New to the allotment

[October]

My daughter and I have just [end of March] taken on an allotment between us. We are very excited, but don't know much - only what I remember from my Dad, long gone now, bless him.

We have each made some beds and I have early potatoes growing in one of mine. She has some main crop ones coming. I'm afraid we have made some mistakes, so any advice would be really appreciated. These are some of our disasters:

She planted butternut squash in peat pots, and they grew really well, but have now died before she could put them in the ground - had a wet windy week so she thought she ought to wait for better weather.

I grew sprout plants in a cold frame I found on the allotment. They grew really well. Then I put six of them into the ground and when I came back next day there were only six stalks left!

We both planted peas, but when they came up something ate them and the edges are all frilly. I put a net over mine and planted some more that I had grown in a tray, then I read somewhere that they don't like their roots being disturbed. They still all look frilly.

I dug my beds really well and pulled out as many weed roots as I could see - it had been rotovated so they were all in tiny pieces, but loads and loads of bindweed is coming up and great big mare's tails. Shall I just leave the mare's tails? I can only pull off the tops anyway without disturbing the things that are growing. There are even more on my daughter's side as she couldn't dig so thoroughly, having three babies who all want to help. [5, 3 and 1]

We have some purple sprouting broccoli seedlings - what will eat these? The allotment is on the edge of the marsh, but the ground is quite dry - at least it was until this week.

Thanks for any help. Glad I discovered this site.

[Mrs Dobby]

Hi October, and a warm welcome to the madhouse reffered to by the inmates as the 'vine! Hope you enjoy it as much as the rest of the grapes do!

Congrats on the new plot, we got our very overgrown plot in September last year, and although we were very thorough on removing weed roots we've still plenty of thistle, dandelion, mares tail and bindweed growing! It can take quite a few years to get rid of the bindweed, but the more you pull up (or snap off), the more you will weaken the roots if you want to stay organic! Quite a few folks advocate the use of glyphosate for things like bindweed, if you do a search on the vine then I'm sure you'll find loads of advice!

There's plenty of time to grow some more butternut squash, so dont worry too much, it sounds if they were in peat pots as though they may have simply found it too cold, where were they being kept, and if they had been brought out from inside had they been sufficiently 'hardened off' before they were kept outside / in a greenhouse? Thay also could have possibly been overwatered, underwatered or simply run out of nutrients, without knowing a bit more of the conditions it is almost impossible to say!

The sprouts sound as though they have been nibbled, it could have been slugs, snails, wabbits, pigeons or any number of insects! A lot of folks recommend growing your brassicas under the protection of netting, prefferably of a thin enough weave that it would prevent cabbage whites from laying their eggs on the brassicas.

Pea edges frilly? Suggests insect attack, check them and protect, possibly with some rhubarb tea or anything else that any of the other grapes can recommend!

Anyhows, I hope this is of some help, dont forget that having a plot is supposed to be enjoyable as well as productive, we all loose some crops and produce to pests, but as long as you have enough for yourself and find it enjoyable, then thats what matters!

[nick the grief]

Hi October,

Welcome to the Vine.

The frilly leaves fist off, sounds like some sort of flea beetle attack, they will recover from this theu just look bad.

As to your peas, I would guess it's Mice that have been moving you r peas around for you What a lot of the guys on our site do is sow them and then cover with the green shading matierial and dig in on all 4 sides of the row so that it is tight across the peas this stops the mice getting at them but you have to remove it when they start to sprout. You can sow in lengths of guttering ( check skips in the area for a free supply) and then when they are big enough you make a shallow drill in the ground and just slide your peas into it.

Your sprouts were probably very tasty and the local pigeons & rabbits enjoyed them no end you need some wire mesh tunnels over them to stop the little buggers getting at them or a shotgun

The butternut squash - I'd re sow as it's still OK to sow them (I've only just done my COurgettes and won't plant them out till the end of May)

Bind weed only needs a fragment of root to regrow I'm afraid so you'll have to keep waging war on this one ( you could try painting the leaves with some Roundup, it will see it off but wait for the sunny weather to re-appear)

The Mares tail - this is a real pest I'm afraid. It will love the marsh conditions nearby and you'll need a JCB to dig the roots out. The only thing I can suggest is bruise the leaves and then spray/paint with round up but it will still need several goes to make any impression on it.

