Haven't been able to get down to the lottie for over a week due to
thunderstorms and other parts of life intruding on my time.

I had to do nearly 3 hours of weeding! Managed to get a few cabbages
transplanted, intended to put the leeks out but ran out of time (and
energy). It's an open site and it was hot.

Was glad to see my brother had managed to get some horse manure and put in
on the compost heap, there is now a mountain of weeds on top.

Surprisingly, I've had very little trouble with slugs and snails, just a bit
of outside leaf damage on the lettuces.

The first courgettes have got away from us just with a week of rain and not
being picked. Stuffed marrow coming up.. every day.
Runner beans doing well. We did an experiment - my brother's beans would
have a trench dug for them filled with newspaper, chicken manure etc to be
transplanted out on top of it, and mine would be transplanted straight into
the ground with bfb scattered on top. No contest. His are romping away and
already have some beans on. Mine are doing OK, have plenty of flowers on
but are definitely not so..luxuriant.

Had my first completely homegrown salad today. New potatoes, iceberg
lettuce, cucumber and radish. Just added a tin of tuna.

I found lots of ants in the salad beds, when I weeded I kept disturbing
their nests. I was going to transplant the leeks out in there, but decided
not to as I think they might stop the leeks settling their roots down.

Sweetcorn looks OK. We've never grown it before. Landcress (never grown
that before either) doesn't look quite ready otherwise I would have added it
to my salad today.

Spinach has been a disaster. I've sowed it three times, it either does not
come up, or comes up and bolts when only two inches high. I won't try it
again, I'll plant leefbeet.
Beetroot was also a disaster.

Peas didn't do that well but I didn't plant enough. I know better for next
year and I will probably sow full sized peas rather than dwarf.

Tina

Christina Websell wrote:
Was glad to see my brother had managed to get some horse manure and put in
on the compost heap, there is now a mountain of weeds on top.

I'm starting to wonder if it's the horse poo that brought in so many slugs,
as it's the thing that Nick didn't nemaslug.

The first courgettes have got away from us just with a week of rain and not
being picked. Stuffed marrow coming up.. every day.

I've had 1 courgette so far. 1 fell off with a rotten flower today, and
I picked a slug off one that may grow. I have a week for them to start
producing, or else this will be my first year of no courgettes to put in
the show. :-(

Runner beans doing well. We did an experiment - my brother's beans would
have a trench dug for them filled with newspaper, chicken manure etc to be
transplanted out on top of it, and mine would be transplanted straight into
the ground with bfb scattered on top. No contest. His are romping away and
already have some beans on. Mine are doing OK, have plenty of flowers on
but are definitely not so..luxuriant.

Good to know. My basket-based ones are doing ok, but they are going to need
a lot of watering.

Sweetcorn looks OK. We've never grown it before. Landcress (never grown
that before either) doesn't look quite ready otherwise I would have added it
to my salad today.

Our sweetcorn is way shorter than it normally is, and we don't seem to be
the only ones. Think we put ours in later than normal due to weather.

Spinach has been a disaster. I've sowed it three times, it either does not
come up, or comes up and bolts when only two inches high. I won't try it
again, I'll plant leefbeet.
Beetroot was also a disaster.

We haven't put any beetroot in this year, but normally it is reliable.
Zero on carrots or scorzenera, they went the same sluggy way as the beans.

Peas didn't do that well but I didn't plant enough. I know better for next
year and I will probably sow full sized peas rather than dwarf.

I thought we hadn't done enough peas, but now they're up and running they
are doing well. Surprisingly (touch wood, cover ears, etc) not a single
instances of pea moth yet!

wrote in message
...
Christina Websell wrote:
Was glad to see my brother had managed to get some horse manure and put
in
on the compost heap, there is now a mountain of weeds on top.

I'm starting to wonder if it's the horse poo that brought in so many
slugs,
as it's the thing that Nick didn't nemaslug.

I'm fairly sure I know where he got it from, it is fresh, straight from
stable to bag so shouldn't have any slugs in. Whether it will attract
slugs in the rotting down process we'll have to see.
This year we have only used chicken manure from my own hens which has rotted
down on my garden heap that contains woodash from my woodburner and weeds
from home.
When we planted the courgettes we put them on a heap of this mixed with soil
and haven't fed them at all, haven't needed to.

