Grow your own dinner 2014

sparrer

browneyedbazzi wrote: »

What variety of cucumber is it? You don't necessarily need a greenhouse to grow cucumbers if you've got the right variety. The common marketmore does perfectly well outside, and home grown cucumbers are so much nicer than supermarket ones. I even managed to get a few nice cucumbers off a plant left in small-ish pot on a flat balcony that I forgot to water for ages....I'm looking forward to a decent crop on my plot this year because conditions should be a fair bit better!

Just been out in the teeming rain (well, reached one arm out to the shelving by the back door ) to check on the variety but it just says 'Cucumber Indoor F1'. I'd never have thought they would grow outdoors in our climate but it's worth giving it a go although the label gives a pretty obvious clue as to why it shouldn't work! Thanks for the tip, will sit it in a sunny position and report back in a few months if it was a success

moments_of_sanity

My cucumbers are starting to come up which is great :j

I am being over run with tomato plants, they are growing absolutely everywhere, I have potted up as many as I can but am up to about 30 so far! :eek: (home made compost is great but you do get some strange things growing, last year we had melon seeds germinating).

The early potatoes are doing really well and will be putting the final lot of soil in with them tomorrow, I think they should have been ready by now but I was a bit late in putting them in

French beans are growing fantastically but my peas are not doing anywhere near as well as I expected. Is anyone else having problems with theirs? I am on my second packet of pea seeds, different from the original pack, and they still seem to be struggling?

icontinuetodream

No idea about peas....sorry!!

Planted my broad beans out yesterday....glad I waited the additional week as it has been frosty here on a couple of mornings recently....I have cloched them though as I'm still not certain that there won't be more

Potted on more tomato plants yesterday too and am now hardening off the butternut squash plants before I put them in the ground next week....

Only two of my three courgette seeds have sprouted so I may pop another one in today.....as far as freezing them is concerned, I only freeze things that they are in - ratatouille, sliced toms & courgettes layers with cheese, casseroles etc - I also leave a few on the plant at the end of the season to have stuffed marrow and freeze those if there are any left!! During the growing season I use them raw instead of pasta plus I dehydrate them and eat as snacks and to use through the winter.....perhaps I had better plant a couple more seeds thinking about it!!:rotfl:

CAFCGirl

Feeling really bummed out.
Nothing seems to be growing/taking. Am broke as hell so cant afford any compost so cant sow my remaining seeds and just feel all round poop about it.

Previous attempts have always been more a 'sow it and see' and never been all that bothered, but of course this year I'm trying, and the universe seems to be conspiring against me

Happygreen

CAFCGirl wrote: »

Feeling really bummed out.
Nothing seems to be growing/taking. Am broke as hell so cant afford any compost so cant sow my remaining seeds and just feel all round poop about it.

Previous attempts have always been more a 'sow it and see' and never been all that bothered, but of course this year I'm trying, and the universe seems to be conspiring against me

That's a shame, it can be so frustrating....some things take a few weeks to germinate, maybe there is life in there after all. And it's still fairly early in the year, don't give up. Where are your seeds from?

Jazee

I agree, some of my seeds have taken a month to germinate. Have loads planted out now and bought a plastic tunnel thingy today so its just fingers crossed now that I can grow at least one dinner this year!

browneyedbazzi

What have you planted CFACgirl? Some things can really take their time coming up so you might just need to wait a little longer.

My cucumbers came up really quickly and all but one seed germinated which I'm quite impressed with. I also put in some plum tomatoes and they all came up - I put a couple of seeds in each plug because I didn't expect them all to come up (they never have before!)so I've had to thin them out. My peppers are being much slower but I think there are signs of life in a few of them now. I put in some precious F1 tomatoes as well but they haven't done anything.

The onions (two varieties of white, red barons and spring) and carrots all appear to be doing well, but I noticed today that there appears to be an ants nest in the bed they are in...not sure what to do about the ants - will they damage/eat the veg? They've also got into the pot with my rhubarb

I've been doing lots of jobs around the house this weekend so didn't get much done in the garden, but I have planted some chard, lettuce and a courgette. I've also put in some climbing french bean seeds - I had planned to buy plants but the only ones left at the garden centre near me looked dreadful so I decided to try my luck with growing them from seed. I also want to grow some climbing peas - can anyone recommend a variety?

CAFCGirl

I've got:

Jalapeno chilli x 2 lots
Sweet peppers x 2 lots
Coriander
Sweet Basil
Chives
Tomatoes
Runner beans ( they seem ok)
Broad beans
Cucumber
Sweet pea (brought as a plant)
Peas
Aubergine

Theres also some potatoes from the GYOP project that are poking through the soil.

Its been roughly 8 weeks since I started, some of them have only had 6 weeks but everything has had way over a month

ETA HappyGreen - They're a mix of Aldi, wilkinson, passed on excess donations from the old boys at my mums allotment

CAFCGirl

The seeds.................... they grow!

HUZZAH

Happygreen

CAFCGirl wrote: »

The seeds.................... they grow!

HUZZAH

Brilliant I also found a lonely tomato coing up (('d given up on them):j
but a HUGE leopard slug had a go at my courgettes and I lost 3. The slug will be fed to the ducks :mad: