The even newer good, bad and ugly of growing your own in 2021!

bluesooz

The long cold spring has not been kind - I sowed/planted much too early expecting the normal warm spring

Greenhouse
Tomatoes, sweet peppers and chili peppers now all doing well and in their final containers - toms all have one or two trusses of flowers each.
cucumbers finally starting to grow well
Aubergines are still struggling with not much root or top growth, hoping the recent hot weather will encourage them

Veg patch
Harvesting lots of asparagus and rhubarb
Courgettes and squash have all sulked and just sitting there not growing, but at least they are still alive - the cucumbers gave up and just died - have planted fresh seed, which has germinated.
French beans and runner beans that were planted out have started to grow and I've sown some more seeds too
Leeks/spring onions planted out only lost a couple
Broad beans have some good looking pods on and I've just nipped the tops of as the blackfly had arrived.  @carinjo i've always sown in November as it works well for my patch but I know many people prefer the spring sowing.  When the broad beans are finished I have young Purple sprouting broccoli to plant in the area.
Starting to harvest lettuce that had been started in a trough in the green house and have some large seedlings in the ground - must sow a few more.
Have just netted the strawberries as they're starting to turn red

I don't normally grow potatoes as I don't have the room in the patch, but a friend gave me several seed potatoes of 3 types so have 6 ex compost bags of them growing - lots of top growth so will be interesting to see what harvest I get

The Edamame bean experiment is a failure - I've got 2 plants from 3 sowings!  (the snails ate 2 but the rest didn't germinate.)  I've got one more sowing in the greenhouse, but I'm not expecting too many.  

Caitykinss

I've decided I'm definitely going to direct sow most things from now on - it's much less faffing about and uses less compost for the sake of a slightly later harvest. I've only got broccoli, leeks and beans in the greenhouse ready to transplant as the leeks are following potatoes and broccoli following raddish, and my bean bed is in my garden border so would be difficult to net.

Chard and pak choi in the raised bed are both looking great after a few days of sunshine. Kale is poking through a bit sporadically, so might sow a bit more in the gaps. Spinach sowed three weeks ago hasn't appeared at all, so I've given up on it and sowed my rocket and another row of mixed lettuce in it's place. It's giant winter spinach for last year, so I'll try again later in the year - perhaps the seed is too old. Also done another row of carrots, and sown a few more beetroot as only one had germinated in the row. 

Tomatoes are mainly looking good. They all got a bit sunscorched last week, but most have recovered and are growing well. Two or three are looking a bit sad and might need sacrificing, but I'll give them a bit longer to see if they recover. This is my first year growing tomatoes and I'm finding it fascinating to see how different varieties are doing. My Maskotka are way ahead of the others with loads of flowers on all of them. Only one plant has actual fruit forming, but the rest won't be far behind. My Moneymaker are huge with lots of flowers too. Black Russian are smaller but have lots of buds ready to open - the one or two flowers that have opened are huge! Roma isn't doing well at all. I have the fewest of them, as the seedlings were all slower than the others, and they still seem much smaller and spindlier than the rest. No buds at all on any of them yet. I also have a Brutus that my uncle gave me, which is much smaller than I expected for such large fruit, but it looks really healthy and is starting to flower. Already looking forward to next year to try more varieties - I've not even tasted any of them yet! 

Mr C has had a busy weekend building a pergola arch between my raised beds. Just need to attach trellis to it, and I'll be growing sweet peas (and who knows what else) up it next year. 

droopsnoot

I had a flower on one of my pepper plants, but it fell off. Then I figured it might be better to put it in the back greenhouse (there's a lean-to over the back door of the house) and it's got some more flowers, and what appears to be the start of a very small pepper on it. I've got three out there now that look as if they could be doing something. Now it's warmer I think I'll stick them all out there, as soon as I've made room.

ancientmum

My tomato plants sound a bit behind everyone else.  I had a problem with blight last year, so have tried a different tack, spreading them out among fruit and flowers rather in a bed on their own.  I'm hoping this will mean that any blight or diseases or pests will not spread so easily from one plant to another,  a bit of an experiment.

