PUMPKIN DISASTER, THEY'VE ALL BEEN EATEN!! / ALLOTMENT GARDENING UK

Sit up there singing, come down and show yourself. My goodness me, they're just everywhere aren't they? They're just everywhere at the moment. Look at that colour. Good morning, welcome back to my allotment diaries. My name is Emma. These are the allotment diaries where I show you day to day what I'm getting up to on my allotment plot here in South London. Not so much a how to, just a what I'm up to. What I'm up to on a day to day basis here. What jobs I'm doing. How my allotment's looking. So that you can have a nosy at my plot basically and compare it with your own. Which I'm sure is much better than mine. Because my plot is usually quite messy at this time of year. And this year is no exception. The weeds are going crazy. The slugs are going absolutely nuts. We've got quite a lot growing. But at the same time there's quite a few gaps as well. So you know, it's just that time of year where I kind of lose control of it. And it just happens every year. I don't think there's anything I can do to stop losing control of my allotment plot. To be fair. I've had a disaster. I've had a bit of a double disaster. A double disaster. So I was very, very over ambitious. And I planted out my Jack Belittles in between other pumpkins. When they were very, very small. I was just like, I'm just going to get them out now. I'm just going to go for it. Anyway, planted them all out. Knowing that they were probably too small. I've come down today and the last of them have been eaten. So I think I had three on that side, three on that side. I had two left and they've been eaten. Right down to the soil. So they're not coming back, basically. And I thought, you know what, it doesn't matter. Well, before, I thought, you know what, it wouldn't matter if they got eaten. Because I've got some growing at home. Went out into the garden today, into my little mini greenhouse. They've been eaten too. So we've lost the Jack Belittles. I think I've got three at home that have still got some active growth. That I think will come back. Other than that, we've lost all the Jack Belittles. This is not good news. But it's not the end of the world. Because it is still June. And technically, in June, you can sow pumpkins directly. You can put a seed in the ground now. And it's still got time to grow. So we're not going to do that. I'm going to re-sow my Jack Belittles in the greenhouse. And hope for the best. So it's not just Jack Belittles that I've got out this year. I think I've got other varieties. This is a different variety of pumpkin. And this one's doing really well. The only problem is, if this is a patty pan, it won't climb the archway. And I can't remember which ones were patty pans. It doesn't seem to be actively climbing. So I don't know if that one's just going to be like a bush plant. These ones I planted out the other day. And they seem to have survived the slug attack. To be fair. I don't think the slugs like certain types of pumpkins. But I think the Jack Belittles are a particular delicacy for them. I think they must look forward to them all year. This one's still growing. He's been a bit damaged. But he's still growing. And there's the Jack Belittle. Gone. Gone, gone, gone. And then on this side, I think there is a pumpkin under here somewhere. Oh, it was here. Oh, he's on it. Oh, talk of the devil. There he is. With his belly full. So happy to have his pumpkins back again. You know what, we'll just leave him on there. There's no point removing him now. Because he's already eaten the whole thing. So you can just have the rest of that, mate. So pumpkins not doing very well. What's new? I think every single year I panic about the pumpkins. Because they do end up all just getting eaten. That is one of the downsides of growing on an allotment plot. Is that you can't always be here all the time to protect them. And even if you do put protection down, once you've gone home, you can't check on that protection regularly enough. So they will inevitably eat stuff. Part of life on an allotment plot, I think it would be different if you're growing at home and you can check on your stuff every single day. Though I don't know that, because I don't grow pumpkins at home. I will be growing pumpkins in my new garden. Because I'm going to make a little vegetable patch in there. So I'll be able to compare how my pumpkins at home do to the ones at the allotment. See if I can protect them better. We will find out. But that is a little bit of a shame about pumpkins. Let's go and sow some jacoby littles. Right, luckily I've got loads and loads left. So what I'm actually going to do is put two seeds in each of these. It's an old plant thing. It's what I've got plants in. And I've just repurposed it for seed sowing. And it's plastic, so it should kind of work better. Because as we discussed before, plastic seed trays do seem to be the winners. They just seem to work better. And that's just an unfortunate fact of life. I'm afraid. And if it works, it works. So just popping a couple in. And like I said, you can just plant your pumpkins outside directly now. You can put the seeds in the ground now. If you feel confident enough that slugs and snails are not going to get it. They obviously need a lot more protection. I don't know why I was so flimsy with the protection this year. I've just been really optimistic about it. I just feel like they wouldn't do that to me. But obviously they would. I think I'm sort of learning to surrender a little bit as well to nature. Most of my time that I spend at the allotment is stressing about things and trying to stop things from happening. And actually this year, I think I've sort of learned to surrender a little bit to nature. And if a slug eats something, at least they've had a good meal. That's kind of the attitude I'm trying to channel this year. And it is actually, I have to admit, it is actually making gardening more enjoyable when I'm just surrendering to it. And I'm like, I don't care. I