Middling August on the plot (Part 2)

Again, I really enjoyed reading this & Avis is right, you have done an amazing job! I can only hope my vegetable garden (I'm already planning for next year) will be even half as productive.

you defernatly know your fruit and veg balcony, well done, all looks great ;o))

Those toms and beans look wonderful, Balcony! I'm going to miss the view from the shed. :-(

What a great blog,Balcony,and everything looks so good.Your tomato crop is brilliant.Let us know which variety you preferred,as I am undecided between Gerdeners Delight,and Money Maker for next year.,as I have read mixed reviews on both.You have both done so well,congratiulationson a bumper crop.

Once again thanks for your kind comments - makes me want to read them as soon as I log on! :-) I just hope I'm not boring you with all my chit chat on the allotment. I did the 2nd blog right away because I'm having a lot of trouble with my computer & I wanted to take advantage of the "good mood" it was in. Another day I might not be able to write another blog. There is soo much to share! I now have several 100 photos stored on my computer & phone.

Thanks Avis & Lauram & I'm so happy you like this blog. Happy to be of some inspiration for you Lauram! :-)

Thanks Sanbaz, but I don't really " ... know my fruit & veg ... " The fruit grows with little attention other than a little watering & weeding. The veg grow more or less by themselves as well although they do need a bit more attention than the fruit! (Especially the Strawberries!)

David I harvested our first Toms today, I got almost 2kilos off of Gerry's plants! I couldn't resist eating one - it really was delicious! They are the small, cherry type & there were many more ripe ones than I had realised as they were hidden by the foliage & only visible once I got down on my hands & knees! I only took a few off of my plants which are the ones I put up in the blog! The bigger tomatoes still need some time to ripen but they are as big as apples!

Bloomer, I will let you know which I prefer but the only one I've tasted do far, from the plant into my mouth, was really & truly delicious! I've only picked the cherry ones today, Gardener's Delight (?) as Money Maker & Alicante are still very green without a hint of yellowness as yet.

Another tantalizing view of your allotment plots, congratulations on your venture and outcome, great stuff!

Thanks very much for your lovely comments! :-)

Brilliant blog, so informative.
Two questions please ,do you feed your veg and what special attention do you give to the strawberries ? Thank you .

Hi, Valadel, I'm only too happy to answer your questions! :-)

About feeding the veg: well Gerry likes to put Blood, Bonemeal & Fish (I think!) in the places where he plants his veg. But I haven't added any kind of fertilizer to the soil before planting nor after for mine! Exception being the tomatoes. I didn't use anything before planting them but I've now watered them on about 3 occasions with a tomato fertilizer I buy. The ones in the greenhouse, as you will have seen, are in tomato growing bags. These come with all the necessary fertilizer for some weeks but now I've begun to water them with tomato fertilizer on Saturdays.

As for the Strawberries well I've not given them any kind of fertilizer at all. The only attention the Strawberries have had has been weeding! They have had much more attention than any other crop on the allotment. But now I have runners rooting in small pots which I intend to dig up & plant elsewhere on the allotment. I'm not willing to spend so much time weeding them next year as I did this year!

The reason I ask about the strawberries is last year I bought a plant which had lots of "babies" I made loads of plants, put some in a grow bag some in pots and they all rewarded me with just about zilch, a few gave me a couple fruit and that was it ! So I ask myself why did I bother or what did I do wrong ?

I'm not too sure but I think you need to let them "bulk up" for 1 season. This really means taking off the flowers & runners the first year to give them time to build up a root system that will support the following years of fruiting & will ensure you get plenty of big fruits.

But I need to look this up for myself as just today I've transplanted very well rooted cutting to their permanent position at the very end of the plot. I planted 41 pots & a few rooted runners not grown in pots. I now need more or less the same number again to fill up the half plot still empty!

I've done a little search & this page seems to be quite good & authoritative:

http://www.gardenorganic.org.uk/organicgardening/gh_strwb.php

Just copy & then paste into your browser. Hope you have better luck next year.

Another good site is this one: http://www.gardenaction.co.uk/fruit_veg_diary/fruit_veg_mini_project_february_2_strawberry.asp

Thanks Balcony, will have a look.

"I planted 41 pots & a few rooted runners not grown in pots. I now need more or less the same number again to fill up the half plot still empty!"

Well I made a start again today but still didn't get enough plants to fill up the new bed! I'll have to go back to the old bed tomorrow & try & find some more runners that have rooted! The trouble is that the weds are so thick it makes it very difficult plus I find myself getting "diverted" into pulling up the weeds!