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

[quote GnomeDePlume]@UtterlyUnimaginativeUsername nowhere near your quantities but we also do a lot of canning, creating sauces and ketchups to see us through the winter months.

I like your quantities! We have a fairly large allotment and tend to think of things like manure in tons rather than bags!

One of today's tasks is going to be spreading fertiliser round the trees in the orchard. Fish, blood and bone has a wonderfully ancient sound to it. Like I'm making a sacrifice to the gods or something![/quote]
I love that - sacrifices to the orchard gods. Balanced by wassailing in autumn. I love the traditions and folklore wrapped up in growing.

Quick visit to the plot before dinner tonight. Planted out potatoes and some broad bean seeds. Cut daffodils to bring home (I don't like cutting the ones in the garden).

Yesterday was seed planting day - sweetcorn, baby corn, tomatoes, French marigolds, cucumbers, possibly one or two other things, all in a windowsill incubator. Oh yes, cucamelons.

Weeded and cleared some of the raised beds yesterday. Moved the bean support frame to a new location. Sowed some mange tout, beetroot and some carrots. Carrots are variety Parmex - so round spherical carrots - these were a secret santa gift so curious as to how they do.

Everything is bone dry, I think i might have to get the hose out and give everything a proper soaking. We had a very light sprinkling of snow this morning but we've not had any rain to speak of for ages and none forecast either.

I was thinking of expanding the vegetable patch today, but it's too cold and windy so going to give it a miss. I might start some more things off indoors. Need to pace myself seeing as I actually haven't got a greenhouse to move things into yet.

I need to go and water too, it's dry as a bone here. Left it yesterday because of sleet/rain forecast this morning but it hasn't materialised.

Afternoon all .
Welcome NewMumma1819 - join in the chat :) . Whereabouts are you- North/South/East/West ?
Utterly 74 tomato plants is going to take some tending , so good luck with the extra ones ! I grow 8 in my greenhouse , and I still have tomato sauces in the freezer .
Azure - I bet its mice - it happened to me a few years ago . These days , I soak my peas in warm water with cayenne pepper sprinkled in it , just for half an hour before sowing. That seems to have helped enormously .
@GnomeDePlume - we haven’t got it up here as far as I am aware , so my netting is mostly against cabbage whites , so a 3mm mesh .
We managed to get the grass cut on Saturday, ( lovely day )

It is bitter today though , with a howling wind , but I managed an hour tidying edges , digging up dandelions , and getting beds ready for planting .and picked more sprouting broccoli.
My tomatoes have all germinated , the aubergines have just shown signs too , and my leeks and brassicas in the greenhouse have popped up too .
Will sow sweetcorn and french beans towards the end of the week , when its warmer - I have them on a sunny windowsill inside .
Nights seem to be drawing out quickly now :)
Don't know what is happening with

pah - MN is playing up and will not let me post pictures!

The joy of clay soil here is no watering needed yet - apart for all the seedlings!

@bookbook thanks for that tip! Sadly read after my second sowing, but if they fail will do for my 3rd sowing and will order the cayenne pepper in advance!

Peppers, courgettes and second lot of tomatoes now in the propagator.
Flowers germinating in the greenhouse. Lettuce has also come up!

@AzureTwist - any chilli powder/chilli flakes /paprika type thing will do - its just to put critters off from them . ( Old timers used to use turpentine! )

Oh thanks @bookbook I have chilli and paprika! I have put some netting over, but if they climbed the staging in the greenhouse, not sure if netting will work! Oh well, I have lots of peas to sow if it fails.

Snow this morning and a biting wind so the potatoes are not in yet! Hopefully by the end of the week!

I sprinkle my hot stuff on top of my bean seeds to put off mice/voles/squirrels. Seems to work, but I do look a bit odd.

Started my tomato, pepper, aubergine and chilli seeds today.

@bookbook we only started having the problem a couple of seasons ago. It seems to be spreading across the country. Apparently the only control is very fine netting during the season when the flies are about (March & April) plus assiduous crop rotation.

@UtterlyUnimaginativeUsername I remember seeing that some parts of the UK have some strange orchard traditions like beating the trees. My orchard has only been in a couple of years so I'm not sure my trees are up to that yet!

I've just been reading about allium leaf miner as I'm East Midlands too but I've never seen any sign of it. I normally start my onions off from seed and they probably don't go outside until after the danger period from the sound of it.

Yep I have allium leaf miner every year, they get into my leeks 😡. I crop rotate but probably not as strictly as I should ie I don’t do 4 year cycles.

@whataboutbob insect proof mesh in March/April and October/November is the only control according to RHS. Apparently their preferred target is leeks.

You have my sympathies.

Thanks @GnomeDePlume I will try the fine mesh. The little brown critters gross me out. Just planted my leek seedlings today.

I seem to have killed all my brassica seedlings other than the kohl rabi which are in my window sill. I never have much luck with brassics and usually end up buying plugs instead. I’m not sure wether to plant more or give up and buy a few plugs and a couple months 🤔?

I planted some hyssop a few weeks ago and am now over run with it, going to prick them out today and maybe give some away as I’m not sure I have room for 50 plants.

Has anyone sewn their cucamelons yet? Keep seeing mixed opinions on when to plant.

Not done my cucamelons yet @Lovemusic33 mainly due to space in the propagator.

Sorted my seeds today and realised what else I may wish to buy, garden centre trip looming! Children want pumpkins. Far too cold and windy today to tempt them to the plot.

Hi! I have raised beds for the first time ever, and DH is building me a potting shed. So far I have planted seeds (indoors) of sweetcorn, tomatoes,alliums, runner beans, mangetout, chilli, lettuce, melons, hmmm and potatoes too.

lovemusic you haven't got anything to lose by sowing some more brassicas. You've got time to kill two more batches before you need to buy plug plants.

@MereDintofPandiculation

lovemusic you haven't got anything to lose by sowing some more brassicas. You've got time to kill two more batches before you need to buy plug plants.

Thank you, I will plant some more tomorrow with DD, I have plenty of seeds and some extras we got free with a magazine so I guess I have nothing to lose.

@MereDintofPandiculation

lovemusic you haven't got anything to lose by sowing some more brassicas. You've got time to kill two more batches before you need to buy plug plants.

That's my kind of logic! I'm on my third batch of broad beans, I killed the first two.

I forgot how satisfying brassicas are to sow, sown on Monday, germinated by Wednesday :-)

@tizwozliz

I forgot how satisfying brassicas are to sow, sown on Monday, germinated by Wednesday :-)

Do they all germinate quickly? I'm still peering eagerly at some of mine (cavolo nero and something else) when the other brassicas in the batch have popped up.

Today I MUST prick out my 1st batch of beloved tomatoes. I'm writing this to make me do it.

Are cucamelons worth growing? I have two pre schoolers so they might enjoy them.
My tomato seeds haven’t germinated and it’s been over a week 😔 not sure what’s going on as it’s two different varieties.

Do you all use mesh for your strawberry plants? I’ve got them in 4 big pots and we do get a lot of birds in the garden.

I use mesh for strawberries, yes, the micro stuff.

The only thing with cucamelons and pre-schoolers is the choking hazard, they are like grapes, need to be cut up for young children.