really old style living?

NualaBuala

Thanks all for the growing advice. :T I will check out the greenfingered board too. I would LOVE a bigger freezer to really stock up on frozen fruit and veg but the one I have doesn't fit much. Once I'm settled and know what space I have I hope to buy another freezer.

Alas I have no greenhouse D&DD but that might change in the future. I didn't think of drying my own herbs parsonswife. I was going to dry some mint cos I have tonnes of it but I have a feeling that won't totally die back over the winter - not sure about that though.

meanmarie wrote: »

I had cherry tomatoes until Christmas last year in an unheated porch...only 2 plants and they didn't produce lots but was pleased....have them again this year, hoping for similar result.

We always sow scallions and spinach aug/sept, they can be harvested all winter, they don't grow fact, but do produce usable food, chard is also good and we are trying celery for the first time...its looking good so far, sprouts would need to be hardy plants by now but you might get them at the organic market....is that the one in Temple Bar Nuala? Plan on sprouting seeds this year to ensure a fresh bit of something at all times.

Marie

I have never tried tomatoes - Marie, would love to grow my own. Maybe next year! I have some scallions in a container but they didn't get enough water to flourish. They are still edible though. So I will sow more based on what you say. And chard would be lovely, I will look into it. I have got a load of jars and sprouting seeds which I must start doing now - why wait till winter?

The market is this one http://www.dublinfoodcoop.com/index.html near Christchurch. I love the place - it's not cheap but it's lovely! Let me know f you're ever going on a Saturday and fancy a meet up in their little cafe. Although you're in Kildare if I remember rightly so you probably have nice places a lot nearer. I'm planning on bulk ordering loads of flour, chickpeas, tinned tomatoes, sundried tomatoes, pesto and pasta for the winter - you get a good discount when you order in bulk so well worth it!

ThriftyFelicity wrote: »

I don't think there are any winter-hardy fruits, but for veg there are a few things. Some Oriental greens can be harvested in the winter... this year I'm going to try Pe Tsai, Komatsuna Japanese kale, and Tsoi sim, all available at Real Seeds. I also have seed for "Helen's Welsh Siberian Perennial Bunching Onion" (there's a mouthful), which can be sown through mid-September and harvested through Feb. Winter radish can be sown through the end of this month and harvested through Feb. Other winter-hardy crops are corn salad, kale, spinach and winter lettuce.

I'm sure there are more...

Oh great, thank you Felicity - all of those sound like things I would love to eat so I will check them out.

zarazara

are pickling onions in the shops yet? I dont want to miss the boat. Also looking forward to making mincemeat or xmas, I've loads of rocket seeds drying on the plants . Hope to grow them next year :-)
Its chutney time too. and i've lots of chinese green seedlings to transplant and seeds to sow. Its never ending. Must bake again tomorrow and I'm painting the wooden bedroom furniture and other woodwork a la shaby chic. Just not enough hours in the day.

mardatha

Zara, mind and make the real Victorian mincemeat ! I like that site DD&D - it has a sausage maker for £39. I always wanted one of them.

Winged_one

NualaBuala, I am not sure, but you may still get some brassica plants from seed merchants (I know T&M usen't deliver plants to Irelannd, only seeds, but Suttons used to do both) - too late for brussels sprouts probably but you might still get some purple or white sprouting brocolli, or cabbages, or cauliflowers. And for earlier crops next spring, put in a few peas (meteor variety are good - you need round rather than wrinkled seeds I think, or else the other way around, but whichever Meteor are) and broad beans (AquaDulce Claudia variety), you might even get a late crop of both from seeds put in this week (I know some years, when frosts aren't too early, I've had peas to Christmas week in the plots in Goatstown) - again choose an early variety.

I buy a few things in bulk from the Asian supermarkets, which can help too. I buy a lot of my spices there as they are VERY good value, and I tend to get large bags of rice, ghee, spice mixes and tins of beans there too. The fresh veg can be good value too. The one on William St South (I think, or else Drury St - very near George's St arcade) is good, and so is the one about 2 doors away from Mr Middleton's Garden shop on Mary Street (keep going straight down Henry St from O'Connell St, and just past the toyshops).

Baking goods tend to have lots of offers on around October every year - extra dried fruit free, good value on double packs of flour etc. So I stock up on nough of those for most of the year then, and store them on top of the cupboards for when I need them.

And I also tend to head to Northern Ireland a couple of times a year to stock up on tins, pasta, rice, and other non-perishables. Lots cheaper.

Theoretically, I should be able to avoid the supermarkets more than I do, but there aren't great options for local greengrocers, butchers, fishmongers and bakery near us (they are all in different directions), so I go to the SM most weeks. But I do go "local" when I can and skip the SM.

mardatha

If I had local shops then things would be easier I think. But on the other hand I'd spend more money, I cannot pass a bakers shop
The wild west farmers/pioneers went to town once in 4/6 months and in the outback of Australia the huge sheep stations went once a YEAR ..so I like to think I can manage a month !
It's a lot of learning by experience all this, we read stuff in books and on sites, but you have to tailor that to fit where you live and the kind of soil you have, etc. And you only get one shot a year... if it goes wrong then its a long winter to wait for the next go at it this is what I hate about gardening . Sometimes the things you want to grow just will not in your garden & nothing you can do will make them. So then you need to find something that will grow and make the best of it.
Like the dreaded KALE !!!:eek:

annie123

The book at the bottom of the article maybe useful to you, perhaps your not so local library could get it in for you

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening/3349307/Growing-plants-in-Scotland.html

ginnyknit

Its amazing isnt it though Mardatha you hate the kale and grew loads, I love it and mine would work as lace curtains there are so many holes in it:rotfl:Im going to plant pak choi later (same lace curtain effect so far) as I imagine - may be deluded but hear me out -that lots of the bugs have gone away for autumn. I need veg for winter so Im going to have to try. Am also going to put the cover back on the greenhouse now and put some salad in. Also hoping to pick up another mini greenhouse cheap and get ready for next year. I think I did quite well this year but could do better!

mardatha

My kale was perfect - untouched. It was the only nice thing about it ! The two tone leaves, green but with a hint of blue more like bottle green. I cut loads and stewed it and portioned it out to do as a base for soup. I still have seeds here but think its too late now for them. I noticed a neighbour in the village was getting new windows in her porch..... might try asking what they're doing with the old glass. Would make nice cold frames, they are quite big panes.
Could I just quickly ask for healing vibes here for my son and his partner. I dont want to make a fuss but it would be much appreciated ty .

ThriftyFelicity

Here is a list of things to sow in August:

August sowing

(I knew there were more...)

Some are for overwintering, not ready until spring, others are for a winter crop. I didn't know fennel could be sown this late!

mardatha

Re that link, annie. I went to Plockton and couldnt believe the plants they were growing.. they are months ahead of me because they're on the west coast, and the west coast has the Gulf Stream. I have a pic of me standing under a palm tree in Plockton
I have cold and wet and above all wind. This village has no nice gardens, apart from a row of 5 big victorian houses set in the bottom of a steep gully. Everybody else has grass/common shrubs in the front and greenhouses round the back. Mind you, there's only a couple dozen houses here. So "everybody else" isnt as grand as it sounds ! lol!
The best place for my veg would be out the front, tucked in behind the nice beech hedge. But the front belongs to the RV and he has only grass.... (he would have green painted concrete if I let him) This grass is cut to a uniform height of about half a cm. if it dares to grow a daisy he goes mad. :rotfl:
I have taken a note and will ask the library. I like the bit about the fruit at the bottom....