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

Kantankrus_Mare

CAFC ..............if its any consolation...I feel like I am behind with things as well. My partner in crime..(Dad) is in hospital with kidney stones so its all down to me at the moment and I cant cope with the extreme heat we have had.
Managing to get to water but thats about it. My pride and joy at the moment is my clematis that I planted at the plot gate. Its reall healthy and covered in beautiful flowers. Cant eat them though.
Also some irises I planted on the fron are just beginning to flower but nearly getting drowned out by the weeds.
Have brought home some raspberries and lettuce. Overwintering onions need clearing but not sure when I will get there to actually do some work.
Did have a fantastic pickings of strawberries though after my failure last year and should be plenty more to come.
Im jealous of those with courgettes. I usually have great success with these but this year only two plants survived. They are just beginning to take off and I planted a few more seeds last week in the hope they might play catch up. I really hate having to buy plants when I know I can grow them myself. Two seeds have germinated so we will see.

unrecordings

I'm still wary on the courgette front. Last year all twelve barely survived a few days outside. This year four of the twelve are in the leaky old greenhouse (which is cooler than the less leaky greenhouse) and so far are thriving apart from one plant which seems to be trying for small marrows and failing. Outdoors is still touch and go, slugs have nearly wrecked two plants, but then again twelve thriving courgette plants would be far too many

In other news - a lot cooler here, but still too hot, and I'm still on the tablets, so I'm conserving my energy for a few days

CAFCGirl

I've got some healthy looking specimens in pots by the backdoor just screaming to be planted out but for the love of god I dont know what they are!
They're a squash (could be 2 or 3 different varieities), cucumber, courgette or pumpkin!

Maybe I should just sling them in wherever and see what happens LOL

Managed to go up this morning before it got too hot and I've picked a punnet of peas, 2 of raspberries, took the 15 or so blackcurrants that were still attached and started picking my gooseberries but it was gonna be long winded (bush is massive this year and I dont even like them!) and son was complaining, plus they've only just ripened so another day or so of sunshine and they'll be perfect picking on Saturday I think.

Cabbages are looking ok, need thinning but I'm holding out in the hopes that some are sacrificial offerings to the Mollusc Gods, and the others stand a fighting chance. Kale has picked up too.
A lot of tiny plums falling off the tree, I'll have to clear up the windfall to deter wasps, same with my pear tree. Hopefully some will actually stay on the tree till harvest time.

Fruittea

Morning All
Wasn't yesterday a great weather day. Down at the plot things are doing well. I brought back some rhubarb and put it out for sale. £2 in the savings pot.

Also did a bit of paid gardening - focusing on their veg plot which is doing so well. But I just hate it when I see they haven't touched a thing. They have really beautiful lettuces all lined up and untouched!
And their spinach has just run to seed. I think maybe they just like to see the cottage garden. It's the third year I've been doing it - all raised beds - I wish I had that garden. Oh well.

Down at my plot a neighbour has given me a water melon - that's a first for me so if anyone has ideas about growing let me know. I brought it home with me and will do a bit of research.

Sorry to hear about your Dad Kantankrus hope he's up on his feet soon.

CAFCGirl glad to hear you brought home some produce - makes all the difference. I picked 3 kilos of gooseberries yesterday and will freeze them. Only 1 more small bush of red gooseberries left but that always ripens a bit later.

Shame about your slug problem unrecordings hope your courgettes get going.
All the best for your growing.

Suffolk_lass

Fruittea wrote: »

Morning All
Wasn't yesterday a great weather day. Down at the plot things are doing well. I brought back some rhubarb and put it out for sale. £2 in the savings pot.

Also did a bit of paid gardening - focusing on their veg plot which is doing so well. But I just hate it when I see they haven't touched a thing. They have really beautiful lettuces all lined up and untouched!
And their spinach has just run to seed. I think maybe they just like to see the cottage garden. It's the third year I've been doing it - all raised beds - I wish I had that garden. Oh well.

