This is the last time i go on holiday!

[Duronal]

Today's Update,

The cull list is as follows

2 Red Cabbages
2 tomato plants (expecting a further 30% loss as many plants are losing fruit)
1 Cucmber plant, 1 more expected
2 caugette plants,
All Gazina, Galardia, and Bedding seedlings
All carrot, cabbage an PSB seedlings.
5 pea plants,
1 Runner Bean plant
an entire spring onion row

The saved list,

2 Runner beans
15 tomato plants - not sure on the fruit though
1 cucumber - but any fruit production seems unlikely.
8 leeks
7 chard plants,
1 squash of unknown origin
5 basil plants
2 chive pots
1 oregano plant
5 gazina plants
1 potted apple tree
1 potted white current bush - although it's looking a bit dodgey
3 danish bullhead cabbages
2 red mammoth cabbages

And miraculously i've just found an avacado that's taken root in the raised bed. It must have slipped my attention when i filled the beds up - ha i've never managed to get one of these to actually grow before.

Replanting statagy,

2 blocks of nantes and autumn king carrots, to replace my onions

1 row of spring onions,

6 plugs of blood veined sorrel

6 plugs of land cress.

8 plugs of red cabbages

and then later on to replace the squash i've got some garlic and japenese onions to go in (snadgers favorite variety) shen.... something.

I may try to get some PSB on the go but i fear i'm too late.

Still I'm off to try and dry out some potato fruit seed for next year,

Thanks for all the support guys it really helps.

I'll endevour to keep you informed on how this all goes.

D

[Two_Sheds]

Now is a good time to sow Chinese veg, inc. red mustard & pak choi, for spicy stir fries.
Also start off some spring cabbages

[Rhona]

We left our little garden in the care of our lovely but utterly disinterested in gardening neighbour. I was so proud of it before we went - it was looking wonderful. Now, despite being no more than popping next door to thoroughly water everything, hanging baskets have gone leggy (can they be made to recover?); tomatoes have mysteriously vanished and the new blossom dead; the aubergine that was just belatedly showing itself has also vanished, and it's all looking a bit sad really.

I think the 7 year old daughter who was "helping" is a bit curious which is a good thing, but I've seen her previously pulling things out/off to look at them!

Oh well. The wine we bought them to say thank you has gone missing along with all of my luggage (cheers Nice airport). I didn't feel as guilty about that when I saw the garden!!!

[Demeter]

Oh Rhona - what a rotten home coming!
Hope the holiday was worth it...

[Duronal]

Can anyone please recommend a variety of red mustard or pak choi to plant for a winter crop.

Many thanks

D

[Don Vincenzo]

[QUOTE=Rhona;273207]We left our little garden in the care of our lovely but utterly disinterested in gardening neighbour. I was so proud of it before we went - it was looking wonderful. Now, despite being no more than popping next door to thoroughly water everything, hanging baskets have gone leggy (can they be made to recover?); tomatoes have mysteriously vanished and the new blossom dead; the aubergine that was just belatedly showing itself has also vanished, and it's all looking a bit sad really.

Hello Rhona
It happened to me some years ago! I left my wife and daughter to look after my plants while I went away for a week. Never again!!.....From then on, I never go away from 1st march to the end of September
My best regards
Don Vincenzo

[TonyF]

I wont go away from mid-March to Mid October but then I do live in SW France!

We're back to the UK for the annual pilgimage in November - my last time btw - and then down to my sister's in southern Spain in February, probably for a month, get some sun and then come back to start the spring/summer/autumn cycle again - problem with holidays is that the people who promote them, schools etc don't seem to understand the needs of gardeners/GYO people.

[sweetcorn]

I've just got back from 2 weeks' hol. My daughter and a neighbour have done a pretty good job, really, but nothing's as good as looking after it yourself. I have no choice but to go in the middle of August - I'm a teacher, and I always reckon that I lose about half my stuff during that crucial 2 weeks. Sometimes, I don't realise how much I must actually do to keep stuff going! I've come back to find my salad crops decimated by slugs (wet weather of course) peas look dreadful - full of mildew, but still miraculously cropping, greenhouse rife with brown caterpillars that are impossible to find - I've only found one, and the amount of 'pillar poo alone must mean there's more than that! All but 3 of my peppers have shrivelled and dropped off, the cucumber at the back has been missed during the watering process, somehow - the list goes on and on and on, I'm afraid.

I try to be philosophical. I (and my husband) need a holiday every year, and we either go or we don't go and I look after my veggies. I made the choice to go. So the annual getting back and tidying up and sorting out and replanting and yoinking out and surveying the wreckage just has to be done. I have just bought some plug plants of PSB from Homebase to replace casualties, and am just about to plant some more salad in the hope to squeeze one more crop (they say Sept is going to be good!).