don't care if a slug gets it or not. I do care, but it's nature. It just happened, that's just what happened. Oh well, I'll just plant another one. You know, it's actually making it more enjoyable. So, right, the Jackery Littles are re-sown. Good luck guys. Einstein, where are you? Right, this bed is looking lovely. This is one of my new raised beds that my lovely friend Emma gave me this year from another plot that she wasn't using. And I've just got my lettuce which I planted. So this is from Plug Plants. Looking very happy there. And then these are lettuces that I sowed from a seed which are doing really well. I did plant some leeks around the outside or spring onion, was it spring onion I planted? I think these might be spring onions around the edge. And that was to deter the slugs and snails because they don't like onion. So I sort of planted it all around the edge of the bed. Some of it's coming up, a lot of it hasn't. And then whatever I sowed at the front here is just gone. It's just either been eaten or it's just not germinated. So I'm going to sow something here today. Oi, excuse me. Where do you think you're going? Goodness me, they're just everywhere aren't they? They're just everywhere at the moment. Come on, why don't they just eat grass? Right, so I've got some pak choi which is, down here is a cabbage. I didn't think it was a cabbage but apparently it's a type of cabbage. And that's really good for like stir fries and stuff. Or just like chopping in half and then grilling. Pan grilling. Is that what it's called? Pan grill? Yeah, just like putting it in a really hot griddle pan or something. And it just tastes lovely. It's just lovely as a side dish or you can make like a proper noodle dish or something and put it in. But I'm going to sow a row of that. It's quite a pretty looking crop. Pak choi. It sort of looks a bit more like a lettuce than a cabbage but it does say it's a cabbage so I believe it. Don't believe me. Believe what it says on the pack. But yeah, it's quite a pretty neat little sort of like lettuce-y looking plant that comes up. I have grown it here before and it's done really well. So we're just going to put in like a million seeds and hope that we get three or four that germinate, as always. Obviously so much easier this time of year when you can sow stuff directly. You don't have to have a million trays in your greenhouse or on your windowsill at home. So that's in. And then also, just in front of it I'm going to whack in some lettuce. I've got some buttercrunch lettuce. So I'm growing all kinds of different varieties of lettuce in here. It's going to be sort of a bit of a salad-y bed with some cabbage thrown in for good measure. So this is the buttercrunch. It's really a very nice little bed, isn't it? It's so neat. Isn't that lovely? I'd love to take a picture of that. I think I will later, actually. It's like a postcard. If only that stuff at the front had started growing already. That's like a perfect postcard picture of an allotment bed. I'm pretty sure I planted courgettes in here. In fact, I'm very sure I planted courgettes in there, and they have all been eaten. Luckily, they've left my kale and purple sprouting broccoli well alone, and they've just gone for the courgettes. So I don't know if that's a good thing, or... I think I'm just trying to see the positives in the fact that the slugs have literally destroyed my entire allotment plot. I mean, they haven't. They haven't destroyed the whole plot. There's still quite a lot growing. It's just quite annoying when you put something in, and then the next day you come, and you feel like you're going crazy because you're like, I'm sure I put something in there. I've really just not been good on my protection this year, but at the same time so much is growing. Maybe I'm just, you know... I don't know. Maybe I'm just becoming one with nature. Shall we check on the cauliflower? Oh, okay. So the leaves that I folded over have unfolded themselves. They obviously weren't happy with me fiddling about with them. But I tell you what, they're looking fantastic. Look at that colour. Isn't that so cool? It's just such a cool plant, isn't it? These are just basically normal cauliflower, but they come up bright purple, and it's just a little bit more exciting. I also have a white one here, and actually that is still quite exciting. Very happy looking plant. I'm going to try and fold the leaves over again, just because I'm just a little bit worried about the slugs and snails now, so I'm just going to fold them all over. Somebody told me to do this in my very first year that I grew cauliflower. I think somebody left a comment and said fold the leaves over it to protect it. And now, as with a lot of gardening advice, it's just something that I do, and I don't really think about why I'm doing it. I think it is to protect them. It might be to protect them from birds as well, and rats, so that they don't see them, as well as slugs and snails, but I'm not entirely sure how effective it is. It's just something I do every year, and I quite enjoy it. You know me, I love fiddling around with my plants, so the more I can touch them, the happier I am. Fold over. This one seems to be covered in slime, which is slightly annoying. Slightly annoying. I don't know if he'll be okay. I suppose it sort of does. It's just covered in absolute slime. Maybe we'll have to leave this one as a sacrifice. Well, it was supposed to be sunny today, that's why I was really excited to come down. It looks like it's just going to be cloudy for the next few days now, but the temperature's going up, but it's going to be cloudy. That's not good, because that means slugs and snails will be out in full force still. If you've got the sun blaring down, they don't tend to come out so much, because it dries everything out. But when it's cloudy and it's warm, they just seem to love that, so that's a bit of a bummer. Anyway, talking of our cauliflower and broccoli, it is time to start thinking about our autumn-winter brassica