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Author Topic: Is anyone excited about next season?  (Read 6130 times)

Fleecewife

  • Joined May 2010
  • South Lanarkshire
    • ScotHebs
Is anyone excited about next season?
« on: December 06, 2016, 11:52:48 am »
Usually by this time of year I'm really looking forward to next years' growing season  :garden: .  This year I haven't got to that point yet.  Maybe it's because I know I'm going to have to reduce what I grow even further.  I've been going through my list of what I usually grow, and scoring each thing for 'do I like to grow it?' and 'do we actually eat it?'  There is an additional group for 'does it feed those hateful spider mites and have to be burnt anyway ?'.


So - I love growing onions, they don't succumb to mites, but they don't store well at all for me, as our growing conditions are too wet.  So they're off the list.  I'll give shallots one more year.  I've already planted the garlic and that seems to do well, and yes we eat it.
Courgettes and various squashes - I really love growing them but nearly all the crop is wasted and ends up on the compost heap.  With just two of us we simply don't have room to eat all I grow.  They are a bit susceptible to mite too.  So sadly they're off the list.
Sweet corn - love growing it, love eating it, but it's one of the first things for the mites to attack - this year we had to burn the lot before we ate any.
Cucumbers - oh dear - I love growing them, love eating them, but they are the other plant most susceptible to mite - I think it has to be a no.
A few other things have gone too, or will only be grown outside (ghastly weather here most of the time, so will struggle, but we'll see)


So you see why I'm not as excited this year as I usually am.  I need my veggie growing TAS friends to inspire me  ;D
"Let's not talk about what we can do, but do what we can"

There is NO planet B - what are YOU doing to save our home?

Do something today that your future self will thank you for - plant a tree

 Love your soil - it's the lifeblood of your land.

macgro7

  • Joined Feb 2016
  • Leicester
Re: Is anyone excited about next season?
« Reply #1 on: December 06, 2016, 12:07:46 pm »
Already last month I said I want the summer back lol
I think I really need to go to a country with really short winter? Australia?

I had a fantastic harvest of courgettes, marrows and winter squashed this year!!!
We still have 5-10kg squashes - blue hubbard and uchiki kuri are by far the nicest tasting (sweetest) winter squashes I grew. Will definitely grow them next year, as well I try some new varieties - pink banana, delicate.
Cucumbers didn't do very well, I had some but not that many. Perhaps I'll try a different variety next year.
Tomatoes... my dear tomatoes... we're growing brilliantly well. Massive plants with loads of fruit. The problem is... before most of them ripened there were ALL killed by the blight!!! Such a shame  :'(
Sweet corn grows really well here. Last year I had a lot. This year I think I planted it too late and it was overgrown by weeds. I.e. didn't fruit fast enough to ripen on time... will definitely grow it again.
Another thing I will definitely grown next year is variety of beans. Was so pleased with them this year!
Growing loads of fruits and vegetables! Raising dairy goats, chickens, ducks, rabbits on 1/2 acre in the middle of the city of Leicester, using permaculture methods.

Alex_

  • Joined Jul 2016
Re: Is anyone excited about next season?
« Reply #2 on: December 06, 2016, 12:54:49 pm »
Yep super excited.

I am really looking forward to trying to grow corn again. this year failed big time.
I also plan to get a variety of tomatoes, Giant Achoocha, Regular achoocha, Sunflowers and potatoes.

I will also be experimenting with some vertical carrot and onion growing

big soft moose

  • Joined Oct 2016
Re: Is anyone excited about next season?
« Reply #3 on: December 06, 2016, 03:18:33 pm »
Totally - i'm currently without a small holding so my veg plot is as good as it gets  ( I may be adding chickens if my landlord says okay)

I had a big dig over session yesterday and I'll be doing more today - the plan is to totally rebuild/rearrange the plot into  1.2 metre square plots so i can use the 'square metre gardening" approach (yeah I know ive got 4x4 not 3x3) instead of row planting , and my intention is to grow pretty much everything.

Potatoes, carrots, corgette, lettuce, spring onions, raddish, beetroot, parsnip, leeks , spinach , onions and erm  other stuff  (tomatoes will go in the glassed in porch as outdoor ones didnt do well)

Chillis, peppers, and basil will go on the kitchen windowsill (which is the warmest room in the house due to the rayburn)

I also tried a hotbox last year  (living on a dairy farm means ample manure) but i was unconvinced as i got lots of leaf and not much fruit from the squash and corgette.  So that's getting converted into a cold frame

and the herb bed is getting moved to two big troughs closer to the kitchen door  , and the really big bed (one railway sleeper by two) is getting a fruit cage built over it and planted up with fruity goodness - the raspberries, goosberies and blackberries are already in half of it so the other half will probably be dwarf apple /pear/ damson trees.

