Penellype's Allotment

[Penellype]

Seriously fed up today having gone to the allotment at lunchtime. My beautiful raspberries have been completely shredded by wasps - there are loads of them. I daren't even get close enough to attempt to pick any fruit that still looks whole. At home they are doing the same thing to my white currants. Googling says that wasps don't like the smell of mint, so I have been out smearing strongly mint-smelling toothpaste on the white currant leaves with a stick, but it doesn't seem to be having a huge effect.

I think I might have to go down late this evening when the wasps have quietened down, take the bird net off and try to protect some of the remaining fruit with insect mesh somehow. I have an unused 3m x 10m piece, which will not be big enough to cover the whole thing, but might rescue some of the fruit, otherwise I can't see myself getting any more raspberries this year.

[Jungle Jane]

Do you have a white or brown paper bag you could make into a wasp nest shape fill with something like screwed up paper to bulk it out,I’m sure that deters them? They’ll think it’s a rival nest & leave. When do they stop flying around about 7pm? I’ve seen traps made with a jar & a liquid inside too with small hole in the top. Can you see a wasp nest hanging in any shrub,I had one last year,pest control came out & took it away.

[Andraste]

*hugs* for the fruit loss & scarey beasties

Top tip re. the paper bag - I must remember that.

[Penellype]

Thanks Jungle Jane and Andraste. Years ago before I got the allotment I had a similar problem with the blueberries in my garden and bought a thing called a waspinator, which was meant to look like a wasps nest. I hung it among the bushes and it made not one jot of difference. In subsequent years I have constructed a fruit cage made of insect mesh, and that does the job. I haven't seen a wasps nest, but there are thick hedges round the plot - it could be anywhere.

Last night I went out into my garden at 9pm and the wasps were still buzzing round the white currant so I didn't see any point in going to the allotment to check there. I went down at 7am this morning and there weren't that many wasps so I carefully removed the bird netting, which took me about 20 minutes as the net was wound round several fruit and caught up on some of the taller canes. By the time I had finished the wasps were arriving in greater numbers but I did manage to salvage about a dozen undamaged fruit before I lost my nerve.

Looking at the dimensions of the frame, my 3m by 10m piece of mesh is completely the wrong shape. I decided to order a 6m x 7.6m piece of mesh, which should, if my measurements are correct, be big enough to cover the whole thing. It should arrive today, so if I get up early enough tomorrow morning I might have a chance of putting it on before the wasps arrive. That's the plan. There are still a lot of unripe fruit so hopefully there will be something for me, if the raspberry beetles haven't got to them. Meanwhile I intend to pick the blackcurrants, which are ripe but don't (yet) seem to be attracting the wasps, and move the small blueberry into the tunnel before the wasps decide to move to blueberries if their access to raspberries is blocked.

I am trying the paper bag idea at home, as the white currant is not in a position where I can cover it with insect mesh.

[Jungle Jane]

Good luck with them & the early morning protection,I didn’t know they’re about so late,wasps cause such anxiety,why can’t they relax like bees. The netting sounds a good barrier & will last years. A nest could be in the ground somewhere,they’d be seen going in & out,be careful & avoid perfume/bright colours around them. Pest control have an online chat,you can ask questions really helpful.

[Penellype]

I don't think the wasps are particularly bothered by the paper bag. This one is sitting on it and there are loads buzzing around the currants.

[Penellype]

Good luck with them & the early morning protection,I didn’t know they’re about so late,wasps cause such anxiety,why can’t they relax like bees. The netting sounds a good barrier & will last years. A nest could be in the ground somewhere,they’d be seen going in & out,be careful & avoid perfume/bright colours around them. Pest control have an online chat,you can ask questions really helpful.

Thanks. I never wear perfume (although washing powder tends to contain it) and most of my clothes are fairly subdued blue, green or grey so hopefully they will leave me alone!

[Penellype]

Got up at 5am and put the mesh over the raspberries. To my relief it is big enough to cover the same footprint as the bird net, which means I can get inside it rather than just lifting it up. There were already at least 2 wasps, one of which got out while I was finishing pulling the mesh over, the other is trapped inside, but it will have to stay there as attempting to release it will probably result in more arriving and getting in. I will leave it for a day or 2 anyway as almost all the ripe fruit is badly damaged.

[Nicos]

Good to hear you found a solution. It’s heartbreaking seeing crops being devastated like that.

As for the paper bag…maybe white is reflecting too much UV?…might brown be better?
Just a thought….

[Penellype]

Good to hear you found a solution. It’s heartbreaking seems crops being devastated like that.

As for the paper bag…maybe white is reflecting too much UV?…might brown be better?
Just a thought….

Thanks Nicos - I am trying brown, but there are about 20 wasps buzzing around and they don't seem to be taking much notice of it. I will leave it where it is for now.

[Penellype]

August
Loads of photos again this month - I hope this isn't getting too repetitive. I find it interesting to see how things have grown (or not) each month and I hope you do too.



The grass is looking greener, showing that we have had some rain (although not enough). There was a bit more over night last night, which will help. The runner beans are starting to produce nicely. I have planted far too many and the teepee is not going to be strong enough to withstand the gales forecast for Monday. I have a plan to try to anchor it which relies on being able to get a metal spike far enough into the ground to support it. The raspberries have nearly finished. The wasps had the lion's share of the main part of the crop, but the netting has done its job and I have managed to pick enough to freeze some.



