The Vegetable Patch Mark 2

[MereDintofPandiculation]

A continuation of the thread for those of us growing edibles, to share triumphs and failures, swap expertise and solve problems

Turned into a lovely afternoon. Raised beds mostly weeded, need to tackle round the fruit bushes next. And plan what's going to go where.

Can I join?

We have done well in previous years and want this to continue!

Raspberries are starting to grow leaves but it's an autumn variety so no fruit for a while yet.

Over the Easter hols I want to plant broad beans, mange tout, tomatoes. Can any of these go straight into the greenhouse or do they need to start off inside I can't remember!

I also want to buy some new strawberry plants can anyone recommend places ? Online preferred. We have used Sarah raven in the past.

Well yes but we are talking about the law and not what laws people choose to ignore.

your plot looks great!
love your little helper

I was happy to see leaves on my fruit bushes that I planted as bare root plants about a month ago.

I've sorted my tomatoes today, into bush, beefsteak, mediums and cherry and taken all the ones I'm not going to be growing myself and set them aside for giving away.

And I've moved kales and lettuces from my polytunnel to outdoors ready for trays of tomatoes to go out there during the day to grow on.

Is it ok to plant lettuce out before all risk of frost is gone?

@Decafflatteplease I used good old Thompson and Morgan , I wait till they have free delivery. They have quite a lot of choice. The 1st lot arrived looking moribund ( not a great endorsement, I know) when I rang them up they sent another set for free. I planted both and now they are indistinguishable, doing equally well.

I also want to buy some new strawberry plants can anyone recommend places ? Online preferred. Ken Muir. Made his name as a specialist strawberry grower and breeder, has now diversified to other fruit.

Is it ok to plant lettuce out before all risk of frost is gone? You can take the risk, but if you do get a frost you will lose them. They don't appreciate low temperatures (or high ones for that matter), so it may not even take a frost to kill them.

My greenhouse is over flowing as are my window sills. Patiently waiting for the risk of frost to go, getting warmer during the day but the clear skies means there’s a risk of frost at night (had frost last night).
My 3rd lot of peas have germinated and my 2nd lot of broadbeans. I have lettuce ready to plant out. Now the suns out I am hoping things will start growing faster.

Hard frost here this morning. Good job I hadn't put anything out. It's now glorious though

Our average last frost date is between May 11 and May 20 so still a way off yet.

What a treat that sunshine was yesterday. The first proper taste of spring.... it's been too long!

My house jungle is growing nicely but they're not going in the greenhouse just yet with all these cold nights forecast. I repotted my tomatoes and they sulked massively but they've bounced back now fortunately.

Morning all, I haven't posted for ages and am massively behind with all things garden/allotment, but hoping for a catch up over the weekend. Not a single seed sown yet, but we are in a late frost area (can be end of May) so I have a bit of time and the lighter evenings make it all easier. Hard frost here this morning, our hedgehog water bowl was frozen over.

very much like a potato leaf

I've now sown all peppers and tomatoes. I bought a last minute.com pack of red sweet peppers last weekend so that's it now.

All my germinated toms and peppers are all in small pots in trays, getting to the second leaf stage. I've moved them to the polytunnel this morning, and will move them back to the potting shed which has a heated mat which just keeps the edge off everything, for the nights, every night for the next week. As soon as the second set of true leaves shows I'll start putting them in the ground in the polytunnel. I'm growing my large and beefsteak ones in the proper poly this year, the medium ones in the green half open poly and the cherry toms outside. We are in the Haute Vienne so if we get blight, I'm not too bothered about losing cherry toms but want to keep the larger and beefsteak ones going as long as possible.

I'm also growing the sweet peppers in between the tomatoes in the proper poly, with the chillis in the green one and outside. Because I already have many years worth of chillis from last year's extravaganza in the freezer.

I've also got alot of different basil varieties sown, pricked out and starting to get them into pots. I fell in love with Basil Tea last year so I want more of that this summer. Cannot wait to get into my hammock with a basil tea on the go and just have a lazy summer afternoon.

I'm planting out beets in amongst the overwintering onions, and spring sown onions in amongst the strawberries.

