The ups, the downs and the insides out of growing your own in 2025!

KajiKita

You sound very organised 😊👏

KK

carinjo

Thank you for the ideas for my front beds, i've send a few messages on marketplace for rooftiles, fingers crossed. @ladybird1106, i've been gifting lettuce and sharing this chilled lettuce soup recipe: https://www.seriouseats.com/lettuce-soup-hot-chilled-recipe, great if you on a low carb plan like i am.
Lifted the Red Baron shallots (most a bit tiny, but almost 100! Harvested the Kestrel potatoes in tubs. The one in full sun ⅓ size potatoes compared to the one in partial shade. Was 3 tubers in each tub. 

ladybird1106

Yesterday fed the leeks worm sweat. Watered the greenhouses and outdoor cucumbers. Planted out baby lettuces and covered them until they get established. Sown some more.  Noticed my cauliflowers have bugs so sat and got rid of those by hand. Will bring washing liquid and sprayer tomorrow. Picked some more gooseberries and blackcurrants.
love 🐞

Suffolk_lass

I so need to pick cherries, gooseberries and blackcurrants. I am going to try a lettuce soup recipe today too as I have more lettuce than one household can handle!

carinjo

We are on our way to collect rooftiles from one place and mismatched paving slabs from another. Thanks for the idea, now it down the rabbithole that is p!nt@rest!
Harvested our first few yellow courgettes and the purple climbing beans are a few days away from first pickings. 
I've done a second sowing of dwarf barlotti, this time in raised bed. The first sowing got overtaken with weeds, so fingers crossed. Also stuck radishes, rhubarb chard (love the names people come up with for plants) and pak choi, last two for baby leaves.
I've had some chard and lettuce bolt, so need to wait a bit before next sowing or pick hardier varieties of lettuce.
The leeks are very slow, think i need to add food to the bed, maybe too much soil and not enough compost when i filled it up. Even the radishes in that bed was more leaves and slow roots.
Happy Monday, a bit cooler here today

Suffolk_lass

I've got the same with bolting lettuces and chard, but the kale, beetroot and carrots are fine. I am harvesting raspberries daily, and courgettageddon approaches - 6 yesterday but all about 15-20cm so quite small. We have beans too (runners and dwarf purple French (that go green when you cook them). Lambs lettuce is ready too. I need to re-seed for breakfast radishes (the long ones) and more lettuce, for in a few weeks time. In the greenhouse, there is a trickle of tomatoes and mini cucumbers, and I picked the first four small green chillies and added one to my potato salad, finely shredded. I usually add them to coleslaw but I was chopping small guerkins to add to the potatoes so threw in some chilli too (yum!)

carinjo

Dug up the Kestrel potatoes, they look lovely, but honestly can't imagine bothering with potatoes again, except maybe a tub for christmas roasties.
The purple french climbing beans are producing a handful every couple of days from 1 plant, waiting for the other 12 to catch up!
Have 4 dwarf barlotti germinated out of 15 so far, starting to wonder of it the seed company and not me.
The red gooseberries ready to harvest, just too hot today. If the rain does show up this weekend, hoping for juicy crop next week.
A fellow allotmenteer contacted me, he had a knee operation and offered me his harvest. Bless, he just not want to see his hard work go to waste. Between me and all of you, going to keep it tidy for when he back on his feet.
My local garden centre got 50% off on seeds, i got way too many. They also had a: silly price for a sad little plant sale (direct quote) got a lovely perrenial for the as yet to be designed and built front garden. 

Farway

carinjo said:

The red gooseberries ready to harvest, just too hot today. If the rain does show up this weekend, hoping for juicy crop next week.

Rain's here. For your sake, I hope your goosegogs don't pop as they swell

carinjo

@Farway i did not know that! Stopped raining by the time i finished work, so started picking. There an obscene amount! And it slow going, one has to be so careful. I will do my best to pick as much as possible in the next few days, rain and work permitting.

KajiKita

Tidied, supported, weeded, fed (with amazingly effective but super stinky, powdered comfrey) and watered greenhouse. 😊

Lifted the last of my shallots. Question for the other growers here - I have some huuuge ones, way bigger than the ones I could find in the shops this spring. Could I keep them and replant them next year as I should get a better crop again from them, shouldn’t I?

KK