Down at my plot a neighbour has given me a water melon - that's a first for me so if anyone has ideas about growing let me know. I brought it home with me and will do a bit of research.

My Rhubarb is so rubbish this year. I think it is because DH planted the leftovers of a hedge pack against the trellis that marks the boundary of their bed and they get too little light and are surrounded by hungry, fast-growing hedge!

Why don't you ask if you can harvest some of their produce? (it could add to your savings pot ) you could take the middle out of the spinach leaving the outer leaves to regenerate and bag up some baby spinach to sell (or freeze)

I also have water-melons for the first time. I have one in a pot in the greenhouse, one growing up an arch, and one in the middle of the squash bed (that will soon be crowded out by courgette, butternut squash and cucumber, I expect). I believe the trick is lots of nitrogen based nutrients when the vine starts to run and water - lots of water that gets really deep. My husband has dug in an upside down 5 litre water bottle with holes in the screw-top so it is 6" down and the bottom but off, and we fill that every night so the water goes deep. He also mixes the dry grass-cuttings as a top-dressing to deter other weeds. - Do let me know what you do -ours is a bit experimental to see what works. I know for sure the greenhouse pot is too small so we'll see

Fruittea

Suffolk_lass wrote: »

Why don't you ask if you can harvest some of their produce? (it could add to your savings pot ) you could take the middle out of the spinach leaving the outer leaves to regenerate and bag up some baby spinach to sell (or freeze)

That might be a bit cheeky - I think they like to show off a bit to friends. I also have a neighbour who bothered to buy one of those posh raised beds for her lettuce and then buys packets of salad!


Thanks for the advice mine will be in a large tub at the front of the house which is south facing. I like the idea of sinking a large bottle into the soil - in fact I've just put out a large oil bottle which would do the trick. I'll retrieve it. I also think I'll put a layer of sheep wool and some 6X in there to give it a boost.

CAFCGirl

I'll be off to the plot today and will hopefully achieve great things LOL

Fruittea

Hi Everyone
I spent about 3 hours down at the plot today. Mostly chatting to a neighbour. I managed to bring home some potatoes, peas, brokali, spinach and broad beans. Just cooking dinner now.

Over wintered onions are ready and as soon as I've dug the last of a row of rockets first earlies I will pot on the onions grown from seed.

Glad to know that things are looking up with the cooler weather.
Happy growing.

debtfreeforlife

Evening All! Please all keep your fingers crossed - I have been taking very cautious steps towards growing my own dinner and I started with herbs (from seeds). They were doing very well up until I went away last week to go on holiday, the hottest week of the year! I get home tomorrow evening and I am hoping all my hard work hasn't been for naught and they survived the week...

CAFCGirl

9am till 4 spent on the plot yesterday (albeit a 2 hour stop for lunch LOL)

I managed to remove the membrane from a 3.5mx4m section in the gusting winds and get it folded by myself, chopped back all the brambles that were growing underneath, up the sides of and though the membrane. Cant compost it so it goes in the brown waste bin at home so had to chop them quite small. That was all loaded up but that left me 4 roots to get out. One root ball took me 75 minutes to get out :eek: but I did it!! I also raised it above my head :T in utter triumph LOL The others were a tad easier ....

The ground was rock solid, full on large stones etc, so gave it some watering, forked out the smaller surface level weeds and then went at it with the azada. My plot neighbour came by and say to remind him never to upset me when I'm swinging that thing around

So it is done! I am hoping to go up again today, buy some manure from the allotment stores, and a bag of compost or two, add that onto it, cover it wih membrane, cut some holes in the membrane and plant through it with my pumpkins and squashes :A Thats the ideal anyway.

I feel once that area is done, it'll be looking much better.

Plot neighbour is also kindly fitting me a fence around the plot too!I just need to buy the debris netting and he's sorting the posts and labour out for me - so lucky to have a chap like that on site.