The all new good, bad and ugly of growing your own in 2020

twinklie

Yesterday all was beautiful and well. This morning something evil has munched on one of my broadbean leaves! AND I had to remove a slug from around one of my tomato plants - don't know where that little sucker came from. 
Looked in my compost bin for the first time in ages to empty out my kitchen composter and it seems to be rotting down nicely. I was looking pretty full last time I looked and it has rotted down significantly, so happy days!

Suffolk_lass

twinklie said:

Yesterday all was beautiful and well. This morning something evil has munched on one of my broadbean leaves! AND I had to remove a slug from around one of my tomato plants - don't know where that little sucker came from. 
Looked in my compost bin for the first time in ages to empty out my kitchen composter and it seems to be rotting down nicely. I was looking pretty full last time I looked and it has rotted down significantly, so happy days!

You made me smile twinklie - one of my runner beans, lovingly grown from 2 year old seed with a very poor germination rate, in just a little sticky stump now, with several holes appearing in the delicate leaves of the neighbouring plants. So frustrating! - And in my greenhouse I found a little slug under one of the terracotta pots that had not germinated as I picked it up to empty it (it was another squash pot and I have plenty now). I found some lovely fruit cage netting that my Mum sent me (maybe 10 or more years ago) - there are two pieces - one is now stretched over three of the arches of the tunnel of hoops (the left-overs of the Aldi tunnel that just disintegrated when it was removed from its bag ) and is protecting my baby salad crops - I get DH to do the planting out - it is more rewarding than the weeding he has spent hours doing and he has crammed in some more seeds so our succession number one is in place. Little gem lettuces, pak choi and French breakfast radishes were the seedlings, and he has planted more seeds of each plus some spinach seeds.

At last another cucumber has germinated. While emptying the old greenhouse I found several pots from last year with seeds that did not germinate from this particular variety. I must write it in my journal so I don't buy this one again (just 1 seed has germinated out of 8 planted). The other one (and I can't remember which is which) has produced 4 or 5 from 6 seeds. 

carinjo

-taff you gave me hope! Got up extra early this morning (5:30am!) to sow more tomato and sweetcorn before going to work. Also, runnerbeans, dill, patti pan squash.
 Will do the outdoor cucumber when get home tonight. We got a coffee vending machine at work, nicked a few of the dirties since i ran out of small pots! Shh, don't tell anyone!
Moved seedlings to shed to top of small freezer. Hope that and the window getting sun most of the day, will help them along.  

crv1963

Yesterday I managed to finish potting up my tomato and chilli seedlings, some flowers I've sown and had a bit of a tidy, today the first and only of my short retirement so I'm going to sort the rest of the greenhouse out and make the frame for my Runner Beans. My cold frames are full so I'm going to see what I can move out to make room to harden off my Asters.

[Deleted User]

Managed to get some seed compost today so the sowing starts in earnest tomorrow!! 🙌 I've just got to make sure I don't overdo it and stagger the sowing so I don't get the feast and famine problem that I had last time I grew my own 🙈! 
The weather has been wierd today here - bright sunshine and reasonably warm interspersed with hail storms! 

Scrimps

We got our broadbeans out this week but havent managed a lot else, we have left the house for our daily exercise a few times this week which has taken us away from the garden.  We really need to sow our squashes!

DH went out in the rain earlier in the week and says he collected and rehomed 50+ large snails.  Its the first time it has rained in earnest for quite  a while, I think they were all living up in our boundary hedge, its an everygreen portugese laurel, I always spot quite a few snails when I do the annual trim.  He went out again on a snail hunt the following day and only found a few.

Suffolk_lass

I have been offered a particular squash seed that is coming in the post so I thought I must check ideal growing conditions and germination advice as some of mine have been a bit hit and miss (big fat zero germination from spaghetti squash). The Sarah Raven site suggests sowing seeds vertically and I think Monty has said the same thing - I am sure some of mine is down to sowing old seed and other is because they ended up a bit flat and rotted, or with a compost crust on top because the seed compost was too compact. All lessons to remember

Charly27

Suffolk_lass said:

I have been offered a particular squash seed that is coming in the post so I thought I must check ideal growing conditions and germination advice as some of mine have been a bit hit and miss (big fat zero germination from spaghetti squash). The Sarah Raven site suggests sowing seeds vertically and I think Monty has said the same thing - I am sure some of mine is down to sowing old seed and other is because they ended up a bit flat and rotted, or with a compost crust on top because the seed compost was too compact. All lessons to remember

Morning Suffolk Lass. I only grow butternut squash and pumpkins and I do exactly as you suggested. Sow one seed in individual pots, I put them on their side. This year they were new Wilko seed 10-12 in a packet and I’ve had full germination. Multi-purpose compost was all I had. Didn’t sieve it as seeds are so big and into my mini greenhouse.
They all have their second set of leaves. I love watching them germinate as they unfurl, a bit like ferns, and the seed ‘husk’ pings off. 
When they are about 6” I plan them in the middle dip of mound of soil and some years I cut the top of a plastic bottle and plant with it. I read somewhere that it funnels water to the roots.

Suffolk_lass

Charly27 said:

Suffolk_lass said:

I have been offered a particular squash seed that is coming in the post so I thought I must check ideal growing conditions and germination advice as some of mine have been a bit hit and miss (big fat zero germination from spaghetti squash). The Sarah Raven site suggests sowing seeds vertically and I think Monty has said the same thing - I am sure some of mine is down to sowing old seed and other is because they ended up a bit flat and rotted, or with a compost crust on top because the seed compost was too compact. All lessons to remember

Morning Suffolk Lass. I only grow butternut squash and pumpkins and I do exactly as you suggested. Sow one seed in individual pots, I put them on their side. This year they were new Wilko seed 10-12 in a packet and I’ve had full germination. Multi-purpose compost was all I had. Didn’t sieve it as seeds are so big and into my mini greenhouse.
They all have their second set of leaves. I love watching them germinate as they unfurl, a bit like ferns, and the seed ‘husk’ pings off. 
When they are about 6” I plan them in the middle dip of mound of soil and some years I cut the top of a plastic bottle and plant with it. I read somewhere that it funnels water to the roots.

I also have butternut squash (which keep all winter in an old breadflour sack and courgettes - courgettes make fab soup, naturally creamy and can be added from frozen (just chopped and frozen in zip bags, 2-3 to a bag). This seed I have been offered is a premium pumpkin style and will be put to grow in the compost heap with some (v smelly) farmyard manure mixed through. Thanks for the reminder about watering - I have one or two five litre water containers we have previously cut the bottom off, put holes in the screw-top and buried upside down so that about 5cm of plastic poked out the top (bottom) - great way of getting water to the roots and slow release with the top on, it is like a watering can. We used this in the summer of 2018 but no need last year. Our new compost bin location is under hawthorns and mountain ash trees so a bit shady and a bit dry. Definitely one to reinstate!

carinjo

Couple of hailstorms yesterday so went first thing to see if everything survived on allotment before work. Fears were unwarrented! But something nibbling holes in the radish leaves, fingers crossed they survive till i get a chance to have a proper look on monday. 
I am hoping that this is a year we pass our last frost date with no frost, the potatoes foliage about the diameter of a dinner plate, will take some serious covering up! 
And lovely surprise in the shed, half my hyacinths attempting to grow over water in vases are shooting up!