I am regretting not covering my potatoes last night. Alot of their leaves are blackened after last night's frost. It only got down to -.5C but that was enough to cause damage. Frost isn't usually a problem those dark South. With a possibility of another slight frost tonight, I will see what I can do to prevent more damage. I assume that they'll recover though.

Got down to -2C here on Monday night but strangely the potatoes seem unscathed. It probably helped that I had earthed up to cover most of the leaves, but even those exposed seem OK.

The two courgettes, despite being covered in bubble-wrap blankets, have head their outer leaves shrivelled by the frost but the growing centres seem all right. And whatever cucurbits I have coming up all over the veg patch, self seeded from the compost, are obviously made of hardier stuff as they have survived uncovered. (They are presumably either pumpkins, from the innards of last year's Halloween pumpkins, or butternut squash!)

Last night only got down to 4C but there could be more frost tonight and tomorrow. Hurry up, warmth!

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I don’t have enough space to grow potatoes and I’m no expert but I do remember hearing they can withstand a bit of frost and given that the important bits are beneath ground, they will come back.

I also think newspaper is a good idea and better than nothing!  Just gut feeling.  Although I’d remove it if it gets damp, as you don’t want it freezing again the following night.  I’m sure that if your spuds are planted deeply enough, or earthed up a little they’ll be OK.  You may be right about them being a bit later harvesting but not as late as re-planting and less wasteful.  Good luck!  Let us know how they get on.  

Thanks, Caz. Having covered them with newspapers last night, the temperature didn't go below 3C! I know that there is still a possibility of frost over the next couple of nights but I would be very surprised if we're hit again here.

@Rob. Hard to understand how yours escaped and mine didn't! Some of mine were reasonably well earther up but got scorched nonetheless. What was strange was that some plants were almost unscathed whereas others got quite badly damaged. 

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No bother with frost here with coldest night only dropping to 4C which is very cold for May. I don't think we get frost in May, i certainly can't remember ever having one. 

All my delicate plants have been in cold frames (unheated) and have fared well. Tomatoes thankfully haven't been bothered by the cold nights, i say thankfully because they are all in full flower. Cold affects the pollinating.

Harvested 2 tubs of first earlies so far, with one left to harvest. They are delicious but can't remember the type of potato they are and i wish i had planted more 

Purchased 4 bags of compost. TWO trays of plants, 1 Begonia the other Petunia. Glad to start again.

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My runner beans are doing really well with strong growth and my dwarf French beans are OK, though not as strong.  My courgette isn’t growing very quickly though, so I’m keeping it in its bubble wrap duvet for a while.  Tomatoes are going well and chilies are replanted in a pot in the front porch.  I’ve got two trays of pea shoots growing for salads and another to plant out.  

On zoom with my siblings last night, one sister said she’d been sowing sunflower seeds for her grandchildren to have a race.  This somehow turned into a competition between us and she’s delivered them all today, ready sown in pots.  So I’m on a quest to grow the tallest.  Any tips?  

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Having lawn woes at the present time!

I wanted one of our lawns re-turfed, but the layydeeee of the house and a local landscaping company thought otherwise and decided we should have it re-seeded instead. Fair enough, but as there has been so much in the way of plantain and daisies, I wasn't sure - however that's what we did.

12 days ago the company came with an industrial lawn spiker - serious bit of kit, but better hired than bought, for the limited use they get - and spent half a day going over the offending lawn and raking up a serious amount of silage. Stage 1 completed.

Stage 2, 1.5 tons of sharp sand carefully raked over the "barren-ish" surface, 15kg lawn seed then applied and covered with a further 1.5 tons of really lovely loam and raked again, followed by a gentle watering.

Stage 3 Day three another good gentle watering. It's looking good but with the threat of an overnight frost we have to be very careful. I'm also fearful of our dog undoing all the neat work that's been completed but the "competent" landscaper makes the grave mistake IMO of saying to the "boss", that shouldn't be a problem until the lawn starts what looks like a good shooting spurt. Pardon me? 

Day 4-6 Too good to be true the landscapers are still on site laying a long awaited "woodland "type walkway, a mix of slate slabs and washed cobbles, so the culprit is banned from the rear garden - hoorah 

Day 7 After a cold start the wind comes up and dries up what used to be our mixed vegetation lawn which now has an expensive investment attached to it,  meanwhile the dog hasn't got a bloody clue and rushes up and down the garden chasing the sodding magpies. I thought it was only cars that did "wheelies"; wrong my f***ing dog's mastered it now!........ And relax.

Day 8 Careful re-raking last night followed by some gentle watering seems to have done the trick and there are in fact a couple of wisps of new growth showing on the lawn transplant. The wind which left the surface like a dust bowl has subsided and after a "few words" today the curfew seems to be holding.

Day 9-10 So, just a couple of violations (what a surprise) - rinse and repeat with gentle raking, gentle watering, gentle cursing.

