Finbow, I was about to send you the question - "How does one know when their gooseberries are ripe for picking" and then they were gone.

It appears the Sustained allotment has been victim to some hungry birds and 90% of the crop has gone - I am assuming it's birds, rather than nasty human beings

Anyway to avoid the same thing happening again, how do I know when gooseberries are ripe and what could I do to stop the birds getting them. Is netting my only answer?

You can see my  blog entry about the matter by clicking here

Marc

 Our recently acquired allotment has ground elder and nettled.It is also overgrown (so we missed this season )  and needs cutting back... to try and get ready for autumn . I dont want to give up on it which was my mums advice-she was a keen gardener. Any tips? Thanks

Hi Finbow, we've recently had to water the allotment quite alot, due to the hot weather. Our soil goes very hard and clay like after a day in the sun and when we water the plants lots of water seems to be wasted by just running off the surface.

Any ideas to minise wastage and ensure the roots gets the majority of the water?

Hi,

Just wondering if anyone saw the article in the "Observer" on the 29th June? Pages 8&9; "Home grown veg ruined by toxic fertiliser." I am certain that our allotments in Crewe have been affected by this. It seems that there is "contamination from manure originating from farms where the hormone based herbicide aminopyralid has been sprayed on fields".

Signs of "crop damage include distorted foliage, with cupping of leaves and fern like growth".  "Susceptible crops include potatoes, tomatoes, beans, peas, carrots and lettuce".

There are links for further information: Observer.co.uk/foodblog and guardian.co.uk/environment/food

The article was brought to my attention by one of the team working on our allotment for people recovering from mental health problems so I can't claim credit for being on the ball with this!

All the best, Alison.

Hi finbow, my courgettes have a problem which sounds similar to the previous question, but I am almost certain its not frost damage. I grew them indoors from seed, and planted them out late.  read more »

I planted out a courgette plant months ago, it started to fruit then stopped. The leaves are fully grown but have a motted yellow colour to them, the underside is pretty brown. I assume that they are infested with something, but unsure what and what would be the best organic method to treat them. The plant is between two gooseberry plants, it has been planted with fresh compost and organic chicken manure pellets. It also gets full sun.

I am about to plant out some more courgettes should I do anything before hand?

Hi Finbow,

We have a shady spot next to our sweetcorn and runner beans, and wondered what type of things might do well. It does get sun but not too much, it is shade by a blackcurrent bush for most of the day?

Marc

Hi

The rain has yielded massive great tomato plants. Do I need to cut anything back, or just leave as they are? Initially I was supporting them with a lollypop stick, now I think they need a bamboo cane! Any advice gratefully received.

Hello Finbow,

Do you have any advice on when Jerusalem artichokes are ready to crop? Ours are about 1 metre high and haven't yet flowered.

Look forward to hearing from you,

All the Best,

Alison.

I am involved with a horticultural project that encourages people with mental health problems to get involved in gardening and use green spaces. We have two massive allotments and this year we are really struggling to keep our crops safe from a very persistent slug population! We usually just remove them by hand and accept some limited damage but they currently seem more destructive than ever. We never use pesticides on our plots and someone has suggested the use of nematodes to solve the problem. I am not sure!! What do you think?

All the best,