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

greenbee

I'm slowly getting the beds cleared, topped up with compost/mulch, and replanted. I need to brave the cold in a bit (and before my meetings start) to sow peas in the bed I cleared yesterday. I have some onions, garlic, and broad beans left to do if I can get the beds cleared in the next week. And I've been given a whole lot of comfrey which I hope to get in before the frost kills it off (it's in a chicken feed sack on the patio). 

It's been lovely seeing the worms and other wildlife in the beds. The soil was incredibly poor when I moved in, and there wasn't a worm in sight! I hope that from now on I won't be buying in commercial compost, except to provide a sterile layer of mulch for pots. 

Farway

EssexHebridean said:

I foolishly bought a bulb of garlic for planting the other week and then completely forgot the variety - it's an IOW one but I have no idea whether it needs planting now, or in the spring. Sigh. 

Normally now is the time, before mid Dec, is supposed to give better & larger by having a cold spell, vernilisation [sp?] 

Could you hedge your bets? Split into cloves & plant some now & rest in spring?

EssexHebridean

Farway said:

EssexHebridean said:

I foolishly bought a bulb of garlic for planting the other week and then completely forgot the variety - it's an IOW one but I have no idea whether it needs planting now, or in the spring. Sigh. 

Normally now is the time, before mid Dec, is supposed to give better & larger by having a cold spell, vernilisation [sp?] 

Could you hedge your bets? Split into cloves & plant some now & rest in spring?

That's not a bad shout actually -  I'll perhaps add that to my list of things to do this weekend. Good thinking Farway! 

droopsnoot

I moved one Scotch Bonnet plant (with a single fruit on it) into the house a week or two ago, while the fruit was still green. It's finally gone red, so I'll have that soon. More recently I've moved some more chilli plants inside, these were late flowering but do have some very small chillies on them. The leaves have drooped quite a lot, so I'm not certain I didn't leave it too late to bring them inside. They were previously in a lean-to greenhouse on the back of the house, but now the sun is lower it doesn't hit there any more. Some potato plants are coming up, once again some in the places I've sowed them, and some in the place I've "cleared". Finally threw away my last two "cut and come again" lettuce plants a couple of weeks ago. 

droopsnoot

All the foliage on the potato plants has now withered away, presumably due to the cold weather. I've no idea if they'll come back when it warms up, have to wait and see. 

Suffolk_lass

All my garlic was planted in October as that is when the  seed company send it out. @Farway is correct about frost making the cloves split into multiple cloves within each new head. There are numerous posts online with people querying why their garlic was one huge clove (mine included). The four things we traditionally got in for winter were shallots, garlic, sweet peas and broad beans. Less so with mild winters recently.

If the weather is warmer on Tuesday, I shall weed another veg bed and cover it with old carpet, to suppress the weeds. I might add manure then too, so the worms collect it from the surface. We do get mouse nests under the carpet, but when we uncover it in spring, they immediately move house. 

greenbee

Last of the onions and garlic are in. The last bed has one and a half rows of onions in it, so I need to sow something in the other half in the next day or so. Then I can clear the last bed that needs doing and sow more broad beans (no such thing as too many broad beans!). 

Once all that's done, I can get on with weeding the asparagus and fruit beds, and potting up/transplanting some of the billions of strawberry runners as well as clearing the paths ready to put down more cardboard and bark chip. 

I still have comfrey to plant somewhere, and lots of bulbs to plant on the patio, but am out of compost. I have to go out on Monday morning, so will aim to pick some up then if possible. 

Makingabobor2

droopsnoot said:

All the foliage on the potato plants has now withered away, presumably due to the cold weather. I've no idea if they'll come back when it warms up, have to wait and see. 

Mine have done the same. Not sure if I should have a dig and see if there is anything in there to get up, or if they should stay till Christmas, as was the original plan.....you can tell I am a novice, can't you?  LOL

Am I correct in thinking that you should cover strawberry plants will survive if you cover them with fallen leaves etc?  I did it last year, but only a couple seemed to be ok again this year. 

Also, what about blueberry plants.  Bought one at the end of last year and so it hasn't fruited this year as it is still a baby. But lots of leaves, so not sure if I should cut it back, cover it up or what?  Any advice will be gratefully received. 

EssexHebridean

The frosts last week saw off the nasturtiums so I've folded them back over the veg bed as they may as well rot down into the soil there. 
The chilli plants have also started wilting now - although we did find one further good sized chilli out there yesterday. They're in a grow bag so the plan there is to cut it open and upend it onto the bed as mulch again. 

I'm going to get that garlic in once I get a chance to get out there again too I think - it kind of feels a bit like I have little to lose, particularly allowing it's going to go in the bed with the cabbages so I may as well take the chance to get it sorted before they get much bigger. 

Suffolk_lass

I don't bother to cover my strawberry plants @Makingabobor2, I would be concerned that they might rot. They are quite tough - in fact I used to buy them from Ken Muir (business gone now) and they would despatch them from cold store in March, for them to reawaken in the Spring. They all look pretty sad at the moment but they do perk up in Spring