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

carinjo

Off to Portugal tomorrow, so early harvesting and clearing.
Most raised beds emptied and covered (A1d1 waterbottle cardboard fits perfectly in my pallet collars!)
Early harvest of pumpkins, leaves died and we've had problems with thefts. Again overwatering, but a better show than last year.The greenhouse still going, got some very small aubergine and a few chillies starting, too late planting this year.
Great show of plums and pears, stewed and frozen. 
We have some manure being delivered for a few of us at end of september, so a big clearup of the back plot needed once we get back.

Suffolk_lass

Oh, well done for getting ahead @carinjo! Have a lovely time in Portugal - avoid the storms!

We have harvested all our squashes. The biggest butternut has brown stains forming on the skin. I have not had this before. I think it might be some sort of fungal thing so I am about to (after another coffee and read/posting session) peel, chop, roast and either freeze or blitz and jar (as soup/sauce base). The stain is growing, hence the fungal diagnosis.

Makingabobor2

Quite new to veg gardening & this thread....so you have to cover the raised beds at end of summer?? 

droopsnoot

I expect I'll be binning some of the tomato and chilli plants soon - I have some that are flowering but no sign of fruits, so I doubt there's enough time for them to develop and ripen. I have quite a few green tomatoes, so I'll leave those plants to run in the hope they might ripen. 

Suffolk_lass

Makingabobor2 said:

Quite new to veg gardening & this thread....so you have to cover the raised beds at end of summer?? 

You don't have to, but it's a good weed suppressant - and if it is cardboard and your beds are raised like @carinjo's pallet collars, you can top the compost next spring and go no-dig, should you wish to

carinjo

We also have a problem with foxes, so was hoping to keep them out for now till can plant my broadbeans in november. Didn't work! 
But yes, will just top up with compost.

Makingabobor2

Suffolk_lass said:

Makingabobor2 said:

Quite new to veg gardening & this thread....so you have to cover the raised beds at end of summer?? 

You don't have to, but it's a good weed suppressant - and if it is cardboard and your beds are raised like @carinjo's pallet collars, you can top the compost next spring and go no-dig, should you wish to

Thank you. X

Silvertabby

droopsnoot said:

I expect I'll be binning some of the tomato and chilli plants soon - I have some that are flowering but no sign of fruits, so I doubt there's enough time for them to develop and ripen. I have quite a few green tomatoes, so I'll leave those plants to run in the hope they might ripen. 

Snip off the top shoots and all the flowers - they won't have time to fruit, and getting rid should encourage your green tomatoes to ripen.

Greenhouse or outdoors?  Mine are in my greenhouse, but have been shy to ripen this year for some reason.  Have been picking enough for us, but not enough to supply more than one neighbour as well.  Will get rid of the tomato plants at the end of this month, but the chillies should be ok until mid October.  I grow mostly the long, thin, hot chillies which freeze well - should have enough to keep us going until next year's crop starts to ripen.   

droopsnoot

Silvertabby said:

droopsnoot said:

I expect I'll be binning some of the tomato and chilli plants soon - I have some that are flowering but no sign of fruits, so I doubt there's enough time for them to develop and ripen. I have quite a few green tomatoes, so I'll leave those plants to run in the hope they might ripen. 

Snip off the top shoots and all the flowers - they won't have time to fruit, and getting rid should encourage your green tomatoes to ripen.

Greenhouse or outdoors?  Mine are in my greenhouse, but have been shy to ripen this year for some reason.  Have been picking enough for us, but not enough to supply more than one neighbour as well.  Will get rid of the tomato plants at the end of this month, but the chillies should be ok until mid October.  I grow mostly the long, thin, hot chillies which freeze well - should have enough to keep us going until next year's crop starts to ripen.   

I'll have a go at that, thanks.

They're in a lean-to greenhouse on the back of the house, but I wonder if the surrounding trees are blocking too much. The chillies are in a separate greenhouse. I tried transplanting one tomato outside but it was really suffering after a couple of days so I put it back in a pot. One tomato eaten so far, two red on the plant, maybe one a bit orange-y if I squint. That's out of about ten or eleven plants. I may move a few into the porch on the front of the house as it gets the sun as it comes up in the morning.

Silvertabby

droopsnoot said:

Silvertabby said:

droopsnoot said:

I expect I'll be binning some of the tomato and chilli plants soon - I have some that are flowering but no sign of fruits, so I doubt there's enough time for them to develop and ripen. I have quite a few green tomatoes, so I'll leave those plants to run in the hope they might ripen. 

Snip off the top shoots and all the flowers - they won't have time to fruit, and getting rid should encourage your green tomatoes to ripen.

Greenhouse or outdoors?  Mine are in my greenhouse, but have been shy to ripen this year for some reason.  Have been picking enough for us, but not enough to supply more than one neighbour as well.  Will get rid of the tomato plants at the end of this month, but the chillies should be ok until mid October.  I grow mostly the long, thin, hot chillies which freeze well - should have enough to keep us going until next year's crop starts to ripen.   

I'll have a go at that, thanks.

They're in a lean-to greenhouse on the back of the house, but I wonder if the surrounding trees are blocking too much. The chillies are in a separate greenhouse. I tried transplanting one tomato outside but it was really suffering after a couple of days so I put it back in a pot. One tomato eaten so far, two red on the plant, maybe one a bit orange-y if I squint. That's out of about ten or eleven plants. I may move a few into the porch on the front of the house as it gets the sun as it comes up in the morning.

A lot of plants, but fruits in single figures ?  Did you grow them from seed, in which case you may have started too late?

Oddly enough, although I grow chillies from seed (late Feb)  I seem to struggle with tomatoes, so I buy mine as plants from our local garden centre.  

P.S.  Be wary of bringing the plants indoors if you have cats - if they are chewers, the leaves are toxic.  Once my chilli seedlings are out of the heated propagator, they go onto the study windowsill with active measures taken to keep the cat out.