[al78]

I planted most of my veg seedlings out on the plot last weekend and most of them have been wiped out or are on the way out. What is the latest date roughly I can get away with sowing kale, cabbage, perpetual spinach, carrots and calabrese?

Just in case the same thing happens to the French beans, how late in the year can I sow these and still get a crop?

[New shoot]

What a shame about your seedlings, but I think you have plenty of time to resow.

You can certainly continue sowing carrots for a couple of months yet.  Kale - most of mine is still in the packet, so no rush there.  Cabbage & calabrese  - depends on the variety, so check the packet, but if you are only a couple of weeks late, I would go for it.

Perpetual spinach I tend to sow early spring or late summer to overwinter.  Its one of the veg that can bolt over summer, but if you have a cooler, shadier spot, worth a try.

French beans are OK to keep going with until June or even later if you can offer a bit of weather protection towards the end of the season 

[solway cropper]

what wiped them out?

[al78]

what wiped them out?

Just been up there, it looks like slugs. Have scissored about a dozen of them that were all over the remaining plants. What happened was 10 days ago I applied slug nematodes to the beds I was planning to plant out the brassicas, and it appears they have had no effect whatsoever. The slug gone wool pellets which worked reasonably well last year seem to have failed this year. Problem is that is is not practical for me to go up every night killing slugs given the allotment is three miles away, and to be honest I don't really like the merciless slaughter anyway, I would much prefer a deterrent method, but nothing seems to have worked so far this year. The only thing left to try that I haven't tried so far is the homemade garlic spray.

[solway cropper]

You can usually keep sowing well after the date on the seed packet but you are less likely to get a mature crop. I do it all the time as I like baby carrots, salad leaves, etc. Spinach and kale should be fine.