The Vegetable Patch 2024/2025

[MereDintofPandiculation]

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

One of the older guys told me to cover them lightly with some compost this week so did that to stop any frost damage. Not sure how much I need to keep covering though 😕

I have just been and earthed them up again, hopefully for the last time, I think it’s warming up at the end of the week, hopefully the end of the cold weather.

I had 4 tomatoes emerge from old seeds - the only problem was 3 of them were in a single module so have already had to be potted on and separated at only an inch high. But 🤞for a bumper crop as a result!

And 3 seedlings emerged (again, in 2 modules) for the courgette family (I'll investigate better later but I have a few types of courgette and summer squash sown but only 3 have emerged so far).

No sign of beans yet but I threw a few more in pots indoors yesterday to try and beat any more cold days (and the pigeons!).

About to make dinner, including starter of salad from my window box of leaves 😁

Planted a few things out in my concrete raised beds. Bloody foxes come every single night and dig it all up.. Getting proper naffed off now. Wanted to grow napa cabbage, forgot it was a 'cool crop' and planted them in the greenhouse. Big mistake, had a few hot days here down south, and they've all bolted, bar one. 'Le sigh' 🙄
In other news: The pool's up!

The cool damp weather so far has suited me (in terms of gardening, personally I'd prefer warmer/drier). Grass had encroached significantly on my plot, I noticed at the end of last year that I had lost about a foot all the way round the edges, it had taken over my entire raspberry cane area and the couch grass was doing it's usual thing and popping up randomly all over the place. Often in spring the soil goes from mud to concrete within a very few weeks so I don't get much chance to do jobs like this but it's been perfect this year so my edges are restored, my raspberry bed is about 3/4 clear of grass, most of the remaining plot is cleared of the couch grass patches, it feels like good progress. Although it's time consuming I really enjoy this clearing work, finding it very relaxing.

I haven't planted anything out yet, for some reason that is my least favourite job, but lots of seedlings are doing very well in the greenhouse at home. We are in SE England but often get frosts during May so I am cautious. Really must get my potatoes in this week though.

Just been upto the allotment, mice have eaten the sugar snap peas - or worse havent eaten them but sliced them all neatly at the soil and then left them. Think the remainder will grow in pots at home. Not sure yet about the dwarf French beans.

@omnishambles - how annoying! Fighting weather and pests at the moment.

I save clear plastic bottles (e.g. pop or squash bottles) for this - cut the top and bottom off so you have a clear plastic collar and slip that over where you've planted your seeds. I found it keeps the mice and pigeons off and gives the plant chance to get to 20cm+ before it's exposed.

Just in case it's useful...

Yes @DuchesseNemours my neighbours have done that with their brassicas - I didnt think to do it with the peas as they are against a frame but will think on it...

With my pease I also cut a vertical slit in them - which made it easier to pop them round the seedling and bean cane in one.

I have gone belt and braces with my cabbages this year . I plant, water, put slug pellets down, then a metal frame which I cover in horticultural mesh. When I used hoops to drape the mesh over last year, the foxes jumped on and snapped some cabbages. The mesh is against cabbage white.
Has anyone planted their tomatoes out yet? I’m thinking of doing it ( with some not all) this weekend.

I've had one cherry tomato plant in a hanging basket in the garden for the last 2 weeks and fingers crossed, its doing well. (sheltered garden though) Moved my other tomato plants into the back garden on Monday as temperatures are pretty good down here with no signs of dropping below 8/9/10 degrees over night (bit battered after the storms last night but should be ok). Thinking about moving them to my plot over the bank hol weekend and maybe constructing a "fence" around each plant with some fleece for the first week - just until they find their feet. I keep having a wander round to see what everyone else has done. Don't want to be first !

A couple of my courgettes accidentally spent the night out last night as I forgot to bring them in. No harm done. My tomatoes are going outside in the day on warm days if it's not too windy but probably won't go into final positions for another couple of weeks at least. Courgettes the same unless they really outgrown their pots before then.

I was late with all my seed sowing so a lot of my plants are far too tiny to plant out yet, but my tomatoes got frost-nipped in the greenhouse last week because I forgot to close the door, we are definitely not safe for tender plants here for a few more weeks. I usually aim to get everything planted out by half term but now my DCs are older I’m less likely to know when that is, but first week of June.

Oh, and it's exactly one year since we got the keys to the allotment. Going to take a trip up there later, a bit of weeding probably needed and will probably direct sow some peas and beans

I've put three toms out as canaries in the coalmine, one in a protective cloche (well, a sawn-off Coke bottle). The rest are still on my floor. Not risking it with chillies yet either.

SE England

I might plant two tomatoes out this weekend as an experiment. We’re going away for a week and DS1 will water my plantlets which are in the backyard in their little pots. I’m incentivising him with £10 if he can keep them all alive. I’m in London

My tomato seeds all germinated a few weeks ago but the seedlings are absolutely tiny! They've been on my sunniest windowsill but it's still not really warm enough for them. The peat free compost isn't great either.

I had to pot on 1 more tomato seedlings, 1 summer squash and separate and pot on 2 courgettes (I sowed 2 per module - 3 other modules failed entirely) last night. There's 2 more tomatoes in 1 more module but they needed another few days before separation and potting on. So I may have 8 tomatoes on my balcony 😁 but so far no sign of any beans (indoor or out).

I also gave everything a good watering and moved to the shaded end of the balcony as I'm away for the weekend - it's pouring remain this morning and around 12 degrees but it was 26 and scorching there on Wednesday so just being safe.

My beetroot were munched by something, lost almost all of them, I planted from plugs and I don’t really want to buy more so I might try and see direct. So many slugs and snails this year, they have dated my rhubarb, never known slugs eat rhubarb before.

I put my runner bean poles up today in hope I can plant them out next week as there’s some nice weather forecast (finally), also have climbing French beans to go in too. I have one more patch of couch grass and weeds to clear.

My fruit bushes don’t seem to have much in them this year, maybe due to the lack of sun and the endless rain? I’m tempted to get rid of the re current and the Red gooseberry as neither produced anything much last year and are taking up space where I could grow something else.

Anyone else tempted just to put everything in next week and hope for the best? 😬

First allotment here we got it at end of Feb and so far have only got earlies and main crop potatoes in - going to put onions , shallots in this weekend and continue clearing rest of patch. Got a pea / bean frame to build and going to direct sow some of those but my attempts to grow cabbage / beetroot and parsnips etc all failed to germinate so wondering where we can get some reasonable priced plugs ? Then I can restart the seedlings and hopefully plant out later - in Northumberland

I have bought sport and cabbage plugs, they were reasonably cheep from my local garden centre. I never have much luck with parsnips or any other root veg, for me they are not worth the hassle as they are cheep to buy in the supermarket (I know they taste better home grown but they cause me too much stress). Peas, beans and courgette always produce loads so I always plant those. I have gone a bit OTT with beans this year even though I’m still eating last years.

I found some well priced plus in b&q last week.

Gah plugs

Picked up a few bits in Homebase earlier , lettuce , French beans , broccoli , Brussels sprouts and cabbage so will get those in over the weekend and try another batch of seeds - think my greenhouse was too cold for the first lot