Another newbie

[jinx]

I'm based in Cork, Ireland. I was just waiting for the bulk of the summer crops from my first allotment in Southampton when I got a job in Ireland--had to move in mid-August and so didn't see what happened to the tomatoes, borlotti beans, corn, or pumpkin. Managed to eat some shallots and garlic and courgettes, but we had to give away most of the crop. Two years on, I am waiting for my first crops from my very small garden here.

I'm growing:

courgette - only one plant survived the rains

pumpkin and corn, but because of space I'm only growing 6 sweetcorn plants and there's nothing much happening with the solitary pumpkin

shallots (Longor) - an utter disaster. They look really miserable. It's been really wet and the slugs and snails have been eating the green bits

peas - doing fine

borlotti beans - a disaster because of the slugs and snails

strawberries - yummy but again we've mostly fed the slugs and snails and earwigs (why do they eat strawberries?!)

Had some delicious salad mix.

Oh, I also did that thing of sowing a bunch of things and not labelling them. So, I think I have some kohlrabi and either purple sprouting broccoli or brussel sprouts. I've never grown either or seen the young plants so I haven't a clue which is which. Oops.

[Sebbster]

Welcome jinx, pity to give up an allotment in full throw but sounds like you are getting there again.

Brassicas look very similar in the their early stages but hopefully you'll have a nice mix.

Let us know how you get on with your new garden...

[chrissie the chippy]

Hi,

Which I'd have taken on a plot that was already going

I'm on the Newtown road plots, Weston in Southampton

Good luck with your new plot! I'd swop to Ireland any day, I love it there

Sounds like you could do with a ton of slug pellets!

Chrissie

[jinx]

Thanks Sebbster. I thought it was just me who thought all brassicas looked the same. I think the purple ones must be the azur star kohlrabi, but I'm also growing red bull brussel sprouts and purple sprouting broccoli. Or at least, I think I am.

Jinx

[jinx]

Hi Chrissie,

You wouldn't have wanted my plot--I'd only had it since Jan and we had only about half cultivated. Most of the rest was covered in black plastic. My plot had been unused for over a year and I gather that every year it was rotavated so it had a really serious bindweed problem. My friends told me it went wild pretty quickly after I left.

I miss the company from the allotment. I had great allotment neighbours who were incredibly generous with advice and tips, and one of them even built me a shed. I'm hoping that I can get tips from here instead! Although it would be handy if someone could bring round a few bags of manure and put up a shed!

Jinx

[Sue]

Hi Jinx and welcome, are you in Ireland permanently or do you face another move and leave more precious crops behind?
Labelling was my big problem last year, took myself in hand this year and labelled everything - yet how come when I dug up a cabbage today it had no label? it was jolly nice too and now I don't know which one to grow some more. Doh.
Sue

[bramble]

I labelled all my outdoor tomatoes with one of those felt tip pens which I was told would not wash off. A couple of weeks of rain later and I am having to use a magnifying glass to try to read the last traces of the writing. Will not be using that particular pen again.

[terrier]

Welcome to the Vine, Jinx. I labelled everything I put in the ground this year. Unfortunately, I can't find the labels in amongst the mass of weeds that have sprung up with all the rain.

[JennieAtkinson]

I;m having label problems this year and have made a HUGE note in my diary to do better next year!

[pigletwillie]

Hi jinx and welcome to the vine. A fab place of the world you live in, we visited Kinsale a couple of years ago and just loved the area.

Now labelling, where do I start. A whole tray of seedlings labelled jalapeno chillies turned out to be tigrella tomatoes, not much of a difference.

[shirlthegirl43]

Hello and welcome to the vine jinx.

[moggssue]

Hi and welcome Jinx, and good luck with your crops. I only started growing this year, religiously labeled everything as to pea or potoato or tomato but not the variety ... so I still dont know what to expect when ... talk about a learning curve!!

[dexterdoglancashire]

Hi Jinx and welcome to the vine! Looking forward to hear how you get on. Bernie

[SarzWix]

Hi Jinx, welcome to the 'vine. Think we've all done the label thing... This year I've gotten my tomato labels mixed up and spent a month taking side-shoots off what has turned out to be a bush tomato plant... D'oh! (I think I've only done it to one plant??!!)
At least your brussels & purple sprouting both need similar conditions & support so you won't do much harm mixing them up

[jinx]

thanks everyone

This is such a friendly board--thanks everyone for being so welcoming and sharing the labelling stories! It wouldn't even have occurred to me to bother writing the variety down--that's a bit advanced for a newbie!

The other thing I've learned this year--now that I'm growing veg in my back garden instead of in an allotment--is that I'm going to have to fence off my patch to keep the cats off the soil. I'm in two minds about that, though, because my cat has caught several mice this past week so perhaps she does need free run of the area--I don't want to protect the mice while they eat my plants! I do like cats, but I'm finding I have to do more clearing up than I expected.