Day 11 All hope of rationality has gone out of the window. The bloody dog is using the ex-ex lawn as a drag racing circuit which suits the pigeons who are now eating their way through the appealing un-germinated seed that the aforementioned has scuffed up to the surface. A short silence in the house ensues after a half-hearted resumption of dimplomatic relations. Yes I do know she was a rescue and yes I do love her just as much as you do - I happily pay for her food, insurance, vet's bill's etc - I know it's not her fault but she doesn't have to take it out on me does she? I'd like to be a rescue!

Day 12 She's only ventured into the garden once today, because the wife forgot to shut the patio doors (could happen to anyone couldn't it?) It's been raked much better today and more nicely watered,but I'm starting to wonder if there will be more green shoots of recovery in the economy before green shoots in my lawn  

Oh well tomorrow's another day isn't it............

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  Oh Llamy!  That was so graphic and made me laugh so much! Some things in life clearly don’t live happily side by side.  

At least your story makes light of our cat finding a new favourite sunbathing spot in the middle of my neatly sown row of beetroot!  Keep us posted!  

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My runner beans are doing really well with strong growth and my dwarf French beans are OK, though not as strong.  My courgette isn’t growing very quickly though, so I’m keeping it in its bubble wrap duvet for a while.  Tomatoes are going well and chilies are replanted in a pot in the front porch.  I’ve got two trays of pea shoots growing for salads and another to plant out.  

The courgettes I planted out a few weeks ago are fairly stunted compared to the ones that have been kept inside at night - the indoor ones are already well in bloom (male flowers only so far though) whereas the outdoor ones only have a few buds showing and most of the larger leaves have shrivelled with the wind and cold. Plenty of strong growth in the middle though and hopefully now it has warmed up they will get going. Tomatoes also planted out now, and I potted up 18 (!) chilli seedlings, after every single one of the "growbar" (seeds in a coconut fibre mat, Christmas stocking present) came up! In fact some of them had two seeds in each hole so there are probably about 25 plants in total. I'll be giving them away to the neighbours I think.

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The courgettes I planted out a few weeks ago are fairly stunted compared to the ones that have been kept inside at night - the indoor ones are already well in bloom (male flowers only so far though) whereas the outdoor ones only have a few buds showing and most of the larger leaves have shrivelled with the wind and cold. Plenty of strong growth in the middle though and hopefully now it has warmed up they will get going. Tomatoes also planted out now, and I potted up 18 (!) chilli seedlings, after every single one of the "growbar" (seeds in a coconut fibre mat, Christmas stocking present) came up! In fact some of them had two seeds in each hole so there are probably about 25 plants in total. I'll be giving them away to the neighbours I think.

Watching your courgette stories closely over the last few weeks Rob.

We would hate to go a summer without courgettes in the garden.

But the seeds failed so we Amazoned some. sadly, our quarantine procedures meant they had to be stowed left of centre for 24 hours (cardboard). When we opened them they did look droopy!

Luckily a string of warmer nights is forecast and they're all in good pots now, well watered and exposed to dappled sun (don't want to blitz them in recovery). Fingers crossed.

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All of my first earlies have been harvested, and of my 8 main crop plants one has a fat flower bud developing.

Mini cucumbers are providing cucumbers on a regular basis now but i must confess it was bought as a graft.

Aubergine is flowering, chillies are flowering, tomatoes are fruiting. Tomatoes & Aubergine are outside now.

Hmmm!  Yes Rob!  What is it with courgettes?  They are so temperamental!  Yours sound like mine.  Crispy outer leaves but healthy looking centre growth that’s slow to grow.  I think it can come out of its bubble wrap today.

Two years ago I had one running rampant, resulting in many jars of chutney, but last year I completely failed with one.  Of the two in my daughter’s garden, the slowest one to start proved to be the best.  

On another note, I think we’ve killed our green grape that grows up the veranda.  Hubby put weed killer on the block paving a couple of weeks ago, then jet washed and re-sanded it last week.  We think the jet washing flushed the weed killer down to the vine roots as the leaves have wilted.  

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Latest gardening woe is that the bag of compost we used for putting up seedlings (which had been open since last year) must have been infested with ants, as the kitchen windowsill is now crawling with them 😞

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Latest gardening woe is that the bag of compost we used for putting up seedlings (which had been open since last year) must have been infested with ants, as the kitchen windowsill is now crawling with them :(

We've had an exceptionally "anty" year too, Rob. They seem to have scouts in the kitchen most of the time and if we leave anything unwise lying about - like a honey spoon - the word soon gets round. We have no idea where they get in. There are anthills in the sheep field next door and lots of ants in the front garden too. I am wondering if we are in for an early "Flying Ant Day".

https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/when-why-winged-ants-swarm-nuptial-flight.html

I am about to mow the lawn before it gets too hot.

Roger

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Latest gardening woe is that the bag of compost we used for putting up seedlings (which had been open since last year) must have been infested with ants, as the kitchen windowsill is now crawling with them :(

 

Sorry about your woes Rob.

