[wneva]

I visited to see how plants and netting has stood up to the rains.  And I looked at it all and wondered what do I do now!  Here's a litany of questions!

The runners are still beaning a bit - but the actual beans are getting a bit leathery.  Time to dig it all up and chuck the remaining beans?  Or keep the seed for next year?  How do I do that?

The kale (planted as little plants in early July) is looking good - how long can I leave it, cutting off outside leaves to eat and letting the little ones in the middle grow on?  Will it be OK all winter?

The spinach has largely bolted, but there are still a lot of baby leaves.  It looks like I can keep on picking them for a while yet.

The newly planted purple sprouting is OK under its netting, as are the cabbages.  V proud of the rather rickety cage for sprouting netting and the blue water pipe hoops for the cabbages. 

The leeks are leeking nicely - need weeding, but growing nicely.  they went in in late June.  I think they'll be OK in the ground for months yet?  Haven't harvested any yet. 

Lettuce - lolla rossa has gone to seed, but some other deep red leafy ones, like a deep purple Webbs wonderful, are still OK.  Think I'd better pick them soon, before they bolt.    I planted some Tom Thumb last week and radicchio too.  Lady at Garden Centre said it'll be OK now, and I trust her.  I like fresh lettuce in my daily lunch sandwich.

I've got 2 little apple trees - a couple of years old.  James Grieve and Bramley.  They both have a few little apples on leggy branches - rather eaten by some bug, I think.   Do I leave them till when I touch them they come away in my hand?  Do I prune the branches - they haven't been touched yet?  I don't know what to do with the apple trees at all!

And my main crop is black weed control fabric, which covers over half the growing area - I think it's over 6 whole beds (I've divided my plot - it's only a half allotment - into 15 beds about 4 or 5 ft wide).  This because I got fed up with the letters from the parish council telling me I had too many weeds. Do I leave them covered till next May and then dig 'em over, hopefully the couch grass and other nasties will have died by then.  Or should I dig now and then cover over again?

As you see, I have lots of questions, even though it's a small plot, and I aim to grow only the obvious easy things.  I'd like to try globe artichokes next year, but I wonder if there's enough sun to get any crop of a decent size?  We decided not to bother with potatoes cos they're so cheap anyway.  I'm semi-retired - working 3 days per week, and the weekends are mainly about jobs at the house, and visiting the assorted grandchildren.  So I fit in shortish visits to the allotment when I can ... hence the weeds!

Any advice will be welcome!

[devonbarmygardener]

Might be worth doing some digging now - get the worst of the weeds out then cover up again.

Kale I keep picking the outer leaves and  leave the centre to keep producing - should last all winter in theory.

Leeks should be fine - mine will sit all winter until picking for usage.

Is your spinach the big perpetual stuff or baby leaf? If it's perpetual and has bolted, you can whip out the flower stem and it will keep going for a while - I normally get away with snipping the flower out as soon as it's spotted about 3 or 4 times before the leaves aren't much good. Baby leaf may be over - I don't have a lot of luck with that myself.

Hope that helps a bit
Welcome to the site

[PudsTree]

Here's my take on your apple trees.

Leave pruning till the tree is dormant - late November to late February. Wait for a dry day during that period (there will be a few!) and then prune. The basic idea is to remove diseased and crossing branches. Prune to a wine goblet shape (as best you can) and keep the centre of the tree relatively open and free of branches - this will allow good air circulation when the leaves grow next spring.

Sterilise any pruning equipment when you've finished one tree and before starting the next - to avoid passing on diseases.

As far as the fruit is concerned remove any that look dodgy and destroy well away from the trees - burn if you can.

Rake up all debris below the trees (leaves, twigs, fallen fruit) and burn that as well - very important to get rid of bugs in the surrounding area.

Hope that helps.

[wneva]

Thanks Devon barmy gardener and Pudstree. 

I'll start digging and re-covering as soon as there's some dry weather.  And I'll continue with the clearing of weeds and trimming of paths - I'm sure the couch grass grows under the pathways and then seeks to spread sideways into the beds!

The spinach isn't the really big stuff - think it must be the baby leaf type.  I'll pick until it fades.  I'll take care next year to buy perpetual.  And I'll pick the kale steadily and see how it goes on.

As for the apples, pudstree, I'll clear the ground around the trees - big job in itself!  No question of crossing branches - each tree has just a couple of low level branches and the main stem.  Should I cut back each branch to a point where there's a sprouting of leaf or bud? Or just leave well alone?

Thanks again to you both for bothering to reply!!

Best - Neville

 

[gavinjconway]

The runners are about had it now. The frost will kill them so probably be better to buy new seed... also if you have other runners around they will cross pollinate..

As others said - get digging and let the winter do its job of killing some weeds.!!

[Salmo]

You sound to me to have all the right answers already. Have faith in what you think is best and it will work.

Just two points I will comment on. Garden centre advice is often a bit wayward. Your lettuce probably will not come to much. Get a book with apple pruning instructions or google it. Better still find someone who knows what they are doing and get them to show you. Some garden centres have pruning demonstrations.

[allotmentann]

I got a really excellent RHS book on pruning ( the older version which is more detailed than their later books) secondhand from A ***zon for just the cost of postage. It covers all the different shapes with really clear diagrams and I take that to the plot with me when I want to do any pruning. It gives me a lot more confidence, especially when it feels as though what I am told to do seems rather drastic. I find phones and tablets not a lot of use for information at the plot because of glare from the sun, the book is great and as I only paid pennies for it, I don't mind it getting a bit muddy!
I went to a recording of GQ yesterday for radio 4 and one of the questions was about pruning apples, they did mention to prune right back to the trunk and not half way along a branch or you get lots and lots of vertical shoots (water shoots).
It was this book although they have not got such good deals on it at the minute. It goes into a lot of detail with apples in particular.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Horticultural-Societys-Encyclopaedia-Practical-Gardening/dp/1840001518/ref=sr_1_8?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1381998309&sr=1-8&keywords=RHS+pruning