Aoart from that your doing fine

[Alice]

Welcome to the Vine October. Hope you enjoy your plot with your daughter.
I think it's been much too cold for your squash, but you have planty of time to replant. I planted in May last year and got a good crop.
Your peas may be fine - or again plenty of time to replant.
Mare's tails - well, what can you say. Very difficult to be rid of. I don't see any point in trying to dig out. The roots go to Australia - and you always miss a bit. Spraying with Roundup helps to keep them under control. Conventional wisdom says bruise them first but I've never found a good way to do that. I find if you wet them with soapy water first the weedkiller is more effective (helps the weedkiller to stick on)
Finally, as one grape to another, can I suggest you break your questions up into individual posts. I think you will get more help from more people that way. Happy gardening to you and your daughter.

[Flummery]

Welcome to the vine. It's a steep learning curve October - but you'll get there. Most of your disasters can be tried again - it's still early in the year. You are always in competition for your crops - insects, birds, mice etc. You really need to protect everything. I've still got mares' tails in my garden after 7 years - but they're losing the battle! Best of luck.

[Paulottie]

Hello and Welcome October.

First, it maybe an idea to invest in a simple book. I'd say 'the vegtable and herb expert' by dr Hessayon is an easy to find and read manual for beginners. You will find all you need to know and more on the vine but I think you need to get a basic overall picture.

Next you need to weigh up the pros and cons of clearing your plot of perennial weeds. This is vital for any long term crops (rasberries asparagus etc.) but more than that gardening is so much more fun once they are gone. As the plot has been rotavated i'd say that the best idea is to use weedkiller (round up is the expensive trade name for glyphosate) leave a while and then plant through a membrane. This is an investment but saves a lot of backache. This is certainly something you could investigate on here.

Frilly peas are pea weevil-bad this year. Difficult to control. Gutter method of pea sowing good again a thread going on this

I love he way kids 'helping' doubles the time everything takes! but it is so great for you all as a family. So, the big thing is not to get dissallusioned or overwhelmed, it's tough to start with but so much easier and more productive when you get going. You'll find many word of advise and encouragment here. We just love talking about our passion and will just coax you through every step if you want

Good Luck and hear from you soon

[Two_Sheds]

Keep at it! Sounds like you've got a healthy snail population!
Sow plenty...you should plant one for yourself, one for the pests, one for acts of Gods/droughts/floods

[mrskp]

Hi there October, hope you feel right at home here. It's really nice place to be.

I wish I had my daughter up here with me to share the plot I haven't got ! So you do have loads going for you already. Just imagine how happy you'll be when things start going right.

Agree that the Dr Hessayon book is a great place to start and if you can stand the woman, Carol Klein's Grow Your Own Veg isn't a bad read if you can still find it on a deal somewhere, or Joy Larcom's Grow Your Own Vegetables which is a great handbook although not if want photographs as it's full of line drawings.

Oh, and I am learning to love mare's tail, I've got it in all the paths and two flower beds, thank goodness it hasn't got through to the veggie plot yet.

And I wish I'd taken notice of everything I read not to sow stuff too early ! I'm now struggling on keeping the beans going indoors cos it's too cold outside yet, and they're scrambling all over the place.

Good luck.

[October]

Thanks for all the good advice! Brilliant

Thank you all for the great advice - I was really thrilled when I came back after a day with my youngest daughter [went outside and mulled over her plants in the rain!] and found all these posts! What a great bunch of grapes you all are!

I'm hoping it might not be raining tomorrow so I can go up there and inspect the damage. Thanks for the advice to split the posts - I will do that next time. I will get a book also - my daughter has one, but I don't.

Very cheered up by the thought of the mares tails going down to Australia so whatever I did I would still have had them in the plot!

Also very encouraged to find it's not too late to plant things. Will cover more things with netting - but who would have thought those sprouts would have turned to stalks in just a couple of days??

Thanks again everyone!