waterbuffalofarmer

  • Joined Apr 2014
  • Mid Wales
  • Owner of 61 Mediterranean water buffaloes
Re: Is anyone excited about next season?
« Reply #4 on: December 06, 2016, 04:14:27 pm »
Strangely not really  :o Usually I am making plans and tidying up the garden. Its because the flu took it right out of me this year and now I am trying to avoid the cold as much as possible..... So much needs to be done and so little time. I am going to, hopefully, be maxing my supply of veg/fruit in the coming years, starting with another garden being made this winter for next years veg. Just trying to figure out and plan what to sow/plant. The usual will be very good, courgettes, pumpkins, squashes, runner beans, dwarf french beans, frech climbing beans. Going to be adding more varieties of tomato, some sweetcorn, if room, some broad beans, barlotti beans and also some peas. So should be rather busy! :)
the most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss and have found their way out of the depths. These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, loving concern.

DavidandCollette

  • Joined Dec 2012
Re: Is anyone excited about next season?
« Reply #5 on: December 06, 2016, 04:44:26 pm »
Our seed order has already been submitted :excited: we belong to an organic gardening group so submit a bulk order and get a good discount. Started putting muck on the potato plot today then need to get the other beds sorted including the two polytunnels. Got two more gooseberry plants and three blackcurrant plants ready to go in a anytime, and will be making a raised bed for strawberries to try to beat the weeds. Cant wait!!

waterbuffalofarmer

  • Joined Apr 2014
  • Mid Wales
  • Owner of 61 Mediterranean water buffaloes
Re: Is anyone excited about next season?
« Reply #6 on: December 06, 2016, 07:20:13 pm »
Our seed order has already been submitted :excited: we belong to an organic gardening group so submit a bulk order and get a good discount. Started putting muck on the potato plot today then need to get the other beds sorted including the two polytunnels. Got two more gooseberry plants and three blackcurrant plants ready to go in a anytime, and will be making a raised bed for strawberries to try to beat the weeds. Cant wait!!
could you tell me what the group is called? Sounds very interesting..... :thinking:
the most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss and have found their way out of the depths. These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, loving concern.

TheGirlsMum

  • Joined Sep 2010
Re: Is anyone excited about next season?
« Reply #7 on: December 06, 2016, 08:07:13 pm »
Lost the plot last year :innocent: weeds took over big time. Managed Runner beans and peas at home but nothing on the smallholding.....but I have lost lots of weight this year and can now move around better, so Today I have managed to dig over and weed the first bed 2.4 x1.2 m . Would love to get the polytunnel covered for next year and in production.


Hope to grow red onions and shallots, brussels, spuds, tomatoes, cucumbers, runnerbeans, peas, corgettes and pumpkins.


Can anybody tell me what variety of beans produce kidney beans?


Happy growing

DavidandCollette

  • Joined Dec 2012
Re: Is anyone excited about next season?
« Reply #8 on: December 06, 2016, 08:13:38 pm »
Hi WBF its the Lincolnshire Organic Gardeners Organisation. We are affiliated to the Henry Doubleday Association (Chase Organics). We normally order our seds through them but they have changed their catalogue issue dates which doesnt fit with our distributon dates so we are ordering from Tamar Organics

Fleecewife

  • Joined May 2010
  • South Lanarkshire
    • ScotHebs
Re: Is anyone excited about next season?
« Reply #9 on: December 06, 2016, 11:07:17 pm »
It's lovely to hear how positive you all are and your plans for the coming year ;D
Unfortunately our veg garden is in the only place it could be, as I'm tempted to start again on fresh ground, where there are no weeds.
Keep talking and you'll have me being positive again  :garden:   Choosing the seeds for next year is always inspiring, so that should help.
"Let's not talk about what we can do, but do what we can"

There is NO planet B - what are YOU doing to save our home?

Do something today that your future self will thank you for - plant a tree

 Love your soil - it's the lifeblood of your land.

Lesley Silvester

  • Joined Sep 2011
  • Telford
Re: Is anyone excited about next season?
« Reply #10 on: December 07, 2016, 12:04:36 am »
I will be growing beans as always - runner and climbing French - easy to grow and we love them. Lost nearly all of them to aphids last year as I was away for a week and they had taken over. I usually attack them with the hose on jet but they had too much of a hold after a week. I love growing squashes even though I'm the only one who eats them. Make lovely soup from them as well.

I'm cutting down on tomatoes this time. I cut down on the quantity in the greenhouse this year and the dreaded blight was a lot later in the year so I managed to salvage most of the crop but the outside ones didn't do so well as they fruit later when the blight had arrived. So no more outside tomatoes in future. I will also grow beetroot because it love it and can eat one like an apple while preparing another one for my salad. Mixed salad leaves are a must as well. And radishes. I don't much like cucumber so don't grow them. OH doesn't do salad at all.

