Friday 29th June 2012

Posted on June 29, 2012 by clairesallotment

I spent most of the morning sitting on by bottom either weeding, side shooting my tomatoes and trying them to stakes. I ended up with a damp rear. Not very attractive I must admit. However, I managed to get a lot done. I also planted a few more of my wind swept french beans. It wasn’t as hot today, and is very windy (no I haven;t been eating jerusalem artichokes). Then came a surprise when I was watering. The water wasn’t coming out right. I wasn’t sure what was up until I saw a snails head poke out of the end of the watering spout. I carefully shook and he popped out on the grass, so I carried on. Have a great weekend.

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6 Responses to Friday 29th June 2012

paul says:

June 29, 2012 at 3:49 pm

well this is a cool summer , claire i to have had the snails in water pipe or watering can lol
i been clothching my purple queen dwarfs and it is working they are 3 times the size although should not be doing this this time of year !
Courgettes picchio are doing so well in pots , i have had a go at freezing them , don’t know if you have claire ?
a bit of disaster with broad beans they have chocolate spot first time for me.
picked some nice traffic lights radish though

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- clairesallotment says:
  
  July 26, 2012 at 11:13 am
  
  Well it finally seems to have warmed up nicely. Not sure how long it’ll last, therefore, we need to make the most of it whilst it’s here. You just can’t tell what will grow well this year, and what will suffer. My tomatoes at the allotment have blight, but to be honest I’m not surprised. The ones in the greenhouse are fine, so at least I’ve got some. The beans are starting to produce, but are 1 month behind where they should be. Your radish sound lovely, are they hot ones? Courgettes freeze well. I slice them and then freeze straight away, then if you want some for dinner just take out and leave to defrost. Chocolate spot on Broad beans is a pain, If you catch it early you can save a lot of the beans, but if it takes hold, then you just have to burn the plants.
  Have a great season, and let’s hope that summer lasts a bit longer.
  Claire
  
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  - Jeanette says:
    
    August 1, 2012 at 9:58 pm
    
    Hi Claire – lucky you going on hols and having someone take care of your veggies – i’ve just been on holiday and come back to MAHUSIVE courgettes – one weighing in at 1.8kg!!! They were smaller than my little finger when I left!!??? Anyway creamy courgette lasagne took care of HALF of ONE of them!! I also came back to my tomatoes suffering BLIGHT. Is there any hope or should I just dig up the plants and stick them in the brown bin? Since I left they have produced tomatoes but the plants are dying in front of my eyes …. ?????
  - clairesallotment says:
    
    March 18, 2013 at 10:55 am
    
    That holiday was amazing, and have already booked this years one, can’t wait to have 2 weeks in the sun. Your courgette is huge, hope you enjoyed it. If tomatoes get blight, basically it’s the end for them. The only real joy is to grow them under cover, and water from the bottom. It’s the damp leaves and humid conditions that make blight grow. Last year was a perfect year for it. Burn any affected plants, don’t put them in the compost bin. Make sure you don’t plant potatoes or tomatoes on the same patch for at least 2 years.
Jeanette says:

June 29, 2012 at 3:50 pm

Claire, I’ve been following your blog since having a raised bed put into the garden a couple of months ago, for a complete novice at vegetable growing your posts are invaluable. I think my plants may be a bit behind yours as they were planted out quite late – but I had no idea what ‘side shooting’ tomatoes was all about!!! You can tell I’m a complete novice!! Having ‘googled’ it I think I know what to look for and sure enough there they were – little shoot coming out of the crevice between the branch and the main stem. But could you tell me why I need to remove them?
Also one of my broccoli plants has been munched by slugs/snails and is now well behind the other I have planted – is there any cure/help or is this plant doomed? Any tips on slug control would also be very gratefully received – I’ve tried organic slug pellets [which just washed away], then I tried the sheep’s wool [slugs still got to plants], I’ve now ordered beer traps – is there anything else?
Thanks Claire and keep “wittering on” about your allotment as you are probably helping more people than you realise!!

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- clairesallotment says:
  
  March 18, 2013 at 11:04 am
  
  I’m so glad you enjoy my blog. There is going to be a lot in the coming months as the season is going to begin with gusto. Hopefully this afternoon I’ll get in the greenhouse to sow various seeds, and even make a couple of new films. You’re correct about side shooting, it’s quite difficult to describe, but you’ve got it. If you have any questions please do ask and I’ll try to answer them for you. You need to remove the side shoots as they’re a bit like suckers and they take all the goodness away from the main part of the plants and the producing flowers. They grow much faster than the rest of the plant and don’t produce fruit. However, bush tomatoes don’t need to be side shooted as those do produce fruit. Basically the rule is if it’s a tall plant take off the side shoots and if it’s a bush one leave them.
  As for slugs and snails, there are many ways to control them. Pellets are great, but need to be replaced after rain, as do many other controls. You can try egg shells, wood chips, hair. If it’s rough the slugs don’t like it. Personally I prefer to drink beer and not give it to the slugs, oat meal they love and it makes then explode. See if you can get hold of a book “50 ways to kill as Slug”, there are loads of great ideas in it.
  
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