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

Eeeek! Thanks @tizwozliz, the bucket will be 'accidentally' emptied tomorrow whilst DS2 is at school!!

Afternoon !
a calm , grey day here .Popped up to the plot for a quick trip only today .
I planted out the first lot of spring greens , picked raspberries and more sweetcorn . That was it!
I have to get a shift on and start getting the manure on the areas I have taken out things , ready for winter .

Today I had to pull up a load of tomato plants as they have got blight , strangely enough the ones that self seeded from last year are completely unaffected. I was chatting to the guy who is charge of maintenance to explain that I had put them on the burning pile and why. Anyway he gave me a seed catalogue and explained that if we do a bulk order we get the seeds for half price, so guess what I am doing tonight.

Morning all! I feel your pain @elephantoverthehill. I'm in the process of pulling mine up too! One of them got blight and spread it to all the others. I have so many unripened tomatoes sitting on my worktop. Does this mean I can't plant any tomatoes next year? It's the only space available for them :-((

Does anyone have tips to tackle slugs? They've practically stripped my potato plants of leaves. I've tried egg shells. I thought I'd leave them be in the hopes the upper leaves wouldn't get affected but that obviously didn't work. Does this also mean I won't get potatoes?

I used to fight a losing battle with slugs until I applied nematodes. I still battle but no longer feel like I'm losing. Not sure if you can only apply at certain times of year or not.

I found a whole heap of slug eggs as the weekend and destroyed them too so that was satisfying.

I use the wool pellets to deter slugs. They stink but they seem to do the trick.

Thanks for the suggestions. I need to get them ASAP. My potato leaves have all turned yellow and are dying but it's too early to harvest. . These are a lot harder than tomatoes. I hope it's not blight.

Rookie - that is totally normal for potatoes , that is what they do when they die down at the end of the season. You can either dig them up and store them in sacks , or leave in and dig up as you need them , but if you leave them in , you will get more slug damage

It's unlikely to be too early to harvest potatoes. I pulled my main crop potatoes up a few weeks back now - I find that leaving them longer results in bigger potatoes but more damage so prefer them slightly smaller but unblemished.

Sorry I should have mentioned these are Xmas potatoes. They were sown a month ago.

Here are some pictures

Evening !
Glorious day here today.
Rookie - mmm are they growing in a raised bed? It doesn't look like blight to me -We have had a lot of rain which washes nutrients through , and potatoes are greedy feeders , so could they be a bit undernourished / and or too wet?
I was at the plot this morning . I planted up my spring cauliflowers and more spring greens , harvested raspberries , a cauliflower , a few baby beetroot , and 2 courgettes - the plant is still setting fruit , it has been a good one this year . Went to have a look at the carrots to see how they are doing , and quite nicely , so brought a few of those home too :)
I had to slap my wrist , as also had a look at the swede . I had done an initial thinning , then totally left them and they needed more thinning , which I have now done , but probably a bit late to get good size roots

Doesn't look like night to me either. I'd probably just water with tomato fertiliser (or if already wet, scatter some fertiliser granules on the soil) and leave them to get on with it.

Not night. Blight.

Feel quite pleased with today's harvest. A courgette, a tiny handful of tomatoes and a sprig of purple sprouting, a helping of runners and a handful of French beans, a single beetroor, some windfall apples, quite a few cucumbers ... and a lot of figs.

More tomatoes, mini cucumbers, blackberries and raspberries. Courgettes are still setting fruit but think it's likely to be weather dependent as to whether it amounts to anything.

Tomato plants themselves are in a pretty sorry state but tomatoes still ripening so not too worried. I've had a great tomato crop this year. Looks like it'll be a good year for chillis too.

We have a ton of crab apple and quince in the front. Debating whether to make any jelly or not. It feels like a waste not to do anything but I've got a feeling the crab apple jelly I made when we first moved in 9 years ago is still at the back of the pantry somewhere!

Afternoon !
aw they are great harvest pictures Mere and tiz - isn't it weird with the PSB? I have some too .
Had a good go this morning , got dug over ready to manure where the peas and french beans had been .
Harvested more Borlotti beans, sweetcorn and raspberries

This afternoon , started the major greenhouse tidy . Lots of dying tomato leaves cut off, so they look sad , but lots to ripen still on the plants . Picked everything ripe . Took off all the last aubergines , got rid of the plant , along with the last cucumber plant too . It is starting to look empty in there , but at least the freezer is filling up with roasted vegetables :)

Thanks @bookbook and @MereDintofPandiculation. They are in a raised bed so I've been watering them the last few days. I'd got used to relying on the rain.

Your harvests look amazing?!

All your harvests look amazing!

Can I ask a stupid question about sweet corn? Mine have just started growing I think - do I just tell my look when they are ready (as I can't see the actual cob yet?)

The netting on the kale/cabbage/cauliflower must have lifted slightly and about 100 white butterflies came out after the caterpillars had been feasting on them all . I am going to see what I can salvage this weekend. Pumpkins still dominating and my tomato plants also looking a bit sad but I reckon I've got a few more to harvest!

Do you rest your beds over winter or plant more things?

by look!

Wow those figs looks amazing @MereDintofPandiculation

Evening!
just the quickest pop to cut some calabrese today :)
BlueberryDream - sweetcorn - do you mean the cobs have just started to grow ? At the top are long tasselled flowers , down the stalk , at the joining of leaves should be cobs starting to grow , with long silvery strands like silk . They are wind pollinated , but once the cobs have those strands , I shake the flowers to loosen the pollen into the air , to help them along .You can tell when the cobs are ready , the strands turn brown , and dry up - the more strands pollinated , the more kernels will fill inside the cob . The cob should be filled out by then . You can peel back a few of the outer protective leaves and have a peek if you are unsure

Thanks - that's brilliant. I have a few silk tassels per plant but the tassels are all still yellow. I've never grown corn before! I can feel the cobs under them so I see what you mean :)

Picked some quite over ripe raspberries as I haven't had a chance to get to them this week, some more courgettes and kale/cabbage not monstered by the caterpillars!

Great harvest photos.
Tomatoes, 4 cucumbers, plus cherry tomatoes and runner and fine beans harvested here.

The butternut squash plants are beginning to die off in one bed but are ok in another. Debating when to pick.

Afternoon
gorgeous day here , and due some more heat in the next couple of days!
Went to pick today, and also started spreading manure on the weeded beds from the other day . 4 wheelbarrows was enough for me today !
So flowers , raspberries , carrots - some leeks that had bolted early ( hope that it is for now ) and more sweetcorn.
Blueberry - I took a close up of the ripe sweetcorn , hope it helps.