New allotments Autumn 2010 Chat

loucroft

dogstarheaven wrote: »

loucroft: you can sow another batch of Runner Beans this month as a late crop for September. I shall get round to doing that at some point this w/e. I've prepared another trench with kitchen compost for it already. I'm not really sure about other veg to grow - have you got a copy of the Vegetable Expert, I don't mine here at home as it's in the lotti shed where I tend to need it for referencing spacings on young seedlings..

brilliant, have prepared a bed with kitchen compost so now just need to get some beans to plant!

loucroft

Just wondering, is it normal for my butternuts to look like a yellow version of a courgette? Haven't cut into it yet but will later when I do a curry... strange!!

loucroft

Erm, my butternuts are not, they are definitely yellow courgettes when I cut into them. . . thats dissapointing as I really like to cook squash!

dogstarheaven

loucroft wrote: »

Just wondering, is it normal for my butternuts to look like a yellow version of a courgette? Haven't cut into it yet but will later when I do a curry... strange!!

this yr is my first one for squash. it's planted amongst the other 3 courgettes (interplanted with sweetcorn and oca). it's not flowered yet... not sure if the leaves are a bit different from courgette, coz i know that pumpkins are bigger.

i love squash too (in with lamb and feta salad, mmh!) but the friend who gave me this said it thrives in his polytunnel, so wasn't sure if it would do well outdoors...

loucroft

Should do, my squashes were perfect outdoors last year but the plot next to mine this year lost all of theirs, the ones they put in later died too.... thing is, mine aren't squashes now are they? Must have cross bred with my courgettes - maybe I planted too early, the extra one we put in later is definitely fruiting - and is squash shaped!!! isn't nature wonderful!

beckifitzg

I got an allotment!!
I was really lucky and they were making more in my town and i got my name down nice and early thanks to my aunty, who already had an allotment with the committee, so i only had to wait three months while they got them ready.

Now i have a brand spanking new allotment and no idea where to start, lol. Got a couple of books for my birthday but it's still quite daunting. Luckily my dad is sharing it with me ( I say luckily now but i'm sure i'll have to slap his wrists for touching my plants )

Synonymous

Hi Guys,

I'm in desperate need of inspiration! I've been poorly and not planted a single thing for over two months. The things I have in the ground already I've been keeping alive, but I'm worried its too late now to get any more stuff in for this year as successive planting has gone out of the window!

Please tell me what I can still plant now or start of inside to eat before winter, I feel like I've lost my flow and don't know where to start again. Also a mole seems to be ruining everything so if anyone has a sonic repeller that actuallly works let me know!

I'm in Yorkshire if that helps with what will mature in time, thanks everyone.

loucroft

Hiya
Sorry to hear you've been ill, it's hard to catch up or get the motivation to do things I guess so hopefully we can help with the gardening/allotment

I'm sure there are over winter produce that can go in, In the past I've had leeks and onions and they've just stopped growing until spring the next year, whilst I'm looking I am more than happy to let you know my findings too

I'm in the south east but from north yorkshire, so my dad will have a good idea what will survive

Will post soon

x

adelight

I haven't got an allotment but this is my first year growing veg indoors. My... indoor allotment?

Basil and chilli have been very successful so far, and my dodgy attempt at cherry toms(seeds squeezed from one i was eating, no pruning, far too small pots...) are going surprisingly well with at least a dozen vine toms growing on each plant.
Summer squash and peppers seem to be growing well but only time will tell, hopefully me keeping them indoors means it won't matter so much that I planted everything late.

I move to a place with outdoor space for pots in a few weeks so I'm looking for things to have outdoors over autumn/winter. I have pumpkin and and sprouting broccoli on the go and am considering kale/round carrots, but perhaps those will fare better indoors. Any more ideas?
I keep everything on a window sill with lots of light and conveniently there are radiators below these too, oooh and my new house has 8 foot wide floor to ceiling windows in the living room.

Let's call this my window allotment

dogstarheaven

start some runner beans in small pots now for a late crop from sept onwards. when you've moved into your new place in a couple of weeks time, your beans should be up n' ready to be transplanted into the biggest pot you have with a wigwam of tall canes inserted initially. this will go outdoors in a sunny position and after a month or so, you'll have lovely flowers to look at, before the beans form...

re. pumpkin, kale, carrot and PSB (purple spr. broc.) these i'm afraid will have to go outdoors. the pumpkin, kale and PSB will need their own big pots. it would of been better if you had a courgette growing instead of the pumpkin as you could get more fruits than one or two smallish pumpkins. sow a courgette seed now (yes, today!) and you'll get a late crop but protect with fleece as the nights get colder before the frosts come...

did you know that with your sunny ceiling window position, you can bring in your tomatoes and pepper to overwinter - that is, before the frosts come by Nov. and they'll keep on growing as long as there's enough sunlight for them. they're perennial plants originally, so they'll keep on growing if conditions allow. pls repot them soon!! remember that plants that are grown in pots need as much room as poss for their roots to grow. with all top growth/fruit, this would mean a bigger pot for their roots, surely?!