with just the light.

Great, thanks @UtterlyUnimaginativeUsername I'll evict them tomorrow and sow some tomatoes!

Morning all!
Sorry its been a bit of a week , so not had the head space to post
Welcome UtterlyUnimaginative - join the clan , pull up a garden chair :) ( being nosey are you North/South/East/West ?
and lovely to see you here again Grouchy - how is puppy ? and you arm is mended I hope?
LoveMusic - that looks ace !
Glad you got advice on the chillies AppleJane - the heat mat is just to hasten germination , but I don't have one , just a sunny windowsill , and patience :)
This week has mainly been getting beds prepped up for direct sowing broad beans and peas , and digging up leeks . Sprouting broccoli is doing nicely . I have sown flowers seeds too this week - Cosmos , aster and nasturtiums - probably a bit early , but the cabbage and cauliflower seeds I sowed on Sunday are staring to pop :)
The horrible stuff was that our allotments were broken into this week - the thieves used bolt cutters on the chains around the gate, and stole rotavators and a trailer :( . Horrible for everyone . I know we cannot be totally secure , and warn not to leave valuables , but it is still gutting in a place where people like to go and relax and enjoy their plot.
Anyway - pics of my veg cheer me up , but it won't load them

I'm from the north east, but of Ireland, so fewer extremes of weather than you lot get.

What awful people to break into allotments. You shouldn't have to be barricaded in!

I was furious with DH having a bad day today, so I booted the cosmos out of the propagator - 16 had sprouted, which is probably enough for now (I may or may not have another packet coming in the post...). And I sowed just over 120 tomato seeds. That might be enough to keep DS in ketchup for the year.

Could anyone give me a bit of advice about bare root strawberry runners? They’ve just arrived from the nursery but I think it’s a bit too early to plant out at the allotment. I was thinking of potting them up for a couple of weeks till it’s a bit warmer. Any experience/ thoughts? I’m in the north east. Thanks :)

Oh bookbook what a horrible thing. I hope it doesn't spoil everyone's enjoyment of the plots. Scrap prices are high right now so they'll take anything they can get their hands on : (

@UtterlyUnimaginativeUsername 120 tomatoes! Germination percentages are interesting to me, how many of those do you think will germinate and go on to be viable plants?!

Ps apologies for crashing in like this! I follow the threads but I’m a bit of a lurker:)

Hi @AwkwardSquad I'm sure someone with knowledge will be along soon to help you!

Okay so I have a daft newbie question:

I've sowed a tray of Calendula seeds, which said to keep dark while germinating. Yesterday half of them have appeared and by today are now nearly an inch tall (the wonders of nature!)

So do I move the tray into the light now or wait until they all germinate. Are there any hard and fast rules to follow with seeds that need to germinate in the dark? Thank you!

AwkwardSquad -no apology needed ! strawberries are as tough as old boots . Plant them up , water , and they will settle in . Mine stay outdoors all year round here in Yorkshire . You could , if you wish give them a bit of protection if you are worried . They always look sad before they get going :) .
AppleJane - I would put them in the light personally - otherwise the germinated ones will reach up to find the light, and get long and straggly

Thank you @bookbook, I'll do that!

Hey books. GrouchyPuppy is now full grown and is nearly calm all the time. She still has moments of adolescence. My arm is healed, thankfully.

Have fully prepped my strawberry bed. I have 30 plants in there this year, and hopefully they'll all produce this season. Now I just need to work out how I'm going to keep the slugs away! Also contemplating growing some borage in with them. My strawberries also stay put all year round. They're starting to grow some sweet new leaves now, so have obviously woken up for the year.

How awful that people would do that at an allotment @bookbook

Am feeling very behind with seed sowing, but have had fun today sorting out all my packets. Now to decide priority of what to sow first! Tomatoes and sweet pea I think. Maybe some cosmos too? Don’t have too much window space! Maybe some squashes.

Right, first batch of tomato seeds sown this afternoon, so it is ON!
I've bought a few new varieties this year, and I have a lot of old favourites too to sow, so that's more varieties than ever. Luckily I have (temporarily) slightly more room this year, as a neighbour is lending me some space that they can't use. I've also sown leeks, spring onions and I've put onion sets in. I might direct sow some stuff tomorrow if I get a chance to go to the plot.

booky horrid about your break in. A month or so ago we had a bot of fence cut but not all the way so I think they got disturbed or gave up.

UtterlyUnimaginativeUsername 120 tomatoes sounds an excellent number to be starting with What varieties? I really really love tomatoes...

Azuretwist unless you're wanting to grow chillies or aubergines from seed, you're not behind. Well I dont think so anyway! I do always fret over what to do when though. Too soon and the house is full of seedlings with nowhere to go, or we have a rubbish grey spring and nothing thrives...

Hi GrouchyKiwi ! Lovely to 'see' you! I have borage and I do love it for the bees but I'd advise caution as mine self seeds EVERYWHERE and it gets really tall - almost 5 foot probably, and it is quite itch-making. So maybe not great if you want little ones to pick strawbs.

Hey Spotted! Lovely to "see" you too.

My kids LOVE borage. They pick it and eat it whenever it's in the garden. I will have some growing from self-seeding, but strangely they didn't come up until something like July last year so I'm thinking about getting some started inside where it's warm so they're in flower when the strawberries are ripening.

@Azuretwist personally squashes are one of the later things I do, they grow big quite quickly but definitely don't want to be outside too early

Really? It doesn't itch them or make them cough?
Do they eat it when it's little?

They just eat the flowers. They're a little bit peppery and look so pretty in a salad. You do have to make sure you take the fluffy bit off the back of the flower, though, that's a bit tough to eat.

Hi

I'm new but not new.. I've lurked.

I'm really going for it this year, I had a (small) but reasonably good set up last year but naughty sheep, puppies and children destroyed most of my efforts.

As per my username I'm in the deep north. Scottish Borders.

I have about quarter of an acre to play for 'allotment' purposes with a small polytunnel and unlimited access to well rotted FYM. However I'm currently just using two large raised beds, but this year I'm planning to try some new no dig beds for peas and beans as they overwhelmed my beds last year.

I've bought my seeds for this year and I've mainly gone for veg we eat anyway but 'fancier' so purple varieties of sprouts, cauli, spring onions etc.

I learnt from last year that there is a limit to how much beetroot and radish we can eat, but that we could eat triple the peas we ended up with.

I've tried to grow tomatoes for many many years but never have much luck. I'm too neglectful.

I'm using proper potato planting bags this year for the first time, really enjoyed the few potatoes we got last year from the beds.

I spent the day digging in some still ever so slightly too stinky FYM (mostly sheep).

DH is wanting to start a small orchard elsewhere on the farm in the next few years so I'm just concentrating on veg and a few strawberries for the time being.