Allotment/Veg patch Thread 17 - onwards and upwards

[bookbook]

Wow - cannot believe we are on thread 17 !
As always , pull up a garden chair and join in with the joys and woes of growing you own .
Previous thread HERE

I managed to miss a courgette as well, I never understand how it happens. It's partly why I like to grow yellow ones, harder to miss. First patty pan squash picked today

Found you all! I haven't posted much this year, but I do still lurk, I had missed that there was a new thread though.

Big. harvest session for me this week, potatoes, onions and the remainder of my broad beans which have done really well this year. I have been overrun with bindweed in the end of the plot where all the above were, so I'm hoping to be able to have a blitz on it it's clear. The soil is so damp and clayey, never known it like this in August before.

Sunflowers are doing well, self-seeded leeks have bolted with pretty allium seedheads (deliberate) but have toppled over from all the rain, borage is everywhere, sweetcorn (minicorn) is growing rapidly.

Obligatory photo!

Extremely -you could be me!
Have had exactly the same ups and downs

on my allotment and will be clearing wheelbarrows full of bindwind this afternoon. On the other hand the broad beans have never been better ( finished now).

You know last autumn I spent hours clearing what I thought was every bit of bindweed root from that part of the plot. Might as well not have bothered. I used to have strawberries there and couldn't pull it out without dislodging the plants, so changed to stuff that comes out of the ground in late summer but I still couldn't keep on top of it, it swallowed my onions, I literally couldn't see them to pull them up, just had to lift the entire mass of bindweed with them in.

Extremely - did your allotment used to have old carpet in it (to suffocate weeds)?
Mine did and it's supposed to contribute to lots of bindweed... or so the old guys say!

No, not as far as I know (had the plot 8 years). However part of the problem is that the back half of the plot has raspberry canes and a redcurrant bush and its well and truly embedded in amongst those, no chance of digging it all out without digging them all out. Also, down the middle is a grassy path and that has under it a solid layer of stones over black membrane that is impossible to dig out, so that would have a similar effect to carpet.

In fact today is my 8 year plot-birthday, it popped up on my FB memories .

Happy birthday - 2 wheelbarrows full of BINDWEED this morning

Enjoying harvest season right now . Surprised my tiny plot managed to produce so much. Square foot gardening all the way!

Just planted broccoli, Brussels Sprouts, cauliflower and kale.

Morning all. Rather rushed off my feet at present, weeding and harvesting, preserving , cooking and freezing. It’s full on this time of year.
Bindweed is a menace, I only barely keep mine under control after 10 years! First sweet corn picked this week- not quite ready, but nearly. And loads of veg obviously- obligatory marrow instead of courgettes The picture doesn’t show the bunch of beetroot I gave away either!

Two buckets of bindweed removed, 3 marrows picked, last few onions harvested and runner beans galore! Tomatoes are doing well, so enough to make into some sauces to freeze.

Do you freeze your corn Bookbook or just eat when picked?

Geez it's like winter here, I've got the heating on! Tomatoes are still ripening slowly luckily.

Thank you for the handy tips on getting started - we have now cleared half of the plot (had 2 x exam results last week so didn’t get down the the allotment) and doing the other half tomorrow. Going to try some last minute winter veg in a small area and then have lots of time to plan what else we want to grow. Cannot believe how therapeutic it is and we aren’t even growing anything yet

@AzureTwist we had a look today to see what everyone else has growing well and there is absolutely everything to choose from We’ve done really well with runner beans, courgettes, squash and tomatoes this year at hone so might start with them so I actually look like I might know what I’m doing!!

First sign of blight on tomatoes 😣, everything else is doing well. Even seeing first broccoli head coming through (although I really should have put butterfly netting on, have an infestation of caterpillars everywhere. I don't mind though as it's a great learning experience for my toddler).

We have been busy clearing our plot but have a pile (think 3 -4 trugs full) of small stones that were in the soil (think 5-6cm ish diameter smallest). Are these any ideas for anything with these allotment wise or do I just need to get rid of them?! Thank you!

Doh jars and jars of chutney and picallili ! Greenhouse tomatoes going strong now

well, what happened there ? Half my post disappeared!
Just to recap - very busy , so not really had time to post .
The cauliflower plants I put out a couple of weeks ago are decimated ( cabbage whites must have snuck in )
Lots of veg being harvested and cooked .
Azure - we just eat our sweetcorn , never have frozen it as yet .
Hope everyone is doing well !

Plenty of tomatoes ripening, more courgettes than I know what to do with (one of the disadvantages of working from home is you can't foist them onto other people). Very excited to find a tromboncino set, plant needs a bit of tidying and guiding. It's not been a great year for french beans for me, my subsequent sowings don't really seem to have got going.

Have done the first bit of planting at our allotment - cauliflowers and cabbage for the winter. We shall see how they get on

Azure - I blanched and froze sweetcorn last year to save it for when DD's braces came off, it was fine.

Not much to report here, we were away last week. A quick venture up to the plot, I was a bit anxious that it might have been completely taken over by bindweed, when I got there I had a lovely surprise when much of it was clear, I'd completely forgotten I had a massive blitz on it before we left. So that was nice.

My autumn fruiting raspberries are normally cropping heavily by now but are really small and green still this year, a bit worrying.

Tomatoes - mine were in the greenhouse till mid July, before going away I dug the pots into a shady raised bed as I had no one to water them. It was the heatwave that week and we came back to lots of tomatoes but the plants looked fried. Left them as we were going away again and have come back to them growing like the clappers, more flowers and green fruit appearing. So tomorrow I will be relocating them back to the greenhouse in the hopes of a second crop. No blight 🤞.

Photos of my cosmos which are finally flowering properly

I am experiencing allotment guilt as have had a few days away and it looks rather unloved.
Weeds galore and big patches where we've dug up the spuds, broad beans etc.
Still getting a good yield of beetroot and rhubarb.

Evening all!
Lovely cosmos Extremely
It is full on with harvesting and preserving, sauce making , freezing, but feeling a bit ‘back end’
The French beans are finally slowing, as the tomatoes are now in full ripen mode. Courgettes have slowed a bit too < phew> , but still have loads in the fridge.
Starting to dig over and manure ready to overwinter in some areas😊