The all new 2019 growing your own thread!

Suffolk_lass

Carinjo wrote: »

First to Underlings for the advice on my raised bed. It fell apart since i aparently nailed it together, not screwed it, so made a new bed, slightly dug in and leveled the soil on the outside of the frame. So fingers crossed.
The allotment holder to one side of me has been great giving advice so was sad to hear he giving it up for various reasons. He gifted me with his final bag of picked runner beans (1/2kg that I pickled yesterday with mum's curried beans recipe) and then gifted me with his runner bean frame too. It a lovely metal structure that runs the whole width of our plot and about 2m high. Took the OH and I 2 mornings, but we managed to move it over to ours. Looks great. My poor back is feeling the digging of the holes though!
And then another plot holder gifted us with a huge roll of perforated clear plastic that he used over his tomatoes. He was gifted several rolls, so paid it forward.
Hope after this weeks rain can stick some turnips, onions and broadbeans in the ground.

We also have a William (?) Pear tree that got loads of rust. There no junipers nearby I can see and everywhere I read says don't pick the leaves just leave it. But it looks horrible, so any further advice would be great.

I love paying it forward. It makes the world a kinder place.

Re your Williams pear tree:

First collect the leaves as they fall and don't compost them - rust is a kind of fungus and you don't want to perpetuate it.

Next you will need to prune it when it is dormant. Late winter is best so generally February - look to remove any dead, dying or crossing branches. Take a view on how much this is overall as you want to reduce the tree overall by no more than a third each year.

The second year you prune to remove remaining crossing branches or reduce the size of the canopy while maintaining the one third guide - the aim is to increase air flow and light to the middle of the tree by removing the tight middle branches, so that the fungus has fewer places to hide.

Year three should get you the shape and size you are aiming for (ideally so you can reach to pick the pears)

Williams are an excellent pear for preserving or cooking with - I always peel and core them and either bottle or freeze them to have in winter - they start to go brown from the inside so are often picked a little before they are completely ripe. Smaller than conference too. Traditionally they are the pears that you see in bottles of spirit and are used to make eau de vie in the Charentes region of France. You are lucky to have it - I hope you can sort it out

Living_proof

Topher wrote: »

Does anybody know how to make your own grease bands? What to put onto them for them to be effective? And how to follow this action up with some belt and braces protection against the specific pest I've had?

Just yesterday I put a note in my diary to sort these bands out before I go away at the end of October. There are a couple of videos on Youtube which might help but I seem to remember they are American. I have three (to be) fan-trained fruit trees on my gable end and as you point out I will probably have to treat the wall as well. What about the wires?

Suffolk_lass

Topher wrote: »

I'm now at the stage where the grease bands for winter need to go onto the two apple trees. I will also be putting them on the fence that both trees lean on. I've looked up on the RHS site to find out some of the whys and wherefores. I now know that the bands only protect against two potential pests (I'm trying to avoid the leaf curl insect that made their murderous inroads into my trees this last few years). I know to apply some of the "grease" to the tree trunk itself to avoid the insect crawling up gaps made by ay roughness of the bark. I know that all my applications of grease and greas bands needs to be about 18" (inches) above soil level. I know that ready made bands are available, and the RHS site gives several brand names. What I don't know is what exactly goes on the bands and how my grandfather managed with his - back in the day when I'm certain he didn't buy ready made ones.
Does anybody know how to make your own grease bands? What to put onto them for them to be effective? And how to follow this action up with some belt and braces protection against the specific pest I've had? I have two miniature dachshunds so the bands would not be entirely out of reach although they don't generally explore the tree area of the bed my apple trees are on.

