The all new 2019 growing your own thread!

unrecordings

euronorris wrote: »

I popped home to pick something up, and had another look in the garden and managed to spot 3 black tomatoes on the turn! Finally! Looked back at past photos and seems I had planted the seedlings outside in early/mid April, so must have started them indoors in late March. It has taken the best part of 5 months to get a ripe tomato from them lol. Whereas, I am sure that the stripey tomatoes were started weeks after them, and started ripening last week.

I found this in my notebook - on the subject of tomatoes reaching maturity:

San Marzano - 85 days
Black Russian- 72 days
Alicante - 55 to 70 days

As you get down the list, the flesh is lighter (Alicante being classed as a breakfast tomato - whatever difference that makes - San Marzano is a heavy cooking tomato, like you would find tinned))

safestored4

I’m in on the tomato experiment. This year I sowed Sungold on the kitchen windowsill on 10th February, transplanted them into our South facing back porch at the beginning of April and were picking from the middle of June.

Outdoor ones are ripening nicely so should be fine until October.

zafiro1984

I'm in on the tomato experiment as well. Unheated greenhouse in Hampshire.
One problem - we have serious blight here so I only grow blight resistant varieties. This year I grew Mountain Magic, Ferline, Losetto and Lizzano. All quite different in size and sweetness. I've 18 plants, picking daily and have enough to make soup and passata to freeze.

I've some very large butternut squash developing. Do I let them ripen on the plant or take them off. They are not yet the golden colour but still a pale yellow/green. Last year I left them on the plant and some started to rot where they had touched the ground so not sure what to do this year.

Outside carrots just starting to be a good size, with very strong foliage. I should have enough to last into winter and then the indoor ones should take over.
Courgettes - well what can I say.

I learnt the other year not to get too carried away with trying to grow everything. I now just grow what we eat, but plenty of it, except cucumbers - just one, courgettes - just three

Pablosmummy

Just had a quick tidy up in the garden, my lawn mower died on me last week so half the lawn is alot shorter than the other half, I suppose I will need to buy a new one at some point...
Tomatoes starting to ripen but veryyy slowly and with all this rain I'm starting to worry about blight. Had a good handful of raspberries now, and loads.more.still to come so I'm.still really pleased with them and I have two pumpkins ripening away nicely!
My blueberry bushes (bought in the t an m offer earlier this year) are looking great! They will need transferring to bigger pots next spring but I already have two pots waiting for them to go into so that's easy enough.
Ooh also my strawberry plants have gone mad, every day I swear twenty new runners have appeared, flapping around in the wind (I've saved a few but the rest are getting the chop)
My brussels..well I have no idea. There's tiny sprouts forming, however the leaves are all pretty much just sticks at this point. I pick the caterpillars of daily, they are covered with netting so I think it is just old ones i've missed appearing as they get bigger but I have no idea if the sprouts will actually come to anything. My psb seems to have stopped growing so I think that's a gonna. If it is dead, it will give.me a good chance to empty the large planter its in and repaint it at least.
Essay over, I hope some people get a break from.the rain at least!

euronorris

My sprouts have had plenty of caterpillars on them. I didnt net them. Note to self for next year. But I understand that you can pull the side leaves off when you see sprouts starting to form. Just where you see them, so not all the way up.

Unrecordings - I'd like to try San marzano next year as I understand they are great for sauces etc. Picked some ripe indigo rose Tomatoes this morning with DD. Sliced, saved some seed and tried one. It was nice. Bit of a smoky flavour where the skin is darker.

Pablosmummy

Ahh the slugs have already pulled all of the lower leaves off lol.
I'll just keep checking them, pick off what I can and see what happens.
I've already asked OH to add some.new enviromesh to my Christmas list ..

unrecordings

euronorris wrote: »

I'd like to try San marzano next year as I understand they are great for sauces etc. Picked some ripe indigo rose Tomatoes this morning with DD. Sliced, saved some seed and tried one. It was nice. Bit of a smoky flavour where the skin is darker.

I only tried San Marzano properly once, they just took far too long to ripen, and I didn't really see the taste benefit (I like zesty). It was one of those situations when a 50p tin of tomatoes would have been a lot easier

Still not managed to get out of the house, but Mrs Un brought back two tubs of various varieties of tomato yesterday, with reports of 'nearly 100 more' still ripening. Courgettes are apparently pretty much finished, peppers (padron & bell) still going.

zafiro1984

Completely filled a big plastic mushroom tray today with stuff. Tomatoes, cucumber, courgettes, carrots, runner beans, purple and green dwarf beans - I'm a bit overrun with dwarf beans and ....... wait for it... my first aubergine of the season.

Jazee

I came third in our local garden competition which is surprising as currently it's an overgrown allotment!

Suffolk_lass

Back from three weeks away (I know, insane time to go away from a growing our own perspective). OMG - so much to catch up on!