Anyone with an allotment?

I put climbing beans (Cobra?) in the ground three weeks ago and they've all sprouted (half within the week), although all that rain a couple of weeks ago meant the slugs had a go.
Looking pretty good now and the dry warm forecast means they should be off to the races.

I have Cobra as well. Might have to give this a go! Thank you.

Anyone tried direct sowing their beans?

I have but given the pot ones didn't germinate I'm not surprised there's no action so far either, dud seeds I reckon.

Up the plot today. Forgot the potatoes in tubs need a good bit of watering. First flowers out on the self-saved Sagitta spuds I stuck in in March.

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Finished off the 7x7 corn grid in my lunch break today and whacked 6 crown prince squash in under the cover of twilight. Small inroads. Bindweed still popping up everywhere, wish there was a more effective cure than trying to dig out the roots, they go so deep!

I do have one of those electric rotary sieves which is amazing and have a pipe dream of going over the whole lot one year, but that's not going to happen for a while and it all needs a lot more bulk and organic matter first anyway.

Oh and finally folded up the big tarp which was filled with stagnant water. Rank. Think I'll try over-wintering green manure instead at the end of this year.

Talk to me about apple trees. Put in a small one two springs ago. First year we got one apple (I believe you’re not supposed to let the tree fruit in its first year) cut it into four and shared it with the family. It remains the best apple I’ve ever eaten. Last year it got 2-3 fruit develop but our youngest knocked them off with his toy dinosaur. This year, loads of blossom and looks to be a decent amount of fruit setting, too. Apart from keep my son away from the tree, what does it need - Water? fertiliser? Support for the branches?

None of those. Just leave it.

Watering young trees can have a detrimental impact, as it means they don't form deep roots that allow them to cope during dry spells. I doubt you'll get enough fruit to have to worry about supporting branches.

I haven't but I know my Dad has stopped doing that with his as the've failed to germinate several years in a row due to cold springs followed by long dry spells. (like the one we appear to be embarking on now)

I’m also starting to think about fruit. Our final bed is contaminated with plastic and a bit shady due to being right up against the clubhouse but west facing at least.
Thinking about espaliered redcurrant/blueberry/raspberries etc.

Anyone put them in before? I’ve laboured on fencing jobs years ago so got half an idea what I’m aiming for. I presume strained wire is preferable to wire mesh for support? The rows will be about 6ft long so just a post at each end and won’t need a huge amount of tension hopefully.
Will be easy to just drape mesh over to keep the birds off as well I guess.

Things I don’t know:
How much space I want between rows(at least enough to walk down) so they don’t end up shading eachother out etc. Bed is about 2x7m so how many rows should I aim to get in?

Which fruits need more/less shady conditions: front is noticeably brighter than the back corner.

Presume some soft fruit grows higher than others so should I do lower espaliers at the front than the back to help with sunlight.

Are most self fertile or will I need two of everything?

The two curves on the right hand side of the bed are big hoops I’ve got from chopping the trampoline frame we inherited in half. This will mark the boundary to the plot and will do something like blackberries over them.

I probably won’t have as many rows as I’ve drawn but yeah.

All soft fruit advice welcome!

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It tidier than this now but not dug it all over yet. We have to put in a path down the side of the building(not allowed to grow up the wall). Bed is from where I’m stood to the ton bags at the front of the plot.

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Blueberries need ericaceous compost, that’s about as much as I know about fruit. I’ve got a load of them in pots which aren’t doing amazingly.

Cheers, that makes sense.

Ta. I’ve done a few more in cells on a heat mat but might direct sow a few as well. Was a bulk pack of seed so I have plenty.

Yeah we had two in big planters on our balcony in ericaceous. The died after a couple of years. :/

Apple trees - put 3 small ones in garden last autumn. Two seem fine, the one nearest the house (Discovery) has curling leaves and now getting yellow leaves too, not the same ones. Feel bad as it's almost certainly picked up blackspot from the rose nearby. Starting to sulphur spray for the blackspot. Not sure what the curling leaves is about though.

In reply to a question from @edmundro re supporting espaliered or cordoned fruit.

From what I understand, concrete is strictly verboten for anchoring posts on allotments, so:

Dig postholes at least 2'/60cm deep, using the post digger, post borer or trenching spade of your choice, aim for about 6"/15 cm diameter. Drop a 4"/100mm chestnut post centrally in the hole, hold the post upright and ram the dirt from the hole around the post HARD. A broom handle or sledgehammer handle is ideal for this purpose. Allow about 1.5m out of the ground for soft fruits, rather more for stone fruits or apples/pears. 2m between posts is fine, adjust any intermediates to fit. 3"/75mm diameter chestnut is plenty for intermediates. For taller posts, a section of a post cut at 45 degrees and attached to the inside of the post and into the ground will stop the posts from pulling inwards under tension from the wires. When fixing the wires, wrap the wire around the end post and staple it. Attach a tension adjuster (see below) to the other end post, loop the wire through the adjuster and twist it back on itself, then twist the adjuster until the tension is as you want it (start the adjuster at the extremity of the threads). A pair of pliers and Park Tool cable cutters helps.

Allow 1.5m between rows for soft fruits, 2m at least between stone fruits or apples/pears. Chestnut posts should last 15 years or so.

Hope this helps someone!

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Easy to west human centipede diagram

Gold standard post.
Much appreciated Colin

Two weeks with our eye off the ball to move house and the grass is up to our knees

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Are people growing tomatoes in uncovered? I was planning to rig up a mini ploy tunnel over a couple of raised beds, but it seems pretty superfluous now. Got 13 plants that I might just chuck in half a compost bag each as the ones I've moved into the garden seem to be loving it and the plot is only going to get more sun.

I've never covered my tomatoes

I think this is wild garlic, do I just treat it like normal garlic?

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This is broccoli and sprouts that I didn’t harvest last year

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I’ve only ever grown them outdoors. Some varieties good, some not, some years good, some not. Greenhouse is almost always better for yield but they do ok outdoors you have to worry less about watering and heaven help you if you get blight in a greenhouse.

Good to hear, I'll put them down there, they've outgrown my windowsill anyway.