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

Suffolk_lass

CAFCGirl wrote: »

Does an almost 7 year old count?
I swear this child is wild!:p

My cat always assumes I am talking to her when we are here on our own - actually, I am on a work conference call and she literally stops me working; purring, nuzzling and sticking her bum in my face as clearly, I am talking to her!

zafiro1984

A bit hot today but had a good day on the plot, all 12 beds are now finished and netted. Fruit cage hoed, tunnels watered. The main job I have left to do is add loads more compost to a raised bed in a tunnel that is 5'wide and 42'long. It will probably take me most of what's left of this week. I'm going to use it for my autumn/winter brassicas (I think)Just hope the wheelbarrow doesn't squeak.

Everything appears to be growing well, I've nemaslugged most of the beds until I ran out of the stuff. New for this year is growing celery and samphire. Both are small but look OK.
I'm pleased with the earlies and look to have got the succession about right. Swift have been eaten and Charlotte is coming on line, the next one will be Red Duke of York and then the maincrops of Mayen Gold, Caralus and Sarpo Mira.
I'm picking salad leaves, strawberries, dwarf french beans, carrots, mange tout, pak choi, fennel from last year, kohl rabi and the autumn planted onions that have started to bolt. My bill for shopping has plummeted. :j

I really must go and add up how much I've saved and update my signature.

Fruittea

Evening Everyone
Good to read your growing news Zafiro - sounds as though you really have cracked it this year. Well done.


Bad news for me I'm afraid. I thought the garlic looked a little sad and upon investigation I find I have white rot! Well as you will know that is such a disaster for the alliums - all I could do was dig them up and bring them home and I will try to retrieve as much as I can. The best I can do is process the lot and freeze it.


I love my garlic platted and hung in the kitchen.
The worst of it is I bought the garlic from a trade stand at a county show from the Isle of Wight company and thought it would be good.


Be warned peeps if you get white rot it stays in the soil for years. I will mark this area as a no go area for alliums but it can be spread on boots and tools. Looks like next year onions will be shop bought.


Check for yellowing leaves with rust spots and get them out quickly.


Happy days

tootallulah

Sorry to hear that Fruittea, at least you have managed to save some of your crop.

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

No potatoes this year. They never came up, despite being chitted and planted in good time, so I'll be using the tub for the toms once they're taller - they've thickened up nicely since I dumped them in five inch pots about 2 inches deeper than they were originally planted.

Tracked down the mollusc dawn patrol - all very cute little snails devouring the one pot of runners. Fortunately, the others in their various locations appear to be escaping their nefarious intentions. I wonder what was so attractive about the one pot over the others? Left the slugs to do their worst, as they are all happily munching on giant Dandelions over the other side of the garden.

The beans I leaned against twine coming down from the hanging basket bracket seem to be very happy, though, they're spiralling up around three inches a day. I'm now wondering if they'll have enough soil to grow in, as I just stuck the four in an old plastic rose pot, the type you get from the nursery. Oh well, too late to worry about it now.

No more strawberries in the hanging basket yet, but one of the three plants is chucking out a runner and by the number of bees above my head when I'm sitting on the back step, there must be some flowers in it somewhere.


Himself will be planting his sunflowers today. I've pointed him towards a brief gap in the raspberries as it gets the most sunshine against that wall and the raspberries should protect the them from the worst sun until they thicken up. And I've very helpfully watered everything this morning so he has a chance of getting them settled in easily.

As they're Giant ones (he never was one to do anything by half, unless it's housework), I've suggested he makes some big collars from fizzy drinks bottles, slit them down the middle and then remove them once they're thickening up - to hopefully keep them out of harm's way from the Idiot Cat stampeding about the place now he doesn't have a veggie bed to try and frantically crap in before I remove his furry backside and deposit him over by the woodlandy area. And to make them too much effort for other molluscs.


I'm also going to suggest a couple more out the front, knowing that there's a good chance the local [strike]wall climbing brats[/strike] darling children will knacker them, but I can't let him have an entire packet of seeds out the back - I dropped a sunflower head one year. Just one. The entire lawn was a mini field of the things that summer. It looked amazing, but I felt like I was an extra in Land of the Giants.

maisymoo5

just a quick question as I'm completely new this year to growing anything. I have a cucumber currently doing quite well in a large pot but would it fair better outside or in the greenhouse?

Fruittea

Hi MaisyMoo5
You do get indoor and outdoor cucumbers - do you happen to know the name of the cu. If you're not sure I would opt for inside if you have the room and can keep it well watered.


No gardening for me today but it's nice to have a little rain to keep things happy. I'll be back at the allotment tomorrow.
Here's to the weekend!

zafiro1984

I only did watering yesterday and probably the same today as it's so hot. I may even stay indoors this afternoon and do paperwork - the dreaded VAT - and venture out much later when it's cooled down.

I went for a walk up our lane early this morning, it goes through the edge of our wood and was lovely and cool with a slight breeze. I took the dog on a lead otherwise he disappears for hours. We have lived here for 12 years and I have never walked up the lane.:(

smeeinnit

zafiro1984 wrote: »

I went for a walk up our lane early this morning, it goes through the edge of our wood and was lovely and cool with a slight breeze. I took the dog on a lead otherwise he disappears for hours. We have lived here for 12 years and I have never walked up the lane.:(

I know what you mean Zafiro, I have lived in my house for 18 years and never been to the pub 1/4 mile away!!!

Lots been happening here, I have weeded and organised the growing area so I can reach all the containers easily, sowed some more herbs, lettuce and spring onions, harvested another bucket of spuds (just under 2lb) took down the 3 mini greenhouses I have as OH won another slightly bigger and better one, installed and filled within minutes!

Vertical garden has been fully constructed now with just a couple of spaces left for some red salad leaves when they have grown a little more.

The tomatoes I grew from seed need potting on into their final pots now, some flowers will be planted soon, nasturtiums are growing at an amazing pace


I have seen the first hint of flowers on the runner beans and numerous teeny tiny courgettes and cucumbers, and the first of the strawberries are starting to ripen.

Happy days :j

Have a good weekend all

unrecordings

I gritted my teeth and trimmed (one of) the rather majestic rosemary bushes today and ended up with a HUGE basket of rosemary which I started washing and drying...