The Scottish Gardeners thread

mardatha

I totally agree re sprouts. I am not good with green food. Broccoli makes me sick. But I am trying to grow something edible & healthy that wont scream & faint when it sees my weather !

cooking-mama

mardatha I love Kale...one of the first seeds i sowed....and ithink its growing OK in a raised bed, tho, i didnt realise it shouldve been sown in a "seed bed",then moved to its final growing position...??,..well mine is growing where it was sown,as i dont have anywhere else for it!!
...I keep meaning to get some pictures of my progress.
Im thinking along the same lines as wssla00 regarding next year,im gonna concentrate on more salds,fancy potatoes and spinach, kale,rocket(as these are expensive to buy bagged from supermarket)Il see how my tomato crops go before i decide on continuing with them,altho my 2 tumbling Toms have 2 tiny tomatoes each(didnt grow these from seed,bought small plants from Crossford car booty for 50p each)
well its a cold/wet 1st of June here in my wee bit of North Lanarkshire...oh well,....I think our veggies will like the rain,and at least I might get some housework done on this day off (for a change):rotfl:

laurals11

I love all green veg.Kale is a favourite..must be my Scottish origins. Daughter could never understand why she was "a good girl" when she asked for green veg at school lunches..it was her favourite bit of meal. Kale cooked with onion , butter ,splash of wine vinegar just covered with water..simmer..yum..got some in cold frame for early supply ready soon!

Cookin-Mama you don't have to transplant..in fact transplanting sets them back a bit.If they are crowded thin them. You may be able to transplant thinnings, if not use them in soup. Have you got collars on them to protect from cabbage root fly?

Wet and cool in South Lanarkshire..so it's a knitting afternoon ....and I vacuumed this morning

mardatha

If any flies or insects at all can survive in the hell of a Scottish summer then the poor wee sods deserve something to eat ! I'm sat as near the stove as I can without singeing - knitting wool & alpaca socks, and watching the cooncil guys strimming the verge with blue hands and 3 layers of waterproofs on...

cooking-mama

Laurals,whats a collar?..ive just got them in a row in the raised bed with Asia cabbage behind and All year lettuce in front,they are all covered with a pea/bean netting(and a fleece at night.),they are not particularly bushy,but getting kinda tall Ive noticed the frilly leaves starting in the middle.

laurals11

Cabbage root fly are about 1cm long and look similar to house flies and your cabbages will die if they lay in your plot.:(
The larvae hatch and burrow down eating the roots.Google brassica collars..but no need to buy
I cut squares of roof felt,old carpet, carpet tile or vinyl about 5 inches (square or circular diameter) across and make a slit in them with a cross cut at centre to allow stem to grow. Works fine.
Have used cut up plastic bags from compost but they need to be weighted down with stones.
The theory is that either the flies don't lay - the material fools them - or the eggs dry out 'cos they aren't in soil.

Enviromesh or scaffold debris netting will exclude them..pea and bean netting won't

wssla00

I have Kale in as well as rainbow chard oh also purple sprouting broccoli, brussel sprouts, cabbage and cauliflowers.

But I am overgrown with lettuce and spinach! I must do something with it. I think I might do a spinach and cheese quiche with some of it, but I am running out of ideas on what to do with it. What do you think?

I have to say the spinach and lettuce has been a real success. I keep looking at my gooseberries and they keep growing so hopefully by the end of the month I can harvest the first crop. Strawberries are also growing which is great Oh and the rhubarb is looking pretty good too

Another question though... should my blackberry bushes have any flowers on them? I have three (I know... loads lol) but I thought two were dead and bought a new one but now all three are filled with foliage, however now flowers! Do they come later?

I am all for the rain today- lazy gardening at it's best!

mardatha

Lettuce will make stir fry and I put it in soup. I shred it and fry in butter then throw in the soup.

iainsmum

Afternoon all, have had a busy few weeks, so not been on MSE much.

The spare parts for my Gardman compact walk-in greenhouse finally arrived. :j I had about 3 conversations with the suppliers ZavyOnline about getting the parts sent out, in the end they sent me a return address label to send it back, so they obviously had no intention of sending missing parts. I eventually phoned Gardman direct, they took the details, and shipped out the missing parts at no cost to me just two days later - now that's what I call customer service. So, bad feedback for ZavyOnline and lots of praise for Gardman!

So, the greenhouse is up, the seedlings are all in it, the beans have been planted, 4 in 2 pots, and 2 in the veg patch, going to see which is best. The toms and cucs are doing great, the Courgettes have gone wild, trying to decide whether to put them in growbags in the greenhouse or free on the patch (its only a small plot), again might do a couple of each and see which works best, this year's all about experimenting.

I got given a little matchbook of serena chilli seeds by a pal (gimic by the restaurant he visited), and have two seedlings off those. Plus I've planted a big (8in) pepper plant into its pot, so will see if that improves its growth, the other jalapeno seedlings are much smaller, so waiting to see what happens.

Pots are nearly at the top of their dustbin, I reckon a week more of earthing up and they'll be done, just need to leave nature to do its thing then.

Gooseberries, blackcurrants, strawbs and rhubarb all doing well. And I checked the label for my cherry tree, its a self-polinator, and there are some baby cherries on it, so its obviously been hard at work. (Didn't think I'd get anything this year as it was only planted last year)

Spring onions are about 3-4" high, so I think they'll be ok. The carrots that I planted first have been very disappointing, only three shoots on about 40 seeds. But the second sowing about three weeks later, there's loads come up. Can only assume either, I buried the first ones too deep, or it was perhaps too cold? Glad I've got some anyway, how high should I let them grow before I thin them? (Chanterey Red)

As you can tell, I'm all veggies & fruit, I did dabble with flowers and shrubs a few years ago, but OH chopped some down with the hedge trimmer, so I gave up. (If it grows but he doesn't know what it is, he assumes its a weed - it drives me mad!) Good job DS (2+1/2) shares my enthusiasm, he has lettuce seeds growing in a little tray and goes out to water and check them every day - bless!

Grebe

Afternoon peeps hope the weather in nice with you all. There was a bit of a slightly chilly wind blowing in Nth Lan this morning so housework and doing the washing have been the task of the day so far, but on a peep out the clouds are breaking so I will go cut the grass today.
Old lady next door came home yesterday and is over the moon with her beds being ready for planting, so the work was worth it.
Heads up for everyone who can travel to Drumpellier Country park on Sunday 6th of June starting at 11.00am. They are holding their annual Summer gardening day with stuff to do with the kids as well. I have to say the last few years have seen me buying some fantastic bargains, and I have never spotted a duffer in any of the plants for sale. Flowers, shrubs, toms, hanging baskets all at fairly reasonable prices. I am planning to buy if they have them again this year one of the hanging baskets they have filled with tiny toms, my sister bought one last year and said the cropping from it was fantastic.
Right, I am off to cut the grass.
XX Grebe.