The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Growing => Vegetables => Topic started by: macgro7 on April 07, 2019, 02:36:24 pm
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What are you planning to grow this year? Anything new or same old?
-I'm planning the same tested varieties of iter squash - uchiki kuri and blue Hubbard - by far the best flavour of all pumpkins I have ever grown.
-summer squash - couple of different colours of courgettes
- cucumbers - trying and old American white variety this year and marketmore
- sweet corn
- tomatoes - not sure which ones yet probably mixture
- salad mix - lettuce lots of different mustards
- kale
- radish
- perpetual spinach/chard - a long time favourite
- beetroot
- chillies
- egg plant
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I tend to stick with trusted varieties in the main but I am tring a new aubergine - Bonita in addition to Snowy and farmers long and a new cucumber Emilie.
I’m battling with voles eating my brocolli at the moment, they take a leaf a day if I don’t cover them with a tub overnight and so they see gradually getting smaller.
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much the same old and less.. age and backache taking it's toll.Greenhouse yellow toms, chillies. sweet peppers and some lettuce/radish/spring onion/cuesOutside beans: polestar, climbig french and dwarf french brassicas: savoy/greyhound, brussels and kale sweetcorn, courgettes, carrots, some few peas for eating at the plot, parsnip.
I'm in process of building a very raised bed.. work at standing height which will have strawberries and asparagus and anything else I think of
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Having had such huge problems with red mite over the past few years, and spent a small fortune on natural predators, we are cutting back this year. No sweet corn (rats got that too), gherkins rather than cucumbers, no courgettes, squash etc inside the tunnel though might try them outside under a tunnel cloche. Only a couple of supports of climbing beans, one each runner and French, no beans for drying. I wasn't going to grow tomatoes, but decided to change from my usual Sakura to Mountain Magic (which was brilliant last year), and Pomodoro which I've not tried before. Any sign of mite and they will come out. A few chillis in the greenhouse. Otherwise concentrating on veg which doesn't suffer from mite such as garlic, shallots and onions, leeks, salads, brassicas, beetroot. It will seem odd to those of you in mild climes that I grow all those indoors, but that's the only way to avoid the killing winds.
Outside, potatoes, broad beans, a few peas, salads, carrots and more shallots. Our outside beds have shrunk dramatically over the years and our appetites have also shrunk as we get older.
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I'm giving up growing runner and climbing French beans, although I may try out some dwarf French in one of the raised beds. I just can't get very high up the climbers with the result that the ones at the top go to seed and the rest of production slows right down.
I will also grow some more brassicas. Last year's purple sprouting broccoli did very well so I will probaby use another bed for a new crop. The cabbages weren't so good so I'll try something a bit different. OH loves savoy so I might give them another go.
I always grow squashes and will do so again. Also yellow courgettes which I feel have a better flavour.
Tomatoes in the big greenhouse and salad leaves in the small one. Radish and beetroot are a must and so are ruby chard. I also want to grow some Cavalo Nero - black kale.
My new raised beds are up and filled, firstly with part rotted manure and then with organic compost in a 2 - 3 inch layer. They are supposed to have flowers as they are near the sitting area but I may find the odd vegetable sneaks in. Beetroot has pretty leaves so are a possibility. I don't know much about growing flowers because I've always grown things I can eat. I'm toying with the idea of turning a bed into an asparagus bed because I love the stuff.
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Having had such huge problems with red mite over the past few years, and spent a small fortune on natural predators, we are cutting back this year. ....
whitefly was always my nemesis. I gave up on predator solutions.. they somehow always flew away and left the whitefly behind because one has to provide some ventilation in domestic level greenhouses and one has to open doors to get in and out. Same solution - stop growing stuff the whitefly really like or rip it out as soon as they start. Aubergines were the worst offenders here.
Sweetcorn gets hammered by hares and pheasants and possibly badgers but I usually get around it by growing lots so there's some left. This year i plan to grow some fodder-type maize with it - not for the maize but as a distraction and a green manure.
I gave up on spuds - my severe level of endemic scab, having to spray for blight and then the sheer back-pain involved in non-commercial levels of growing: planting, earthing up, digging up, sorting and carting sack-fulls and watching them in storage - and so cheap to buy locally and as you say, older and eat less.
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I don't know much about growing flowers because I've always grown things I can eat.