When I kept a horse myself, the heap of poo and straw used to get so hot
that any slugs that crept in there would have been fried.

"Christina Websell" wrote


Haven't been able to get down to the lottie for over a week due to
thunderstorms and other parts of life intruding on my time.

I had to do nearly 3 hours of weeding! Managed to get a few cabbages
transplanted, intended to put the leeks out but ran out of time (and
energy). It's an open site and it was hot.

Was glad to see my brother had managed to get some horse manure and put in
on the compost heap, there is now a mountain of weeds on top.

Surprisingly, I've had very little trouble with slugs and snails, just a
bit of outside leaf damage on the lettuces.

The first courgettes have got away from us just with a week of rain and not
being picked. Stuffed marrow coming up.. every day.
Runner beans doing well. We did an experiment - my brother's beans would
have a trench dug for them filled with newspaper, chicken manure etc to be
transplanted out on top of it, and mine would be transplanted straight into
the ground with bfb scattered on top. No contest. His are romping away
and already have some beans on. Mine are doing OK, have plenty of flowers
on but are definitely not so..luxuriant.

Had my first completely homegrown salad today. New potatoes, iceberg
lettuce, cucumber and radish. Just added a tin of tuna.

I found lots of ants in the salad beds, when I weeded I kept disturbing
their nests. I was going to transplant the leeks out in there, but decided
not to as I think they might stop the leeks settling their roots down.

Sweetcorn looks OK. We've never grown it before. Landcress (never grown
that before either) doesn't look quite ready otherwise I would have added
it to my salad today.

Spinach has been a disaster. I've sowed it three times, it either does
not come up, or comes up and bolts when only two inches high. I won't try
it again, I'll plant leefbeet.
Beetroot was also a disaster.

Peas didn't do that well but I didn't plant enough. I know better for next
year and I will probably sow full sized peas rather than dwarf.


I think you chose a very difficult year to start your "allotment". I can't
remember a season so difficult for a lot of plants especially with Blight
coming so early too. From what we see only the Shallots and Onions have done
as well as usual although other things seem to have started growing normally
now the weather has normalised.
--
Regards. Bob Hobden.
Posted to this Newsgroup from the W of London, UK

Martin wrote:

On 8 Aug 2012 23:02:32 GMT, wrote:

I've had 1 courgette so far. 1 fell off with a rotten flower
today, and I picked a slug off one that may grow. I have a week
for them to start producing, or else this will be my first year of
no courgettes to put in the show. :-(

We have marrows too.

Same here. Managed to get a few while they were still courgettes but
they're fruiting faster than we can eat them!

This is my first proper year of growing veg (although it's just a very
small selection) and they're the only real success although I still
have hopes for the runner beans and butternut squash.

The outdoor tomatoes were an unmitigated disaster!

--
Chris

"Christina Websell" wrote in message
...

Stuffed marrow coming up.. every day.


I know how that feels! We had it last night. And three days ago. And last
week! (Different recipe every time though so I'm still enjoying it)

I've had my allotment since Easter weekend and whilst I'm delighted with the
progress we have made so far, I mis-judged the amount of courgette/marrow
plants we were going to want (just me, my better half and our 13-month-old).

I'm a little baffled about how long my (supposedly early) sweetcorn will
take but as everyone keeps saying - this is a bad year for beginners as a
lot of the rules seem to have gone out of the window. Still, the 'corn is
as tall as I am so won't be too long I hope.

Regards - Jamie.

"Martin" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 9 Aug 2012 09:46:12 +0100, "Jamie D."
wrote:
Marrow and ginger jam next?

http://www.allotment.org.uk/recipes/...and-ginger-jam

Note the other recipes.
--

Martin


I'll have a look at that as one of the next efforts - I think there are 4 or
5 marrows at the moment waiting for me to go and get them so I will need
some of the others too!

Not that I'm complaining, lovely fresh veggies, (almost) free. A glut is a
good thing too as I can give them out to people who thought I wouldn't be
able to (or be bothered to) grow anything.

Hurrah!

On 08/09/2012 03:35 PM, Jamie D. wrote:
I'll have a look at that as one of the next efforts - I think there are 4 or
5 marrows at the moment waiting for me to go and get them so I will need
some of the others too!

