The ups, the downs and the insides out of growing your own in 2024!

droopsnoot

alicef said:

@droopsnoot that's interesting - I wonder what's snacking on the onions? 

There's evidence of cats using the patch as a toilet, so that can't help as they move the soil around to (not quite) cover up the evidence and disturb the seeds - a mate suggested that they're not specifically targetting my onions, more just using the section I've dug over as it's easier for them. But I protected the onion sets with wire netting so that can't have been it - that might have been the weather to blame. The potato plants have now all but shrivelled up and disappeared, so I'll have to try to remember where they were and dig over to get the potatoes.

alicef

@droopsnoot I don't have cat related veg patch disturbance here, but do have pheasants - they love to have a dust bath in a raised bed!

Today I took the last of the potted up melons down to the poytunnel - just the water melons left.  I have been growing herbs from seed - I need to get the plugs planted into 9cm pots.  After that, maybe a bit of succession sowing and biennial sowing, (hopefully will squeeze the latter in before the end of July).

I picked plums today and made fragrant plum sauce (S Raven recipe).

Sweetbriarrose

I’m late to the garden party this year, even without my intervention my garden is producing.
 I don’t have a green house, so everything is outside, I have my first cucumber, unless it falls off and I’ve been picking strawberries for the last month only three plants so a couple a day for breakfast. Lots of blackcurrants, they are a lot smaller than last years and not as sweet. 3 Blueberries trees, 3 different strains I don’t  get many berries,  so I think next year I will move them to a different area in the garden see if that makes a difference.

I have 2 Mullein, which is just coming into flower,  I’ll give the leaves to my friend who makes a tea which is good for her asthma, she says The fresh dried leaves are more effective than the shop bought.
alicef, I have just picked quite a lot of plums,  could I have your recipe (SRaven) for fragrant plum sauce please.

alicef

@Sweetbriarrose I tried some of my cultivar blackberries the other day - they look very impressive but weren't sweet at all.  I should do more teas with my herbs - I grow lemon verbena in the polytunnel and it is lovely either as a cold or hot water infusion - I'm rather wedded to black tea leaves.

I think I'm allowed to post details of the recipe -  if not this post might be deleted!

Sarah Raven has a couple of versions of plum sauce (one without and one with the dried spices & red wine). The former comes from her book ‘In Season’, the latter is in her book ‘Food for Friends and Family’.

The core ingredients for both versions are:

500g ripe plums halved and stone removed

3 garlic cloves chopped

1 thumb sized piece of fresh ginger peeled and grated

1 red chilli de-seeded and finely chopped

3 heaped tbsp soft brown sugar

4 tbsp soy sauce

salt

for the fragrant version, she adds

2 star anise

1 tsp cinnamon

black pepper

6 tbsp red wine

(for the second version she also adds 4 tbsp water but I leave that out)

put everything into a saucepan and simmer for at least 30 minutes until the sauce has thickened and most of the liquid has evaporated. The sauce can then be decanted into warm sterilised jars and will be ok in the fridge for 3-4 weeks. I portion up the sauce into small tupperware and freeze, where it is fine for up to a year.

Farway

alicef said:

@Sweetbriarrose I tried some of my cultivar blackberries the other day - they look very impressive but weren't sweet at all.

Unfortunately, like a lot of veg & flowers, a lot are now bred for looks, or easy to transport, long-lasting on shelf etc.

Try Merton Thornless for blackberry taste, and it's quite a good grower as well

alicef

@Farway -  from memory I think the cultivar is 'Karaka Black'  - blurry picture below of a berry from the canes.

It's an early ripening one; perhaps there hasn't been enough sun but, as mentioned, the berries aren't sweet at the moment.  I could try leaving them on the cane to see if the taste improves.  I do have other, later ripening blackberries and our hedges also have native brambles as well - so all is not lost (yet).

Sweetbriarrose

alicef thank you for the recipe I have everything in the cupboard to make it, it sounds yummy.
I have a thornless blackberry, its slow growing, it doesn’t produce a lot of berries but they are fat, long and sweet, I don’t know the variety as it was in the reduced section at a garden centre, a 20p stick.
I have two pear trees in the garden, not very big but neither has any pears on it this year, but last year was a good year, it seems pear trees can be fickle.
Are usually go blackberry picking at my sons house, plenty of brambles grow along the lane where he lives.

FlorayG

Hi I'm new on this thread
Just wanted to show these metal raised beds from Harrods Horticultural currently on buy one get one half price, so I splashed out...oh, I can't upload a jpeg? So can't show them 
Found them COVERED in slugs next morning, dealt with all of those ( throw them over the fence) and had only one or two since. so it seems they don't like climbing in

alicef

@FlorayG I'm very envious!. My raised beds in the veg plot.  aren't that old - 5th season but they were made from wood planks (untreated obviously) and are now showing their age.  My OH has pointed out the cost of wood so I'm going to have to look at alternatives.  I was very taken with a structure I saw at a local garden which used hazel poles, as we do have access to hazel

also, I've been watching Charles Dowding's vids and his beds don't have any sides at all! 

@Sweetbriarrose we have 5 pear trees here; each year the crop varies from tree to tree but my absolute favourite is 'Beurre Hardy' - so if I get a crop from that I'm very happy.

FlorayG

alicef how do I upload a photo? It says jpeg files not allowed, I don't have any other kind!