The great, good and not so good bits about growing your own dinner 2017

smeeinnit · 21 April 2017 at 10:07AM

Hi all

I've been distracted from sowing, and cleared a quarter of the growing area behind the garage and placed all my potato/onion/carrot pots on it, in the corner that gets sun nearly all day :j

I've also made a start on my vertical bottle garden which I will fill with salad leaves and herbs.

Might get on with the sowing today!

Have a good day all

zafiro1984 · 21 April 2017 at 10:14AM

Ate the first of the new potatoes yesterday they were quite a decent size and delicious :j

Almost finished clearing the last of the winter stuff from the tunnel, just needs a bit of a weed, and topping up with some old compost/manure and then it will be ready for this year.
Some of the strawberries are in flower, just hope is doesn't get too cold and kill the flowers off, maybe I should cover them with fleece but that will stop the insects from pollinating them. - dilemma?

determined new ms I wish I had the space for more courgettes, particularly the unusual ones. This year it's just 2 green defender and 2 yellow soleil.

It's a bit cold today so paperwork is morning and hopefully outside this afternoon.

Jazee · 21 April 2017 at 10:27AM

Just watering for me today as my back is still playing up a bit. I left the greenhouse door open all night, everything appears to be ok though.

smeeinnit · 21 April 2017 at 10:42AM

zafiro1984 wrote: »

Ate the first of the new potatoes yesterday they were quite a decent size and delicious :j

So can't wait for mine to be ready! Were yours in the greenhouse to be ready this early?

Kantankrus_Mare · 21 April 2017 at 6:18PM

Zafiro........my strawberries also in flower but I just keep watering them. I am holding off on planting out my courgettes and french beans till after the end of April I think.

Some cold weather due again next week. Have got all my mates at work saving plastic bottles for me so I can use them as mini cloches as a bit of extra protection till plants are established.

Bit frustrated as I want to spend some time at the allotment but all I have had time for is watering this week and tomorrow we are visiting
family with a new baby in another town. Will have to get down on Sunday hopefully and then I have three days off next week so maybe I can get the digging over finished.

unrecordings · 21 April 2017 at 8:55PM

Fruittea wrote: »

Shallots are very worthwhile Unrecordings as they split just like garlic - you'll see them split out into 5/6 cloves and swell and sort of go in different directions at the top as they grow - when you dig them up they separate and look just like the original bulb just like the only you planted only bigger.

Ah good - it's the four or five shoots that got me thinking that might be the case. One of them was a whopper and already split (which made me wonder what the point was in the first place, as I couldn't really see how it could get any bigger)

determined_new_ms · 22 April 2017 at 8:37AM

Morning

this thread is getting pretty fast pace now. Every day when I check in there has been a flurry of posts now the season is marching on whereas a couple of weeks ago there might not be a post for a few days

Glad to see everyone is having successes

I have woken up to it being grey and drizzly. Hopefully it dries up sufficiently for me to get to the lottie at some point. Today I am going to speak to my neighbour about this piping and if it's not going to materialise by Monday I think I'll need to buy some as really want to get my sprouts & calabrese in! I want to pick up some lime and also look at seeds as there might be something I want go grow to compliment what I have already. I'm also going to hunt around the garage for material to make some collars out of. I know I have a square of carpet and thinking we have some thick cardboard I can use as well

checking my dwarf beans that haven't germinated & they have rotted. I only have 3 that have germinated out of 12 sown! so will sow some more of the seeds I have and pick up another pack.

Will check through the seed box again to see if it's time for anything else.

My strawberry plants are going great guns too. Maybe I should take the tower into the greenhouse to protect it from frosts until the end of the month?

Suffolk_lass · 22 April 2017 at 9:50AM

smeeinnit wrote: »

I've also made a start on my vertical bottle garden which I will fill with salad leaves and herbs.

I looked this up after seeing your post and on this site http://balconygardenweb.com/plastic-bottle-vertical-garden-soda-bottle-garden/ there are lots of different options - I am intrigued as to what you are planning? Are your plans fixed? have you got a frame of any sort? Horizontal or vertical bottles?

Sorry to bombard you with questions but it sounds really interesting (sorry if this has been discussed further back in the thread. I confess to not having time to read all the previous posts)

smeeinnit · 22 April 2017 at 10:30AM

Suffolk_lass wrote: »

I looked this up after seeing your post and on this site http://balconygardenweb.com/plastic-bottle-vertical-garden-soda-bottle-garden/ there are lots of different options - I am intrigued as to what you are planning? Are your plans fixed? have you got a frame of any sort? Horizontal or vertical bottles?

Sorry to bombard you with questions but it sounds really interesting (sorry if this has been discussed further back in the thread. I confess to not having time to read all the previous posts)

Hi Suffolk Lass

questions are good!

I am building no 3 in the link you posted, the tutorial to built it is on youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-uDbjZ9roEQ&index=3&list=PL2g9F_fq9nC3KWxXRNNdwz29HwZ32woO2

I had an old side gate to use as a frame, I can only get 3 growing bottles high plus the watering bottle on top, but can fit 5 towers across in total so I will have 15 growing bottles once complete.

I plan to grow salad mostly, lettuce, spring onions, etc and herbs such as parsley, dill, and so forth.

HTH

Fruittea · 22 April 2017 at 5:09PM

Hi from Gloucestershire.
Well my plans for the weekend have gone up the spout. I slipped in the kitchen on a wet floor and ended up in A & E with a suspected cracked pelvis. Turns out I've done my hamstring and injured my knee. So I'm sitting here drowsy, with an elevated leg and some frozen peas!
OH has just popped down to the greenhouse to water. How frustrating but I have to say the Gloucestershire Royal staff were brilliant. Paramedics were here in 20 minutes and the service included xrays took just 2.5 hours. Lovely staff who were very sympathetic.
I'm told it will be 6/8 in recovery. So no dog walking or gardening - no money!
Well folks expect plenty of commentary from me as I'm now officially a back seat gardener.
On the bright side - I'm sure I can manage some sowing and potting up and I can park right next to the allotment so as long as I have a willing assistant I can still grow my own.

The great, good and not so good bits about growing your own dinner 2017

Comments

Categories

Get our FREE Weekly email full of deals & guides - and it’s spam-free