what next.......?

[chrissie the chippy]

I finally have 3 green tomatoes on one of my 9 plants!!!

The carrots have taken great, even after transplanting (my daughter planted them at her grannys in pots ) Not much sign of the 2 packs of parsnip I planted, but I was warned it was a bad year for them. The sweetcorn looks great, I've got a lot of them! Trying baby sweetcorn too!! The beetroot looks like it is doing great, got to thin them out though

Ooooh and the pumpkins have taken well, can't wait to see what we get off them!! I've only planted out 4. I'm not sure if I have done the spacing ok, might have to upload a piccie later!

Pepper plants have flowers on, but the plants are soooo tiny, I don't think they have grown at all in a month!! Beautiful flowers though.

All the beans are doing great too, can't wait to have our first crop off them

I've got more sweetcorn, some broccoli and some tomatoes to go out too. Not sure how the toms will do, but it hardly feels like summer is here yet, so I'm hoping I can have a late crop with them (they're still tiny, but they are what my daughter planted, so need to give them a go )


Ooooh got some sunflowers to go out too (late I know, but another of Gwens again )


Does anyone know what should be planted now? I've got to clear a load of ground and turn it over, but by the time I've done that, the seedlings would be ready? I'm going to cover half of the other plot with carboard, I'll dig it over in the winter, far too much to do now and the grass is going crazy!!

Is it too late for squash?

Everything seems to be running late with the wierd weather!

[Cutecumber]

It all sounds fabulous - I'm jealous!

As far as planting, get things in as soon as you can. Even if we have a mild autumn, the light will be dwindling, so make the most of these long days.

If you mean sowing, then there are few things that you can still sow direct for a late autumn crop:

carrots, beetroot, swiss chard or leaf beet (great because it can keep going til Spring), lettuces, oriental greens. Dwarf french beans should still give you a crop, but start them indoors to get them off to a quick start. You can start some winter/ spring brassicas if you are in the South - should be time for them to establish before winter.

Try a squash - it's a little late, but you could be lucky. Small rather than large, I suggest.

[Flummery]

Late sowings of turnips (the little white or purple topped ones) and courgettes can often give you an extended crop now too.

[chrissie the chippy]

Thank you.

Doesn't look too impressive when you see the plot. The amount that is planted is dwarfed by the amount of grass that is still waiting to be dug out

I forgot all about turnips!!! I love them, raw, roasted and in stews, yummm


What would be classed as winter/ spring brassicas? am I too late for caulli?

There's so much to learn!

[dexterdoglancashire]

Hi Chrissy have just been looking through GYOs August 2006 edition -

Martyn Cox in his "20 minute allotment" recommends that you can sow Crown Sceptre calabrese, Perennial broccoli, an autumn sowing of broad beans Aquadulce Claudia, kale and Hispee cabbage.

He also recommends showing spinach, chard, leeks, spring cabbage, broad beans, pruple sprouting broccoli and kale.

If I find out anything else I'll reply! Bernie (learning as I go along!)

Oh, and of course, spring cabbage!

and christmas potatoes and khol rabi in pots

[chrissie the chippy]

That's brilliant Bernie, thank you. I still haven't bought a book yet! Must get one soon.

I lovely lady sent me some perennial broccoli (white!) so I'll get that sown as soon as possible.


I asked at the allotment shop yesterday and they don't sell christmas potatoes Have no idea where will sell them, I'd have no idea wherew to go! I've stocked up on a few seeds from woolies! They were all 60p!!!


Haven't got a clue what Aquadulce Claudia is I'll google it lol

[Sue]

Chrissie
Re the cardboard thing, Having started the hard way, digging and sorting out the weeds inch by inch I read about the cardboard mulching and I tried it out last year. In the summer I covered the ground with cardboard and put a thick mulch on top of it (out of the potato pots) In the late autumn when the worms had eaten the cardboard (leaving all the bits of sellotape I'd forgotten to remove), I put another load of cardboard down and more mulch. And instead of looking horrible with black plastic or cardboard, it looks as if you have a pristine bed waiting for some plants...
Come this summer the ground is quite workable and it's killed off everything bar the bindweed, so now have a big bean bed without any digging and they're looking good too.
Needless to say I am now doing another bed with the cardboard method and might try planting it with a late green manure as well.
Good luck with it all.
Sue

[Sue]

Chrissie
Forgot to say Aquadulce Claudia are overwintering broad beans. Mine say plant in October but apparently you can do them now, think it helps if you cover them with fleece during the worst of the winter. They should produce a bit earlier than broad beans, most other varieties planted in the Spring. You can do overwintering peas as well. And lettuce, the variety Valdor will grow under cover and produce from late April. And try American Landcress which can be sown now, very similar to our Watercress it is a welcome salad addition all winter.
Sue

[chrissie the chippy]

Thank you Sue

I'll definately do that, our local sainsburys fruit and veg manager got all excited when I told him about my allotment, and let me have a load of boxes, I still could do with abot 10 times as many though Will keep popping back for some more.

I haven't got any mulch handy, would horse poo covered by straw do? I haven't got either of them yet, so will have to source them first! Not sure if I would have to cover it with tarpaulin either? Mum said they are selling it quite cheap in b&q......

I've put down some cardboard already, the grass is going crazy! Everyone elses is lovely and trimmed, but I can't afford to buy a petrol strimmer really, I want to keep it down to a minimum cost if possible

[Sue]

Chrissie
Not tried horse poo, but you should get every worm in shouting distance making a run for your plot, they do seem to love the cardboard and mulch.
I don't know what your soil is like but in my first autumn I read all the books and tried the tarpaulin/plastic idea over the weeds. On heavy clay this was not a good idea, slug heaven, and although a lot of the weeds died, the ground looked horrible, shiny, squeaky mud. So I took it all up, left it to grow as I couldn't get it dug and my kindly allotment neighbour mowed it for me all last summer so in the end I had a nice bit of lawn. Now I'm trying the cardboard approach.
But perhaps the tarpaulin would work over the cardboard and horse poo?? Need some more informed grape to comment here!
Sue

[Sebbster]

Chrissie,

At B&Q you can buy a battery operated strimmer for £25. I have one to tidy the plot, it last about 15-20 mins and is strong enough for weeds etc. Takes a while to charge but much cheaper than the petrol types.

[chrissie the chippy]

That's brilliant, thank you for that

I'll have to invest in one of those, will come in very handy