I used to paint a tarry grease-band onto the fruit trees at my grandparents/parents house (might be 50 years ago) - I think it was a concoction of car grease but had a pungent smell like Jeyes fluid. I'm sure this has all been banned due to H&S considerations but I did a quick search and found an old allotment chat (2008) that might be helpful - here - I searched on tar bands for fruit trees as it was definitely black and very effective - might not work with your dogs but we had 2 border collies at the time and they didn't touch it (the smell, I guess)

unrecordings

zafiro1984 wrote: »

That's one catalogue that doesn't pop through my letterbox - I must request one as I like 'interesting things'
I fancy growing oco again next year, I grew it about five years ago, not a huge harvest but a good point for conversation.

Like has got in the way a bit here, I'm finding myself rather busy with other things so other than collect veg I'm not doing much at the moment.

I've some 'volunteer' oca that I failed to pick last year which is looking pretty good. The tubers that I managed to pick & save are still in tiny pots in the greenhouse having been stuck all spring & summer in there. Foliage looks mainly okay, so I might get a harvest out of them too

Mnd

Back fro holiday, busy weekend. Tons of tomatoes to pick. Carrots and cabbagr.for dinner. Cooked beetroot.took beans down and dug through. Overwintering manure sowed. Then the rains came!

Kantankrus_Mare

Hi all........youre all doing brilliant on your plots!:T

Ive had the last 12 days off work and couldnt have asked for better weather. Managed to get lots done. Have been gifted some good planks so my Dad can make some more raised beds for next year.

Spent a couple of lovely mornings staining the wood whilst listening to the radio. Its all piled in my shed now until Dad decides to do his bit.

Bought a load of spring bulbs and planted them all over the place hoping to bring a bit of colour to the plot next year. Still picking tomatoes but they are nearly done.

Got about 50 runners planted up from the strawberries and have even had the odd strawberry!

Picked about 8 butternut squash so far and they look good. Have got some still on the plants that arent butternut squash shaped. They are longer and thinner and bend slightly. Never had this before and dont know if they need longer to fatten up or they will be ok as they are?

The experiment with my courgette plants in the greenhouse looks promising. :j The plants look the healthiest courgette plants Ive grown this year and even have flowers on them. Will be interesting to see if any actual courgettes grow especially with the temperature about to drop this week. Will keep you posted!

unrecordings

Topher wrote: »

Does anybody know how to make your own grease bands? What to put onto them for them to be effective? And how to follow this action up with some belt and braces protection against the specific pest I've had? I have two miniature dachshunds so the bands would not be entirely out of reach although they don't generally explore the tree area of the bed my apple trees are on.

I've a number of pretty old gardening books, so I thought I'd get to the bottom of the grease band thing. It turns out that the grease is simply there for the bugs to get stuck in, nothing more. So I guess something that won't dry out or wash away - maybe something like vaseline ?

Topher

unrecordings wrote: »

I've a number of pretty old gardening books, so I thought I'd get to the bottom of the grease band thing. It turns out that the grease is simply there for the bugs to get stuck in, nothing more. So I guess something that won't dry out or wash away - maybe something like vaseline ?

Thank you, that makes sense, even the ones the RHS were promoting had the advice that they would only stop two particular pests and needed to be followed up in spring to stop the other potential culprits, So, so far, we have suggestions of .....
Engine grease,
Vaseline,

What I don't know is what the efficacy of these is according to research and experience. I have a stack of Dr. Hessayens, but not the fruit tree one. Still researching.
T

PipneyJane

Afternoon all.

I’ve just had a look at our carrot crop and noticed that there are a large number of green carrots, standing proud of the surface. What makes them green, please? Are they edible? What did we do wrong? What do we need to do to turn them orange, please, oh Oracles of Gardening?

This is only the second time we’ve grown carrots and these are my husband’s “baby”, so I’ve not taken an active role with them beyond the odd watering. (DH planted them and has done the majority of the watering, etc.)

TIA

- Pip

Arthog

Dealing with pests on fruit trees
I read an idea by Henry Doubleday about pests on fruit trees - put a bird feeder in the tree. The birds who are waiting their turn will hop about picking off any bugs on the branches.