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

sashanut

Hi all :j


I wondered if anyone could give me a steer on planting potatoes - in bags - please? I've tried them in the past but not been v successful. I've bought some seed spuds - only cheapies from HB in case things go wrong again...I have First Earlies - Sharps Express - 1 pkt; Second Earlies - Maris Peer 1 pkt; Maincrop - Maris Piper - 1 pkt & King Edward - 2 pkts.


Not sure what soil to use in the bags, think last time I used compost...seem to be abt 8 spuds in each pkt. Any advice most welcome....they are already sprouting in the pkts.


Also can anyone recommend a good site for purchasing soft fruit - I'm think of loganberries/tayberries something similar. We have raspberries/black/red currants gooseberries. I've bought from Pomona fruits before & they were OK but pricey, bought from SM & Poundland & they can be good but limited varieties.


TIA if you can help!

Narc0lepsy

sashanut wrote: »

Also can anyone recommend a good site for purchasing soft fruit - I'm think of loganberries/tayberries something similar.

I can't recall where I got mine as it was ages ago, I think just our local garden centre. They seem to grow very well and have sprouted several baby ones (or maybe it is germinated fallen fruit). Pretty easy to grow although they need a lot of space. After they have fruited, I cut every cane which has borne fruit to ground level, it is easy to see as they go brown as opposed to the new green ones. When I've cut those, I asap tie the new green ones (which by then are usually about 4ft long and sprawling all over the place) to my framework (I have 4 posts in a line with 3 levels of wire, and I think just 4 or 5 main fruiting plants). I use those wire circles rather than string to tie them in, as you can 'clip' one stem to the frame, then open it up and add another as you go along. I also have a large frame with a net as a fruit cage, as they are attractive to birds. Sorry if you know all this. You need to let them get as dark as possible before picking; if you pick them when they look the colour of raspberries they will not be ripe yet. They freeze very well.

I think with raspberries you have to be careful to buy 'certified' canes to avoid disease, but I haven't ever had any diseases on my tay/loganberries. I have a feeling I started off with just one of each plant. The only trouble I had one year was a wet summer; it rained for several days as they were ripe and I was too pathetic to stand in the rain and pick them; as a result they went mouldy.

Have fun

zafiro1984

I've had a few weeks off but it's now time to start growing for this season. Potatoes and shallots have arrived and I have all my required seeds for the season.

Unfortunately the wind took out some panes of glass in the greenhouse earlier this year. OH has sort of mended it, however the solartunnel has come through unscathed. Still picking leeks, parsnips carrots and sprouts from last year. The cabbages and sprouting broccoli are looking good but not quite ready so using the vegs I froze last year. Had to buy my first bag of potatoes the other day - disappointed:(.

Feeling quite positive for this year. A couple of years ago I had both hips replaced (due to a driving accident) and it took quite a while to get back on my feet (literally). Last year I managed to get the vegs back on track and this year it's going to be the turn of the fruit.

Heat mat due to go on later today so I shall spend the evening sorting the seeds and sowing Maybe if my OH sees me sowing seeds he may be inspired to get the next solartunnel under way - well that's the plan.

smallholding_antics

Sorry to hear of your accident Zafiro1984 but glad you're getting back in to things


This weekend I have planted some earlies (bought potato seeds from B&M but don't have the name to hand and the others are rocket, may even be 2nd earlies) in a large-ish flower pot. I just want to see how they get on. They are in the greenhouse at the moment and I'll just keep an eye on them.


I worked out that in my coming grocery shop I will spend £31.80 on veg for 4 people for 2 weeks. This is a combination of fresh and frozen. I'm keeping count of how much the seeds are costing me too. B&M were 3 for £5 so I got rhubarb, potatoes and onion sets.

ALIBOBSY

Got an unheated greenhouse, chickens and 6 raised beds of various sizes and have been trying to improve my yields each year.

We are on clay, but good soil-lots of farm land around here. BUT was so wet last year if affected alot of stuff.

Only got a couple of pears, but loads of apples, various currants strawberries etc and I would defo say to anyone starting out fruit always seems to give so much bang for your buck production wise. Got more currants and raspberries ready to be planted out when I get chance. Also need to move a gooseberry that is too close to a blackcurrant which seemed to overshadow it a bit last year. Going to dig up the strawberry bed/split and lift runners and replant in a different spot, just like to clean up the bed and refresh it every few years.

Plenty of peas/mange tout and beans, carrots a bit misshappen, not too well for beets, but all leaves like chard and salad did pretty well.

Sweetcorn was rubbish even with a northern designed type so may not bother at all this year, takes so much space and don't seem to get the yields to make it worthwhile.

Potatos in tyres and pots did pretty well-don't do maincrop as we can buy sackfuls locally from farms for very little 25kg for 4 pound ish.

Parsnips in bottles as per the thread on here did pretty well, but takes up time and space tbh.

I am another who is considering giving up on celeriac, but may use up last years seed just to get rid first.

