Kitchen Garden Forum

it's been pouring since about 7pm last night. thankgoodness! My silver birch tree at home has not been looking happy. I do hope it's not on it's way out, must be over 50 years old. It wasn't looking very good last year either.

The strong winds have really battered the allotments today, everything looks really sorry for themselves....

28mm = more than 1" rain the last three days - at last! Interestingly, there was a graph in one of the papers over the weekend which showed that SE England had had about 33% above the usual average of rain for the last three months whereas the NW (which includes our area) had had only 75% altogether. No wonder we were gasping for it!

Tipping it down still but luckily without the strong winds, the rain is coming straight down, water butts are now over flowing, they were half full yesterday.

Quite dry yesterday at only 17mm so two days have accumulated 52mm, 2" - what it is to be a bit further West.

My poor courgettes and squashes aren't looking very happy. Taken out of a nice cosy greenhouse and before the week was out chilled and buffeted by gale force winds. I spent the morning sowing a few trays of brassicas and other veg and flowers in the greenhouse then got rather wet in the afternoon tying things up and cutting broken plants off. I did pick my first two Marshmello strawberries which were delicious.

The wind has really buffeted the few climbing French beans I,veg already planted out. They're not the most robust plants at the best of times, and netting supporting my row of peas was blown over forcing me to get soaked trying to resurrect it.

By the way, what was Monty's most popular voted flower? I missed seeing the result.
Perhaps we need some other votes for the most hated and troublesome weed, and the gardening chore you most dislike doing.

By the way, what was Monty's most popular voted flower? I missed seeing the result.

Not going to be announced until Gardeners' World Live.

Seen the Chatsworth result? Another quarry. I wonder if it is possible to organise a no confidence vote in the judges, we are members.

This one approaches the sensible and also got gold https://www.rhs.org.uk/Shows-Events/RHS ... e-imagined

Bar stewards have visited our site, - again.

Many sheds opened, some by ripping apart.
I'm told mine wasn't, still furious though.

peter wrote::evil:

Bar stewards have visited our site, - again.
Many sheds opened, some by ripping apart.
I'm told mine wasn't, still furious though.

And the most annoying thing is that these B'stards often have more money stashed away then the people whose sheds they are pillaging and ransacking

Peter I know how you feel, I was going to sit in my shed all night to catch the scum but the wife stopped me, the police are not the bit interested unless the police commissioner has a plot on your allotment

What makes me mad about these types of attacks is that in the overall scale of crime committing misdemeanours in the police way of looking at them they seem to be classed as "misdemeanours" without any thought of the emotional destruction they cause when somebody has slogged hours and hours to with care and attention to nurture their plots only to have the whole lot destroyed.
That is one of the main reasons we gave up our allotment many years ago after vandals ravaged through the whole site at harvest time ripping down tomato plants, tearing up cabbages eye and leaving a trail of damage and broken spirits behind them. A neighbouring plotholder had all his show specimens completely wrecked and thrown around.
After that I decided that I would only grow vegetables in the garden where I could keep them safe, even if it meant compromising with a smaller growing area, which does explain why we have a slightly unusual front garden full of soft fruit bushes & strawberry plants rather than roses and perennials! Now I only have to do battle with marauding pigeons.

Peter you have my sympathy!

peter wrote::evil:

Bar stewards have visited our site, - again.

Many sheds opened, some by ripping apart.
I'm told mine wasn't, still furious though.

Was told by our old beat copper some years ago. If your allotments are broken into. All report the theft as individuals. IE if 15 sheds broken into, the 15 individuals report it and insist on a crime scene number. So instead of the crime stats showing one break-in, it will then show 15. Plays havoc with the crime stats. You will then hopefully get the local car keep an eye open.

That's good advice and I echo it. And don't be out off by the response "This crime has already been reported by somebody else". No it hasn,t. This was a crime against somebody's else's property.

Already knew the "everyone affected file a report with the rozzers" piece and happily they seem to have done so!
Messages on our OWL notification (Neighbourhood Watch system) about the local crime spree, as two sites have been done over with fifteen sheds done on my site. SOCO came round, but rough wood doesn't take fingerprints, everyone had handled the beer cans and they hadn't been drunk from.

Our rozzers won't let you report a crime if it isn't your property that's affected!
I did try the question, so if I see someone putting the cop shop window in I can't report it then?

Strimmed main path, footpath, hay meadow (car park & cowslips) and most of the Rosebay Willowherb in the ditch outside the site. Mowed the ain path.
Hid from the sun for a but under my quince, then weeded three rod, half if it onions.
Came home and did the lawn.

Tomorrow I need to plant out seedlings from the greenhouse before they get too leggy.