veg growing Newbies- Feb 2010! lets learn together!

soullessfire

Bleh I am so sick of flippin caterpillars. I not only have Cabbage White ones on my cabbages and PSB, I've got some flamin moth caterpillar nibbling away at my tomatoes My fingers are constantly green with the little horror's blood these days. Just going to net everything next year, absolutely sick looking at them lol

GarnetLady

Hey everyone.

katholicos - your veg looks fab!

I finally got out into the garden for a good hour or so today. Picked some more toms, (I'm in Scotland, but I think mine were started earlier and they're in the greenhouse) have lost most of the beefsteak ones to rot and botrytis which most of the plants seem to have, but I've more or less managed to keep on top of it. I picked another large cucumber and my greenfingers has started to flower again! It has one which has started growing, hoping it doesn't get eaten by slugs this time...

I tipped out my 2 potato bags and was pleasantly surprised. They were supermarekt ones that had sprouted, put into poundland pop up bags which had been half filled with compost.

Oh, and I pulled my silverskin onions!

And some blantant proud kitty owner pics - http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=19718&id=100000652699426&l=8e279b89d3

Amateur Gardening has free catmint seeds (and pansy) this week, which was a bonus for Maisie lol.

duckeggblue

New house,used to be a passionate gardener,but no garden for 5 years,and now got a garden again.If anyone can tell me what I cxan grow this year,i have been told I can grow onions,leeks,garlic. i also have a lot to do on my house so keep it simplei have a greenhouse,but know nothing about greenhouse gardening,either heated or unheated.

Mrs_Veg_Plot

Hi all, have been busyso have not posted in a while. Have caught up with all of your posts and I'm glad to hear everything is going well. Prior to this year I have grown a few things in pots with various degrees of success, and have had my first veg plot this year.

Veg plot/garden
Spinach and salad leaves - still cropping well, winter lettuce now in.
Spring onions - still harvesting - over wintering seeds sown.
Raddish - finally cropping, did not realise how wet they like to be.
French and runner beans - still cropping, lots in the freezer.
Carrotts - just started pulling these, wow what a great taste, really glad I have done succession sowing.
Leeks and onions comming on nicely, onions not ready yet.
Sweetcorn looking good, can not wait for this to be ready.
Swede and turnips starting to develop well.
Courgettes giving a small crop regular not the glut I was expecting.
Gooseberry , red, white and blackcurrant bushes very little or no fruit at all but all new in this year so hopefully next year will fruit for me.
Poor show off strawberries but have 30 new plants from runner to over winter ready for next year
Rosemary, thyme and sage drying in the kitchen, mint and chives in the freezer.
Hanging basket full of tumbling toms which are starting to ripen now, also have an outdoor beefsteak and plum tom plants bearing loads of big fruit but no signs of ripening yet.

Greenhouse
Only had 2 cucumbers off 4 plants but two more are developing.
Pepper and chillie plants fruiting really well with chillies now starting to turn red.
Various toms now ripening. One donated plant (don't know which variety) has 40 toms from full sized to tiny on one truss!
Melon now the size of a large gob stopper with two tiny one growing next to it.
Went to throw out aubergine plants as nothing had happened with them only to find a thumb sized fruit hiding away :T- plants now have a stay of composting!.

Sorry about the length of this post but I am so proud of my efforts and wanted to share with other gardeners rather than the kids who are happy to eat my produce but don't appreciate my enthusiasm about its progress from seed to plate.

mutley74

Finished all my spring onions in a strire fry today!
Yesterday removed 3 dead courgette plants. But have 3 baby courgettes still growing on one plant!
Lots of tomotoes growing. I have some tom plants outside and 1 plant in a glass house.
chilli plants are thriving but taking ages to fruit.

My lavender plant almost died last week. It was thriving since i repotted it over the past 2 months. Any clues why a lavender plant dies all of a sudden? I have another lavender plant in a different plant that is thriving.
I really want some lavender bushes growing in the garden, any advice on how to get some going welcome!

izzwizz_2

Whooppee, I finally have some baby aubergines! Six on four different plants. Strangely, they are all on four of the plants in large tomato pots, and there are still none on any of the plants in the greenhouse borders. I suspect the ones in the borders have been too crowded for light by the tomatoes. Since they all appeared at once, I think I must have finally succeeded in pollinating with a paintbrush on one particularly hot, sunny day two weeks ago. Just need to keep my fingers crossed for enough warmth left to stop them rotting off now .

katholicos

izzwizz wrote: »

Whooppee, I finally have some baby aubergines! Six on four different plants. Strangely, they are all on four of the plants in large tomato pots, and there are still none on any of the plants in the greenhouse borders. I suspect the ones in the borders have been too crowded for light by the tomatoes. Since they all appeared at once, I think I must have finally succeeded in pollinating with a paintbrush on one particularly hot, sunny day two weeks ago. Just need to keep my fingers crossed for enough warmth left to stop them rotting off now .

Congratulations, so wanted my aubergine plants to produce, but none of them have done. Some were outsde and some were in a growhouse.

janibrown

scotsaver wrote: »

Hi janibrown - any chance of posting the recipes or a link to the recipes - I have had loads of jars donated to me ready to make some Chutney - like the sound of the Courgette chutney, the green tomato chutney and the cucumber chutney, thanks.:D

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/6342/spiced-courgette-chutney

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/6342/spiced-courgette-chutney

http://www.cottagesmallholder.com/cucumber-pickle-recipes-special-awards-48

The cucumber one is ace as is the others Yum

[Deleted User]

soullessfire wrote: »

Bleh I am so sick of flippin caterpillars. I not only have Cabbage White ones on my cabbages and PSB, I've got some flamin moth caterpillar nibbling away at my tomatoes My fingers are constantly green with the little horror's blood these days. Just going to net everything next year, absolutely sick looking at them lol

I have just received yet another order of nets and hoops after my leeks were decimated by the northward bound leek moth. My new allotment will be a sea of netting next year

elsien

A quick chilli question, if anyone can help.
I bought a chilli plant in the sale - didn't way what sort, and it's growing plenty of green chillis, but there's no heat to them at all. How long should I leave them before I pick them - is it the bigger they get the hotter they are, or should I be doing something else?