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

@whataboutbob

Ah yes that makes sense. What they use in caldo verde? There is also the green Brazilians shred and add to feijoada, maybe it’s also something like that?

Sounds plausible.

I can't shop from Real Seeds, sadly, as I'm Ireland and, well, Brexit

@UtterlyUnimaginativeUsername I remember reading about the charges the seed companies have to pay to send each consignment. The order has to be huge to make it worthwhile. Ridiculous. I wonder what the legislation is for private individuals sending seeds to family, presumably not allowed?

Afternoon all
well, it has been a bit cooler and cloudier the last couple of days , but everything is moving on apace .
Today was weeding , watering a bit , and picking flowers .
I got given a lovely pointed cabbage from another plot holder ( exchange for some seedlings I gave them last week .) The sweet peas are revving up and when I went to water the courgettes realised I had a decent size one to pick . The peonies are lovely this year .
The white currants are ready to pick now , so must get down to do that tomorrow if possible .

Bah, garden centre out of slug pellets! I’ve ordered some online but they won’t be here for a few days, hope the broccoli can hold on till then! I’ve put nets over them to see if that helps in case it is the pigeons.

@CaveMum - try crushed egg shells if you have any - not perfect , but definitely a deterrent :)

Afternoon all
I need it to rain !!
Had a very quick trip to the plot this afternoon to start picking white currants . It will take a couple of goes , as they don't all ripen together

Picked the first broad beans and some strawberries . Everything is starting to produce .
No rest though - I noticed the loganberry had some curled up leaves , looked , and its aphids , so need to get the soapy water spray on it

Agh!! Pressed post by accident .,
So mulched with compost made from veg peelings. Why do we angst over expensive seeds not germinating? I have squash plants happily growing away.

I think angst is the prevailing emotion for gardeners. It's always too wet or too dry, too hot or too cold. The seeds arent germinating or are germinating too quickly. Then it's back to worrying about the weather.

Good to see the harvest bookbook. Our strawberries have done ridiculously well this year after a dismal harvest last year. We have had enough to make strawberry vodka and a batch of strawberry wine is bubbling away. Still more to come once my calves have recovered from being stretched out.

Most of my proper strawberries are a while off ripening, plenty of wild ones though. Also picked some rhubarb and a handful of mange tout.

I think redcurrants will be ready by the end of the week

My first "harvest" yesterday: 650g new potatoes (Arran Pilot - although I was a wee bit disappointed with the quantity as that was 4 shaws although I'd riddled a couple of potatoes a couple of weeks ago ); 560g of "young" broad beans which are growing in the potato bed, which yielded under a 100g of podded beans (although they were small enough not to need to be double-podded); some green salad and beetroot thinnings; radishes that had been growing under my runner bean frame; and a courgette/marrow that I'd left on the plant a bit too long

Harvests are looking good everyone! I've noticed pods on my petit pois and the mange tout is covered in flowers so we'll have something there soon.

Think I need to harvest courgettes in the next few days, I'm paranoid about doing it too soon but equally don't want them to get too large!

My rhubarb has died! I've always heard it was unkillable. Terrible compacted clayey soil 1, rhubarb 0! I'll prepare a better spot for it next year and try again.

Harvested a load of onions and garlic over the last couple of days. We're having some well-timed fabulous weather they're spread out all over my back patio furniture, smelling delightful I made 3 jars of caramelised onion chutney from the bolted onions and the rest will be plaited, hopefully. And I still have a bed full of cipolle di tropea which look like they need a couple of months longer in the ground. I'm quite excited about those.

I have a very successful crop of cabbage white caterpillars. I might let some of the chickens loose in the cabbage patch for a while to sort that out.

I have reached the conclusion that grass paths are not for me. My lawnmower's front wheels fell off and in the couple of weeks it took to get around to fixing it, the paths are knee high. I'm going to have to come up with a better plan for next year. And I need way more edge definition. No-dig is quite messy in that sense.

Redcurrants picked today, a few more strawberries and a small courgette that seems to have stopped growing so I decided to pick it.

