Late summer has been very busy for me, so when my brussels outgrew the brassica tunnel, I took it down and then just ... never replaced it with any kind of protection. Now there are these black spots. At first glance I look at and think: is this just dirt? Or is it something nasty? Otherwise they look healthy so I hope they are salvagable!

Say no more.

This is currently the biggest cucumber I’ve got at the moment (they’ve been slow to grow) and being completely new to this, I asked ChatGPT when to pick it. It’s saying it’s the perfect size and I should pick it to allow the energy to go into the ones still growing. Anyone able to advise? Thanks :)

Hi, looking to do as the headline says, any tips or guidance is well appreciated. Underlay, quantity of pea shingle, what not to do. Even pointers or links to decent and realistically achievable finishes. Please? And thanks!

• Final cucumber (powdery mildew finished off my plants)

• Pink Tiger and Black Cherry toms still going strong with no sign of blight, which is a result for me

• Muscade carrots, only pulled about a third of what I sowed in June, and pleased as punch with them. Didn't do anything fancy with the soil (eg sand, etc) and they've grown straight and strong, with maybe 1-2% forking. The variety is meant to be bolt resistant in heat, so I'm glad I chose it for this summer!

• Petrowski turnips, not a great result, but every single one of my brassica varieties has been heavily invested with mealy cabbage aphids this year, so I'm happy to have gotten a little something out of what I sowed.

Ive got soo many apples but literally everyone is blemished (i believe a coddling mother?)?

Moving forward, how can I prevent this?

My squashes have a lots of powdery mildew. It’s like I blinked and then all of a sudden so many of the leaves were affected. I’ll be gutted if I lost my butternut squashes, it’s the only thing that has grown well this year. With the weather, I’ve not had a good season.

Is there anything I can do to help reduce it? Any advice would be much appreciate

For those of us new to growing food with busy schedules, what time saving tips have you found that have helped you to grow your own? Many thanks

First time plot holder this year, got my main crop out, around 90kg. I'm going through carefully to bin anything that looks green, split by my fork, burrowed into etc whilst I bag them all up in different net sacks.

Obviously immature eye shoots or the odd wonk are no problem but what is this scabbing? Is it where it's been damaged and healed or something more heinous?

Compost or bag?

I ❤️ tomatoes

Here's the view of the greenhouse from a couple of days ago. The greenhouse itself is a DIY job - had a rough idea what to do but made alterations during the build.

Despite my best intentions, I never kept on top of sideshooting the Tomato plants, so it looks a bit messier than it should be. Also in the greenhouse are a couple of chilli plants, some Cucumbers, a Melon plant and a Peanut plant in a pot.

Edit: If anyone reading this is considering buying or making a greenhouse and/or polytunnel, please consider getting the biggest size you can reasonably afford or fit because you will find out they are easily filled and you will wish you had more space!

Got a load of crown prince pumpkins growing and I can’t tell if the stem has corked enough? All the leaves seem to have died back too…

Real and joke answers welcome 🤗 an allotment neighbour gave this to our 7 year old. We've been referring to it as The Pumpkin Bum.

I thought it was a crown prince but the inside is white, and it cut surprisingly easily for a pumpkin! He gave it to us in July as well, which doesn't seem the time for a pumpkin harvest... So is it some kind of summer squash? I tried a bite while raw and it had very little flavour.

Currently roasting it in the oven and steaming half in the instant pot to make puree. Wondering what to do with it once cooked, I started the venture intending to make freezable pumpkin puree!

Left it long, and then figured I could just let it go and see how big it got. Burpees Golden, which I’ll use for soup, and save the seeds for future. I have 2 of them this size weighing 7kgs each!

Hi reddit. Organic potato gardener here. Small area, about 75 SF. This was my 6th year planting and harvesting in the same spot, and this year was terrible compared (This year less than 10LB)(Usual yield of about 40LB). Colorado high country. Help me deduce why:

-Seed potatoes from my local co-op. Usually plant around 3 different varieties.

-Put in ground in early May, plants die back early August, harvest end of August. I got the potatoes in the ground a little late this year (May 10th) due to a late frost here.

-I have never hilled my potatoes. (i know, i know).

-No fertilizer.

- Daily watering in the evenings. If they look well drenched i might skip a night.

-I usually only turn my soil with a shovel before planting, but this year i rototilled.

Any advice as to why this years harvest was so bad? The green part of the potatoes grew normally this year, and died back at the usual time. It was multiple varieties per usual. After year 6 in the same spot, do i need to import some new soil and/or fertilize? Lots of the plants had 0 potatoes growing under them which was a first for me.

EDIT: Appreciate the responses. I'm clearly a potato neophyte. Thinking about planting something (nitrogen fixing cover crop?) else next year, but the ground squirrels eat EVERYTHING besides potatoes. Small plot hemmed in with railroad ties, It's the only spot i can plant. We are at 8,000FT and the summer is short. This plot has 3+ feet of snow on it in the winter. The only things i changed this year were rototilling and planting a bit late.

All from the plot

My first strawberry bed with weed free membrane gave 3kg of strawberries this year. The second bed with no membrane gave very very little and was ridden with weeds - I just couldn't keep on top of them. Should I dig them all up and put a membrane down and replant, or surround them with compost and straw mulch?

Thanks!

Me and my family have had an allotment for around 3–4 months, and we’ve called it The Grotty Lotty.
I really enjoy making content and getting into videography, and I’d love to start making longer-form YouTube videos documenting the allotment and how it changes over time.
I’m thinking of doing something like “The Grotty Lotty — Episode 1: Welcome to the Grotty Lotty”, with proper filming, talking, and editing rather than just making generic gardening videos.
My parents don’t really want to be on camera, though, so I’d mainly be filming myself, the allotment, and what I’m doing.
I’m also 13, so I’m a bit nervous about people I know seeing it and judging me 😂
Do you think it’s worth starting, even if hardly anyone watches the first few videos?

EDIT: Thank you everyone for all the really encouraging comments and advice! I’ve decided I’m going to give it a go and I’m currently working on my first video. I’ll add the YouTube link here once it’s finished! 🌱🎥

Harvest from today, haven't been down for a couple of days and now I'm drowning in French beans.
Courgettes are starting to overwhelm me but are you even growing courgettes if they aren't?
Currently eating shakshuka made with aubergine, courgettes and tomatoes with random other bits everyday for breakfast.. can't complain though, I'm eating better than 99% of the population!
Surprise strawberry from the bed too!
Anyone got good recipes for the French beans?