The all new good, bad and ugly of growing your own in 2020

Suffolk_lass

Sorry to hear about your slugs issue Scrimps. We use 10mm gravel around the things we want to deter the slugs from. It does help to reduce them and works well as a top dressing when you plant your seeds.

carinjo

Suffolk_lass said:

24 of the 30 sweetcorn seeds have germinated in the toilet roll tubes packed in glower pots of seed compost. They are in my unheated greenhouse but in a position that gets lots of sun and the greenhouse is warm enough to work in a t-shirt during the day.

In fact loads of stuff is going great guns. I shall drop off a tray of french and borlotti beans to my neighbour when I take them 6 eggs on Tuesday - hopefully a few of the runners will be doing their thing by then as I know she wants some. I have about 10-12 tomato seedlings in each of the five trays - I was so late planting this year, but they will get going in time
Only onions and potatoes (and a cheeky fast cropping dwarf bean) 

I have what is probably a few silly questions. I have one of those big trays that holds loads of tiny pots for seeds. I also have a clear plastic bag over it. Some of the seeds have now germinated: 2 rows sweetcorn and 2 rows tomatoes. 
Do i keep the plastic bag till most of the stuff germinated? And what about the plastic? Is it an issue if it touches the seedlings? 

Hope you all had a good weekend. The supposed rain never showed yesterday, so ended up working on the sweetcorn bed, finished it this morning. Lifted the last tarpaulin and used it on the roof of the tiny shed to make it a bit more watertight. The soil underneath looks lovely, that was the original digging done when we got the plot, before the bad back put everything on hold. Will dig it over this week and do beetroot and turnips i think, maybe some perpetual spinach too.

LessImpecunious

-taff said:

Don't put out the beans out before the last frost has passed, they're not that hardy. This site https://www.gardenfocused.co.uk will help you out with when and what to plant and when the last frost date is.

Also worth looking at https://charlesdowding.co.uk/sowing-timeline-for-vegetables/

zafiro1984

Anyone heard from 'Unrecordings' I don't think he's posted since the end of March - I do hope he's safe.

Dizzy_Ditzy

*pops head in round corner* 

glad to see that everyone is getting on with sowing and planting! A lot of my first sowing of veg hasn’t taken for some reason so I’ve had to start again. Beetroot and spinach are the main offenders. I keep watering with hope but every day that passes with nothing that hope starts fading lol. With lockdown comes boredom so I’ve down tons of different flowers, which have all germinated so far  

allotment wise, we are still going daily because of the chickens so we’ve been doing stuff while we are there - potatoes are in the ground, onions mostly planted and digging/weeding mostly done. Anything that isn’t dug by now will be dug as we go  

If nothing else this year, my garden will be very colourful 😂

zafiro1984

It was so hot yesterday 
I did some strimming on the paths in the veg plot, and some week killing in the chicken pen whilst waiting for the new hens to arrive beginning of May. I've cut down on the number I've ordered because of these uncertain times. They'll have so much space  I may have to mow the grass to keep it tidy. ----- another job!!!. 
I didn't go in the greenhouse until about 6pm because of the heat but I did make tea in the middle of the afternoon and just left it for microwaving later. Sowed french beans, mangetout, beetroot, lettuce and kohl rabi, some went into modules and some straight into the borders, plus the usual tidying up. 

I was in the greenhouse this morning at 6am, I've just come in expecting a lovely cup of tea only to find DH has just emerged so I thought I'd post on here hoping he takes the hint and puts the kettle on.

crv1963

Good morning everyone, been very busy here on my days off. I've finally cleared my new veg patch, double dug it and discovered a path already laid under 15 inches of soil. I started building the raised beds yesterday and intend finishing them today. Once finished I plan to plant the fruit bushes and strawberries. 

I've lost a couple of my chilli plants- but have enough for us I think. The greenhouse is getting full, so need to move some of the bedding plants into the cold frame so I can set up for the tomatoes. Plan on sewing Runner Beans and Sweetcorn first week in May.

Hopefully while I'm away working Mrs CRV will keep my new plot watered. Garlic is romping away in their pots and my leeks are due to be transplanted into deep pots to grow on. No sign of my seed potatoes though- ordered them in October! Going to try growing Carrots in 10" pots and get some salad leaves going this week.

I love reading what others are doing and how far ahead you are with things, last frost predicted here third week in May, so a bit shorter growing season for us, but hopefully the greenhouse and cold frames will extend our season. 

DiggerUK

Good painting weather, so decided to do one side of greenhouse. Got out the sandpaper and started. Then the rotten bottom of a low window  rail crumbled into bits. One of those, oh, there's more to this than meets the eye moments. Same as it ever is I suppose. 

But I did get the replacement sweetcorn seeds planted..._

carinjo

had a unexpected stroke of good fortune come my way today. the neighbour is updating his garden and gifted me his small shed! so i knocked on another neighbour's door and offered him some work to dismantle and reassemble it on the allotment. it the same size as my allotment neighbour's, so won't affect his sunlight and access if we install it directly opposite. i will hopefully be able to attach a small gutter system to it and collect rainwater now too. Possibilities!

My marrow and sweetcorn seedlings growing like crazy, so will need to dig double time to get the beds ready.

Suffolk_lass

zafiro1984 said:

Anyone heard from 'Unrecordings' I don't think he's posted since the end of March - I do hope he's safe.

No. You are right, he has not been on since March. I have sent a PM just saying we miss his posts - if he comes back it would be nice to know people had missed you and thought about you. Maybe a few of us could do so?

His health position has always been precarious and his cancer treatments always knock him for six. PM me if you wish and I will share what he told me but not really for this thread