Help MBE grow his dinner 2012

lisakay_2

yeah, we like brassicas too. seem to have a bad clubroot problem though. that;s another reason i want to shift the strawbs, no brassicas have been grown there since i've been there and probably for the few years before that as old jimmy liked to grow lots of spuds. they might stand a fighting chance.

some pests are easy to get rid of, mine not so. i've considered cementing one of the scaffolding posts in the middle and tying the squids to it :rotfl:. the youngest got stuck up a tree last october and i fell out of it while trying to rescue her, my knee's still playing up!!!

Planning is one thing, doing is a whole other matter. with 2 squids, 4 fourlegged creatures, a hubby who works long shifts and has the car most of the time, 2 jobs and the lotty it's a wonder anything gets done. i'm hoping now my plan is down in black and white it might give me the kick up the rear end that i need. feeling very motivated now:D

Angelfeathers

Looking good, Mr MBE! :-) And god, I have that problem with brassicas too. I don't think I have any beds that didn't have brassicas in at all last year! Though at least I haven't had clubroot yet.

And wow, Lisakay – you have so much space to grow things in! And your girls are cuter than cute. :-)

I finally managed to get out on Wednesday morning to pr1ck (ETA: !!!!!!, I'm not allowed to use that word???) out my seedlings, and took photos of them on Saturday when I brought them indoors to avoid the frosts. I then finally managed to !!!!! out the last seedlings the leeks yesterday and sow some more seeds - aubergines (Orlando), bell peppers, Brussels sprouts (Trafalgar) and some tomatoes (Gardener's Delight) and chrysanthemums (Snowland) which I got free. Didn't take photos of them since they're just a tray full of compost as yet!

Here are the onions (left), caulis (right) and winter little gem lettuces (behind):



And the leeks which I hadn't then pricked out, together with the remaining lettuces (no way I have space for 15 of them, nor would I eat them!)

Angelfeathers

I also came up with a nifty way of storing the trays while they had to be indoors!



Finally, having come across the idea in 'Grow something to eat every day' which I got for Christmas, I decided to have a go at mung beansprouts in a jar. I'm pretty chuffed with them so far!



Never realised how easy it would be to grow my own beansprouts!

I still need to prepare the ground (aka weeding!) for the things that are supposed to be planted outside: winter peas (Meteor), parsnips (arrow), cabbages (Greyhound) and some radishes (French Breakfast) and lamb's lettuce to fill in the gaps a bit. By the time I've done that weeding, the ground should have warmed up a bit too, which will help. I also need to fill a tub on the balcony to start off some carrots. Might manage that today, actually. Not feeling up to much else as I have a nasty cold, but that'd be nice out in the sun - the balcony is at the front of the house and therefore south-facing!

mrbadexample

Angelfeathers wrote: »

Never realised how easy it would be to grow my own beansprouts!

I grew daikon (radish) sprouts in a jar a couple of years ago. They were great - tasty with a nice kick. Bit of a faff trying to remember to chance the water every day though. I should do it again.

mrbadexample

lisakay wrote: »

feeling very motivated now:D

That's the main thing I get from this thread now. When I started to grow stuff it was all about the How? When? Where? Now I've had most of those questions answered, it's: "OMG look at how much someone else has done, I'd better get a wriggle on!" or "I haven't updated my thread for a while - best do some of the things I've been putting off so I've got something to write."

If I got left alone to do it, not that much would get done.

Angelfeathers

Well, at the moment, it's still quite exciting, like growing cress as a kid, so I'm mostly remembering! I can see how it would lose its charm after the first jar or two, though!

cheerfulness4

Love the piccies. Miss my old allotment but it had to go when the knees did.

Finally got on and sown some tomatoes. Nice selection, some new to me.

Black cherry
Garden peach
Grosse Lisse
Moneymaker
Roma
Taxi
Red fig
Tigerella
Golden sunrise
Yellow Brandywine
Garden delight
Orange banana
Buckbee new 50 day
Scatalone
Black plum
Black Trifle (well something like that)
Tumbling red

Some of the tomatoes are for salads/sarnies. Some for drifting round the garden eating and others for the freezer to last through the winter. (went till April one year with my HM pasta sauces. )

Also sown some Sweet Basil.

Got to look out my chilllis and peppers collection now.
Just been given an old heated germinator so will have a play with that.:)

Agree about the motivation thing. Left to my own devices I'm happily lazy and get nothing done.

mrbadexample

cheerfulness4 wrote: »

Some of the tomatoes are for salads/sarnies. Some for drifting round the garden eating and others for the freezer to last through the winter. (went till April one year with my HM pasta sauces. )

The orange banana are particularly good for sarnies - nice flavour and not very wet.

I've still got roasted tomato sauce in the freezer...

mrbadexample

cheerfulness4 wrote: »

Black Trifle (well something like that)

I believe there's one called Black Truffle.

mrbadexample

Right then - a question:

Last year I bought marigolds from Morrisons. Cheap, but I want free. :money:

I've recovered some of the seeds:



They don't come with instructions. I will assume, unless told otherwise, that the original modules they came in will be suitable for sowing them in. When do I sow them? What conditions do they need?

Cheers!