The ups and downs of growing your own dinner 2016...

Fruittea

Morning Everyone
Overcast skies here for me but at least no rain.
I pick the salads wash and spin them then pop them in a plastic bag or leave them in the salad spinner in the fridge. They seems to stay fresh.


At last the strawberries have arrived in full - picked over 600 grms that's £5 worth at Tesco prices. It was lovely to come from the lotty yesterday with a hand full of broad beans, mange tout and radish. Lunch was blue cheese dressing with potatoes, artichokes and fresh salad. It should have been rhubarb for dessert but I'd eaten far too many strawberries to want any. Isn't it great when everything starts to grow.

Ladykernow

My cucumber plant got eaten by slugs last night.

Kantankrus_Mare

That lunch sounds lovely fruitea!!

Bit disappointed with my strawberries.

I rushed to get a bed ready on my new plot and its in a place that gets the least sun. Strawberries on the plants but need some sun now!! Strawberries were always the best grower on my other plot.

Have plans for a bed for next year that will be in full sun. (when we get any!!)

Popped in wilkos this morning for some parsnip and swede seeds.

thriftylass

Harvested some spinach and swiss chard for dinner and lunch. Dug up some potatoes for today's dinner. I'll just start using them now as I think the ground is done and they won't grow anymore. So no need to wait. Will Rather think about what else to plant as a suitable winter crop in their place once the hedge behind the potato patch is cut.

zafiro1984

[QUOTE=thriftylass;70834615_Dug_up_some_potatoes_for_today's_dinner._I'll_just_start_using_them_now_as_I_think_the_ground_is_done_and_they_won't_grow_anymore._So_no_need_to_wait._Will_Rather_think_about_what_else_to_plant_as_a_suitable_winter_crop_in_their_place_once_the_hedge_behind_the_potato_patch_is_cut.[/QUOTE]

I usually follow early potatoes with leeks, but this year I'm looking at some of the brassicas.

Saw on the news that a moth, I think they called it a diamond moth is coming in from the continent and decimating brassicas. They said that there is no control for it and that prices will rise in the shops. Looks like I'll be growing under cloches/netting as we live in the south. :eek:
http://www.fwi.co.uk/arable/diamondback-moth-explosion-threatens-brassica-crops.htm

Fruittea

Kantankrus_Mare wrote: »

That lunch sounds lovely fruitea!!

Bit disappointed with my strawberries.

I'm sure it will work out better next year. I moved mine this year and they are just a bit late.


Don't miss out on the kales Zafiro - I've been really please with them and my favourite standby which is purple sprouting broccoli. I have trouble with space at the moment and asked what I could do to hold them up a bit and the advice was - pot them on into bigger posts and give them a feed. Didn't know you could do that - so I'll give it a try. This Diamondback Moth things sounds bad - better cover up.

zafiro1984

Planted my 'yard long beans ' out, I've never grown them before.
Some oca has emerged in the tunnel, thought I'd lost them as I forgot to keep some back last year so they must be tubers I'd missed.

Looked at my parsnip bed, nothing seems to be happening so I've made the decision to plant something else in it before I lose out on that bed altogether this year. I'll probably put my brussels in there as they are sitting in pots at the moment, but would be better off in the ground.

Just rain, rain, rain yesterday, perhaps as well as the tap near the vegetables has somehow come loose and I had to turn the stopcock off near it to stop a flood, so I didn't worry about watering today. Must remind DH to mend it today, otherwise I'll have to trail hosepipes about.

Picked, salad leaves, dwarf french beans, strawberries, new pots today.

moneyistooshorttomention

Gone from very distinct suspicions to downright certainty that a cat is "visiting" my garden pretty frequently. Inspection has just revealed another sign of a bit of "digging around".

I know exactly which cat it is that is responsible or - to be more accurate - which person is responsible (as they got that cat after I moved in and it was obvious I'm growing food in my garden). Nothing I can do about the "puppet master" (ie the owner). So it's a question of what to do with the "puppet" (ie the cat). Yep.....it is an nfh that has that cat.

1. Do cats head for raised beds (mine are rather high - so it wouldnt be a case of just stretching out a paw across a few inches high barrier and easily walking over iyswim)? I would have thought the cat won't be trying to climb up and into my raised beds....hopefully.

2. Does it "matter" (ie harmful to health) if cats "do their business" in the garden iyswim? It's not going to matter to fruit bushes and trees - as the food isnt at ground level. But I'm guessing it does matter to salad foods - as the cats "mess" might get onto it.

The furry fiend knows better than to come near my garden if it spots me in it - and you can see it watching me warily if it spots me outside and, if I start moving in its direction, it runs off rather fast. But, obviously, I'm not going to be in my garden at night - and the cat knows it.

I think I'm going to have "throw away" some money (darn it!) and get one of those "scarecrow" type things on spikes one puts in a garden and that is motion-activated to swivel and spray water at any visiting cats. Hopefully that will do the trick. I cant manage to "cover" all my garden with that (the gadget doesnt have enough range for that and cant "see" round corners etc) - but its range should cover a fair section of my garden.

Has anyone else got one of these things - or found better/cheaper methods of stopping the neighbour being a nuisance via their cat.

Jazee

Morning. I don't have a problem with cats in my back garden where I grow food as the dogs keep them away (and the dogs are trained about where they are allowed), but they do mess up the front. Unfortunately I have no advice as I've tried loads of things to no avail.

The garden which was worthy of judging less than two weeks ago is now a mess again due to all the rain and weeds. Slugs have eaten my peas.

I have no ripe fruit on the strawberries yet, will harvest some broad beans today, and although I have flowers on the tomato plants, no fruit yet. By May last year I was already picking the tomatoes.

Fruittea

Cats - I have two huge maine coons. I love em! So sorry to hear you're having problems Money. I for one would not like to grow underground things like beetroot where they are pooping. One thing - maybe ask the neighbours if they might consider encouraging their cat to use a litter tray. Both mine do and I can therefore deal with the poops.
Cats mark their territory with urine to and they think your garden is theirs. And bad news they like high spaces. However, if the neighbours won't help there are some things you might do to control it.
On the kindest spectrum:
Plant through wire mesh as the can't scratch up the ground - so they won't dig or poo. Or just lay some down until they get the idea and go elsewhere.
Once what you're growing gets big enough they will find somewhere else to go anyway as they are a little lazy - so it's only seedlings and tiny plants that will suffer.
You could try giving them a designated place to go - catnip and gust dug soft ground in a space you don't need to use - like behind a bush.
Half fill large see through plastic (2.5 litre) bottles with water and lay them on their side where you want to protect the ground. If they go near it or the wind blows the moving water frightens them - it's a bit like a big beast blinking.
On the mean side of things and if you're desperate:
Holly sticks as a temporary deterrent - but they will get the message.
A water pistol - a quick squirt usually is enough to tell them they're not wanted.
They are creatures of pattern so once the pooping stops or is disrupted - it's over.
Good luck.