Slugs and Snails all over the place

When i went to water my plants in the greenhouse i decided to harvest a few peas, french beans and some beetroot.
for some reason (probably all the rain) they were all riddled with slugs and snails.
Even 5' above ground eating my french beans.

after despatching them i harvested the few bits i had left, watered the greenhouse and decided to leave it for the day.
I have the week off so in tend to get some beds ready for winter and to get my winter garlic in.
I have bought some elephant garlic from the Bolton food and drink show, it was a stall from the Isle of White farm so it saved me buying online and paying shipping.

I took a pic of my first aubergine which is 3 inches long so far.

Also here is one of my shallots and small onions for pickling.

Here they  are sweet pickled.

A little too wet to weed

When i checked the weather for this weekend it was supposed to be very warm and sunny, its 4.30pm and the sun is just coming out.
When i went to the allotment to weed my brassica bed i decided it was a little too wet still so i made a move on other jobs.
After watering the plants in the greenhouse (last week i sacrificed two tomato plants to give my aubergine some light and room and planted two hot chili plants there in stead) i picked some tomatoes and chilies and a cucumber.

I then had to plant out my saffron bulbs which i have put in my herb bed for now.
i also harvested a lot today, i got peas, french beans, pak choi, kale, spring onions and as my shallots and potatoes had dried i took them home also.

My onion bed was now cleared due to having onion fly i had to harvest last week and dry them out (i lost a lot to the fly and the remainder were not that good a size this year).
So i sowed green manure which you are supposed to leave over winter then  dig it in and it will add nutrients to the bed.
I then added rotted manure to my spud bed which will be my next years onion and garlic bed.
i also covered it with some old exhibition adverts from work so it will rot down well and stay weed free for next spring.

i have received my new allotment seed catalogue (we get a cheaper rate) from kings seeds so i am looking forward to going through what i have left over and what i need to buy, my next real veg to try is celeriac it looks easy to grow and is supposed to be really nice.
so tomorrow i will weed the bed i skipped today and ill harvest blackcurrants and blueberries.
here's some more pic's.

Today's harvest, pak choi, french been, peas, chilies, tomatoes, cucumber, a few broccoli, a few  turnips, spring onions and top left are green tomatoes from the sacrificed tomato plants which ill make green tomato chutney from.

soggy shallots

I went to my allotment tonight to add more Steele wire to  my grape vines as they are trying to attach to my plum tree.
after that i pruned my plumb tree to keep it along the fan shape.
then i picked my shallots which were to be honest very sad looking and very damp.
I have hung them in a net to dry out and hope i get enough good ones to pickle.
I've added some picks of my cucumbers first peas and first tomato.
Also i have had about 10 cucumbers so far they seem to be the only thing doing great this year.

A Month of struggle

It's been a hard month of rain rain and yet more rain and the last week or so of just some sun but heat with cloud is proving hard times for the growing season.
I've had good Garlic, raspberries and gooseberries but my tomatoes are still all green my second early potatoes were abysmal and iv'e had very few strawberries.
my peas failed to sprout so i have had to plant more and they are just coming out and my french beans are a little weedy and just flowering.
Worst of all my Plumbs have failed to show this year at all.
anyway i have had a few good cucumbers off the plants today and also my chilies are starting to show so not all is lost.
here are some picks over the month including my gooseberry chutney making, yes i cook too.
the raspberries are being saved to make wine this year.

Broabeans

Sweetcorn when planted out

Mini tomm's flowers

St cucumber before picking

Fathers day scarecrows

Grape vine structure

Broadbeans 

Parsley

1st cucumber

one batch i have had 6 of the same

Mini chili

Gooseberry Chutney

Jalapeno's

Habanero's

First Earlies

I have been quite busy keeping on top of the allotment lately due to weird weather making it ideal for weeds and slugs/snails.
I managed to get my french climbing beans out along with my marrow-fat peas (to make mushy peas).
Iv'e also planted out some turnips, radish, courgette, beetroot (my second planting of these) and butternut squash along with 2 bigmax pumpkins.

My long stem flowers have been planted out in the flower bed and in the bottom of that bed i have planted out my leeks which were ok last year but didn't bulk up much.
The reason all these have been planted out despite the weather is i needed to move my sweetcorn out of the greenhouse into the cold-frame as the greenhouse was getting overrun. Next week my sweetcorn will go out.
My early started tomatoes are doing well, in fact they are already up to the roof of the greenhouse.
One of the tomato plants broke due to me having very little room to maneuver so i was lucky enough to have a lower sprout from the main stem so i have trained this as the new main stem, its a little behind the others now but will soon catch up.

I harvested my first early potatoes which i grew in two bags and they are delicious.

I also erected my two scarecrows which i got for fathers day.

 

                                                And my first cucumbers are growing nicely.

My last job was to put the netting over my strawberry's which are not doing that well this year so i will have to rethink how i grow them next year.

Oh i nearly forgot i had potted my main peas in the greenhouse because of the weird weather they didn't grow in the main bed so i got the remainder started in the greenhouse and planted them out. pic's to follow on their progress.

Brassica time

Very busy day today.
Got all my brassica's in which required the following,
Weed the bed,
Flatten the bed (stops them moving in the soil),
Dig holes and fill with lime (prevents club root which we have on the site),
Plant brassica's,
Fit collars (prevents the fly's eggs getting to the root),
Water,
Cast slug pallets over,
Fit netting (prevents cabbage butterfly and pigeons),

 Then i made a french climbing bean pole frame and planted them.

And just to the right of them i planted marrow-fat peas which make mushy peas after drying, i covered them with fine netting to let in the sun but keep off the birds and mice.

After that i spent the rest of the day weeding my onions and garlic.

Oh and a pic of my first ever gooseberry's which are doing great.

some other random pic's.