There are loads of pretty flowers you can eat, such as the petals of pot marigolds, the flowers of viola and nasturtiums, chives and cornfowers.
https://www.thompson-morgan.com/p/edible-flower-mix/tka2656TM?source=aw&affid=477705&awc=2283_1554723578_4dd3710c2e109e8cbb69314b0abfcfe0 (https://www.thompson-morgan.com/p/edible-flower-mix/tka2656TM?source=aw&affid=477705&awc=2283_1554723578_4dd3710c2e109e8cbb69314b0abfcfe0)
This might be T&M's mixed edible flowers seeds for £2.99.
They would mix perfectly with some small veg and herbs for your flower raised bed and even smell nice
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Most of the above, plus mizuna and trying golden frills this year. Outside will be trying salsify this year for a change.
We always plant marigolds in the Poly tunnel, it does seem to deter the aphids. Also going to try the paper cabbage white moth trick as mentioned the other day by pgkevet
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My favourites that i do every year are:
Vine Tomatoes
Achocha both giant and regular
Potatoes Dessiree and a new purple variety
Carrots
brassica mix
Giant Sunflowers
Spaghetti Squash
and i am trying sweet corn again. I have only done it once before but loved it.
I am trying some new stuff this year
Edible lupin beans
Mange tout
Chia
Sweet Peppers
Water melon.
I am trying to have this year be our most productive garden.
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I took cuttings from my blackcurrents and grew them on in pots. I have decided to grow more fruit in what was my veg plot. This is due to losing so much to weather, pests. I will grow what we need in the pollytunnel and potatoes in tubs. I have 3 apple trees, strawberriers and the blackcurrents outside. OH wants to make wine. I put a lot of work into my plot for little return last year, I know it was a very dry summer but the older I get the less able I am.
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I wanted to plant 2 walnut trees but never got a chance this winter.
Also am planning another row of fruit trees in a patrern - apple, sea buckthorn, plum, apple, sea buckthorn, plum, etc. All different varieties. Between larger trees I'll put smaller fruit bushes - currants, rhubarb, other berries etc.
Also I have made my allotment into a separate sections.
Winter chicken run will be used to winter squash and sweet corn this year, poly tunnel for tomatoes but in winter for chickens too. Chickens will spend summer in another bigger fenced area.
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We're keeping it very simple with a view to growing what saves us money. So on the compost heap we have courgettes and self-seeding squashes. In the vegetable plot we have three varieties of onions, salad and main crop potatoes, two varieties of tomatoes (which we will take cuttings from for a later crop), beetroot, carrots, leeks, French beans and a few cabbage (to try the decoy butterflies on). Parsnips will go in the salad potato bed as a Winter crop.
The big issue here is water, so we'll see what happens this year.
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I wanted to plant 2 walnut trees but never got a chance this winter.
Also am planning another row of fruit trees in a patrern - apple, sea buckthorn, plum, apple, sea buckthorn, plum, etc. All different varieties. Between larger trees I'll put smaller fruit bushes - currants, rhubarb, other berries etc.
I'll be interested to hear how you get on with the sea buckthorn [member=156019]macgro7[/member] . Did you get a thornless variety? Loads grows along the coast in E Lothian but it's agony to pick because of the spikes, and it doesn't separate from the twigs easily either. I thought it would do well here because although we are about as far from the sea as you can get in Scotland, it's very windy and they put so much salt on the roads that we might as well be on the coast
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I never got them yet, but am planning to get high fruiting varieties.
As far as I know the best way of harvesting then is to put whole branches in the freezer and then shake of the frozen berries
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I'm giving up growing runner and climbing French beans, although I may try out some dwarf French in one of the raised beds. I just can't get very high up the climbers with the result that the ones at the top go to seed and the rest of production slows right down.
I will also grow some more brassicas. Last year's purple sprouting broccoli did very well so I will probaby use another bed for a new crop. The cabbages weren't so good so I'll try something a bit different. OH loves savoy so I might give them another go.
I always grow squashes and will do so again. Also yellow courgettes which I feel have a better flavour.
Tomatoes in the big greenhouse and salad leaves in the small one. Radish and beetroot are a must and so are ruby chard. I also want to grow some Cavalo Nero - black kale.
My new raised beds are up and filled, firstly with part rotted manure and then with organic compost in a 2 - 3 inch layer. They are supposed to have flowers as they are near the sitting area but I may find the odd vegetable sneaks in. Beetroot has pretty leaves so are a possibility. I don't know much about growing flowers because I've always grown things I can eat. I'm toying with the idea of turning a bed into an asparagus bed because I love the stuff.
My beds are 36 ich high , the trianglur collapsable frame I use to grow blue lake climbing french beans is eight foot tall . when the triangle is set a foot or so in the bed I can't reach the top beans either unless I get a set of steps .