I think I say this every year, but stuffed marrow freezes very well.

If you're not a vegetarian you can cut in half, scoop out the seeds and
fill with sausage meat, top with sliced tomato and grated cheese, wrap
foil around the lot.

Then over the next 6 months, pop it directly into the oven.

Good stuff, but lack of time has kept us from doing a veg garden over
the past few years.

-E

"Emery Davis" wrote in message
...
I think I say this every year, but stuffed marrow freezes very well.

If you're not a vegetarian you can cut in half, scoop out the seeds and
fill with sausage meat, top with sliced tomato and grated cheese, wrap
foil around the lot.

Sounds like a very good idea. Definitely not a veggie, one of the ways we
have cooked it was stuffed with sausage meat & other veg; another was
stuffed with bolognaise. I thought about it when we got the allotment, but
never got around to picking up a second hand chest freezer. I'll certainly
need one at this rate.

Thanks for the advice.

"Jamie D." wrote in message
...
"Martin" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 9 Aug 2012 09:46:12 +0100, "Jamie D."
wrote:
Marrow and ginger jam next?

http://www.allotment.org.uk/recipes/...and-ginger-jam

Note the other recipes.
--

Martin


I'll have a look at that as one of the next efforts - I think there are 4
or 5 marrows at the moment waiting for me to go and get them so I will
need some of the others too!

Not that I'm complaining, lovely fresh veggies, (almost) free. A glut is a
good thing too as I can give them out to people who thought I wouldn't be
able to (or be bothered to) grow anything.

Hurrah!

I went to my friend's house today to give her a very large round courgette.
I knew she would cook it and not waste it and I put a nice recipe with
chorizo in there that I'd printed off the internet.
Unfortunately she was out so I left it on the doorstep.
I gave her the biggest one as her son lives there too.
I still have a big round courgette for myself and a large green marrow and a
huge one. How do they get so big so quickly?
They weighed so much I had to use both arms to carry them back to the car in
two bags.
I've bought mince today to make stuffing for them, I have couscous for
another recipe. They won't be wasted by me. If they overwhelm me, my hens
will eat them and turn them into eggs.
I think I can say that T&M seeds have been a success.

Tina

"Bob Hobden" wrote in message
...
"Christina Websell" wrote


Haven't been able to get down to the lottie for over a week due to
thunderstorms and other parts of life intruding on my time.

I had to do nearly 3 hours of weeding! Managed to get a few cabbages
transplanted, intended to put the leeks out but ran out of time (and
energy). It's an open site and it was hot.

Was glad to see my brother had managed to get some horse manure and put in
on the compost heap, there is now a mountain of weeds on top.

Surprisingly, I've had very little trouble with slugs and snails, just a
bit of outside leaf damage on the lettuces.

The first courgettes have got away from us just with a week of rain and
not being picked. Stuffed marrow coming up.. every day.
Runner beans doing well. We did an experiment - my brother's beans
would have a trench dug for them filled with newspaper, chicken manure
etc to be transplanted out on top of it, and mine would be transplanted
straight into the ground with bfb scattered on top. No contest. His are
romping away and already have some beans on. Mine are doing OK, have
plenty of flowers on but are definitely not so..luxuriant.

Had my first completely homegrown salad today. New potatoes, iceberg
lettuce, cucumber and radish. Just added a tin of tuna.

I found lots of ants in the salad beds, when I weeded I kept disturbing
their nests. I was going to transplant the leeks out in there, but
decided not to as I think they might stop the leeks settling their roots
down.

Sweetcorn looks OK. We've never grown it before. Landcress (never grown
that before either) doesn't look quite ready otherwise I would have added
it to my salad today.

Spinach has been a disaster. I've sowed it three times, it either does
not come up, or comes up and bolts when only two inches high. I won't try
it again, I'll plant leefbeet.
Beetroot was also a disaster.

Peas didn't do that well but I didn't plant enough. I know better for
next year and I will probably sow full sized peas rather than dwarf.


I think you chose a very difficult year to start your "allotment". I can't
remember a season so difficult for a lot of plants especially with Blight
coming so early too. From what we see only the Shallots and Onions have
done as well as usual although other things seem to have started growing
normally now the weather has normalised.


Normalised? Thunderstorms 2-3 times daily for 4 days last week and
localised torrential flooding and now up into the 20's?
Not normal yet.

