The even bigger and better and hopefully not lower bits of growing your own in 2022!

Suffolk_lass

I have the same with Sweet Peas this year @Kantankrus_Mare - it isn't unusual for me though. I grow them near my beans. They look lovely, smell gorgeous and act as a wave to pollinators (as in "ere Bert, we're over here!").

We had to euthanise a wasps nest last night (well DH did it) - it was in the lawn that had reached hay-length and was being cut. It is fast approaching the time when wasps are a problem here. 

sammy_kaye18

We had our first wasp in the house yesterday @Suffolk_lass but I dont really think we get many here. Im in a welsh valley so there's much more for them to bother with than me in my garden although we did have a nest of miner bees a few years back which made cutting the grass interesting! 

Well have had my first small harvest of peas from the plants that I have planted. My daughter is enjoying picking and shelling them so we will add them to something this weekend - I also harvested and thinned some more of my carrots and they seem to be growing well - they were more an experiment so I threw them all in a box and hoped for the best but now I realise I should do rows and make life easier for myself - there is definitely some wonky veg coming out but at least I know it grows now. 

Also was so disappointed to see the amount of pea pods I was going to be throwing away so I am now saving them up to make pea pod soup since I cant apparently feed them to the guinea pig but my chihuahua seems to like them to nibble on! So hoping to get some soup made and put into the freezer to get us through winter as well. 

Second lot of peas have started to sprout and runner beans although my other runner beans have grown up my arch lovely but I am yet to see a pod on there. I have my first courgette though which I am nursing and will be picking today or tomorrow I expect as a few more look like they are going to be productive. 

I am thinking I will start to look into getting some seeds into stock as the sales start to hit so I have them ready and in time for next year. I have had a few strawberries but I definitely need to let them set down runners so I can get a better yield next year. 

Looking in ALDI too = they havea  little seedling started greenhouse - think it had 3 shelves - for £19.99 - I recommended it to my sister and I think shes going to get one to start her garden - my birthdays coming up so I did drop the hint that maybe her sister might like one too :-) 

It is far too hot to do anything in our garden today - no shade at all - so I am hiding for now but I do know I have cabbages sprouted that need to be broken up and moved on - and I think I have a few tomatoes to put into bigger tubs too. 

carinjo

Harvested the Swift first earlies this afternoon (and yes, it was hot, not sure what possessed me) the yield from 10 plants was very small compared to nicolas and charlottes 2 years ago. About a level blue veg tray compared to about 14kg of nicolas from same amount of plants. Think will do nicolas again next year.
Weeding the dwarf french beans and harvested a big handful, was a nice surprise.
Weeded the big seeds: pumpkin, butternut, yellow courgette. They all struggling, but hope they will get somewhere.
Now have tomorrow off from work, so hoping to get on allotment first thing before the heat.
@sammy_kaye18 i need to find a permanent spot for my gifted strawberries too, only had a few from the 10 plants, but they are spreading over weed suppressing fabric which won't help them at all. Thinking of doing a narrow raised bed and position it as part of the border to the plot. 
A very cold drink for me now!

sammy_kaye18

carinjo said:

@sammy_kaye18 i need to find a permanent spot for my gifted strawberries too, only had a few from the 10 plants, but they are spreading over weed suppressing fabric which won't help them at all. Thinking of doing a narrow raised bed and position it as part of the border to the plot. 
A very cold drink for me now!

I only had 5 plants but one of them is practically none existant and didnt survive transplanting and one seems to be a single leaf but it looks like its hanging on . The other 3 seem to be ok though but Im hoping they will set out their runners soon. 

I do have a big courgette going and another two are starting to make their way on the other plant now. Im getting a few peas a day at the minute and the ones I succession planted are now all sprouting so I will be putting them on again soon enough. 
My sprouts and cabbages are going to need transplanting soon but I am going to wait until its cooler. 

I did notice today though that my morning glory plant had its first beautiful purple flower on it, so I have moved it to the front door and have set a pot either side of the door and used some cotton to train it to grow up either side of the door hopefully. I cant find my twine to reinforce it but the cotton will work for now because its not very big and only one flower between the two pots! But it does look ever so pretty. 

My nan has sent me a picture this morning though - when I saw her at the beginning of the year we planted pansies in a pot on her gravel front garden and somehow they have self seeded and she now has a front garden full of pansies. Id love some so I have told her to send some my way if she manages to harvest seeds from them

Definitely need to get some more flowers next year in my garden but I have also noticed I have a patch of clover growing in the lawn too that I really want to encourage so when I cut the grass next I will raise the blade a bit to try and keep it as intact as possible and hope it spreads! 

Suffolk_lass

Mostly harvesting, watering and pulling the odd weed here. I have several areas that need improving but just when I thought the veg garden was safe we have a mole! It keeps trying to surface (under membrane, slabs and sleepers) and I now have regular mounds under and beside plants, and more irritatingly, along the paths, in the gravel

carinjo

Suffolk_lass said:

Mostly harvesting, watering and pulling the odd weed here. I have several areas that need improving but just when I thought the veg garden was safe we have a mole! It keeps trying to surface (under membrane, slabs and sleepers) and I now have regular mounds under and beside plants, and more irritatingly, along the paths, in the gravel

"the odd weed" After pulling out the weeds between the dwarf italian beans, some beans actually toppled over since not being propped up anymore! 
Good luck with the mole.
Weeding and watering mainly and also watering for a neighbour with as many lettuce as we want as a thank you.

Suffolk_lass

I'm going to ask a neighbour to pick (and consume) and do a really good water for us while we are away - only five days but we all know what fruit and veg can do in 5 days!

Jazee

Hello all.  I've missed this thread for the last two years and just found you all again this morning.
 I have to admit to rather neglecting my garden/ allotment this year.  It looks a mess.  However the raspberries, blueberries and strawberries have all been doing their own thing and I got a pretty good harvest of new potatoes yesterday.  

A friend gave me some leek plants so they are now outside and I have in the greenhouse about ten various tomato plants and one pepper.
This morning I have sown some more chive seeds and flower seeds for next spring to encourage pollination.

Suffolk_lass

We are particularly conscious of what flowers when for pollinators @Jazee as we keep bees. At the moment they are all over the marjoram in the lawn, which we let grow and is in flower, along with Perovska (Russian Sage) Echinops, Verbena and Lavender - they really like blue and purple flowers. In the veg garden they are enjoying runner beans and raspberries at the moment.

When I walked my dog last night I noted that they were on lime blossom but the brambles have already all-but finished flowering. It is almost time to harvest the summer honey, I think

leftatthetrafficlights

We've been harvesting broad beans, runner beans, beetroot, cabbage, carrots, courgettes, fennel, potatoes, radish, romanesca cauliflower,  spring onions, tomatoes and mountains of salad leaves! The sweetcorn is starting to form cobs and the calabrese is not too far off now either 😁 chilli's are doing well and I've had an aubergine but despite a prolific amount of flowers, it's not produced any more 🤔

Unfortunately the turnips bolted and the strawberries have pretty much been non-existent but it's turning out to be a really productive year 😁