The even newer good, bad and ugly of growing your own in 2021!

Fosterdog

Everything has been quiet and moving slowly here, it's still far too cold for most things outdoors and with no greenhouse and limited windowsill space (dog likes to sit on windowsills and knocks over all plants) I'm restricted until warmer days to really get started.

I did pot up my blueberries, we've had a lot of frost since so I'm hoping I didn't do it too early, same with the fig tree although it is showing some new growth. I finally planted my onion sets today to get started indoors, I don't eat them and only use them as companion plants for my carrots so I don't really care if they don't do well, if they do it's a bonus and my MIL gets them.

I've prepared my runner bean and pea bed and turned over my overwinter cold compost for it to sit and mature until I need it, plus started my first new batch of the year which should heat up nicely as it grows. I still need to buy in a fair amount for all of my new plots but I'm struggling to get hold of good value and good quality compost anywhere, I need around 500 litres for this years planting but it's everywhere I look it's either poor quality or incredibly expensive. It's reminded why I don't like buying it in and prefer to make my own.

I've ordered the last of the seeds I need for this year so will have everything in place ready to go and I've dealt with a major mud issue with my purchase of the year last year of a wood chipper, I'm creating wood chip pathways all around the garden and it's so much easier to work with than mud and it gives me a free unlimited supply of mulch and browns for my compost.

Suffolk_lass

@Fosterdog we had one of this 1-ton builders bags of multi-purpose compost delivered about three years ago and very much fear this is what introduced creeping wood-sorrel (oxalis corniculata) - I believe it was supposed to have been heat treated but if it had, it was not hot enough - so you are right to be cautious. Maybe topsoil from a builders' merchant you trust, or spent mushroom compost is often organic and available in large quantities? - we found a reputable source last year but it is much more expensive. Very much better growing medium than what we had been using so a fair bit of getting what we paid for here.

MovingForwards

I think there was a huge demand for compost last year and some suppliers appear to have cut corners. The bulk compost we had saw strange mushrooms growing, the large bags from a garden centre left me picking out stones and other random things.

Yesterday I potted up my strawberry plants in an old plastic box, if it works well I will find another and double my results next year.

Everything is starting to come alive in the garden and I'm hoping a few weeks of consistent weather will allow me to get outside and start my growing year.

Fosterdog

@Suffolk_lass that is exactly why I'm wary of bulk buying right now. After this year with major garden works I should never need the volume I need now, I will either make enough myself or at most need to buy a couple of cheap bags just to top it up. The first year is always the worst.

carinjo

I am also trying to convince myself to invest in a bulk bag of compost/topsoil. I have 4 raised beds on the allotment now and no soil. I don't want to use soil from the allotment since it already lower than surrounding areas and marestail all over. It will all be for hardy herbs and flower bulbs. Neighbours have all been using the same merchant, have seen 3 deliveries last few days, so hope they have done their research and it a good supplier.
Too tired to dig today (3rd week of late shifts), so started on aubergine in seed trays, 2 types of tomatoes and repotting the propagated lavender. More tomato planting tomorrow. 

zafiro1984

Fosterdog and Suffolk Lass. I know exactly what you mean about introducing weeds from bought soil. I introduced mares tail about ten years ago and I still haven't managed to get rid of all of it. fortunately it's contained in just a couple of beds, one of which will have some main crop potatoes this year so I'm hoping to make more of an inroad into it this year.

JasperAlex

Suffolk_lass said:

@zafiro1984 I realise that you grow on more of an industrial scale than us but we manage the blight by always growing tomatoes in pots, in fresh compost, and then tipping the spent compost on the potato bed from last year the following winter, after cutting the tomatoes down to stumps in autumn. Potatoes are a bit of a sacrificial crop for us - used to take the soil back to a fine tilth more than an eating crop, thanks to the blight that has recurred the last few years.

Ironically, all my tomato varieties have germinated except sungold now! I might be getting DS to pop into Aldi for me!

wow, your tomato seeds have germinated so quickly! About to sow mine tomorrow. Bought some sungolds on your recommendation and also some cherrolas. The chillis I sowed about a month ago haven't fared too well; can only see signs of life from 1 out of the 20 seeds I started with. Time to give them up and re-use the pots for tomatoes?

Suffolk_lass

JasperAlex said:

Suffolk_lass said:

@zafiro1984 I realise that you grow on more of an industrial scale than us but we manage the blight by always growing tomatoes in pots, in fresh compost, and then tipping the spent compost on the potato bed from last year the following winter, after cutting the tomatoes down to stumps in autumn. Potatoes are a bit of a sacrificial crop for us - used to take the soil back to a fine tilth more than an eating crop, thanks to the blight that has recurred the last few years.

Ironically, all my tomato varieties have germinated except sungold now! I might be getting DS to pop into Aldi for me!

wow, your tomato seeds have germinated so quickly! About to sow mine tomorrow. Bought some sungolds on your recommendation and also some cherrolas. The chillis I sowed about a month ago haven't fared too well; can only see signs of life from 1 out of the 20 seeds I started with. Time to give them up and re-use the pots for tomatoes?

@JasperAlex my chilli seeds have also done nothing yet. It is a little early to write them off. I'm going to give the chilli seeds another week or two and then order plug plants from a local place. I'm trying for Jalapeño and Cayenne this year - I still have Scotch bonnet and Apache (in the freezer) from the last two years so could honestly do without if they don't work, but I do love fresh chilli grated into coleslaw.

Also my sweet peas which are out in the greenhouse. I bought five packs of ten seeds from a specialist grower and planted two more pots with seeds I received from an online flower seller my Mum used - there is one green shoot in the freebie pot and nothing in the hoped for spectacular varieties! Typical.

Meanwhile hollyhocks and tomatoes are still indoors and the pots are being rotated two or three times a day! My potatoes are on top of the extractor hood in their egg boxes but just tiny beads of expected growth so far. Everything else can wait until it starts to warm up.

Not sure if I mentioned but I have despatched two hibernating queen wasps so far - one in my hanging up shopping bag containing plastic plant labels, and the other inside a loo-roll holder in my greenhouse. As we keep honey bees I am well aware of their pollination value but I have to balance that with proximity to my hive.

carinjo

An absolutely glorious morning here! 3 coffees vs 2am arrival home from work! Will see how much of the potato bed i can dig this morning before tomorrows predicted rains and high winds. Collected a very high stack of used coffee cups from work to be used for the rest of the tomato seeds. Metal skewer and the stove top works quite nicely poking drainage holes in them!
@Suffolk_lass my potatoes also only have very tiny green bits! 

the_cross_rabbit

my chillies are starting to put out their second lot of leaves.
CRX