I grew black kale for the first time this year and loved it so I will probably put a few more seeds in next year, So basically, next year will be a repeat of this. ;D



cloddopper

  • Joined Jun 2013
  • South Wales .Carmarthenshire. SA18
Re: Is anyone excited about next season?
« Reply #11 on: December 07, 2016, 06:18:54 pm »
In reality my season has not ended , it never ends it's all part of a continuous cycle .
The green house originated spring greens were  set out a few weeks ago so were the all year round cauli, I brought late garden germinated  lettuces into the glasshouse so what ever teh weather we'll have lettuce  from  21 Dec till well into the new year on a cut & come again basis . A few spring onions were also transplanted in to  a big tub in the glasshouse .
 I've put all twelve geranium tubs in the glasshouse .. some are still trying to break into flower .

 Two 7 year old plums trees & two 7 year old apple trees were taken out & given to a friend as a present for the start off a 40 tree orchard at their farm .

 For the last few weeks I've also been sowing many many seeds from all manner of trees some of which are cypress, Welsh oak . Irish oak , Douglas pine , larch,  sycamore , eucalyptus & several others . to try and get them to grow onto specimen bonsai trees.

Tomorrow as it's forecast warmish I think I'll give it a session ,putting in a dozen broad beans , some more onion sets and ther rest of the harvested garlic as this year our garlic just .  I'll also take the walnuts & almonds that have been sat in heat sealed bags of damp compost out the fridge .. they have been sat there for four or more months at 3 oC  so should have been stratified long enough for it to be safe to try and get them out in deep pots on the outside bonsai bench . 

  The next growing season will see me sow celeriac , as we love the strong taste of celery in soups & stews . 
If funds allow , we may even get a decent tray dehydrator with timer & temp control and start drying some of the  fruits & veg we like so we can eat them all year round .  That may drastically alter what we sow from that moment on.
Strong belief , triggers the mind to find the way ... Dyslexia just makes it that bit more amusing & interesting

Rosemary

  • Joined Oct 2007
  • Barry, Angus, Scotland
    • The Accidental Smallholder
Re: Is anyone excited about next season?
« Reply #12 on: December 07, 2016, 07:25:23 pm »
I'm a rubbish gardener. I think part of the problem is that I don't really like veg very much  :innocent:

Our veg garden currently looks like it's been abandoned, but I'm planning to get on with weeding it tomorrow. Give myself a clean slate for next year when I will endeavour to do better. THat's the best bit about veg gardening - you can just clear away all your disasters in November and start fresh.

I've bought my seeds from the Real Seed Company - so no F1s for me this year.

Still trying to get my head round using the polytunnel for anything apart from tomatoes. Still, it might have chooks in it shortly  ::)



Fleecewife

  • Joined May 2010
  • South Lanarkshire
    • ScotHebs
Re: Is anyone excited about next season?
« Reply #13 on: December 07, 2016, 07:26:18 pm »
Now with the Avian Flu regs enforced I'm quite pleased my tunnel has some gaps in.  That's where my poultry are going to have to spend the next 30 days.  I can cover the leeks, I can cover the garlic, but I think the geese will demolish the brassicas which are dotted around as they were self sown and can't realistically be covered. There's nothing else important in there at the moment, and we have nowhere else for the birds to go under cover.
There's an upside of course - they'll do a great job cleaning and fertilising the ground for the coming year  :thumbsup:
"Let's not talk about what we can do, but do what we can"

There is NO planet B - what are YOU doing to save our home?

Do something today that your future self will thank you for - plant a tree

 Love your soil - it's the lifeblood of your land.

farmershort

  • Joined Nov 2010
Re: Is anyone excited about next season?
« Reply #14 on: December 08, 2016, 08:57:13 am »
very excited about the new season, as it'll be our first veg growing season in our new smallholding!!! It's a total blank canvass as far as veg is concerned. There is a 1 acre field which the house and barn sit in, and we're intending on dividing that up to make the veg/fruit beds. A very modest polytunnel will go up on the original garden boundary (so as to avoid planning/PD concerns for a while). Perhaps we'll have a proper polytunnel in a couple of years once we get PD rights back.

I saw something on a permeculture forum that I thought I might try - especially for converting grass field to veg plot.... You create strips of earth/turf which are a couple of spade-widths wide, and then do a sort of pastry fold with them. The left hand strip gets folded over onto the centre strip, and the right hand strip folded on top of both of those. It seems you end up with some quite neat looking ridges for planting.

Anyone else tried this? I think we're a bit late in the year for covering with plastic... I think it needs a good whole growing season to kill the grass doesn't it?

We've just taken delivery of 2 tonnes of compost to give the veg a kick start - until our own compost bays are built, and we've established a comfrey bed.

So.... minimal veg this year probably.... and lots more weeding & digging... but exciting!

 

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