The highs and lows of growing your own dinner 2015

Dizzy_Ditzy

My early spuds are in at one plot and waiting for me to have chance to get them in at the other. We're so close to chicken day, it's all go for them and not a lot else at the mo

The day after the day after tomorrow :j :j

Narc0lepsy

Happygreen wrote: »

Narc0lepsy, I've never been successful with Gojis and I'm glad to hear from you that they can grow well here.

What did yours do? Did they grow big and have flowers but no fruit? That's what a lot of people reported on the thread I read. Some people said they had fruit anything from 2-5yrs later. I really can't justify leaving them a lot of space to just be pretty flowers (if indeed that's what they do) so I'm going to pretend they are just ornamental and put them somewhere other than my fruit bed. That will teach me to be tempted by plants at £1.49 when I don't know what they are or how to grow them!!!

Narc0lepsy

mamaninie wrote: »

Hello Narc0 and jazee :wave:

I have potatoes aplenty chatting away but I'm going to do them in bags this year. Last year I overspudded the allotment and struggled with the watering and harvesting. The beauty of bags in the gardens means I can pull up my spuds when I want them for a meal so I think I'll go back to that method and save the sllotment space for something more interesting

Carolinerunner I suspect it's the 2 yrs out of date bit that might be the problem even though you've had germination the seeds might not be in the finest fettle

:wave: Hi there we're all migrating! Well, not planning on leaving the flyladies but just spreading our roots.

I used to love the pink fir apples but haven't grown spuds now for years since being diagnosed with intolerance about 10yrs ago

Agree with you about the seeds; some are really only any good in the 1st year, I believe parsley and parsnips are very short-lived seeds. Having said that I'm still going to sow half a packet of parsley I had left over from last year. The plants actually over-wintered in the unheated greenhouse and are sprouting again merrily.

Davesnave

carolinerunner wrote: »

wondered if anyone can tell me what I should be doing differently?

Many thanks in advance!

Early in the year, I often just go to Sainsburys, Lidl or Morrisons, buy a pack of living salad and transplant, but that might not be what you want to hear!:rotfl:Anyway, they're still slow.

A lot of salad will go through a mild winter in a polytunnel, but it can be difficult to get new plants established. It won't be the seeds at fault; they either germinate or they don't.

Plants like mizuna and miner's lettuce do better in short days and lower light than something like frisee lettuce from Italy.

Happygreen

Narc0lepsy wrote: »

What did yours do? Did they grow big and have flowers but no fruit? That's what a lot of people reported on the thread I read. Some people said they had fruit anything from 2-5yrs later. I really can't justify leaving them a lot of space to just be pretty flowers (if indeed that's what they do) so I'm going to pretend they are just ornamental and put them somewhere other than my fruit bed. That will teach me to be tempted by plants at £1.49 when I don't know what they are or how to grow them!!!

No, mine just drowned between couch grass. The plants weren't that tall when I bought them and eventually disappeared! I just treated them like currant bushes which NEVER just die on me, wherever I planted them...

Scottish_Mike

I need to pop down to Wilkos to get more see trays - I've run out. I sowed loads of flower seeds, and now don't have any for my brassicas.

I've repotted my PSB into separate pots, and transplanted 9 very leggy cabbage seedlings into pots and they look a bit better now. But I need more, so going to do a second sowing of those (a summer variety called Tinty) and sow some Savoys and Romanesco and resow Brussels.

But first to the plot! Need to dig up a large couch grass infested area for my spuds and start planning a raspberry bed. So much to do!

mamaninie

seed trays - I've repurposed some grape boxes with holes in the bottom resting in mushroom trays which have no holes and I can get 2 abreast on my window sill happily The grape boxes with lids have acted like mini propagators too and I've just cut the top off once the leaves have come.

when transplanting psb seedlings do you wait for the second leaves or move them across on the first - and how deep do you put them as my seedlings are quite leggy already?

Scottish_Mike

You just reminded me that I have a load of grape AND mushroom trays in a cupboard! Thanks!!

My PSB got to about 2 inches tall and had their second leaves, so moved them then. I buried them to just above where the stem splits to the first leaves, and they seem happy with that and have continued growing. I'm pretty sure you can get away with that for most brassicas, and I'm doing it with my cabbages too as they were even more leggy.

Dizzy_Ditzy

I have various brassica seeds on the go, and we have started tickling the seedlings- it seems to be doing something cos those seedlings look better than some of the others done at the same time.

Anything that isn't finished on the chicken run will be done tomorrow- once we have them IN SITU :j :j :j

HighlandLass

Hi, hope you have space for one more!

Unfortunately i am moving into a flat in the next couple of months (no outside space ) so wont have much happening at mine.

But I am determind to use my dads garden. he has a green house, small homemade poly tunnel and a large veg plot. He does use it but kinda just potters in it. So I am going round this weekend to see what we can plan.

We are in the North of Scotland (30 mins North of Inverness:eek:) so are a bit limited with what we can grow....although a couple of years ago we did manage sweetcorn (ok so we only got 1 small cob but that to us was a victory:rotfl:)

I have a blowaway that i have seeds in ATM. Herbs (parsley,corriander, chives and basil) sunflowers, peppers and some strawberries - any tips on growing strawberies from seed as I have never done it before? I have always used runners.