This month is alot of pricking out, potting on and moving trays about. I can't wait to start getting everything in the ground now. Bring it on.

@greenacrylicpaint mystery solved! And an education for lots of us too 😊

@AlisonDonut basil tea sounds intriguing. How do you make it? Is it an iced tea or hot?

Hot water over basil leaves. Then steep, and pour over ice and put in fridge. Add honey if you want. I was last year putting it over ice into a pint glass and slurping with a metal straw. Sometimes I'll add fresh lemon juice. I've just repotted my lemon tree so I'll have fresh basil and lemon on tap this summer. Heaven.

Hi, may I come back? Once again, I’m late starting and my vegetable patch is a riot of forgetme nots and failed crops from last year. I tried to do the Christmas dinner thing, but the pigeons ate most of it. Ive got carrots that have overwintered but are still tiny. Will they come to anything? I’ve done 2 seed trays of tomatoes and 1 of peppers. I will start some peas and onions tomorrow . And so far I have a 3 x1 metre strip of land prepared. The only good thing is that my soil is in fabulous condition, like a rich dark cake mix. I did keep salad leaves and coriander going in the green house. My plan this year is onions from seed, strawberries and peas outside, with clumps of kale and Swiss chard, chillies and tomatoes in the greenhouse, and any leftover space for annual flowers and salad leaves. I never seem to succeed with brassicas or potatoes, so I’m giving up. I have some spinach, kale and some tiny leeks in the beds, so I will pull those and make green soup, and then get those beds made up.
in my head it will look like a marvellous potager. Veg are so expensive now that I really need it to work. I’m dyspraxic, and find anything systematic very difficult. My Dh would do it so much better, If I could only awaken the gardener buried deep within. We shall see, maybe this will be the year it finally works.

Ive got carrots that have overwintered but are still tiny. Will they come to anything? Probably not. The carrot is a storage organ, storing food while the carrot plant is overwintering, so it’s ready to burst into growth in the spring and throw up a large flowering stem. So from now on it’s using the carrot rather than adding to it.

I’m dyspraxic, and find anything systematic very difficult I’ve always found veg a trial, because of the need to sow, pot on, plant out, all to a strict timetable. I find Swiss chard fairly forgiving, cucumbers incredibly easy, Asturian tree cabbage brilliant as it carries on for several years if you’re lucky, you just pick a couple of leaves when you need. Fruit seem a lot less trouble and are even more expensive - I grow tayberries, loganberries and raspberries. I’m finding strawberries in pots are working well, and alpine strawberries which I let run wild where nothing else is growing.

Fruit is great - for so many types you just plant it once and that's it apart from a bit of weeding whenever you remember. You may get better yields if you follow the pruning instructions, but I find with most things I get plenty without even doing that.

My husband is always affectionately rolling his eyes when I sneak into the conversation that I have bought more fruit bushes/trees for the garden.

Yesterday I caved and bought three blueberry bushes. I've been wanting some for ages. He doesn't know yet... But might wonder when they suddenly appear in big pots on the patio!

I planted out my peas and sweet peas at the weekend. The dwarf peas and sweet peas look very happy, the climbing peas look less thrilled. I may have to resow and get them in the ground sooner when they're not so leggy. Not such a problem now the soil is warming up.

After potting on all my peppers, aubergines and chillis this weekend and getting some new strawberry runners into the asparagus bed sowing my tomatoes and other bits took a backseat so that's an urgent job for the long weekend.

Yesterday I dug out a Stipa Gigantea from beside the pond, which was here when we moved.

I've split it into 28 smaller plants today and still hadn't got to the second half. I've decided to just split the other half in two and get that into two of our beds. It is one of my favourite plants to grow and I'm hoping the cats enjoy it when it grows back. They are obsessed with all the swishy grasses in our garden. So adding loads more can only be a good thing.

sneaky plants

my dh is 'lucky' that we need to be mindful on weight on the balkony. if I want something new I need to get rid of something first or risk falling into neighbours dining room...

Wrong thread. Grr.

Veggie wise I planted 69 potatoes. Going to plant another 25 today in the next bed.