The highs and lows of growing your own dinner 2015

Bee70

We splashed out on a proper greenhouse so we are putting that up today. Our blow away did just that with all those gales. Tidied up the allotment but it still looks a mess - I guess it is just that time of year. At what point can we put stuff in a non heated greenhouse for germinating/ potting on?

zafiro1984

Happygreen: talking of mice, I left a packet of biscuits in the boot of my car only to find they had been nibbled next day, the car is in constant use, not old, but it was quite a shock when I opened the boot. Just wondering how it got in and how it gets out as there are no obvious spaces. Fortunately, I have some very potent "wild life food" (the sort you have to sign for) because of my chickens, so I should be able to sort out the problem as they are notorious for nibbling wires and that could be very expensive.

I have done no sowing yet this year, just chitting the potatoes, but I'm still picking carrots and leeks from last year not to mention sprouting broccoli, kale, and cabbages, so things are ok on the veg front especially as I froze as much fruit and veg as I could.

Growing what I can certainly saves me money both in actual cost as well as keeping me away from the supermarkets and impulse buys. Not forgetting to mention it also tastes better

Davesnave

Bee70 wrote: »

At what point can we put stuff in a non heated greenhouse for germinating/ potting on?

In a word, April, but without knowing location, height above sea level etc it's a guess, especially as 'stuff' varies too!

I've sown seeds in my polytunnel this week and there's mature lettuce/mizuna and other greens in there that have overwintered too. If I was in parts of Scotland, that might never happen.

Jazee

The weather is appallingly cold and wet today so all I've done is removed the lids from the propagators on the indoor windowsills as the plants were getting a bit tall. Must try harder next weekend.

unrecordings

Snow stopped play here too. Ended up building a den for the cat out of old fence palings

grassgirl

Have my veg seeds and morning glories on my small kitchen window sill. No other rooms have sun and my garden is very shaded. New to gardening excited

Happygreen

snow and frost here....I was almost done digging up the old potato patch. Maybe I get a chance to clip away on the Hazel and Willows later today, I want to grow a hedge!

Dizzy_Ditzy

Friday was a complete washout at the chicken site- kinda like Glastonbury in terms of mud so we left it for a day then went back on Saturday to put the roof on the chicken run, using pallets to stand on around the outside.

Managed to steal an hour or so yesterday before the heavens opened to start pruning the gooseberries. No hope of getting anything done today because of the weather. When it stops raining I will go and get a bag of compost from the greenhouse and bring it indoors, to hopefully start sowing this weekend

Potatoes chitting nicely on the windowsill, I have 44 of 4 different varieties of first and second early, plus a rather large bag of maincroppers in the cupboard under the stairs waiting to come out. They'll be planted out third week of March, which doesn't really give me long to make sure the beds are completely ready!

Bee70

Davesnave wrote: »

In a word, April, but without knowing location, height above sea level etc it's a guess, especially as 'stuff' varies too!

I've sown seeds in my polytunnel this week and there's mature lettuce/mizuna and other greens in there that have overwintered too. If I was in parts of Scotland, that might never happen.

Sorry that was a bit vague - I'm in Sheffield, so lower north (although always tends to be a few degrees below surrounding area maybe due to hills??)
Poor husband and FIL put it up yesterday in the freezing rain - needs a good clean, but otherwise ready to go. I might get a thermometer and check if it goes below freezing in there before I put baby veg in there.

Davesnave

Bee70 wrote: »

Sorry that was a bit vague - I'm in Sheffield, so lower north (although always tends to be a few degrees below surrounding area maybe due to hills??)
Poor husband and FIL put it up yesterday in the freezing rain - needs a good clean, but otherwise ready to go. I might get a thermometer and check if it goes below freezing in there before I put baby veg in there.

Although I'm in Devon, my polytunnel can go below freezing well into April, so I wouldn't put anything sensitive in the way of seedlings in there until then, at the earliest.

On the other hand, there's plenty of less fussy stuff that can be started now, like broad beans, chard, radishes etc. The clue is on the packets. If it says plant in open ground from March or April, then you could probably get away with it soon.

The problem with all artificial protection is that the temperatures can vary so much over the day, maybe by 20c+, and that's not necessarily a good thing for little plants. A bit of fleece can help with that.