The Vegetable Patch 2024/2025

[MereDintofPandiculation]

Come and share your triumphs and failures in your vegetable plot or allotment.

Another failed sowing of French beans :-( think I'm going to try and germinate some inside again. More strawberries picked at the allotment, raspberries coming along nicely. Think I'll have a furtle for some potatoes at the end of the week.

Courgettes and squash still tiny and sickly looking

@tizwozliz - those look scrummy. How have you staved off the slimy devils?

My strawberries are doing well now that the sun's out.

Another failed sowing of French beans

Me too! I've been wondering if it's not too late to try another round, but maybe I'll give it a go.

Another failed sowing of French beans

My slugs have become very acclimatised to their new diet of bean sprouts.

I’ve also struggled with climbing French beans, but because 10 out of 12 rotted before germinating. The surviving two are in the ground. I’ve heard it’s best to start the seeds on damp paper next time so will try that.
picked up some bargain first early potatoes for £1 a 2kg bag, thought there would be no time but after some research thought I could have got more and some second earlier too. Will be growing in pots.

Depends where you are. I’m often tempted to do new sowings of French or Runner but that’s because I’m in Yorkshire and our season stops earlier. Down south should be OK.

Depends where you are. I’m often tempted to do new sowings of French or Runner but that’s because I’m in Yorkshire and our season stops earlier. Down south should be OK.

I'm halfway between the two so I'll give it a shot

(the midlands)

Rummaged a bit whilst weeding amongst the potatoes and have come home with a kg. More strawberries and raspberries picked too. Hoping everything else will be encouraged by this warm weather. Although so far it's only the weeds that have proliferated, had to weed really carefully to find my beetroot seedlings.

I counted figs today. 107 on the small tree. I decided not to count the big tree.

At the moment we’re getting alpine strawberries and lettuce. Garden strawberries, raspberries etc are still some way away.

I'm doing some dwarf french beans for the first time. Four in a very large square pot. Two have got rather yellow leaves, two are doing okay.

Elsewhere, I've got loads of tayberries to eat (more than I can eat) and some yellow raspberries on the leftover canes from autumn ones. Have only had a couple of strawbs ripen and squirrels got to them first. Later on I will have gooseberries for the first time I hope (they're slowly turning red at the moment), and then at the end of the summer I should have my physalis (cape gooseberries) as well.

Feeling jealous at how early the season is elsewhere. Tayberries are a distant dream. Even the raspberries are a couple of weeks away.

there’s no such thing as too many tayberries - they freeze well

We're going on holiday next Sunday so it's looking like all my produce will ripen while we are away.

The peas/mangetout are flowering, and strawberries are just starting to ripen. There are hundreds of very small unripe raspberries, even a few on my new golden bush.

The chard is coming along well, thanks to a recommendation here.

I suspect I may have a beetroot seedling, but it might be a weed.

The courgettes and cucumber are a total disaster 4-6 leaves on them all. I usually have courgette glut by now.

Despite all of that, I am delighted with a bit of sunshine 🌞

Yes, Facebook memories reminded me I picked 3 good sized yellow courgettes this time last year and then I was picking pretty regularly throughout the season. I have some male flowers on my patty pan squash but nothing else at all. Most have only got 3 or 4 small leaves.

I dream of counting figs one day!

The one I bought last year is still small but hopeful that it will take off in due course.

Long term veg gardener feeling much more reassured after reading this thread.
South Coast.

No courgettes yet, snails are eating everything, loads of stuff did not germinate.

I'm trying to decide what to sow now into the beds that would have been used for transplanting if my leeks had come up !

I've been starting my peas and bean off in a seed sprouter on damp kitchen roll, and sowing them once they chit. Its been a success - the ones I sowed directly have done nothing.
I've got two courgettes coming along, and have harvested a bulb of garlic.

I have a load of bean seeds that have fallen out a packet and into the tub I keep my seeds in. I think rather than just chucking I'll try the kitchen roll method first.

Its worked for me with seeds that went out of date in 2017, I didn't get fantastic rates of germination but it was over 50%.

I have 2 tomato plants starting to set their first fruit. My other tomatoes need to grow more yet.

My courgettes are healthy plants, just not near flowering yet.

My dwarf french beans are starting to flower but the climbing ones look stressed.

And I am getting some purple mange touts at eating size this week.

I finally have some blueberries. I thought they were supposed to be easy to grow!

A handful of beans and mange tout from the garden today. The ones at the allotment are much further behind.

We've been picking and eating raspberries and the odd strawberry for a few weeks now. My tomato plants are starting to grow their fruits and leeks coming along nicely. Peas in pot are doing well, peas in the teepee have been eaten, along with more of the beans... I've gone and pruned the dead bits to encourage growth and there are some flowers on most of the plants so fingers crossed.

I'm going to have waaaay too many cucumbers - one of them is huge! Pepper and chillies plants have buds on. Onions doing ok, about 3 of 5 broccoli doing ok and one cabbage is an absolute beast

jeeeeeeez no wonder my plants are being decimated! Just went into the garden and stood on a slug so thought id have a look to see if there are any more to round up (I chuck them over the back of the fence - it's completely overgrown land (not someone's garden) and there's hedgehogs living there.

I asked DH how many he thought I found, he said 7....

Want to guess before I say anyone?

142 of the buggers! That's not including ones I couldn't pick up due to size (my hands are all slimy now 😭) I'm amazed there's any plants left!!!

142! I go out at night with a torch and I've picked up some big ones but not that many.