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

MovingForwards

@Fosterdog paint it on as @Suffolk_lass has said, then cover it over with a bag / sandwich bag to stop the soon to be dead bindweed touching anything else. What some people do / recommend is staking the bindweed, letting the leaves grow to full size then paint and cover as it works better.

Unfortunately, thanks to the business next door it's crept into my garden and I'm going to have to follow my own advice. 

carinjo

The allotment infested with tomato blight. Some allotmenteers trying to rescue some plants, some just leaving it. I think i will attempt a bit of a rescue. 
The "big seeds" like pumpkin and courgette all doing well. Only just had the first sunflower, well, flower, beginning of this week. Think that says everything about the weather this summer.
Onions (and possibly garlic) will come out in a few days, the bed overtaken by weeds, so just rather harvest and clear the bed in one go.
A nice surprise earlier this week: i did end up with some kale (cavolo nero), my labelling this years was a bit hit and miss. Now the brassica bed is getting crowded with my lovely tunnel netting, will have to change it to a box shape, the kale is pushing against the sides, so are the purple sprouting broccolli.

@Suffolk_lass, got a question about crown prince pumpkin: does one cut the main stem at some point? Mine is almost 2metres and each plant got at least 2 pumpkins from what i could see.
Also, any advice on keeping slugs off the baby pumpkin? Was thinking of raising each one onto an overturned seedling tray and doing a ring of slug pellets!!

A visit to a PYO with sister and her kids yesterday saw a few rows of cornflowers and sunflowers grown through weedsupressing fabric. Some questions later and it is not only for attracting polinators, but the fabric means they dont't have to worry about weeding. What a lovely idea! Might try that with my cutflowers want to do next year. Definately with the onions and garlic. The marestail is soul destroying. 
The broadbeans are done, but due to rust will stick on the burn pile. Want to prepare the bed for spring cabbage and before that baby beetroot.
And yes, i miss Ms C, the allotment is no fun without her *sighs* 

bluesooz

oh that's a shame about the blight carinjo.  My toms have suffered every year out doors, although the 3 'spare' plants that are outside this year are ok so far  - the blight typically waits till the toms are growing really well and nearly ready to ripen before I lose them all! 

The greenhouse toms are all covered on lots of green toms and I have even harvested 2 from the 3 sungold plants - only trouble is one was yellow and the other was red, so at least one plant isn't sungold.  Was a very nice sweet tomato though, so not a problem.

Also harvested 3 greenhouse cucumbers and the outdoor cues are looking good too.

I have leaf cutter bees in a few pots. One is an old pot of semperviviums that I keep meaning to sort out.  Saw a couple of bees go in and out, so will have to delay sorting pot out and leave them to it.  Probably explains why I have a lot of leaves with odd holes in though!

Suffolk_lass

@carinjo I'm not sure about the Crown Price stems - we grew one last year and let it go - it went about 20feet and we harvested 7 good sized pumpkins, with the last two benefitting from harvesting the first five. This year we have more than one stem and it is already through the metal rabbit fence and setting off across the path. I would be inclined to leave it. 

Re blight, I know we have two raised beds where the potatoes always get it but not this year's bed. As a result I grow all my tomatoes in pots (9 in the greenhouse, 6 against the house). Nothing much happening in the greenhouse yet but just a few sungolds for our salads.

Leaf-cutter beed leave a semi-circular hole in the leaves. I think they prefer certain things like privet but they apparently like rose and wisteria leaves, and false acacia. Fascinating pollinators.

We have been harvesting and prepping gooseberries and blackcurrants, along with dwarf French and broad beans. A fun Saturday night as I peeled all the broad beans we had harvested ready to freeze (I use them in stews and chilli in the winter, instead of borlotti or pinto beans). Still got half to do. Also still harvesting rhubarb. I need to freeze more before it finishes.

I must also harvest onions, garlic and potatoes this week. The garlic scapes were all snipped off yesterday as I knew there was no time and I did not want the bulb to lose nutrients

carinjo

Early morning before work for a tomato rescue mission. Basically copied someone else by removing yellowed/dead branches, cleared everything at the bottom leaving a clear stem, also removed 3 plants that were not going to make it to give a bit more breathing room for plants either side.
Made space for 1 pumpkin to grow further and will clear another path after work. 

ampersand

Courgettes Chompers🤬

Losing the battle, despite corpses after spreading blue sweeties and white sweeties😬 -
Me v. slugs+snails:



Checked again this morning, all the above chewed back to stubs, over and again since last week - 6 plants, now jungled together.  Solutions please?

Suffolk_lass

Maybe put on a slug collar (I believe you can get one with copper) and then add a layer of horticultural grit around the base of your courgettes to deter their slimy path. The problem with slug pellets is that birds then eat the slugs/snails and they are rather indiscriminate. I'm sure someone did a review this year on the best deterrents and I'm pretty sure grit and copper worked up to a point. The grit works round our hostas

ancientmum

Just been to our local Wilko and all seeds are half price

ampersand

Thankyou Suffolk_lass, 🙂.

Haven't looked yet today.  Was pruning powdery mildew shoots off sessile oak  🤬after i.d. of that.

Courgette jungle crossover, also book-ended by fig and abutilon, is so meshed and dense, little birds can't+don't go in.  They feed here, out back, especially as bsck field wheat is grain-gold-ready.

I will try again with grit.  Friend is desperately using copper tape at back door!  
 .
I spear the sods, murderess moi - 12 so far today.  Have resited pumpkins in bags.....and just been pooped on, this very second😁.

It's supposed to be Good Luck!
 

LessImpecunious

ampersand said:

Courgettes Chompers🤬

Losing the battle, despite corpses after spreading blue sweeties and white sweeties😬 -
Me v. slugs+snails:



Checked again this morning, all the above chewed back to stubs, over and again since last week - 6 plants, now jungled together.  Solutions please?

Hi ampersand - are you sure its slugs and snails doing the damage? - these seem pretty big to be eaten by them - I've never had actual decent-size courgettes eaten by molluscs, only very young plants and maybe very tiny young fruits...