Grow your own dinner 2014

zafiro1984

Glad to see you back MBE

mrbadexample

Little_Vics wrote: »

MBE!! You're alive!!!!

Yes, I am! :j

Oh yeah, grow the rhubarb in the ground if you possibly can. You can get half decent results in a big enough tub, but it's a hungry plant that will be much more productive in the ground.

Dizzy_Ditzy

My mum text me today to say that the potatoes I planted in October have had the stems munched away

Google tells me it's cut something or other but to lose their very first growing project is horrible

Bog standard lidl Charlotte potatoes, chopped in half but not chitted (I was doing an experiment to see which started growing quicker- chitted or not) in an inside out compost bag with pebbles in the bottom and drainage holes stabbed into them. Normal compost, placed in the greenhouse in a sunny (!!) position and watered every couple of days.

Did I do anything wrong? I got the idea of Charlotte spuds off the web, loads of different websites suggested them as the least chemically treated

annie123

queen_of_cheap wrote: »

My mum text me today to say that the potatoes I planted in October have had the stems munched away

I'm amazed they lasted this long. If I were you I'd eat them now.
Potatoes aren't an over winter crop usually, but someone with a greenhouse may know better.
The last spuds are sometimes done in August for Xmas potatoes, so you've done well to keep them this long.

The cut something you mentioned is cutworms, and they like my leeks in milder autumns.

fivefifty

Write down what you and your family like to eat.
Divide the plot into beds for rotational purposes. Brassicas, legumes, onions, roots, potato family.

Helping out the grower who is lost.
Draw this plan. Next year you won't remember where crops were.
Try to include overwintering crops.
Plan your seed varieties. Write them down on a calendar for sowing.
So all the planning is done now when things are slow.
You might not keep to it exactly, but it doesn't half make life simpler.
Happy planning.

sparrer

With respect to all those who know far more about rhubarb in tubs than I do, the reason I've planted mine in tubs is because a) I have a very tiny garden so can't afford the ground space, and b) my neighbour, a keen gardener of some 40 years, grows his in tubs and always ends up giving some away as it's so prolific. I'm just taking advice from him and hope I get better results than you say I might.

Lolly the tubs are approx 42" tall and 30" in diameter (sorry don't do modern money lol), made of reinforced plastic - I think - with a heavy hessian coating, so good and deep which was recommended by others. Mine stand in a well sheltered but sunny corner of the garden between two brick walls. I just hope I can replicate next doors success.

Re watering, I love it! I can stand in the middle of the lawn and reach every tree, shrub, pot, trough and hanging basket and it's a quiet few minutes at the end of the day when I can reflect and admire my amateur but quite successful (to me) efforts

seemasfriend

fivefifty wrote: »

Write down what you and your family like to eat.
Divide the plot into beds for rotational purposes. Brassicas, legumes, onions, roots, potato family.

Helping out the grower who is lost.
Draw this plan. Next year you won't remember where crops were.
Try to include overwintering crops.
Plan your seed varieties. Write them down on a calendar for sowing.
So all the planning is done now when things are slow.
You might not keep to it exactly, but it doesn't half make life simpler.
Happy planning.

I second the suggestion to put a plan on paper. I never get round to it and always seem to forget what went where even though I am convinced it is stencilled on my brain.
Last year I used the square foot gardening approach and had really high yields for some crops (beans, spinach and chard) with less success on the courgette and beetroot front. Any ideas why my beets failed to develop globes?

lolly5648

sparrer wrote: »

Lolly the tubs are approx 42" tall and 30" in diameter (sorry don't do modern money lol), made of reinforced plastic - I think - with a heavy hessian coating, so good and deep which was recommended by others. Mine stand in a well sheltered but sunny corner of the garden between two brick walls. I just hope I can replicate next doors success.

Re watering, I love it! I can stand in the middle of the lawn and reach every tree, shrub, pot, trough and hanging basket and it's a quiet few minutes at the end of the day when I can reflect and admire my amateur but quite successful (to me) efforts

Thanks sparrer, I Use 'old money' too. Where did you get the hessian tubs from as I don't think I've seen these in garden centres?
I know what you mean about watering. When I worked I used to love going out into the garden and spend a few minutes water, it really relaxed me.

Dizzy_Ditzy

annie123 wrote: »

I'm amazed they lasted this long. If I were you I'd eat them now.
Potatoes aren't an over winter crop usually, but someone with a greenhouse may know better.
The last spuds are sometimes done in August for Xmas potatoes, so you've done well to keep them this long.

The cut something you mentioned is cutworms, and they like my leeks in milder autumns.

Thank you


I dont think there'll be anything edible in the bag but I'll get her to check.


Is the compost going to be ok to put in the compost bin or on the beds or is it knackered?

Little_Vics

For a project manager, I'm really bad at planning out my garden. I tend to just shove stuff in and hope for the best. Oops. Where shall I start?