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

carinjo

At home added soil to potato grow bags, final potting up of cherry tomatoes, put 2 aubergines in zippy greenhouse and 2 perenial sweetpeas in ground with plastic bottle covering. Also took a chance on the tiny tarragons and potted them up, will see what happens.

Caitykinss

My zippy greenhouse and raised beds are now full, so feeling a lot better than everything.

Saturday, managed to fill my raised beds with direct sown kale (dwarf and nero de toscana), pak choi, another row of radish, beetroot, fennel, and giant spinach. I wasn't going to bother with spinach as they bolted early on last year, but I found the seed packet as I was rummaging around the garage, and ended up with more space in my brassica bed than I thought. With this years milder weather I'm hoping it might do alright. 

Yesterday, I kept dashing out between the rain showers and managed to sow runner beans, french beans and nasturtiums in loo roll tubes (did this last year and worked very well). Also did a couple of pots of purple sprouting broccoli, which will eventually replace the radishes in the raised bed. Did a full tray of giant sunflowers too, so fingers crossed I'll have enough to cover my back fence. Last year, I sowed some seeds from an old packet of bird feed. Most failed, but one flourished and ended up bigger than me! I've bought fresh seed this year though! All of these are in the zippy greenhouse, along with most of my tomatoes (I can't fit them all in!), a tray of leeks and a tray of zinnias and rudbekia sowed a few weeks ago. I meant to get another tray of flowers on, and a trough of rocket, but the rain had other ideas - they're the last things to sow other than successional stuff. 

All onion sets are now sprouting, carrots poking through and potatoes looking great in their bags.   

MovingForwards

I don't think I said, but a neighbour is letting us use his garden for up to a year.
I've been planning how to do it and whether to do a mirror image of mine, however as it's only a short-term thing I didn't think it could be justified both with time and expense. I'm going to be using cut down builders sacks, pots, tubs and anything else I've got access to. When the time comes, I can strip everything back and throw lawn seed back down.

It's going to be an experience. If I can physically cope with the two gardens as veg plots, tending to two other gardens, occasionally helping with an allotment and third garden, while working, when I get my own allotment I'm prepared, know how demanding everything is and can grow as appropriate.
- My OH does all the heavy, lifting and shifting as I just cannot do it.
- I just have to sow, plant, weed and harvest, timing it round my health.

This morning I've gone through all my seeds, worked out what I'm putting where in both gardens. I am also hoping to plant a few things out as I need space inside the flat to get more growing.

wishuponastar

Hey all, new here. Just recently i planted some germinated acorns and they grew a young green shoot and had some leaves as you would expect. So i transplanted them to a deeper pot. Went to check in the morning and some nocturnal animal has chewed off the shoot (not even eaten it! just left it lying limp on the soil) and buried down into the soil in the pot for the acorn totally destroying the young plants/trees. Anyone else had this problem and or have any advice how to stop this from happening? What remedy would work for deterring them from doing this? 
TIA

MovingForwards

@wishuponastar potentially stick a pop / water bottle over it, lid off and cut the base off. It will act as a little greenhouse while it's establishing.

wishuponastar

How to you stop the wind from blowing it off?

MovingForwards

wishuponastar said:

How to you stop the wind from blowing it off?

Couple of metal tent pegs, put a hole either side and hook it in, bang into the compost.

carinjo

MovingForwards said:

wishuponastar said:

How to you stop the wind from blowing it off?

Couple of metal tent pegs, put a hole either side and hook it in, bang into the compost.

...and if you hold the metal peg over the stove for a minute, it makes a nice easy hole in the bottle!

Suffolk_lass

Our little broad beans are in flower - lovely little scarlet things. All the beans seem to have survived so far and the rhubarb is cropping well

Caitykinss

Trying not to think back to last year and how much further ahead everything was at this point. Getting sick of this cold weather! Of everything I sowed last weekend, only pack choi and radishes have germinated. No signs of life from kale, spinach, beetroot or fennel, but they are direct sown so not worried as we’ve had almost no sun, just lashings of rain. 

What’s annoying me more though is the runner and french beans in the greenhouse. I remember them germinating within days last year and this year no sign of anything after a week. The greenhouse is warm enough to keep everything alive (tomatoes especially), but not warm enough to get seeds going. It’s sitting at between 10 and 15 degrees all day. Leek seedlings in there are also looking a bit floppy and pale but still alive, and don’t seem to be growing much if at all, but never grown them before so not sure if this is right. 

Was going to do marigolds from seed to put in my brassica bed, but decided to get plugs from Morrisons instead. At this rate it’d be winter before they’d have germinated!