"Christina Websell" wrote...


"Bob Hobden" wrote
"Christina Websell" wrote


Haven't been able to get down to the lottie for over a week due to
thunderstorms and other parts of life intruding on my time.

I had to do nearly 3 hours of weeding! Managed to get a few cabbages
transplanted, intended to put the leeks out but ran out of time (and
energy). It's an open site and it was hot.

Was glad to see my brother had managed to get some horse manure and put
in on the compost heap, there is now a mountain of weeds on top.

Surprisingly, I've had very little trouble with slugs and snails, just a
bit of outside leaf damage on the lettuces.

The first courgettes have got away from us just with a week of rain and
not being picked. Stuffed marrow coming up.. every day.
Runner beans doing well. We did an experiment - my brother's beans
would have a trench dug for them filled with newspaper, chicken manure
etc to be transplanted out on top of it, and mine would be transplanted
straight into the ground with bfb scattered on top. No contest. His are
romping away and already have some beans on. Mine are doing OK, have
plenty of flowers on but are definitely not so..luxuriant.

Had my first completely homegrown salad today. New potatoes, iceberg
lettuce, cucumber and radish. Just added a tin of tuna.

I found lots of ants in the salad beds, when I weeded I kept disturbing
their nests. I was going to transplant the leeks out in there, but
decided not to as I think they might stop the leeks settling their roots
down.

Sweetcorn looks OK. We've never grown it before. Landcress (never
grown that before either) doesn't look quite ready otherwise I would have
added it to my salad today.

Spinach has been a disaster. I've sowed it three times, it either does
not come up, or comes up and bolts when only two inches high. I won't
try it again, I'll plant leefbeet.
Beetroot was also a disaster.

Peas didn't do that well but I didn't plant enough. I know better for
next year and I will probably sow full sized peas rather than dwarf.


I think you chose a very difficult year to start your "allotment". I
can't remember a season so difficult for a lot of plants especially with
Blight coming so early too. From what we see only the Shallots and Onions
have done as well as usual although other things seem to have started
growing normally now the weather has normalised.


Normalised? Thunderstorms 2-3 times daily for 4 days last week and
localised torrential flooding and now up into the 20's?
Not normal yet.


Well it is here, luckily.
--
Regards. Bob Hobden.
Posted to this Newsgroup from the W of London, UK

"Christina Websell" wrote in message
...
If they overwhelm me, my hens will eat them and turn them into eggs.
I think I can say that T&M seeds have been a success.

Tina


What type of courgettes are you growing? Mine are bog-standard 'All Green
Bush' which were, if I recall, 49p from Morrisons. I have to say I'm
delighted with the courgettes/marrows I'm getting but would like to try a
bit more variety next time.

"Jamie D." wrote in message
...
"Christina Websell" wrote in message
...
If they overwhelm me, my hens will eat them and turn them into eggs.
I think I can say that T&M seeds have been a success.

Tina


What type of courgettes are you growing? Mine are bog-standard 'All Green
Bush' which were, if I recall, 49p from Morrisons. I have to say I'm
delighted with the courgettes/marrows I'm getting but would like to try a
bit more variety next time.

One of the seed companies does a three variety pack White, Yellow and green
and they were all very good, children however moaned about the sheer
quantity of courgette being slipped into their food!

--
Charlie, Gardening in Cornwall
Holders of National Collections of Clematis viticella
and Lapageria rosea cvs
http://www.roselandhouse.co.uk

Jamie D. wrote:
If they overwhelm me, my hens will eat them and turn them into eggs.
I think I can say that T&M seeds have been a success.
What type of courgettes are you growing? Mine are bog-standard 'All Green
Bush' which were, if I recall, 49p from Morrisons. I have to say I'm
delighted with the courgettes/marrows I'm getting but would like to try a
bit more variety next time.

I normally do Green Bush for reliability, and a few others for variety.
This year has been /awful/. But last year we had 3 or 4 going quite well,
think they were - defender (look like Green Bush, but long plants not
bushy), black beauty or midnight-something (not sure which worked) which
were much darker than your normals, a yellow one that I can't remember
the name of but I wasn't very impressed with the fruit which were a lot
seedier than green ones IMHO, and I got some round ones called One Ball
which were also a bit seedy.