Not gloating at all, but we just received a nursery delivery we placed a week before Easter(!) including plants we've since brought from seed, including runners. But we hadn't any success with courgettes and we've just received 6 beauties (obviously we didn't bring these on). They are going to be, no doubt, in Innes number 16 special or the such. Weather looks courgette-good from her on in, but not sure what our funny soil will do to them.

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Runner beans are climbing well and look like they have flower buds forming.  Getting them out early May have paid off.  The courgette certainly enjoyed today’s warmth and sunshine and my sunflower seeds are through!   The lawns are going a bit yellow as we’ve had very little rain since March, so I’ve got the sprinkler out on one this evening and will give the other a drink in the morning before the sun comes up.

My peas are looking a bit too strong to eat as salad pea shoots and may end up being planted in the garden to grow on.  I’m trying a different method for use in salads, just sprouting them in a tub!  We’ll see how that works.  

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Sorry about your woes Rob.

Not gloating at all, but we just received a nursery delivery we placed a week before Easter(!) including plants we've since brought from seed, including runners. But we hadn't any success with courgettes and we've just received 6 beauties (obviously we didn't bring these on). They are going to be, no doubt, in Innes number 16 special or the such. Weather looks courgette-good from her on in, but not sure what our funny soil will do to them.

Two or three years ago we had courgettes coming out of our ears, to the extent that the following year we decided to plant something else. Went for butternut squash and got a grand total of one squash to show for nurturing two plants right through to autumn. 

Our soil here is terrible, it is thin sandy acid heathland stuff. Local flora that thrives is gorse, bramble, heather, broom and rhododendrons.  (Although strangely I have tried growing heather and azaleas in the garden and failed with both!)

The veg are in raised beds filled mostly with compost from our two bins. Our compost output has soared since we got rabbits. They predigest all the bramble cuttings a treat 🙂 Bramble seems to be their favourite food, which is handy as we have masses of the stuff and a single shoot can grow nearly a foot in a day!

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Rob I sympathise with you regarding soil condition.  Ours wasn’t great either but is much improved after many years of digging in home made compost, tea bags, coffee grounds and wood ash.  Rather than a veg patch, I grow herbs, fruit and veg in my mixed borders, so digging around the perennials is a bit of a pain and I’ve had a few casualties but it’s paid off.

Bagged compost has been hard to get hold of this Spring, so I’ve re-used what I had in containers last year, mixed with stuff from our compost bin. This year’s Apache chilies have gone into the same pot as last year’s and I have far more than the three I planted!  Obviously self sets from the fruits that dropped last year.  A bonus but will be giving away quite a few!  

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Two or three years ago we had courgettes coming out of our ears, to the extent that the following year we decided to plant something else. Went for butternut squash and got a grand total of one squash to show for nurturing two plants right through to autumn. 

Our soil here is terrible, it is thin sandy acid heathland stuff. Local flora that thrives is gorse, bramble, heather, broom and rhododendrons.  (Although strangely I have tried growing heather and azaleas in the garden and failed with both!)

The veg are in raised beds filled mostly with compost from our two bins. Our compost output has soared since we got rabbits. They predigest all the bramble cuttings a treat 🙂 Bramble seems to be their favourite food, which is handy as we have masses of the stuff and a single shoot can grow nearly a foot in a day!

That light, sandy soil, with limited improvement, would be ideal for some crops- I seem to remember carrots like it light & drained. Other root vegetables like parsnips and, I think, potatoes do well as they root deep to get to moisture because of the excellent drainage.

But poor fertility and drought pose problems. I had a look about as I'm sure you have, Rob. This looked interesting wrt improving soil quality.

https://www.growveg.co.uk/guides/the-secret-to-improving-sandy-soil/

May not help ... best of luck anyway.

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That light, sandy soil, with limited improvement, would be ideal for some crops- I seem to remember carrots like it light & drained. Other root vegetables like parsnips and, I think, potatoes do well as they root deep to get to moisture because of the excellent drainage.

But poor fertility and drought pose problems. I had a look about as I'm sure you have, Rob. This looked interesting wrt improving soil quality.

https://www.growveg.co.uk/guides/the-secret-to-improving-sandy-soil/

May not help ... best of luck anyway.

Yes, carrots and potatoes tend to do well here but we have never had much luck with radishes - they grow masses of top growth and then when you pull them up there's nothing underneath! And rosemary and lavender thrive too, as mentioned in that article.

However much compost we add to the beds it always seems to turn to dust, though!

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Surgery time!
One of my two cucumber seedlings snapped partway up the main stem. It’s still attached but the hollow stem has pinched flat and won’t stay upright. Following a bit of advice online I have taped the stem to a wooden “splint” and replanted the seedling in a deeper pot so the break is below the soil, in the hope that it will send out roots from higher up. It snapped yesterday and still seems green and plump today, so fingers crossed it will repair itself.

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