Grow your own dinner 2014

Happygreen

How is everyone doing?
We've still had a few good days since the big downpour. I've been tidying the tunnel a bit and put the shooting potatoes from the kitchen in the ground and planted lettuces on top. Hopefully my timing will be alright and the lettuces done when the potatoes come up, haha. I harvested more beans - and there are still some on the climbing frame, I'm so pleased I put the old thing in the veg plot! -and some potatoes, also more to do, fingers crossed the weather will still be nice tomorrow. Thanks for the tip with the strawberry runners (I can't find who mentioned them) ! That's planned for tomorrow. The lettuce plot outdoors is very tidy, I might smuggle some garlic in between at some point ...

sazzlebgood

currently growing onions,sown broad beans and corn salad. Looking forward to wednesday when there supposed to be no rain and i can get on the lottie:j Hope you don't mind me joining in

zafiro1984

Happygreen wrote: »

How is everyone doing?

Happygreen:- Wet and soggy comes to mind,
You seem to be full of enthusiasm, I just want to stay indoors however the forecast for the end of the week looks good, temperatures rising to the late teens

Welcome sazzlebgood please do join in - we all learn from each other.

Not much happening on my plot, still picking carrots, and sweetcorn plus - wait for it - strawberries (not many but enough to have a taste of summer past). cabbages, kale, broccoli and leeks are growing outside but not ready yet. Lettuces in the greenhouse, solar tunnel should arrive next week :j

Does anyone forage? I do, but only on our own place. The sweet chestnuts are very small this year so not really worth the effort, the squirrels got to the hazel nuts first, blackberries were ok but last year they were much better, the horses got most of the crab apples before I did. I don't know what happened to the elderberries, the flowers were there but I've not seen any berries, The only thing I've managed to forage were some rose hips - made rosehip and orange jelly and jam. Could do better comes to mind:(

Happygreen

Welcome sazzlebgood !

zafiro1984, I usually start off full of life in spring, then enthusiasm drops during the summer when the weeds grow over my head and we might go away some weeks of the holidays. This year I've picked up again to make the best of the Indian summer we have had, I am dreading the cold and wet months now, I want to keep going out there, lol.
Yes, I am a forager, also mainly on my own property. We had sloes, buckthorn berries, crab apples and hawthorn. Here the elderberries were eaten by tons of sparrows! Never had that many around.... There are still loads of fresh nettles and on the hill a good lot of sheep sorell, must get my act together to get a bag full and make soup or freeze some! I'd love to use rosehips but it's so much work unless you have a miracle recipe?
I'm so jealous you've got chestnuts! Do you live in France??:D

zafiro1984

Happygreen:- What do you do with hawthorn?

No miracle with rose hips, I usually choose a nice day and sit on the buggy (whilst I watch something) split the hips and use a teaspoon to de-seed them. If I don't use them straight away I freeze them.

No I don't live in France, I'm afraid its the south of England

Happygreen

zafiro1984 wrote: »

Happygreen:- What do you do with hawthorn?

No miracle with rose hips, I usually choose a nice day and sit on the buggy (whilst I watch something) split the hips and use a teaspoon to de-seed them. If I don't use them straight away I freeze them.

No I don't live in France, I'm afraid its the south of England

Amazing though - chestnuts! Would they grow in Central Scotland? :rotfl:

I usually chuck the fruit in with jellies - and I make teas and a tincture, it's supposed to be good for blood pressure. As it's a fruit it actually doesn't taste that bad , lol

I'ts been a really cold today, I almost believe the forecast for a strong and bad winter now....I managed to clean out half of the greenhouse, a job I usually didn't get done before April! But not the strawberry runners yet...

niftythrifty33

I haven't written on here for a while but have been reading. Last time I wrote I'd just started on my father in laws allotment as he's struggling to manage. I'm so chuffed with how this years gone I've had too much different veg to mention but my most exciting things are melons, butternut squash and mange tout. Also my carrots were fab!

Still harvesting squash. Got more cauliflowers and broccoli coming, cauli's were lush! Parsnips, swede, more carrots that are doing really well. New mange tout in greenhouse coming up. Also salad stuff in my raised bed.

