Feel like giving up - a moan

EmmiH

I used to go through the same, slugs and squirrels were my biggest problem. I've worked round it by growing a couple of edibles indoors - chili plants on the windowsill, cucumber in my mini-greenhouse - and filling the garden with things my nemesis(es) don't like/can't digest - pumpkins, courgettes, red currants (seriously, NOTHING eats red currants!) certain herbs, raspberries.

I've even turned my flowerbeds into slug-free zones with plants like penstemon and mallow. It takes some thought and time, but it's worth it in the long run.

Hope your luck improves.

Leif

Pixiechic wrote: »

I'm not sure that I like the chard much either

I don't like the stems, they are fibrous and tasteless. The cooked leaves reduce down like spinach. Remove the stems from the leaves, chop, and saute down with some already softened onions, and other veg, and use in omelettes and so on. I add balsamic vinegar, drive off the vinegar, add Japanese soya sauce and chilli, and then put that on an omelette. The plant is attractive when growing.

I am growing beetroot so I will see what the leaves are like when cooked.

Pixiechic

Leif wrote: »

I don't like the stems, they are fibrous and tasteless. The cooked leaves reduce down like spinach. Remove the stems from the leaves, chop, and saute down with some already softened onions, and other veg, and use in omelettes and so on. I add balsamic vinegar, drive off the vinegar, add Japanese soya sauce and chilli, and then put that on an omelette. The plant is attractive when growing.

I am growing beetroot so I will see what the leaves are like when cooked.

Thank you, I will try it

I have got loads of seeds for different varieties of beetroot to see which is nicest as I have a juicer and its a healthy way of getting a good variety of nutrients.

I will try and grow them next year when I have hopefully sorted my soil issue. Any tips?

pelirocco

This year I said no more growing veg , all i managed last year was weeds and slugs .
Veg patch is going to be dug up and turned into something else

Cliecost

Leif wrote: »

I used a similar device. It seemed to work. But they do not have a wide beam, so I will need several, probably 4 if I wanted to exclude feline vermin.

It has quite a wide beam, I put it in the corner of the garden which did the job.

Ectophile

I got two free packets of beetroot seeds last year. Got fed up with eating beetroots in the end and ended up pickling most of them.

I can confirm that the leaves make a perfectly good spinach substitute. Just pick off the better looking leaves, and throw the grotty ones in the compost.

I prefer to steam green, leafy vegetables. That way, I've got more chance of catching them somewhere between raw and school-dinner style green mush.

Leif

How do you know when beetroot is ready to pull? I cannot see the root ball, just the tops.

Pixiechic wrote: »

I will try and grow them next year when I have hopefully sorted my soil issue. Any tips?

Sadly not, this is the first year I've grown beetroot. They seem to be easy to grow, water when sown until sprouting merrily, then leave. I am growing them over an old septic tank, and I deep dug, with paths between beds, so I can sow them densely. They do say to do multiple sowings, so you can harvest over a longer period without them getting too big and woody.

The next problem is how to cook the roots.