Grow your own dinner 2014

Dizzy_Ditzy

zafiro1984 wrote: »

Agree with lettuce but also how about sowing curly kale or sprouting broccoli in a few weeks time to take over from the courgettes - loads of pickings off curly kale, would be good to have something for early next year.

Spent my one hour on the plot today:- got two more beds de-docked and ready for sweetcorn, DH laughed when I told him what I was going to plant, neighbour has a 20 acre field next to us full of sweetcorn, but I don't think Neil would appreciate us 'stealing' some.

Staked my runners, tied in the toms, sowed some salad leaves as I couldn't find any 'living salad' to buy anywhere (I was going to take some advice from Happygreen and split it into smaller plugs and plant out). Picked the first of the blackcurrants, jostaberries and white currants, made a pudding with them for tea.

I put sweetcorn in a couple of weeks ago and I'm amazed how well it's doing well, I'm amazed how well everything I've planted has done so far :rotfl:

It's much better when you've grown it yourself

CAFCGirl

I've got a large tub growing of mixed salad leaves but another leafy veg would be a good addition. Thanks for the tip.
Ive been through my seed bag and found some iceberg lettuce, rocket and some 'corn salad - cavallo', which Ive never heard of but it came in a selection pack that I seem to have acquired from somewhere (?) so I think I'll start those all off today.
Have some golden acre cabbage as well, might give that a try.

Tomato Question
I cant seem to make head nor tail of the advice on g**gle.
Should I pinch out the flowers on my tomato plants or leave them?

mrbadexample

CAFCGirl wrote: »

Tomato Question
I cant seem to make head nor tail of the advice on g**gle.
Should I pinch out the flowers on my tomato plants or leave them?

The flowers are where the tomatoes grow from.

Pinching out the flowers = no fruit.

You decide.

The bits to be pinched out from cordon or indeterminate tomatoes are the side shoots. These emerge from between the main stem and the leaf "branches". You can stick these in water, and after a few days they'll form roots and can be potted up for a whole new plant.

mrbadexample

Look what I made!



:j

CAFCGirl

mrbadexample wrote: »

The flowers are where the tomatoes grow from.

Pinching out the flowers = no fruit.

You decide.

The bits to be pinched out from cordon or indeterminate tomatoes are the side shoots. These emerge from between the main stem and the leaf "branches". You can stick these in water, and after a few days they'll form roots and can be potted up for a whole new plant.

PHEW!
It pays for me to ask stupid questions sometimes :rotfl:

I kept reading things about the first flowers being pinched out and I couldn't work out what I was meant to be doing.

Pleased to say I've managed the side shoots thing though LOL

mrbadexample

CAFCGirl wrote: »

I kept reading things about the first flowers being pinched out and I couldn't work out what I was meant to be doing.

:think: Have you been reading about peppers?

Sometimes this is advised to make a pepper / chilli plant produce more flowers in response to losing the first one, although there is some debate as to whether this actually works. If it does, more flowers = more fruit.

CAFCGirl

I'm pretty sure I typed in tomato.....

Happygreen

CAFCGirl wrote: »

I'm pretty sure I typed in tomato.....

same family of plants (I think) so someone may have given similar advice for both. I never bothered pricking any flowers anywhere, they might turn into something and if I take them out they definitely won't :rotfl:
corn salad is yum, tiny rosettes ready in early spring, you sow them from September and they are hardy, great first salad with a nutty flavour (I wish I had some right now!)

[Deleted User]

we have had a few meals including sutherland kale from realseeds. It was surprisingly nice, in fact nicer than my dwarf curly kale. S kale has a very good write up and looks as though it would survive a severe winter. I am growing 2 on the allotment and have put 2 in tubs in the back garden. A good buy imo

zafiro1984

Happygreen wrote: »

My currants are only showing a very slight colour and the blackbirds are having a feast already! Never got around to building a proper cage yet! one of the many projects....

Two pet hens live in my fruit cage, I've moved them into the fruit cage as they escaped my major cull of hens this spring and I haven't the heart to get rid of them now - they don't lay - but they do keep the weeds down, so at least I can justify keeping them as they 'have a job'

The currants aren't in the fruit cage, I was a bit silly a few years ago and caught the 'propagation bug' I stopped counting at 30 bushes but not much goes to waste as it makes quite delicious wine - the sitting on the patio sort of stuff - if only I had the time to sit!!:)