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

The day time temperatures look fine. It's the night time temperatures that are still a little too cold this week. Just wanna get going!!

Looking at pur night time temperatures we're getting down to 7 degrees some nights. Is it too cold?

Old timers always tell me it needs to be 10 degrees. We've got a couple of 5 forecast. I've got spares so going to start planting some out. Might not kill them but could slow them down when they've been doing so well so far.

I'm going away for a few days in 11 days so I need to do it before then. They won't survive on the windowsill without someone to look after them. One of the pumpkins dramatically fainted yesterday and had to be revived. The pots are just a little small for them now and don't hold enough water.
Maybe next weekend.

7 degrees is high enough if in a sheltered area.
you could also use fleece over night if you are in an exposed area.

My courgettes and half of my pumpkins are now outside (in the South East.) I was running out of room and the forecasts look good so I've gone for it.

I've got two squash out at the allotment, but with a portable cold frame over the top. Also have ones outside in pots at home but up against our south facing back wall.

Bought a small courgette plant for a quid as was worried the extras I'd sown weren't germinating. Of course 4 of the things popped their heads up the following day!

I'm not too late to plant spuds am I?

I think I'm going to go for it. I planted a cucumber out in the garden yesterday and it's looking very happy. I'll finished getting stuff ready today and plant out tomorrow morning.

Half the fun of gardening is experimenting! So have a go and see what happens. With the warm days now you probably won't even need to chit.

Thanks @PoseyFlump.
You're quite right.
Have had a weekend on the allotment and planted loads of runner beans and French beans, courgettes, aubergines and lettuce.
The rhubarb is doing nicely so will be having crumble this evening. Xx

No idea why I added kisses.

It was the excitement at the thought of crumble 😋😂 I nearly put kisses on the end of a work email the other day and just managed to stop myself!

My gooseberry bushes are actually looking good this year. They're fairly new and up to now have only produced few fruit.

I've started to gradually harden off a couple of tomatoes. I think one has spider mites (speckled leaves and had seen them on another plant). Is there a chance it could still recover? Will start putting courgette out in the day next week.

I’m really pleased with how my no dig plot is looking. Being my first year I wasn’t expecting much. Purple mangetout is in flower as are the broadbeans (a few have been eaten by black fly), cabbage and broccoli doing well as well as the kohlrabi. Fruit bushes are doing ok, netted a couple today as the birds have been taking a few. I have runner beans, butternut squash and courgette on my other half plot (a dug plot), beans are doing great, squash are still alive but courgette looking a bit iffy. Dd and I are watering daily and with no water on site it means taking water in various different containers each day, with no rain in the forecast for the next ten days I am starting to worry.

I filled a large pot with compost ready to plant some cucumbers in at the weekend. Came home from work yesterday to find my fat hen dusting and sun bathing in it. It's quite a high pot too so would have loved to watch her get in it. She looked hilarious and didn't bat an eyelid when I asked her what was she doing 😂

Fruit bushes are doing ok, netted a couple today as the birds have been taking a few. Have you got fruit already?! Our strawberries are still a few weeks away.

I've noticed others at the allotment have netted their fruit bushes this week and about half have their strawberries netted too.

I have 2 (TWO) gooseberries on my newly planted. lots of leaves which hopefully means it established well and will give a bumper crop next year.

with the currant I havean issue with the pot. the drainage hole was blocked. will possibly need to drill a hole in the side of the pot.

I never net fruit. The birds round here don't seem bothered about it, apart from the apple tree which is far too big to net, and having the bushes uncovered means the bluetits can keep them clear of caterpillars.

I will be netting my strawberries, they are some way off needing it yet though. I use micro-mesh. My gooseberries have already vanished, I've never actually had one reach fully ripe in 10 years (the bush came with the plot I would happily get rid but the roots are too big to dig out). My redcurrant bush is covered in green berries and too big to net realistically and I lose them every year too, again it came with the plot and isn't what I would have chosen. It's pigeons, there are masses of them. The birds never touch my raspberries though.

I bought some strawberry plants a few months ago. Some earlies, mids and lates. The biggest green berries I've got so far are on the lates. So that's confusing 😂

I have blackcurrants and gooseberries already, red currants not doing as well, strawberries not fruiting yet.

Ah, OK. I've got gooseberries, but not yet ripe. Strawberries about marble sized. Looks like we're not as far behind as I thought.