A few random questions :)

Ok, bear with me, I'm new to all this!

Raspberries...I planted autumn and summer varieties (the man at the garden centre said I could) in Feb/March, should they resemble raspberries this year or is it a next year thing? at the moment they are still just canes with the summer ones having a teeny weeny bit of foliage, they did start to get leaves earlier on but they died.

Potatoes.....Is there a knack to digging them up as I keep stabbing them and do I wait for the flowers to die before I dig them up. I have dug one bush up, early on tuesday morning and was so excited to see my spuddies, I cooked them and ate them for breakfast!!! yum yum!!! (they were very tiny though)

Finally beans and peas.....think mine are way behind! the beans are still only about 4" high and the slugs have attacked them, some are literally a 2" stalk...I take it this is fatal and they won't grow now?? I did put pellets down yesterday although I know I should of done it sooner and my peas are around 10" high but still very spindly. Is everything normal or have I got a lot to learn

Think I'll leave it there for now.....could go on for hours!

Nothing really is normal this year Loz, my beans are tall but spindly with nary a sign of a flower, peas only 8 inches tall, flowering but they should be 36 -40 inches high as they are bush types.  Often hard to dig tatties, there are special potato forks which are supposed to help.  I tend to pull the top off then spuddle around with my hands until I find something.  Having said that we are not growing any this year for a variety of reasons.  Broad beans eaten by slugs - no year is ever as the books and packaging  tell you, but this wet dark weather is really holding everything back.  Keep using the organisc irion bawed slug pellets, and for the rest, just hope, not much more any of us can do I am afraid.

Raspberies have suface roots and may just have drowned, I've got plenty of foliage but few if any berries - will be an expensive year food wise I think, come autumn.  Farmers are teling their crops are suffering dreadfully, fields of rotten peas shown and so forth. 

Of course, as ever, next year will be wonderful, it always is .................

Funny this year has been one of the best for our Raspberries.

If there is no foliage on the canes now, then try the thumb test. Scrape the bark of a can with your nail. If it is still green then the cane is alive, if not then sadly they are probably dead.

Spuds - start digging as far away from the plant as you can and gradually creep closer, removing spuds as you go.

Beans/Peas - I'm having the same problem. In my case, late planting + bad weather. Just keep perservering and hope for the best. Vigilance is the key to slug control, as with all pests. (P.S. Some extra sowings may be in order - if you have any spare seed.)

Don't know which part of the country you are situated in Loz, but here in Somerset it's very wet and not particularly warm.  My beans and peas, which were planted end of March, took ages to get going, but they have produced some good tasty crops and the ones planted in succession in the following weeks are now nearing fruition.  As for the raspberries, again planted mine end of March/beginning April and they have produced very few berries, but I suspect that I will get some before the season is out. 

As for potatoes, very late due to the weather but as for digging I think Phyographer has it spot on.   Good luck

Just a general comment, Loz : this year is really dreadful for fruit and veg, so try not to be disheartened if a lot of things go wrong. I've had hugely disappointing potato crops, my strawberries are rotting, and I am seriously wondering whether there will ever be enough warmth to produce any tomatoes or beans. So even if it seems a struggle, it will get better next year (it must do, mustn't it?).

Raspberries aren't really meant to crop much the first summer - in fact I think you're meant to remove any flowers or fruit to let the canes keep their strength, but it takes a lof of willpower to do that. The autumn ones might produce some fruit this year, but if not, don't worry as long as all your canes are live, they'll be better established next year. If they are dead, get some new ones in in the late autumn. I've had a very good crop of summer rasps this year (pretty much the only good crop of anything so far), but my canes are several years old.

Thank you for all your advise, its very much appreciated and needed, theres a lot more to this gardening business then meets the eye.....good job I gave up work as this is a full time job in its self!!      To Phytographer...you say to sow more seeds with peas and beans, can I still do this because it says on the pack to sow till end of june. I do have spare seeds so could I  do them in the greenhouse and if so would I leave them in there?    To Green Magpie.... I planted my toms quite early indoors then moved them out to the greenhouse as directed, they seem quite healthy and have loads of flowers but absolutely no signs of fruit, is this normal? they are also looking a bit leggy. Should I nip them at the top and should I be feeding them now or wait for the fruits to appear first?

Apologies for all my question but I will warn you all....theres plenty more to ask!!

OMG!!!! I'm in Newtown Mid Wales and as we speak the heavens have opened!

I am so hating all this rain, its spoiling my first year of being a real gardener!

Roll on September, from past years, thats when our summer will start!

amen to that!!

Re the tomatoes: I don't do greenhouse tomatoes so I can't help much here. My outdoor ones have some flowers and a very few tiny tomatoes. I think they didn't get pollinated enough at the relevant time, so I am trying to help by using a tiny paintbrush to spread pollen. Are your tomatoes cordon or bush types? If you don't know, tell us the variety. Cordons need the sideshoots picking out regularly, while bush tomatoes don't. I can't think why they'd be leggy if they're getting enough light. You can nip the tops eventually, but you're not supposed to do this until there are several trusses of tomatoes formed.

I have just put a few spare French bean seeds in - I've done this before in July and got a small crop from them. This year is so crazy, the plants don't know what month it is anyway. It may be a bit late for peas though.

Keep asking, that's not a problem - we're not out in our gardens as much as we'd like, so we have some time on our hands!

Don't think anything's getting enough light at the moment - I know I'm not - if only it had the same result on me as it does the plants - I could do with being tall and willowy 

Yes, Dove, I know what you mean - too much time spend indoors wiaitng for the rain to stop, with a comforting cup of coffee and a choccy bicuit, when we should be out there grafting!