French beans are also producing now and I have more beans than I can eat. The melons have gone completely haywire and have produced at least 8 large fruit between the 2 plants and several smaller ones. I probably ought to start cutting off the excess growth, but I absolutely hate doing that sort of thing. The romanesco in the bed behind is growing well and the fennel has been harvested.



The Honeycomb tomato is huge and starting to fall over. The kohlrabi in the bed behind has been removed and replaced with beetroot.



The meteor peas are finally dying back, although there are still developing peas on several plants. The beetroot underneath is mostly ready to harvest, although some of it bolted.



Courgettes are producing more than I can eat. The 2 tomatoes (Oh Happy Day) in the growhouse are determined to lean towards each other and are defying all attempts to prevent it.

The plot has been quite a noisy place recently - a house across the road (behind the bus) has been demolished. I have no idea why, or what they are going to put in its place, but for a day or 2 it was very dusty and quite unpleasant to be near.

[Penellype]

In the tunnel



Starting to look really full now. In the centre are cucumber Cucino, 2 tomato Garden Pearl, beetroot and bean Monte Gusto. On the right (west side) are pea terrain (nearly finished), 4 PSB, florence fennel and a row of parsnips. The peas at the far end have just been removed and that bed needs mulching with compost and covering for the winter as it is extremely damp and shady.



2 more cucumber plants in the cold frame - La Diva (nearest) and Mini Munch. These are already producing more than I can eat - I have picked 8 in the last 2 days and there are more. As I also have 3 plants at home (which haven't yet started producing) I am not going to be short of cucumbers any time soon! The strawberries beyond are slowly being trimmed and the plan is to remove some of the older ones at this end, if I can bring myself to do so. New runners are being encouraged to root at the far end.



The parsnips and fennel are more visible from the shed end. The fennel is starting to bolt and needs harvesting. The mulch on the centre bed is chopped pea plants.



Unfortunately I forgot to photograph the new strawberry runners at the shed end. It is hard to remember everything.



The new blueberry bush (Alvar) has nearly finished fruiting - it was brought into the tunnel to avoid the wasps. The plan is to pot it up into a bigger pot when all the fruit has been picked and put it next to Spartan (which has finished fruiting) between the tunnel and the west hedge. I have some ericaceous compost ready. The kohl rabi plant is waiting for a space having got too tall for the grow light garden at home. I'm not sure where I am going to put these (there are 4).

[Penellype]

Also in the tunnel



Bean Monte Gusto is growing in all directions (including finding its way through the gap between the 2 pieces of tunnel netting). These plants (and the ones outside the tunnel) are grown from saved seed.


Beetroot Lutz Green Leaf has mostly recovered from being planted out, although one of the plants is extremely small (invisible on this photo). This variety is supposed to store well for winter. The PSB behind has some caterpillar damage, thanks to cabbage moth and a butterfly that got into the tunnel. I think I have now removed all the caterpillars.


Cucumber Mini Munch is rapidly filling the cold frame. La Diva next to it is somewhat less rampant, but that may only be because it is a slightly younger plant.



Cucumber Cucino and tomato Garden Pearl. One of the tomatoes is just starting to turn pink. These are also from saved seed, and the fruit are bigger than I remember from previous years.



Pea Terrain is puzzling me. Most of the plants have finished, having done what they normally do, which is produce 2 or 4 pods each which are fat and full of air at first, so you have to squeeze them before picking to make sure they are ready. 2 of the plants, including this one, have produced a row of tiny pods and are still flowering (unfortunately very hard to see on the photo). Whether anything will be edible from them I have no idea.

[Penellype]

Tomatoes (in addition to the Garden Pearl in the tunnel)



3 plants outside the tunnel door. In the centre is Crimson Crush, which originally had this bed to itself and now has some developing fruit. The Oh Happy Day in the growhouse produced 2 strong sideshoots emerging from below soil level, and when I removed them they came away with some roots. In the middle of a heatwave I stuck one of them in the soil and the other in a bucket that had grown potatoes, and left them to take their chances. The one in the soil now has a flower truss and both need staking. This is quite a shady bed and I was not sure it would be suitable for tomatoes (particularly not beefsteak type ones) but we will see.



A better view of the fruit on the Crimson Crush plant.



Honeycomb likes the hotbed and is too heavy for its stake. I like to leave the sideshoots on cherry tomatoes as you get vastly more fruit that way, but it does result in huge and unruly plants.



Sungold, which is not in a hotbed, is less rampant than Honeycomb, but I am sure that is simply due to the different beds as I have grown Sungold in a hotbed before.



Oh Happy Day doing its thing. These plants are almost untrainable as they become so heavy with fruit that stakes just lean over. I have managed to keep the sideshoots in check better than usual this year as I could foresee problems if the growhouse became filled with foliage. The leaves are rather curled, possibly due to heat. I have removed the glass top but the sides are still there (although slightly open for ventilation) mainly to keep the cats out. I should probably remove some lower leaves, but as they are not turning yellow yet I am reluctant to cut them off.

[Penellype]

Vegetables



The courgette Defender in the compost bin is doing well despite repeatedly wilting in the heatwave. The bulge at the far end of the tunnel is caused by a lettuce that I am allowing to go to seed leaning on the net. I must deal with that!



Romanesco is growing well.



Courgettes Sure Thing (right) and Firenze, which was massacred by slugs after planting but has recovered well and is producing fruit.


The runner beans were threatening to colonize the hedge, so I am attempting to train the tops along a string. There are 2 varieties here - Moonlight (white flowers) and Tenderstar (bicolour) which is new to me this year.


The Lady C potatoes have all been harvested (the missing bucket now houses a tomato), and some of the Desiree are just about ready now.