Allotment News

Take the turf off and stack it somewhere to break down. This is important as the grass will harbour all sorts of nasties like wireworm.

Dig it over incrporating plenty of organic matter. Horse manure from the local stables is ideal.

Leave it dug rough over winter for the frost to break down.

Cabbage and sprouts?  Personally I'd be happy to be presented with a bunch of sprouts, but I guess we're all different!

Got half a chicken run built

It's a Norwegian Blue, that's why.  It's restin'.  Beautiful plumage.......

Pure class

Busy fixing up the chook house, the previous owner won't recognise it.  Also I may not need any more Oil of Olay as I'm completely covered in ronseal wood preservative, and now have a dark oak tan

I must be officially the worst gardner ever.

52 tomato vines = one ripe tomato.

Masses of green that will not ripen.

Even my chillies are struggling over 100 plants plenty with flowers,one plant with 4 on that could be eaten.

20 ish pepper plants 1 plant with 3 peppers the size of ping pong balls.

Nope - you're not the worst gardener ever, BRT!  Believe me.

I'm in exactly the same boat with my tomatoes - lovely healthy green plants, fed and watered regularly, pinched out base growth/side shoots, limited the number of flower trusses etc etc etc, lots of rock-hard green fruits but still only one red tom, and that's on the puniest plant!

I haven't even got any fruit at all on my pepper plants - just the beginings of flowers.  Think they'll be moved indoors into the spare room soon (sadly no room for a greenhouse in my garden)....

It's the weather - not enough warmth and not enough light.  Outdoor tomatoes and peppers etc are not the most reliable crop in the British climes.

I'm currently doing battle with caterpillars on the perpetual spinach patch - have only actually found one creature itself, but there are loads of tiny white eggs to scrape off, and endless holes and trails!  Still managing to get a fairly prolific amount of usable leaves, though.  Grows back bloody quickly, that stuff!

Carrots look to be doing well, courgettes are still pathetically small but absolutely delicious, and still a few broad beans left to pick - they've actually done really well considering it was only a short row of plants.  Just finishing off the last of our new potatoes - they were truly brilliant, tasty and a really high yield, so I'm definitely going to grow them again!

I'm contemplating what to sow/plant next.

Missed the boat with leeks, baby turnips and kale methinks, but have a fair variety of seeds for winter salad leaves and radishes which should yield pretty quickly, and spring onions to sow in September to be ready next spring.

Morning LP.

Sorry to say it LP but you've made me feel a whole lot better.

All my peppers & chillies are in the polytunnel.

I've chickened out of planting all my now very healthy seedlings until,but I am going for it this weekend as I think I am winning my battle with the slugs,they love my beer traps.

 Leeks & cabbages are the only success story in my garden this year,but I am hoping the freshly dug in manure will pay dividends.

My spuds went weeks ago & although very nice the yeild was pathetic.

I am going to try sweet corn next year.

What do ya reckon,these last few vines in the tunnel stick with them a while longer or admit defeat & make more chutney?

I would stick with 'em for a bit longer (sorry, no idea about how long exactly!) - it seems to happen now and then that September ends up being warmer and sunnier than August, so you might see some changes.

I'm now annoyed I actually planted most of my tom plants in the garden rather than keeping them in pots - I've got one plant in a pot that I'll probably move indoors with the peppers (they ripened up a treat when I did this in September last year), but I think I'm going to have to bend down the stems of the other plants and cover them with cloches.

Mmmm...sweetcorn...now that's an idea.  Definitely want to be a bit more organised next year and grow some leeks - I love 'em!

Stick with it all, BRT - is this the first year you've had a go at growing veg?

It normally takes a while for a garden to establish itself and produce the yields you're after - I think I've just been very lucky because we have the most amazingly good topsoil - beautiful consistency, well-drained, extremely deep and full of worms.

That manure should help - I would leave it a while before planting anything though, unless your manure was already well-rotted.

the manure was very well rotted

Be just my luck that I will stick them & they will all ripen while I am away sunning myself in a couple of weeks time.

Most of my toms were in very large post & then grow bags in side the tunnel

Any chance you can pop in and water the tunnel for 2 weeks while I am away???

Theory behind sweet corn being,

Tinned is vile

Plenty of plants in a small amount of space

And it seems to be a very hardy,low maintainace crop.

With you on the organisation!!

Next year will be better!

BigRedToe wrote (see)

Any chance you can pop in and water the tunnel for 2 weeks while I am away???

LOL!

Depends where you're based, BRT!  If you're in a certain small area of Sheffield (I don't drive) I'd be happy to!

What you could do is have bowls of water next to each plant with some kind of 'wick' leading into the soil/compost around the plant to seep water into it.

I think this generally only works when you're away for a few days, but might be worth a go - it's recommended in the Joy Larkcom book.

So west wales is a bit beyond you ??

But you can guarantee that for 2 weeks from the Sept 24th it's going to scorching hot & your toms will be lovely,mine will be very red shriveled up sun dried toms by the time I get back