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

Jazee

Morning all. I really must get out in the garden/greenhouse today. There is tidying to be done, beds to prepare and I haven't done any of my February experimental seed planting yet.

Tomatoes planted in Jan indoors are doing well, looking less leggy now.

Jazee

So yesterday, I repotted the tomato plants. Two little seed trays and I ended up with 70 plants. Guess I'll be giving lots away.
And I did the job I hate the most - washing all the little pots. The tray of leeks is now popping through. The broad beans in the greenhouse planted in autumn don't look too great but I remember this happening last year and they recovered ok. The garlic and broad beans planted outside are doing ok.

I ran out of compost potting up the tomatoes and had planned to get some when DH arrived home with the car, but I didn't feel great and went to bed instead.

So today, the most I can do is tidying the garden so that mean Feb seed planting will now be March, but I've hurt my leg too, so not sure how much I'll get done today.

Right, I'll stop waffling now.

savingpennies

Hi all.
I started sowing early last year (January) and didn't have much success so waited until February this year. So far I've sown tomatoes, turnip, cabbage, basil and courgettes. I'm also chitting potatoes to put in sacks.
I have a tiny patch in the garden, probably only about 3 metres square but try to grow as much as possible. Last year I had great success with toms, courgettes, turnips, runner beans and salad leaves but my beetroot and spring onions failed.
I replanted strawberries in the hope that this year I will have better yields. I've also go two blackcurrant bushes to plant later today.
My DD bought me three sloe bushes for Christmas as I make sloe gin every year. I usually pick sloes from the hedgerows and the bushes are quite big. I'm a bit worried these will get too big as well. Does anybody grow these?

Ken68

Hi SP...Am also branching out this year with berry bushes. Red and white currants. Blueberry, not doing so well and also strawberries in guttering. Cultivated sloes would be bigger, just depends if you have the space. Also I grow gooseberries, yellow and red, in a fan shape, several years old now. Awfully windy here, started digging over ready for taters. Cara main crop. Charlotte for the rest.

Scottish_Mike

I've been procrastinating lately and haven't done much. Planted 2 lots of potatoes in tubs in the greenhouse a few days ago (Swift and Anya) and the rest are chitting away. There's a few lettuces hiding under homemade plastic bottle cloches and some strawberries waiting to be planted, but I haven't got any seeds going yet.

Tonight I'm going to plant some tomatoes and peppers. I made a list somewhere of things to plant, really need to find it!

smallholding_antics

Thanks for the chicken info above Zafiro. Really interesting! 340 chickens, blimey!!!


I love reading all the posts as the season gets underway. All my beef tomato seeds (Brandywine) have germinated. We're going to have loads how fabulous. I love to be able to give away the odd thing as a thanks or just "because" to family and friends. I have lots of tomatoe based recipes and lots of freezable ones so looking forward to this. The cherries germinated well, but not as well. Still pleased though. They've been pricked out and replanted down to the true leaves so I hope this works as they were leggy initially. Followed advice on here and other blogs and they say it should work.


I have onions, basil, peppers, cauliflowers that have germinated. The initial cauliflowers were rubbish but the last lot were good. Maybe wasn't warm enough.


Tonight is a planting night. I've got all sorts to get in. Broadbeans to start under cloches so I need to good what I can use as a cloche. I'm going to try some in the unheated greenhouse and some indoors and see what happens.


Also I'm going to order some turnip seeds. I love turnip!

smallholding_antics

Meant to say too - the fruit bushes are really interesting me. Does anyone know if they can be replanted in a year or 2 as we may be moving the veg plot then?

Fruittea

Hi Everyone
Seems like everyone is off to a great start. I'm chitting potatoes and have started some Belle du Fontenay (earlies) in big pots in the kitchen - so they keep warm. I planted autumn shallots onions and they seem to be doing ok - so that's all good.


On moving fruit - I've moved mine a couple of times and it seems fine but the alternative is to take some cuttings and grow them on in 9" pots - like you see in the garden centres.


I love the idea of Zafiro's small holding and his chickens - I have four in the front garden - subsequently have no grass at all but strangely mine don't seem to touch anything herby like sage and rosemary.


All the best

savingpennies

I spent Sunday in the greenhouse sowing more seeds: beetroot, leeks and runner beans. But the main job was adding compost and chicken manure to my beds. When I started, the ground was full of clay and had lots of moss growing over it. Three years later, the soil is now quite fine and is about 6 inches deep so I hope to get some good crops.

Lifes_Grand_Plan

savingpennies wrote: »

I spent Sunday in the greenhouse sowing more seeds: beetroot, leeks and runner beans. But the main job was adding compost and chicken manure to my beds. When I started, the ground was full of clay and had lots of moss growing over it. Three years later, the soil is now quite fine and is about 6 inches deep so I hope to get some good crops.

Are you not worried the frost might catch them in the greenhouse?
Or is it heated? Or do you mean you prepped them in the g/h and then moved indoors?