[Megans-mum]

judith newby veg gardener

Hi everyone I think i will suggest we dont go away until the end of sept next year, after everybody saying how much damage they have had, to their veggies. I do have a neighbour who looks after my house, I did leave her in control of two pointsettas, that ive still got from last xmas.
As a test, knowing i would be building a large raised bed, in which to begin my fledgling year veggie growing. Needless to say she didnt water them, they looked very sad when i came home, luckily i did put them outside and i did manage to rescue them.
The moral of the story for me is either, to invest in a drip feed watering system, now i have a raised veg bed, or do as was suggested, just go on holiday later. I know i too would be very disraught, if i'd put all that hard work in only to loose everything.
Now down to business , can somebody tell me please can i plant my autumn carrotts, in the spaces between my cabbages, sprouts & broccolli whilst waiting for them to grow and fill the spaces.
Also can someone tell me about companion planting.
My raised bed is 10ft x 4ft and 1ft deep. I ve bought 2 fleece cloches for the autumn, winter spring period.
My soil is brand new from Dandys, its a mix of top soil and compost and has been screened etc.
Can I add chicken manure pelletts to it, before i put my plants in.
We will be barrowing 1 ton of this soil mix into it over the wk/ end. I bought my plants from the garden center, I have 18 of each. Next year i will be starting from seeds which ive already ordered.
All advice etc will be greatly appreciated on all aspects of veg growing as i'm totally new but trying hard.
My head is ready to explode with all the research i have done etc. So please help me. Thanks from judith.

[Demeter]

I plan my holidays around when I can stand to go to Spain (to visit the APs) - too hot for me in summer so we tend to go around October time, Christmas time or maybe April/early May. I think the spring visits are off the cards now that I'll have babies to look after though!

Now down to business , can somebody tell me please can i plant my autumn carrotts, in the spaces between my cabbages, sprouts & broccolli whilst waiting for them to grow and fill the spaces.
Also can someone tell me about companion planting.
My raised bed is 10ft x 4ft and 1ft deep. I ve bought 2 fleece cloches for the autumn, winter spring period.
My soil is brand new from Dandys, its a mix of top soil and compost and has been screened etc.
Can I add chicken manure pelletts to it, before i put my plants in.
We will be barrowing 1 ton of this soil mix into it over the wk/ end. I bought my plants from the garden center, I have 18 of each. Next year i will be starting from seeds which ive already ordered.
All advice etc will be greatly appreciated on all aspects of veg growing as i'm totally new but trying hard.
My head is ready to explode with all the research i have done etc. So please help me. Thanks from judith.

Megan's mum - hope you get on alright with barrowing the soil mix, sounds like hard work!

As for your Qs - probably you will get more answers if you post a new thread rather than tagging onto an existing one, as people will pay it mroe attention! Also it's worth knowing that you can search old threads to see if a question has come up before (there is a search button near the top of the page) - I always find that v useful!

(1) planting autumn carrots while waiting for brassicas to grow - you probably could, but the brassicas may grow very big fairly quickly so it may not work. Certainly in the spring people sow quick crops between small broccoli plants, brussels sprouts etc to limit the "wasted" space while the brassicas are still young. You've got to think about how long you expect the carrots to be in the ground and how big you expect the brassicas to be by that stage. Not sure if it will work, but worth a go if you've got enough seeds to experiment with!

(2) Companion planting - it's a very good idea to use your search button for this (or Google) as there is loads of info out there on this topic - you can even buy books about it! Basically the idea is that certain plants work well together, or that certain crops do well with "companions" to encourage pollinators, attract pest-eating insects, deter or distract pests etc. e.g. some flowers, like calendula, attract hoverflies, most flowers will attract pollinators, marigolds deter anything that doesn't like the smell, nasturtiums act as "bait" for cabbage whites, nettles harbour harmless nettle aphids which attract ladybirds and other aphid-eaters to help control unwanted bean aphids and so on and so on... There are also what I like to call "anti-companions" which are plants grown purely for their negative effects on unwanted plants e.g. mexican marigolds are suppsedly very good for controlling certain pernicious weeds.

(3) Chicken pellets. yep - will only do good

[ups a daisy]

did you go anywhere nice?

[Megans-mum]

Hi demeter thanks for the reply ive done what you suggested. Ive posted a new thread on introduce yourself. now hopefully that will work. Thanks for the advice. Some say chick pelletts make the soil acidic others say use it sparingly. I just want to give my veg the best start i can. Im so very excited about my new venture. Im also new to forums and computers. Everyone in my household is very switched on. Being a housewife ive not had much use with computers. I'M just an old fahioned gal. Cheers again and thankyou.

[Megans-mum]

Hi ups a daisy in reply to your reply
YES in the summer we also went to spain. We went the first 3wks in june. Seems a lifetime ago. I told everyone we wont be going til sept next year, they all groaned b..... veg. But they will be glad too eat it when its grown and it tastes nice. yippee my soil arrives today. All this new veggie stuff ive been bought its like xmas has come early i'm so excited about my new venture. I just hope im good at it. we will wait and see . kind regards judith.