Been ill with my asthma during last november and currently on rest at home from hospital advice whilst I am still struggling and on various drugs so no gardening at the mo for me.

Want to get my toms and other GH stuff in indoors shortly as well as the onion/garlic sets, but it will have to wait till I am well. Will have to keep planning for now, at least I won't get leggy seedlings lol.

Ali x

ALIBOBSY

zafiro1984 wrote: »

Ken I have to agree with you. I have just pulled up about 10 of them and there wasn't a decent root amongst them. Tops look large and healthy but nothing underneath. Maybe I didn't give them enough growing time, fed them to the chickens together with a load of lambs lettuce that had gone quite coarse.

Have you ever grown celery, the non blanching type, maybe I'll give that ago this year but I'd be interested to hear from anyone who has been successful with it

Funnily enough my chickens ended up with our celeriac as well lol.

I do grow non blanching celery and it is brilliant as really, really easy. The only issues are early on when the seedlings are small as the slugs adore the young shoots so I always grow on in pots for a while until quite big before planting out, say 4 inches high ish.

Then plant pretty close together in a block or square. I pick over the bunches over the summer to use, sort of pick and come again as leaves mostly, they have great flavour and can go in salads and as a base in soups/sauces/stews, seem to be stronger than normal celery I find. Then I start lifting bunches later on to chop and use up-you get more stems at the later stages. All bits freeze well to use in stews etc later in the year.

TBH after the initial stage they pretty much look after themselves.

Ali x

Why_oh_why

sashanut wrote: »

Hi all :j


I wondered if anyone could give me a steer on planting potatoes - in bags - please? I've tried them in the past but not been v successful. I've bought some seed spuds - only cheapies from HB in case things go wrong again...I have First Earlies - Sharps Express - 1 pkt; Second Earlies - Maris Peer 1 pkt; Maincrop - Maris Piper - 1 pkt & King Edward - 2 pkts.


Not sure what soil to use in the bags, think last time I used compost...seem to be abt 8 spuds in each pkt. Any advice most welcome....they are already sprouting in the pkts.


Also can anyone recommend a good site for purchasing soft fruit - I'm think of loganberries/tayberries something similar. We have raspberries/black/red currants gooseberries. I've bought from Pomona fruits before & they were OK but pricey, bought from SM & Poundland & they can be good but limited varieties.


TIA if you can help!

Hopefully this isn't too late to respond with our method of planting potatoes - I won't go into the descriptions of the potatoes that we planted in one bed that then invaded when we had decided to plant courgettes the following year grrr :mad::D

We have used the builders tubs with bog standard compost - about 5 inches of compost on the base, place the potatoes and then cover with 2 or 3 inches of compost.

Once the potatoes start sprouting, cover again with compost (about 2 or 3 inches over the top of the top leaf). Do this until you are a couple of inches from the top of the bag (in theory the more you top it up, the more your yield).

We haven't used bags before but will be trialling this year (as our tubs are basically disentegrating).

From our experience, they just seem to be happy if they've got some compost and water (we are hopeless at watering!!) and then make sure you check the soil properly - we always miss at least one potato and they go crazy the following year :rotfl:

Good luck

Fruittea

Hi Everyone
Aldi's having there growing event on Thursday - might be good for some of use. Here's a link to the page: https://www.aldi.co.uk/specialbuys/dates/thursday-25th-february/c/2016-02-25/?sort=popular&q=%3Apopular%3AtransactionalStatus%3Atransactional%3AtransactionalStatus%3Anontransactional%3AEvent%3AGrow+Your+Own&page=0

ALIBOBSY

Fruittea wrote: »

Thanks Smallholding
I'll try that. I've opted for Sub Artic Plenty which is supposed to tolerate cool temperatures. Plus a couple of others I've saved from last year.


Some of my artichokes have poked their heads up this morning - I'm planning to plant an artichoke bed in the front garden where I keep my chickens. I thought they'd be too touch for them to eat and it would give me some greenery.


Has anyone seen any Mega-bite tomatoes on sale this year. I can't seem to find them in the usual shops. They really impressed me last year.

Don't know about your chickens but mine happily eat globe artichoke plants if they can get near them :rotfl:
Don't know about jerusalem artichokes tho

Finally starting to feel normal again, managed to have a good sort of my seeds ready to start sowing. Then both youngest got ill and dr says its scarlet fever! Seems that its going through their school at the mo, so like a blummin hospital here and OH started with vomiting this morning as well



Ali x

zafiro1984

Smallholding - chickens will eat almost anything, the only things I find they don't like is sedge, and nettles. They will even eat brambles. They are brilliant at de-thatching grass, they get all the moss and rubbish out in no time at all. I let mine out (all 340) onto one of the paddocks the other day that needed aerating - they finished the job in two days, the only problem I have is having to stay reasonably close with the dogs to fox watch, bit of a pain but a lot quicker in the long run and they thoroughly enjoy themselves.