RelievedSheff

Our parsnips have been attacked by black flie. Any tips for getting rid of them would be gratefully appreciated.

Have had to put loads of chilli powder in one of the carrott troughs to stop next doors bloody cat digging in there  

The chillies are doing fine outside although they are still quite small and no signs of flowers from them yet. 

The beetroot are growing like mad. Don't think it will be too much longer before we can start to harvest them. Will probably plant a second batch as we are using the first ones.

-taff

drop or two of washing up liquid in a spray bottle of water and blast them off. Disturb the ground around them in case you have an ants nest nearby, they farm them.

carinjo

-taff said:

drop or two of washing up liquid in a spray bottle of water and blast them off. Disturb the ground around them in case you have an ants nest nearby, they farm them.

My problem is that i was unable to get to allotment for over a week! Saw some small pods yesterday, so will harvest them young. Thinking of what i can put in afterwards, will be too hot for lettuce i think, maybe just throw a packet of speedy flower seeds i got gifted over the area.
Regarding the "big seeds", i managed my hope to get at least 2 of each onto the allotment. Covered areas with weedsuppressing fabric and made crosses in it. Crown prince, butternut, honeyboat, patti pan, 2 types courgette, bush marrow. 
Soil on the second plot been covered since october. Very clay. Worried i did not put enough compost in the holes, but we shall see.
The cucumber staying at home and only 1 aubergine have survived the slug in zippy greenhouse.
Got an early birthday present from friends, a bag of seed packets with 30 types of seeds including tigerella and yellow pear tomatoes! It me sorted for seeds next year except pumpkin and potatoes. Yeah for good friends!

Suffolk_lass

carinjo said:

-taff said:

drop or two of washing up liquid in a spray bottle of water and blast them off. Disturb the ground around them in case you have an ants nest nearby, they farm them.

My problem is that i was unable to get to allotment for over a week! Saw some small pods yesterday, so will harvest them young. Thinking of what i can put in afterwards, will be too hot for lettuce i think, maybe just throw a packet of speedy flower seeds i got gifted over the area.
Regarding the "big seeds", i managed my hope to get at least 2 of each onto the allotment. Covered areas with weedsuppressing fabric and made crosses in it. Crown prince, butternut, honeyboat, patti pan, 2 types courgette, bush marrow. 
Soil on the second plot been covered since october. Very clay. Worried i did not put enough compost in the holes, but we shall see.
The cucumber staying at home and only 1 aubergine have survived the slug in zippy greenhouse.
Got an early birthday present from friends, a bag of seed packets with 30 types of seeds including tigerella and yellow pear tomatoes! It me sorted for seeds next year except pumpkin and potatoes. Yeah for good friends!

Try Phacelia seeds as a green manure - if you leave them until they flower the bees will thank you too

Ellie78

After 2.5 months of digging up weeds and rubbish from my allotment plot I FINALLY PUT THE FIRST PLANTS IN TODAY!

carinjo

Congrats @Ellie78, it's a great feeling, isn't it?! @Suffolk_lass thanks for the reminder of green manure, i have a packet of buckwheat i can use. 
Harvested a few handfuls of young broadbeans yesterday, so will try and keep them going for now. 
Ms C planted all the leek seedlings out for me yesterday. I earthed up another row of potatoes, planted the rest of the tomatoes i got gifted (and re-gifted half to a new allotmenteer!) Both are starting to flower. 
No sign of the kale seedlings yet, but only been a week. Planting more italian dwarf barlotti beans today, not even 50% of them germinated or survived, mr Angelo advised me to cover the area because the birds will pick the seed as it pushes through the ground. 
I got ms C strawberry plants for a hanging basket and perennial flowers as a thank you, planted that, final potting of outdoor cucumbers and built a frame for sweetpeas at home. As a treat to myself got a few herb pots for home, since the slugs ate all my tarragon grown from seed. 
Off to the allotment before it gets too hot, make sure to take care everyone, i already got sunstroke once this week and was not even on allotment that day!