Afternoon !
Harvests are all looking good - isn't it lovely ?
I am going to start picking redcurrants tomorrow I think ...
Had a good couple of hours at the plot this morning . The weather has been kind here , but wouldn't mind a drop of rain .
I sprayed the broad beans with soapy water - there are black fly appearing . Lots of weeding amongst the cauliflowers . I have them under environmesh , so it tends to get a bit ignored initially . Lots of borage springing up here and there - I try to leave it unless it is really in the way - the bees love it .
I picked strawberries , courgettes , sweetpeas a few cosmos and dahlias , and the first peas :)
I sowed my autumn /overwinter cauliflowers yesterday - weird isn't it , how far you have to think ahead

Hello, I seem to have dropped off this thread again
Lovely to see people's harvests -mine appear to be slower coming this year. I've had A TON of rhubarb from my triffids, and given so much away. My garlic has been excellent, but right next to it, my onions totally failed. They just rotted away, no idea why!

Broad beans have been good too -my home ones are out and will harvest the plotmones next time I'm there. Now I need something else to go in that space - a bit shaded now so maybe something leafy.

I have a dilemma. I have a raised bed at home that is slightly overhung by an ash tree. The tree is full of pigeons which poo everywhere . I mean everywhere.

What on earth can I grow in the bed that will cope? It has to be something where the eaten bit is enclosed or underground. So maybe garlic or broadies over winter, but is there anything i could sow now?

Beetroot or carrots, depending on how deep it is would probably be ok. You can sow beetroot now and some varieties of carrots can still be sown this year. I'm growing parmex this year which say sow march to july.

Judging by how much more luxuriant the grass grows under the tree where the birds in my garden perch bird poo is probably a good source of nutrients

Evening !
Spotted - agree with tiz - beetroot was my first thought , would leeks at a pinch? On a more longterm thought , do you like Jerusalem artichokes? - perennial and a bit of a nuisance , but worth thinking of .
Hope it wasn't white rot on the onions - I think that can strike quite early
I was down at the plot this morning , starting the long haul of picking redcurrants - this lot is about a tenth of what is on the bush ! Also planted another row of leeks . I still have 3 pots to sow as I sowed far too many when I thought they weren't germinating . I will have to try and squeeze some more in and give the rest away.

Morning all, got some weeding done this morning ahead of the predicted thunderstorms this afternoon!

Stupid Newbie question: when do I know my peas are ready to pick? I have pods of varying sizes (we’ve got petit pois, sugar snap as well as mange tout - I did say we went with the “Chuck everything in the ground and see what grows” approach!) and don’t want to pick too soon or leave them so long they start to turn!

Evening
CaveMum - erm , I just try eating a couple raw!
Just a very , very quick trip to pick veg and strawberries today . But going past , I already have squashes set ! :)

Just managed to grab some bits for dinner before the thunder and lightening arrived.

We have had a fair bit of rain, and a thunderstorm in the last two days. Managed to pop to the plot yesterday to pick some more redcurrants , and cut sweetpeas

Is it possible to hijack this thread to ask a question of people who seem to know what they are doing?

We moved to a new house last week and I have dreams of putting in 2 x 1.2m raised beds in the back garden (120x120x45) . Obviously it's quite late in the season to be starting anything but I would really like to have a crack at getting 1 up and running with some autumn veg.

Does anyone have any advise/recommendations for what can be started from August onwards that should be fairly easy for a keen novice?

It's a west facing garden and I have plotted out a spot against the south facing side for it to go so I think light wont be too much of an issue?

Welcome Panda368 :)
there are things you can grow , no problem .
A few things to consider first -

1. only grow what you know you will eat ( the most important bit )
2. How long any veg plants will be in the ground ( if you want to start up properly in Spring next year , consider what may still be in the soil )
3. How much space they take

So - look around at your local garden centre/ DIY shops , as they may still have seedlings/plug plants to plant out now , ( and online seed/plant companies ) I would look at sowing lettuce/spring onions/ beetroot / baby leaf spinach - and plug plants of longer growing veg - leeks cabbages and cauliflowers . Hope that helps :)