The all new 2019 growing your own thread!

Karmacat

Thanks for your compo rules, unrecordings

Glad you're getting stronger - hopefully that means the aliens will stop interfering with your posts


ETA - ooh, nothing can really be cooked on my incinerator - that sounds good!

unrecordings

Karmacat wrote: »

Thanks for your compo rules, unrecordings

Glad you're getting stronger - hopefully that means the aliens will stop interfering with your posts

It's the district nurses I'm more worried about than the aliens

Mnd

Pleased to hear you are getting better. Look after yourself

baggins11

It's the first post in ages from me as I am struggling to keep on top of everything so posting has gone out the window. Its my busiest time of year for work so I am getting nothing done on the plot apart from essential watering.

Lots of lovely things to harvest though. I am still getting loads of courgette, cucumber, tomatoes potatoes, beetroot, onion. Chilli and peppers look nearly ready so does the sweetcorn. I have squash doing really well and even have a melon (although I think it has stopped growing - its been the size of an apple for a while!).

I have pretty much given up on the salad leaves and spinach at the moment as it keeps bolting too quickly and lack of time to water is making things worse. I haven't sown anything in ages so will have a long dry spell after my current glut of veggies is over. I am learning that I can't do everything.

It's lovely to hear you are getting stronger Unrecordings. Everyone seems to be doing very well with their plots and I am loving the advice about what not to compost. I learn more from here than any books I read.

zafiro1984

Love the humour Unrecordings it's so refreshing.

Did absolutely nothing on the plot today except to collect more runner beans, a few tomatoes, and a couple of courgettes.

Produced a meal tonight which was totally homegrown including the turkey. I can't say it was free as an awful lot of work/money goes into producing things but at least I know it was all organic - quietly pleased.

Primrose

zafiro1984 wrote: »

The two worst weeds which I have are oxalis that's in the polytunel, a horrible weed which I hate with a passion. The other one is mares tail which is outside. I can cope with docks, thistles, poppies and nettles but those two weeds :mad:

.

You have my sympathy re oxalis. It's rampant in my garden. I spend hours on my hands and knees trying to dig out every little bulbil but still the wretched stuff keeps returning. I always put it in my green recycling bin and never on the compost heap but still it keeps regenerating. I find that if I let it grow into bigger clumps and patches the root bulbils are also bigger and easier to dig out but I really don't want it there at all taking nourishment from the soil which could be better used by my surrounding vegetables,


I find it's better to dig up a patch of earth surrounding the roots and shake it off if the soil is sufficiently dry. That way fewer bulbils seem come adrift.

Suffolk_lass

Oxalis corniculata var. atropurpurea - the bane of my life. Tap roots down, pink stems sprawling, seeds exploding and pernicious little beast is under the surface, quietly wrapping itself round other plants that act as its' transport mechanism. I hate it. Where it is in the drive it is tiny leaves where the car has squashed it and instead of having the good grace to die it has gone miniature and spread under the gravel.

We got it in some kiln-heat-treated compost and it is everywhere (we bought a ton!).

Such a lot of runners we dropped a week's worth off to three neighbours last night. Love them but there are far more than usual. The borlottis are all showing pink too - it was only 3 years ago we decided to give them a go and they are a staple here now. Many many cucumbers too - I will definitely look for the mini sphere-shaped yellow ones too (bought from a local place when I thought mine were all no-sprouters) - one portion each but they do need peeling (probably my watering is deficient). Lots of Sungold F1 hybrid cherry tomatoes at the moment - like cherries, and such a pretty orange colour.

Also picked all the mirabelle plums we are having and left the rest for ants and wasps that had started their frenzy feeding

Dizzy_Ditzy

We filled the car boot with harvest today :rotfl:

Courgettes I'm bringing home on average 3 a day. One of today's was hiding between two barrels and weighed more than a kilo :eek: we also came home with potatoes, French beans, 2lb of podded peas, loads of onions and carrots. First time we've ever had to barrow it all to the car

Beetroot all still doing very well. So far we have 20 jars of pickled beetroot and there are probably 10-12 more jars worth in the ground. I have previously pickled beets with chilli but believe it or not, I've never got to eat any because anytime I've taken it anywhere, it goes before I get some :rotfl: my brother just messaged me to say that he'd done a jar of beetroot today and could I do him some more :rotfl:

Courgette and lemon cake in the oven

Dizzy_Ditzy

If anyone has a Wilko near them, they are selling seeds off at 10p a pack

euronorris

Thanks for the heads up Dizzy!


All a bit quiet here. Have picked a few peas from the second showing, and a few left on the vine, but not much left there. One of those plants is completely done now, so I have removed it.


Beans still growing, and flowering. Hopefully the flowers don't all get eaten this time as I still haven't gotten round to putting any netting around them.


Blueberries, first set are almost all gone now. Hoping for a second showing of them.


Courgettes....sigh. I am still hanging on in there. The one in it's own pot is looking much healthier now, and hopefully we will get some flowers again soon, and therefore some courgettes. The other, well, I don't know. There is new growth there, but it is slow and seems to be effected as soon as it appears, so not particularly optimistic about that.


I think I have got the caterpillar problem on my purple brussel sprout plant under control. For now, at least.


Cherry tomato plant has been putting out loads of tasty little toms! And my black tomato plant, and my stripey one (I can finally tell that it is indeed stripey!), and flowering and fruiting like crazy. No signs of ripening yet.


Impatiently waiting on spring onions to actually grow bigger than a couple of inches tall. lol. I tried to do successional sowing, but they seem to be growing at the same rate! haha


Sowed some late carrots, and some turnips. Probably too late for both, but oh well, worth a shot!