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

So yesterday I planted my bedding plants in tubs, hopefully lots of colour for the summer months.
First lot to potatoes went in the raised bed last weekend and some more in a pot yesterday.
planted some peas and dwarf green beans.
have also started some cosmos in pots in the kitchen.
good bit of weeding and tidying done, feels productive

Just been to see the allotments, definitely going to take the plot we looked at. Quite a few fruit bushes, water butts, compost heap, a little pond and ground looks reasonable.

I’ve nearly got my big bed weeded now. I’m going to go through my gardening books tonight, I think I have an Anna Pavord with a plan for a potager. Ive been looking at the Real Seeds co website. I’m so excited , going to order some beans, edible flowers and the Asturian tree cabbage.

that looks promising tiz

potted on the cucumbers today, they were getting way too big for the seed tray.
tomatos are hardening off during the day but I will have to leave them out soon as we will have visitors staying and we will need the space on the dinner table.

Night time temperatures are dipping again next week so I'm still doing the Hokey Cokey.

Two of my tomatoes are flowering
They'll be going in the greenhouse, but it's still way too early to risk it.

I pricked out my tomatoes yesterday and put them in the greenhouse. They looked very sad and droopy. Woke up to a frost. I darent look.

@AlisonDonut your comfrey teabag is genius. I'll be trying that one as soon as the water but in installed.

Oh dear. This weather is really disappointing isn’t t it ( currently tipping it down in London).

Really disappointing weather. Forecast shows another week of cold and rain. By the time the poor plants go out, the weather will turn and bake them to death 😞

I still don't think I can risk sowing much, it's so cold and overnight temps so low.

I've sown a few dwarf beans in pots so will see if they pop up. Everything else is still in the utility room or porch, the greenhouse just still too cold I think.

Frost forecast here for early next week.

I never plant out till late May because we often get frosts till then, but I am having trouble even getting things to germinate - I use an unheated windowsill incubator and usually there is enough sun for everything to germinate really quickly in it, not this year. I have got onions in, potatoes chitted and need to go in but nothing else anywhere near ready. This might be the year I go for more bought seedlings and letting things self seed (I already do quite a bit of the latter). We are starting a building project next month and I'm not going to have as much gardening time as usual and my greenhouse will probably be needed for storage.

It was glorious in Yorkshire!

It was glorious in Hampshire yesterday till about 6pm when the clouds rolled in, then the rain started. Today its 7°C and raining heavily again.

It was wonderful in the East Midlands too until the clouds came at about 7.30. Today is cold and horrible.

I've got the contract through today so the allotment is officially mine. We're on holiday for a week but can hopefully pick up a key when we get back and get cracking.

I went to the garden centre to get some autumn raspberry canes as I seem to have killed a few of mine by moving them, checked 2 garden centres and no raspberries but I did end up buying a rather well established white currant plant for £6. I now have red, black, pink and white currant……..I am now wondering what I’m going to do with so many currants 🤣 and I still need raspberries.

I have a boggy corner on my plot, I think that’s why my raspberries were not happy there? The rhubarb I planted there is also looking sad. Is there anything I can plant there that doesn’t mind boggy soil? I’m sure once summer comes it will be pretty dry.

wasabi? not sure hardy that is though

I thought rhubarb would be ok in boggy soil.

Pink currants? Dammit - I thought I had the full set. I'll have to extend the fruit patch.

Cranberries or blueberries like boggy soil, if it's acid. Not sure about options for non-acid soil.

Rhubarb crowns don't enjoy sitting in water, they like rich, loamy, free-draining soil with plenty of well rotted manure/compost dug in around them.

the crowns are susceptible to rotting if left for elongated periods in saturated soil. If the boggy soil is due to the soil type eg heavy clay, it can be fixed by digging in the rotted matter, but if the bogginess is because there is a constant water supply flowing onto that part of the garden, I'd definitely move the crowns to a better environment. A giant sized pot would be better if that's the only alternative.

Disaster here yesterday. We’ve had building work done so I haven’t been able to get to the greenhouse until yesterday.

something’s eaten all my seeds!!!!

I am a seed hoarder and they’re generally in tins but for some reason the lid was left off. Aaaghhhhh!

@WednesdaysPlaits were your seeds in your greenhouse? I leave mine in a cool part of the house as I read heat will effect them.

They were but over winter. They would have been fine if I’d closed the lid!