The great, good and not so good bits about growing your own dinner 2017

zafiro1984

Fruittea wrote: »

I had an email from Van Meuwen this morning - they are offering Sweet aperitiif tomatoes for 10 for 10p if you get stuck. You would have to pay postage on top of that- I think it's £3.95.
http://www.vanmeuwen.com/VMNE0914XZa?utm_source=SilverpopMailing&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=VMNE0914XZ%20tomato%20sweet%20aperitif%20for%20a%20penny%2011%2005%2017%20(1)&utm_content=&pid=24556561&email

Thanks Fruittea for the info. I've just ordered 10 tomatoes and a packet of Hunter squash seeds as I'm going to use a different place for the squash than I originally planned so I need extra plants.

Planted out my kohl rabi and pak choi, also covered them up. Weeded the onion/shallot bed plus the fruit cage. I planted some raspberries earlier in March but I'm wondering if they are dead as there is no growth yet but when you peel back the bark it's still green.

Potted on the cucumbers and melons, It's the first year I've grown melons. The mangetout I planted out yesterday have been dug up and eaten overnight, no doubt by mice or similar. I think it may be time to 'feed the wildlife' and get rid of them as I don't like them around things we are going to eat.

I probably wont be able to do much tomorrow as I've a hospital appt with the cardiologist specialist in the afternoon to discuss my scans and tests. I'm a bit scared and my DH's attitude to it all doesn't help.

Suffolk_lass

zafiro1984 wrote: »

I probably wont be able to do much tomorrow as I've a hospital appt with the cardiologist specialist in the afternoon to discuss my scans and tests. I'm a bit scared and my DH's attitude to it all doesn't help.

I hope it goes as well as it can zafiro1984. My Mum had emergency heart surgery in December and has recovered well - if you do have to have a procedure it is marvellous what they can do. Six months on, she is able to walk comfortably on the flat and take reasonable exercise, and walk up and down inclines getting a little out of breath but still able to talk - she gardens for 1-2 hours at a time now, interspersing with coffee out with friends and a bit of a sit-down - so not quite back to where she was but pretty darned good for 87. Fingers crossed and supportive thoughts from Suffolk. x

Niv

I did it! I have eaten something form the garden! Harvested some radish, rocket and little gem, lovely!


Now to hope everything else takes off, this little bout of rain will have help no end.


Have to get the peas and French beans in this weekend though - still a weed patch where they need to go with a good mix of old conifer roots...

Fruittea

Well done Niv - nothing better than eating what you've grown.
Well we've had a bit of a soaking in Gloucestershire. I left the tomatoes out last night for the first time and they look as though they've really enjoyed the rain.
Sorry to hear about the medical stuff Zafiro - good luck for next week and glad you took up the toms offer.
Ms Pop you should be able to grow Crystal Lemon outside as long as you feed it well and keep it well watered. It sounds as though you had a touch of mildew as you should have had loads of apple sized fruits. You want to keep picking them and they keep coming.
I grow a couple of different cukes - Femspot inside the greenhouse and then Masterpiece outdoors. Also some gherkins outside (can't remember the name but it's French).
Down at the allotment I left all the sweetcorn out - hopefully it should have had a good soak.
I'm going for getting everything out early this year - fingers crossed. Got the bean structure up yesterday and I'm thinking of putting the beans in. I have 18 poles - so will plant up 12 with runners and 6 with climbing French - hopefully it will look nice. Might do the beans today - see how the weather goes.
Good luck with the growing.

MissPop

Thanks Fruittea!

My French beans, ildi and roma tomatoes and butternut squash plantlets are all doing really well under a daylight lamp on my dining table I didn't know if a regular lightbulb would work, or whether it needed to be a special (read: expensive) growing lamp, but my plants don't look at all leggy which has never happened before (even with ones put outside!) Even my sweet pepper seedlings have germinated :eek:

In my new raised beds I've got the first few shoots of sprouting broccoli, beetroot, spinach and salad leaves (all new crops for me this year!), and I've got flowers on my blueberry and strawberries It's all getting exciting!

zafiro1984

Did absolutely nothing today.

Thanks Suffolk Lass and Fruittea for your kind thoughts. Next step (literally) is the tread mill and then I'll probably have to have surgery at the Brompton in London. DH was his usual self, just too clinical but it's only what I expected as his title is 'Mr' as in a surgeon. However, there are times when a little softness would help.

Fruittea

Thoughts are with you Zafiro when you can't be in the garden - follow us here. It might help you to know we will still be growing. And when you return to your garden - things will have their season. All the best.

CAFCGirl

Rain predicted all morning so not allotment for me (must buy waterproof gear!).

I need to get back on track with my seed sowing plan before I lose more time.

Jazee

I've ordered lots of flowers today as DH likes colour in the garden. I'll squeeze them in somewhere. All tomatoes, cucumber, courgettes etc are now hardened off and hopefully I'll have time to plant them out tomorrow. Will also need to plant some more seeds.

Gave away some tomato plants today as I have too many again.

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

Himself decided to feed the birds yesterday. Like I don't put food out regularly.

Stale bread. The woodpigeons loved it.


And then they obviously enjoyed a little taste of almost every single radish as a dessert course.

He won't be putting bread out again.



ETA: No, he isn't now forming the base layer of the new compost heap, tempting though it was at the time.