veg growing Newbies- Feb 2010! lets learn together!

soullessfire

Just dug up one of my potato planters. It's been in the ground nearly 4 months and flowered about 4 or 5 weeks ago so really should have been ready. I've never seen so few or so tiny a bunch of potatoes. They're supposed to be King Edward too... Absolutely rubbish yield, I've got maybe 12 golfball size potatoes. Don't think I'll bother next year since I can buy that for 50p from the market.

niclon26

Hi everyone,Haven't done an update for a while. My Raised bed has beenn a huge success-last week I made a minced beef hot pot and added lots of homegrown veg which me and my children had just picked.So far I have harvested a few courgettes,runner beans,mange tout,cucumber,carrots,onions,strawberries and Potatoes.The Potatoes have been a huge disapointmenth though,I grew them in plastic potato planters,wish I'd put them in the Raised bed-They were tiny.I am gonna try growing some for Christmas soon and see how they get on in Raised bed.
Something has been getting at my cabbage leaves,think its probably caterpillars,although I havent noticed any.Hope evryone is enjoying the summer,I wish I'd started growing my own veg years ago,am loving every second,learning so much.

wssla00

Morning all Well- after it being a rubbish summer up here....I have courgettes WOOO HOO! lol. I have about thirty seed packets ready to plant this weekend for autumn and winter veg and a greenhouse to put up so will be a busy bee! Hope everyone is doing ok! I lost a few bits and bobs in the bad weather but nothing I can't replace!

Well, I'm off for a wander round the garden and a think about where all these seedlings can go.... I have loads of corn salad that needs to be put somewhere!

Have a good day chucks!

satnav10

Update:

Have had about half a dozen or so corgettes from my 4 plants. A lot have gone soft/died on me tho, but they are still producing!
Blueberries - Not turned blue yet (even my early variety which is supposed to be ready for July harvest!) hmmm? Any suggestions or am i too impatient?
Carrotts - ground too poor to plant, really! Have had a few, but really stubby.
French Beans - have had quite a few of these! Really pleased as they looked half dead when i plated them outside!
Toms - Gardiners delight i think - got loaaaaads on my three plants. A lot of green ones tho, but a lot are the size of a small cherry tom! cant wait for them to turn red and try my first ever home grown fresh tomato!
Chard - mmm. nice few stir fries from this
Brussel Sprouts - seem to have a growth spurt every time we get a bit of sun through all this rain. Do i need to support these as they grow up? The one seems to be growing more to the side.
Onions - still very small, but planted late so will wait a little longer for this
Red Bell Peppers - bought this as a small plant for about £3.50, but have got about 17 so far, from tiny hazelnut sided ones to half-way-there ones, bargain at about 20p per pepper!

So, sorry to ramble on, but am reall pleased with what i have got! Although i bought my blueberries last year, this is my first time growing veg and even if i do say so myself, its going pretty well. Its given me confidence to try more! Think i will buy a greenhouse for next year now i know i can actually do it!

Jo.G

I've got some colour on my tomatoes!
The tumbling toms that are outside in a hanging basket, about three have some lovely orange hues to them.
With a bit of luck, all the thunder storms and torrential down pours will leave the North West alone now and with a bit more sunny spells they might all turn red. I cant wait to try my first home grown tomato.

Mrs_Veg_Plot

Jo.G wrote: »

I've got some colour on my tomatoes!
The tumbling toms that are outside in a hanging basket, about three have some lovely orange hues to them.
With a bit of luck, all the thunder storms and torrential down pours will leave the North West alone now and with a bit more sunny spells they might all turn red. I cant wait to try my first home grown tomato.

Hi Jo G. Well done with the tomatoes. I have been checking mine twice a day every day, still all green but tonight have found three ripe ones:j. How did I miss them? I have managed to resist the temptation to pick them in the hope that leaving them in will emcourage a few more of them to ripen. Not sure how long I will be able to resist for.

katholicos

wssla00 wrote: »

Morning all Well- after it being a rubbish summer up here....I have courgettes WOOO HOO! lol. I have about thirty seed packets ready to plant this weekend for autumn and winter veg and a greenhouse to put up so will be a busy bee! Hope everyone is doing ok! I lost a few bits and bobs in the bad weather but nothing I can't replace!

Well, I'm off for a wander round the garden and a think about where all these seedlings can go.... I have loads of corn salad that needs to be put somewhere!

Have a good day chucks!

If it isn't to much trouble could you please list in a post on here, what you are sowing for the autumn and winter veg. I'm sure it would be helpful to us all, it's easy to get tied up with all the summer (ha!) veg and then forget to sow stuff for the next season or two. Thanks!

katholicos

Well, the sun shone on the garden today and i harvested some potatoes. I weighed them and the amount startled me as

1) they were only 50p per bag of seed potatoes.
2) the reason they were only 50p per bag was cos they had long tendrils instead of short stubby sprouting eyes.
3). I treated them harsh. Shoved them in ikea bags and left them to it.
4) I cut all the foliage back about a fortnight ago and thought I would leave the bags as they were and plant beans in them.

So...guess how much my tatties weighed?

Oh, go on then i'll tell you....3.5kg.

YAY!

In othe news, i have 3 or 4 courgettes growing. 3 on one plant and 1 on another. Can;t wait to make courgette chutney. nom nom. I have a container full of strawbs in my freezer for my forthcoming jam making session. My first gherkin has grown so i will be making pickle when the others have grown...they are already growing behind the flowers nut they are still teenyweeny. I finished the last of the radish (there are more sown though)....shared 'em with the dog...she's mad for 'em.

Yesterday i pulled some globe turnip and boiled em with some potatoes and mashed them...yum! Then i sowed some beetroot and some spinach in containers what the turnip had been taken from.

The garden is GREEN! I can't even access my patty pan squash without treading on leaves and tendrils because they have grown so abundantly. For anyone who might be interested to see how i am getting on in my garden you can see HERE.

soullessfire

katholicos wrote: »

For anyone who might be interested to see how i am getting on in my garden you can see HERE.

Just spent a few minutes noseying around your videos Katholicos, very nice work! Lovely to see other people's efforts so you can sort of judge how your own garden is coming along. When I started this I had no idea what I was doing and comparing plants to those on television was really bad, theirs being grown in greenhouses and so on, so it's nice to see "real" gardens so you can tell where you are really.

katholicos

soullessfire wrote: »

Just spent a few minutes noseying around your videos Katholicos, very nice work! Lovely to see other people's efforts so you can sort of judge how your own garden is coming along. When I started this I had no idea what I was doing and comparing plants to those on television was really bad, theirs being grown in greenhouses and so on, so it's nice to see "real" gardens so you can tell where you are really.

Thanks soullessfire, really appreciate your comment and agree that it is good to have a nosey around real gardens, even if it is via YouTube