The Vegetable Patch 2024/2025

[MereDintofPandiculation]

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

I'm in Melbourne and we're having the first proper summer in years

Here are the container-grown spuds I harvested yesterday: in one of the containers for context. It's always a fine line as I live on my own and don't want to over-produce.

Rhubarb was a success, a bit too much as it dominates a bed and cuts off a growing area for climbing veg. In winter I'll be transplanting to a raised bed of its own. One thing I hadn't anticipated was how it cooks down to very little, never having grown it before, so what I though had been too much is just OK, and it's always welcome gift for friends.

Sweet basil does very well indeed and the climbing beans and cucumbers are coming on. Tomatoes are very productive but meh in flavour.

Loofah is very tardy as they took ages to germinate, something not noted on the packet yet a very common problem.

Tomatoes are very productive but meh in flavour. Surprised at that, as here they’re usually very tasty,even ones not known for their flavour.

It’s been a very mild dry winter so far for us. Usually under snow. So have been taking advantage of milder sunny days to clear out old compost area. Had three 1mx1m wooden ones, but they were made from old scrap wood about 8 years ago so on verge of collapse.
Have just received 3, thermo lidded large compost bins which will need building soon.

Thinking about starting seeds in a few weeks

Yes, and I chose one that had excellent flavour when I grew it last year. Perhaps I picked it too early, in the effort to fend off the rats.

with tomatos it depends a lot on the varieties. I grew a dud one last year (black nightshade).

tasty ones:
black krim/black russian
green zebra
tigerella
yellow pearshape
windowbox

Ooh - that makes me feel good about mine, which are still standing but needing patching after 30 years.

Possibly. I’ve always attributed good flavour to a combination of not over-waterng and leaving it to fully ripen on the plant.

@MereDintofPandiculation - yes good going. To be fair, they were made just from old wood we found lying around the house and garden when we bought. So it wasnt outdoor treated or designed. Just randomly put together

we have such a large hilly garden that I am hoping the new thermo bins will compost quicker also as even 3m2 seems to fill up in seconds

Yes, mine was treated. Though some thing I use aren't treated - if you don't need a 30 year lifetime, then why go to the effort of treating?

we have such a large hilly garden that I am hoping the new thermo bins will compost quicker also as even 3m2 seems to fill up in seconds I've experimentally started a "dead hedge". A square metre pile 30cm high has a lot less impact vertically compared to horizontally. I'm going to do another couple, make the "woodland" area more of a maze. Once I've done that, it should take pretty well all of my prunings each year (except the prickly stuff which I give to the Council), leaving the compost heaps for softer quick-rotting stuff.

I'm waiting with seeds until at least mid Feb after last year's disaster. It was too cold for too long, and the chillies all failed, and only a few tomato seedlings survived. Might do some peas and beans though.

Was just thinking same thing. Was lulled by a warm early May and planted out seedlings and then it got cold again.
Will probably wait until June to plant out stuff this year so will start seeds off in March the earliest.

I have started the tedious task of digging over my plot (plot 2), my other plot is no dig and is pretty much weed free and easy to look after, plot 2 is much bigger and I can’t afford to go no dig, I had half the plot last year and have now taken in the other half, last year I struggled with weeds, it’s full of thistle and dandelions along with couch grass. So I’ve been hand digging and removing weeds but now I’m thinking I’m probably flogging a dead horse and the weeds will still grow back as soon as it warms up? Do I just dig it over and just remove the big clumps of couch grass? Do I hire a rotavator? I’m concentrating on clearing half of it ready for onions and potatoes but by the time I have hand dug it I will likely have to start again as the weeds will be growing 😬.

Maybe just cover the worst parts in cardboard? Will keep weeds down.

carboard, weed suppressant membrane or thick black plastic would all weaken/kill the weeds. If you use a rotivator it will chop each root into pieces and each will generate a new plant - so you will make things worse. I would also consider growing things that reduce work/weeds, eg potatoes, squash, green manure, strawberries through membrane. i put black plastic down each winter on mine (i've used the same pieces for 10+ years so its not as bad for the environment).

Allotments are hard work and unless you can be there every day, it is practically impossible to de-weed and keep them at bay without some help. If you have no budget then the cheapest way is to use cardboard, and dig over and thoroughly weed a square area, and then rake flat and cover with cardboard and weigh it down and then make a start on the next area. Then when the time comes, plant your potatoes through the cardboard and do the same with all your other plants, whilst growing only carrots, parsnips and beetroots [mainly] in beds that you take the cardboard off and just keep them weed free by hand. Don't dig and then leave the soil uncovered, that's when all the weed seeds germinate.

If I was ever taking one on again, I'd do what I did with my old UK allotment which was to rake the whole thing over, cover in horticultural weed fabric [not the cheap stuff], buy a load of pallet collars and a bulk load of topsoil and grow in those. I battled for over a decade and then nearly gave it up, but doing the above was a game changer.

Thank you, some great ideas. The person that had the plot before me rotavated it many times which is why the weeds are so bad. Last year I dug my half of the plot by hand and pulled out a lot of bind weed and thistles but still had loads of weeds, it was hard to keep on top of. Now I have the other half and a huge growing space I think I need to divide it up into sections and maybe use some membrane to suppress weeds. I grew squash and potatoes on half last year which broke the ground up nicely, the soil is amazing other than the weeds 😬. I think I just need to clear a bit at a time and then cover with plastic or cardboard until I plant into it.

Sad day today. I’ve just eaten my last apple, a delicious Cornish Aromatic, spicy flavour and the sort of good looks usually seen in Dutch Masters.

Hello all!
Thought of you all on here whilst I was in Asda. They've got the large bags of compost (the ones that are usually 3 for £12) on offer for 98p each!

Wishing had the car with me as I would have bought some for my pots in the spring.

Hopefully comes in useful to someone on here!

I’m sure the last apple was well worth it, @MereDintofPandiculation .

I was sorry to read of your Dad’s passing. I hope your garden is a great source of succour in your loss. When my Mum died it was pretty much what kept me going.

Thanks @Wholetthedogsoutwhowhowho - went on a pilgrimage (10 mins cycle) to Asda but alas, not a bag of compost to be seen! However, bumped into some tree maintenance people on the way back, who kindly helped me fill a couple of IKEA bags with wood chips. Why not add some more mulch!

Oh I'm so sorry you're trip to Asda wasn't successful!
But how kind of the people to give you some wood chips!

My Jerusalem artichokes arrives yesterday, so now I'm debating if the bed I was planning on putting them in is deep enough. I don't want to put them straight into the ground, both as I'm trying to convert my plot all to beds to reduce the onslaught of weeds, and because I know they spread.

I'm getting some fresh compost today to get them in the ground so I'll put them in and hope for the best.

Jerusalem artichokes grow to about 2m, so if they don’t, you’ll know it wasn’t deep enough! The tubers aren’t found very deep so you’ll probably be ok.

Not much goes really deep. Top soil is where all the humus is, and it’s there because that’s where all the roots were. So as long as you’re at least 30-40cm I think you’ll be OK.

Do raised beds reduce weeds? I suppose it’s less easy for creeping rootstock weeds to get in there, and they’re the ones that are a real nuisance

@MereDintofPandiculation thanks for the advice.

I've got a lot of couch grass on my plot, so I've found that putting thick, actually I even doubled it up to make sure, weed suppressant down and making beds was, fingers crossed, the way to stop that.

I'm still growing my potatoes and onions in the ground but the perennials are going into beds and this year, I'm hoping for a better pumpkin crop by doing them in a bed.