The all new 2019 growing your own thread!

Karmacat

Pablosmummy wrote: »

Also I know it's not growing for food but my two dwarf magnolia trees have grown really well considering they were bare root and bought very late in the season , shall see if I get any flowers next year!

Not growing for food, but "growing your own". I consider magnolias as "growing your own beauty"

Money_mess

Hi, just discovered this thread and been having a read through and enjoying it.
We have an allotment we got last May. It was really overgrown and a lot of work, but we got stuck in and managed to plant some stuff. We've had strawberries, potatoes (didn't care for these quite right and I suspect dug up too early as were quite small), had success with peas, some mange tout, onions (which have been dug up to dry out), weve got leeks and sweetcorn growing, as well as tomatoes and cucumbers, courgettes and pumpkins. We managed one red cabbage and one broccolli ha rest were eaten.
Have learnt lots and need a different approach next year.. We made the mistake of sowing all at once and also mixing things up in beds. Next yr I want defined areas.
The plot is huge and we have lots of empty spaces.
I'm trying to decide if it's worth planting anything now, any ideas? Is it worth starting anything from seed? I wonder if it's too late to start sprouts and more potatoes for xmas? Also when to plant garlic.
Such a learning curve and can be quite overwhelming but it's so satisfying eating what we have grown ourselves.

unrecordings

zafiro1984 wrote: »

unrecordings - welcome back to the great outdoors (providing it's sunny)

Yup I hurt like hell today, even the bits that are supposed to be completely numb. Fortunately it's been raining most of the day, and I've been doing accounts

Today is officially the day we stopped buying tomatoes for a good few months at least. I've a nice stash in the fridge (bad I know), with a chilli planned for tomorrow and yet more tomatoes to pick too

FoxFace

Got confirmation yesterday that the tenancy agreements have been signed at the Council's end and we should have the keys in the next couple of working days (if not today, fingers crossed).

Husband and I are off work for two weeks now, we are on Holiday next week (yurt camping in the Lake District) but the week after it will be all hands on deck to start clearing the plot... looking forward to getting stuck in

Primrose

Pleased for you FoxFace. We'll look forward to hearing how your're getting on. Don't forget to stock up on plenty of plasters for all those blisters from heavy digging!

euronorris

Storm damage. Wind blew all four tomato plants in the trug over. Snapped their supportive canes. Have suffered some definite casulties. Have put back back up and resecured as best I could, and reinforced as much as possible. Battled the wind and rain for an hour to do so. Seems more secure now. Fingers crossed it was enough and plants survive! so gutted.

Living_proof

euronorris wrote: »

Storm damage. Wind blew all four tomato plants in the trug over. Snapped their supportive canes. Have suffered some definite casulties. Have put back back up and resecured as best I could, and reinforced as much as possible. Battled the wind and rain for an hour to do so. Seems more secure now. Fingers crossed it was enough and plants survive! so gutted.

I have been to my plot and the outdoor toms are all over the place. I don't think they will be more bent over than they are at the moment so I'll wait for a calm period to resecure them. I wonder what courgette pakora would taste like? I have loads of courgettes, as ever. Everything else is a month behind I think. Shallots and garlic are all in, drying off in the shed so that's a job for another day - roping them.

zafiro1984

For the last few days lunch has been raw veg from the plot picked fresh. I've had radish, salad leaves, fennel, kohl rabi, toms, courgettes, cucumber, snap peas, sweetcorn and carrots - not all of them every day. I've usually had lemon mayonnaise with mine whilst DH has had a bit of leftover meat from the day before. I know it's simple but we've really enjoyed it and it takes next to no time to plonk it on a plate.

I've finished processing the hazelnuts, not a large harvest considering the effort in doing it but enough to use in cakes over the winter - they're all frozen.

Although the wind and rain was horrendous everything seems to have survived. I picked my first squash today only because it was huge and I think it may well rot if I'd left it on the ground. I'm going to make it into mash with carrots and freeze it as it wouldn't store, the skin is too soft.

Not sure what's planned for tomorrow but there's plenty to be getting on with, especially my most favourite job - ie tidying up

Money_mess

Harvested lots more courgettes today. I've grated about 13 today, squeezed all the water out and froze them.
Two green squash, not sure what type as gifted plant, they are like a pumpkin but green though kind of speckled with yellow. Not really sure what to do with them?
4 cucumbers ! Delicious.
Another tray full of tomatoes.
Yet more of the pickling type cucumbers. I did pickle some last week in white wine vinegar mixed with sugar and chilli flakes - tastes ok. Have loads more to deal with.
I have sliced an open froze about 4 of them thinking they may be ok straight in a gin and tonic?
About 20 beetroot have come home. Need recipes for this.
And about 50 onions have come home from drying in the shed. They are now in a cupboard at home lay on a rack.

We still have put big pumpkin patch at the plot. Cucumbers and tomatoes still going.
Leeks.
About 6 carrots!
Sweet corn is looking good.
Apple trees looking very promising.

Planning to put some seed potatoes in tomorrow with any luck, hoping potatoes for xmas. Will plant garlic in autumn.

It's time to start clearing and covering some areas really. We are going for a whole new layout/plan next year, still so much work to do, the plot is so big that we didn't use the whole plot this year as we only got it in April and it was such a mess and we've kind of winged it.

Not sure if there is anything else we will plant before Xmas, as I don't really know much about it! Or what to do!

Going to go BlackBerry picking tomorrow as there are lots nearby us

unrecordings

I didn't get out myself as my feet are still causing me grief in a standing on lego kind of way, but Mrs Un retrieved a tub of tomatoes (think takeaway sized tray) for my dirty chilli. A dirty chilli being one that isn't vegan. Had some nice fresh lovage to add to that, our first proper harvest of padron peppers, plus some birds eye chillis that I hung in a ristra last year (probably bought from the Chinese supermarket I used to frequent). Thankfully no storm damage here that I can see, but my fennel which I grow for leaf & seed is pretty much horizontal