crops. I know, it's only June, but we always think about the next season, about six months before the next season gets going. Mid-June to end-June is the perfect time to start sowing some brassicas, ready to plant out, hopefully to harvest in the autumn-winter time. So, I've got quite a lot here. I'm not sure if I'm going to grow all of these. I have got Brussels sprouts, Red Bull, so I'll whack those in. I've got some Chinese cabbage Scarvita F1, whack those in. I've got some Calets. I've never grown Calets. Apparently they're like sprouts, but instead of a sprout ball, you get like a kale ball, a ball of kale. So I'm going to grow some Calets, hopefully. And then I've got some Calabrese broccoli, which always tends to do quite well. So, we're going to whack these into some seed trays. I'm quite excited to grow Calets. I am growing Cavlonero for the first time this year, so Calets will be quite a nice addition. I didn't get many seeds. These must be quite a rarity. Something that people probably don't grow very often, Calets. I don't think it's something I've ever seen that you can buy in a shop, Calets. Can you buy Calet in a shop? Just like a random Tesco supermarket. I mean, not like a farm shop. Oh my gosh, I just literally picked up a pot and put my finger on a slug. I did not enjoy that at all. I did not enjoy that. I hate it when you find a surprise slug. They're the worst, the mystery slugs. And you're picking something up and all of a sudden you just touch a slug. That is the worst feeling that is. Right, these are the Brussels sprouts that I'd already thought that I'd planted, and obviously I had not. I had grown purple sprouting broccoli instead. Now we've got sprouts. Oh, the bed where I was just taking all that compost out of. So when I was sowing those seeds, I went to a bed that had quite good compost and I was using the compost out of it. It's the carrot bed. Remember in the other vlog I said I don't think the other carrots are germinating? They've suddenly started germinating. I've been busy taking all the soil out of here. Look, some of the carrots are starting to germinate. I've just been ripping them all up. Like an absolute woolly. They've taken ages to germinate, they have. That's the thing about carrots, you see, you should never give up on them because they'll randomly start germinating. There you are, see, never give up on your plants. You never know when they're going to come back. Right, this twine is wet and it's really difficult to work with and it's all knotted. So, and the weather is just horrendous. So I'm not feeling in the mood to fix the structure up, but I am going to plant some peas in here and then I will fix the structure in time for the peas to grow. I was hoping for a nice sunny vlog, but here we go, this is the UK. So I'm not going to fix the structure, I am going to plant my peas in now. I'm going to sow some pea seeds and then by the time they get going I've got time to sort out the structure. But this is sort of what I'm going for. So I sort of want, I don't know if you can see this, but the pink twine to go up and down like that. I think that looks really nice. And then what I've done is I've got this log at the bottom, but instead of sort of securing it, it's hanging. And because it's hanging, it will keep these tight all the time. So they will never sort of loosen because this is just sort of swaying and hanging off the ground. And that's sort of my little trick. I don't know if that's going to work or not, but it sort of feels like it might. So we're just going to sort of go with that. I mean that could be the most genius thing that I've ever said, who knows. I mean one day I might come out with something that actually makes sense and everyone goes, oh my goodness, why didn't we think of that? You know, that's why you've just got to keep coming out with these ideas, guys. Alright, so pea meads here. I have sown these over the other side of the allotment. They're doing really well. I love them. I love peas. Let's see if we can get a late summer harvest of peas. So we're just going to whack them along the structure here directly. They have come up directly in my other place as well, but I've sown them, so I know that they can. I know you can do it, guys. You've just got to, you know, grow. Come on. Your mates have done it. I'm picking sweet peas every single time I come down here. They are just my favourite flower. I've got four vases of sweet peas in my house at the moment. It's such a shame that they don't last very long in a vase. If you've got any tips for how to make your sweet peas last just a little bit longer, I would really love to hear them because they do tend to kind of wilt and die very quickly. Luckily, I've got plenty to pick to keep me going, but I would like them to last just that little bit longer because they're so lovely and the whole house just smells of sweet peas. It's my favourite summer smell. That and also tomato plants as well. I can't wait to smell my tomato plants. I might go give them a sniff in a minute, actually. Is that weird? I don't think so. Right, there we go. A bunch of sweet peas, mainly the blue, sort of mauvey ones. I've got quite a few pink ones at home now, so I'm trying to pick the other side because I've got two different sides of these to pick. I'm so glad I did. They're my favourite thing on the plot. I think I'm going to leave it there today, guys, because the weather is just not playing ball and I really just want to go home and have a cup of tea, to be honest. We did a few jobs. We've got a few things done. We can hear Einstein, but we can't see Einstein. He's not coming out today. He's not liking the weather either. So I think I will see you again on Wednesday. Thank you so much for watching. Good luck with your plots. Let me know how your pumpkins are doing, if you're growing them. Hopefully a bit better than mine. Sit up there singing. Come down and show yourself. Anyway, hope you've enjoyed it today. See you Wednesday. Thanks for watching. Bye.