Resourcefulness: The budgeter's friend

foxgloves

@Suffolk_lass - I tried a couple of costeluto last year, as my best friend has an allotment & does a lot of swapping of veggie plants with her muddy comrades. I wasn't overly impressed with them tbh, although I have read that they are supposed to be productive. My two plants grew very tall, even once I'd sheared the tops off, & defied all my efforts to stake them up. I think I probably had about 10 fruits between the two of them & most of those were nowhere near the large size associated with this variety. I don't think I've tried growing Black Russian. I grew a really weird variety one year. I seem to remember it was called 'Cream sausage' or similar!
My friend grows kalettes on her allotment & she has fed us with them on occasion & also given me a bagful to take home. Despite not liking sprouts, I did like these. They look as though they might taste sprouty, but are actually much more like mini-kales. I thought about growing them in our garden & I probably will at some point, but I was gifted a packet of cavolo nero seeds, so I am going to grow that this year. Love choosing what to grow each year. Can't decided whether to resume growing watercress. I used to do so well with it, using my 'pots in a washing-up bowl method'- enough for salads, sarnies, soup, but the last 2 or 3 attempts have not been nearly as successful - flea beetle, mostly, which can be a nuisance in hot dry summers, although watercress pots are kept partially submerged, so presume flea beetles just love watercress.
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DawnW

Have you tried land cress @foxgloves ? It is similar to watercress but much easier, to the extent that it seeds itself all over the place.

Sun_Addict

I absolutely love kalettes, Mr M sell them. 

foxgloves

DawnW - I think I may know that as 'Lamb's lettuce'? If it's the same thing, then yes, I have grown it. It did well in the greenhouse in the colder months too. And yes, several free plants from self-seeding. If it isn't the same thing, then I don't think I've tried it.
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Suffolk_lass

My experience of Costaluto (I have tried Genovese and Fiorentina) is that our summers are not long or hot enough to get the real bounty from them. They are a field grown Italian type and here they are as you suggest, a bit mean. I am trying St Pierre again this year (a good cooking tomato that is field-grown in France), and might try it outside, in our patio hot-spot, along with Cuor die Bue - the Italian huge one you get in their supermarkets in the north. It is sold green, yellow, orange as well as red. It works in our greenhouse, along with the Black Russians (a dark skinned heritage variety of beefsteak (although I have previously grown cherry and regular versions too) - it has a good flavour and is excellent sliced, almost like a meat substitute, and of course, in my bottled tomatoes.

We don't have much success with brassicas (wood pigeons and butterflies ensure this) but I thought to try again this year with the sort of hybrids of chard and kalettes, so any insights on how best to grow them would be appreciated.

foxgloves

@Suffolk_lass - Interesting about the field tomatoes & why the Costeluto varieties don't do as well here.
We also have problems with wood pigeons (I looked out of the window & counted 12 yesterday!), caterpillars & also sparrows, which gather in little social groups, chattering away as they shred lettuces & leafy greens. We have to cover anything vulnerable to white butterflies & naughty beaks with insect mesh which we prop up on a very basic frame of canes topped with mini recycled bottles. We used always to buy packs of the mesh from Wilko's but that no longer being an option, have found similar in the garden centre. It's an additional expense, but without it, we wouldn't be able to grow on crops of vulnerable things to the harvest stage. I do love our sparrows but find this behaviour infuriating, as they don't even eat the plants, just shred them & spit out the bits!
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Makingabobor2

I clearly need to do more research. I just tend to go....."oh look, tomatoes", or whatever. I have no clue about different varieties. I do read the back of the seed packets, but they are not always that helpful. Must admit when I did courgettes the  year before last, I bought small plants from a lady in our village who grows and sells just about every veg & flower you could want. I've always bought tomato plants as well, not grown from seed. 

DawnW

foxgloves said:

DawnW - I think I may know that as 'Lamb's lettuce'? If it's the same thing, then yes, I have grown it. It did well in the greenhouse in the colder months too. And yes, several free plants from self-seeding. If it isn't the same thing, then I don't think I've tried it.
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I think lambs lettuce is something different. That is also called mache or corn salad. https://www.bbc.co.uk/gardening/basics/techniques/growfruitandveg_wintersalad1.shtml

Land cress looks and tastes like water cress. Definitely worth a try. The above article makes it sound a bit of a prima donna needing cloches, but it really doesn't. There always seem to be leaves available as it seeds itself all over the place.

foxgloves

@DawnW - Thanks for that. I will look out for it. Always good to try something new. I love seeds - so full of promise!
Are you still busy with your vintage business? 
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DawnW

foxgloves said:

@DawnW - Thanks for that. I will look out for it. Always good to try something new. I love seeds - so full of promise!
Are you still busy with your vintage business? 
F x

Yes, still busy