Potatoes weren't very good so I want to try them in large pots as I've seen a great youtube blog this way. Any ideas where I can get 30 litre pots from for cheap or free?

This veg growing along with a new interest in flowers/plants in the garden has really enriched my life, it's so rewarding :j Anyone reading this who's a bit nervous to start, just go for it! I had no idea and we've not had to buy ANY veg or salad this year, it's amazing!

Happygreen

niftythrifty33 wrote: »

my most exciting things are melons, butternut squash and mange tout. Also my carrots were fab!



Potatoes weren't very good so I want to try them in large pots as I've seen a great youtube blog this way. Any ideas where I can get 30 litre pots from for cheap or free?

This veg growing along with a new interest in flowers/plants in the garden has really enriched my life, it's so rewarding :j Anyone reading this who's a bit nervous to start, just go for it! I had no idea and we've not had to buy ANY veg or salad this year, it's amazing!

Thanks for sharing your successes! Impressive! Give us the secret to growing melons, mine never turned to anything, not even in the tunnel....
Re potatoes, I have grown them in tyre stacks which I think is easier to earth up and dismantle than large solid pots. Also growing them in bags was more successful than the old council bins I tried as I just found it hard to get to the potatoes in the end, lol.

I'm just about to go out and check on things, get some more beans in, pick the crab apples, cut down the mint and hopefully the wet storm will pass by and I can get some sorrell from the hill and make pesto! That's the plan anyway

Dizzy_Ditzy

niftythrifty33 wrote: »

I haven't written on here for a while but have been reading. Last time I wrote I'd just started on my father in laws allotment as he's struggling to manage. I'm so chuffed with how this years gone I've had too much different veg to mention but my most exciting things are melons, butternut squash and mange tout. Also my carrots were fab!

Still harvesting squash. Got more cauliflowers and broccoli coming, cauli's were lush! Parsnips, swede, more carrots that are doing really well. New mange tout in greenhouse coming up. Also salad stuff in my raised bed.

Potatoes weren't very good so I want to try them in large pots as I've seen a great youtube blog this way. Any ideas where I can get 30 litre pots from for cheap or free?

This veg growing along with a new interest in flowers/plants in the garden has really enriched my life, it's so rewarding :j Anyone reading this who's a bit nervous to start, just go for it! I had no idea and we've not had to buy ANY veg or salad this year, it's amazing!

garden bargains or whatever they're called now do 4 x 30 litre pots for about £10 plus delivery

It's lovely to hear how enthusiastic you are hopefully next year I'll be equally so, I certainly am now and I've only had my plot for 4 months :j

mansars

Dear lord,

Its been such a long time since I was last on.

Well its been an up and down summer for me over here on the Emerald Isle, It all started so well with pretty much everything that I planted coming through.

Sadly a combination of work, holidays and one of the driest(but definitely not hottest) summers on record meant that I lost a great deal of what I had planted!

Anyway, from my small 8m by 10m garden I got

7kg of Apples (planted Feb 2013)
6kg of Strawberries (least at least the same again to birds and drought)
1kg of Blueberries (see strawberries for losses)
5kg of Black Currents
7 kg of Rhubarb

Sadly though I got only handfuls from Goji, Raspberry, Tayberry, Red Current, aronia, wineberry and Black Tomatoes. This was mainly due to birds sadly, as I ddnt manage to get them covered in time.

On the Veg front, I got lost loads of lettuce, 75% of my leeks bolted, the carrots, radish and squashes are lost due to drought!

Im still hoping to get a few leeks from a part of the garden that I chucked some of the excess spindly leeks in to fill space.

Different plans for next year, thinking of getting rid of the veg plot (3m x 2m) and putting a 6x 4ft greenhouse in on part of its footprint grassing the rest.....the joys of parenthood and dog ownership!!

A couple of bonuses this year have been the Comfrey has gone mental, which has given me loads of liquid fertilizer and compost in vigorator, and the sweet peas are still flowering.

Also due to the dry summer my strawberries have gone runner mad, Ive got 30 odd planted up and they are still going for it!!