The ups, the downs and the insides out of growing your own in 2024!

timehastoldme

Thank you all for the gooseberry advice. We had really successful bushes on our allotment, and we've inherited a bunch of stuff in this garden that we're only just learning about.

One has a mass of mint that's popped up underneath, and the other has an aquilegia growing through, and neither look to have been pruned for a while, I think a fruit bed overhaul is on the cards!

Suffolk_lass

timehastoldme said:

Thank you all for the gooseberry advice. We had really successful bushes on our allotment, and we've inherited a bunch of stuff in this garden that we're only just learning about.

One has a mass of mint that's popped up underneath, and the other has an aquilegia growing through, and neither look to have been pruned for a while, I think a fruit bed overhaul is on the cards!

When you do, don't forget to take some cuttings - they root really well if you prune early in the year as the branches are budding and they are great for swapping for others plants you want

Farway

sammy_kaye18 said:

I seriously need pay day to hurry up so I can get some compost. 

Just a thought, is there a local garden group, allotment association near you? Some have trading huts with cheaper compost, fertiliser, seeds etc.

I've only just found out the one near me has cheap compost, Doh, after all these years of trudging round Wickes etc.

alicef

I've done another tie in of the broad beans.  The first one has slipped - too early to tie in I expect - insufficient leaf nodes to hold up the string. Pinched out the tops - which I absolutely recommend doing - to minimise black fly infestation.

Currently doing the hokey cokey, (inside/outside), with the squash/melon/sweetcorn sowings.

kimwp

I've not managed to sow these so far, is it worth sowing carrots, broccoli and sweetcorn in Nottingham at this point, or will it get cold before anything can be cropped?

goldfinches

I'm trying everything I wanted to grow because looking at the plots neighbouring mine most other people's seeds are only at the 6 or so leaves stage despite them having been sown indoors or outside weeks ago. I really think that the cold, wet weather has put everyone back so far that anything that I can get going this week will catch up very quickly if it goes on being fairly warm and sunny so it's worth a go.

I've done immense amounts more weeding over the weekend and this evening and I've planted out one pot of sweet peas as well as two ridged cucumber seedlings I bought at the farmer's market yesterday morning. My sweet peas survived the night even though I turned over two old planks yesterday and found an entire legion of those horrible brown slugs hiding underneath them. I hope the birds swooped on them after I left. Tomorrow it's more weeding and hopefully planting out some tomato seedlings if I think they're robust enough to survive outdoors.

kimwp

goldfinches said:

I'm trying everything I wanted to grow because looking at the plots neighbouring mine most other people's seeds are only at the 6 or so leaves stage despite them having been sown indoors or outside weeks ago. I really think that the cold, wet weather has put everyone back so far that anything that I can get going this week will catch up very quickly if it goes on being fairly warm and sunny so it's worth a go.

I've done immense amounts more weeding over the weekend and this evening and I've planted out one pot of sweet peas as well as two ridged cucumber seedlings I bought at the farmer's market yesterday morning. My sweet peas survived the night even though I turned over two old planks yesterday and found an entire legion of those horrible brown slugs hiding underneath them. I hope the birds swooped on them after I left. Tomorrow it's more weeding and hopefully planting out some tomato seedlings if I think they're robust enough to survive outdoors.

You've inspired me, I will get sowing

Kantankrus_Mare

My tomatoes have been planted out into my greenhouse for about two weeks now. They are tiny compared to some of my fellow allotment holders but I seem to think they were like it last year and I still ended up with a good crop.

I go on holiday tomorrow for 10 days so leaving the watering to my dad. Just hope I dont come back to any deaths.

goldfinches

Have a lovely holiday Kantankrus and hope you come home to flourishing tomatoes.

I've bought some grafted tomato seedlings from the T&M site today as well as buying some beans seedlings and lots of seeds from the local garden shop. I planted and netted all the beans and netted my sweet peas and then dug, raked, watered and planted lettuce, rocket, radishes and carrots directly into drills so my fingers are firmly crossed too. I also did another hour's weeding and made a small but appreciable difference so I'm getting there but slowly.

sammy_kaye18

Enjoy your holiday Kantankrus and I will keep my fingers crossed that your dad doesnt miss any little ones. 

I gave some of my cucumbers a good bottom watering yesterday and actually got around to ordering more compost so have another 4 x 56ltr bags coming tomorrow so for today I am looking at structures to grow my peas and runner beans up since they seem to have gone mad and need replanting to their final place. So that may be my job today if the weather holds out. 

I did have a brain wave though to move some of my strawberry plants to pots I had put on the fence in the front garden so it frees up a bit of space for now in a bed and will give me more fruit hopefully again so I will try and do that today or earmark the few that I can move. I do have lots of flowers though already so hoping that is a good sign. Need to get some hay etc to stop the ones in the bed touching the soil but the ones out front will hang down so win win. 

I still seem to have some seeds to plant but Im hoping once some space in the greenhouse is freed up then they should germinate quite quickly and catch up with everyone elses.