Here's what I used last year ... Used epoxy resin to glue a hooked Stanley knife blade into a stick ensuring the bottom hook is hiddden inside the stick (aka an old broom stick with a slot cut in the action end ) .
Once it's set& cured for say 48 hrs use it to hook the stalk of the highest of beans and give the stick a sharp tug to sever the stem ...gravity takes care of the rest .
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I don't know much about growing flowers because I've always grown things I can eat.
There are loads of pretty flowers you can eat, such as the petals of pot marigolds, the flowers of viola and nasturtiums, chives and cornfowers.
https://www.thompson-morgan.com/p/edible-flower-mix/tka2656TM?source=aw&affid=477705&awc=2283_1554723578_4dd3710c2e109e8cbb69314b0abfcfe0 (https://www.thompson-morgan.com/p/edible-flower-mix/tka2656TM?source=aw&affid=477705&awc=2283_1554723578_4dd3710c2e109e8cbb69314b0abfcfe0)
This might be T&M's mixed edible flowers seeds for £2.99.
They would mix perfectly with some small veg and herbs for your flower raised bed and even smell nice
Oh yes, I use nasturtium flowers in salad and also borage leaves.I didn't know about viola and cornflowers but I will try those. I did know about pot marigolds so may well sow some of those. I do grow chives and allow them to flower as the flowers are pretty and the bees love them. Did you mean the flowers of chives can be eaten?
I'm also growing some wild garlic so a few leaves of those will be used.
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My beds are 36 ich high , the trianglur collapsable frame I use to grow blue lake climbing french beans is eight foot tall . when the triancle is set a foot or so inth bed I can't rach the top beans either unless I get a set of steps .
Here's what I used last year ... Use epoxy resin to glue a hooked Stanley knife blade into a stick ensuring he bottom hook is hiddden inside the stick (aka an old broom stick with a slot cut inthe action end ) .
Clever idea. I have one or two broom handles around waiting for me to find a use for them
Once it's set& cyured for say 48 hrs use it to hook the stalk of the highest of beans and give the stick a sharp tug to sever the stem ...gravity takes care of the rest .
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I never got them yet, but am planning to get high fruiting varieties.
As far as I know the best way of harvesting then is to put whole branches in the freezer and then shake of the frozen berries
Nifty :idea:
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Reaching the top of french beans is difficult unless you train them at a suitable height. We have considered dwarf varieties but all the bending down rummaging through the foliage (as we used to do) isn't good for the back.
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I start my dwarf french in 3in pots.. 3 to a pot and plant pots out 9" apart.. easy to find the pods and i don't bend well. I prefer them to the climbing ones.
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I don't know much about growing flowers because I've always grown things I can eat.
There are loads of pretty flowers you can eat, such as the petals of pot marigolds, the flowers of viola and nasturtiums, chives and cornfowers.
https://www.thompson-morgan.com/p/edible-flower-mix/tka2656TM?source=aw&affid=477705&awc=2283_1554723578_4dd3710c2e109e8cbb69314b0abfcfe0 (https://www.thompson-morgan.com/p/edible-flower-mix/tka2656TM?source=aw&affid=477705&awc=2283_1554723578_4dd3710c2e109e8cbb69314b0abfcfe0)
This might be T&M's mixed edible flowers seeds for £2.99.
They would mix perfectly with some small veg and herbs for your flower raised bed and even smell nice
Oh yes, I use nasturtium flowers in salad and also borage leaves.I didn't know about viola and cornflowers but I will try those. I did know about pot marigolds so may well sow some of those. I do grow chives and allow them to flower as the flowers are pretty and the bees love them. Did you mean the flowers of chives can be eaten?
I'm also growing some wild garlic so a few leaves of those will be used.
Yes, you can eat chive flowers. I think it's best to pull out the individual florets and sprinkle them on your salad. There are quite a few flowers you can eat but I can't remember them all.
When I was at school (I was the cook and general housekeeper at home as my Mum had died), a friend came to me one day and was telling me how 'useless' her mother was at cooking. She said she kept putting stuff like long grass in their food. Long grass? Oh, you mean chives :idea: tell her to try chopping them into small lengths. I think her poor mum was mortified that a schoolgirl was giving her cookery advice :-[
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My salads this year are Sioux iceberg and a red looseleaf lettuce, baby kale leaves and spicey mixed leaves. I also have still to sow landcress - usually I just pick bittercress from weedy bits, but I thought I would go for the real thing.
I would also like to try samphire again as I come from Norfolk where we used to pick it from the mudflats then pickle it in vinegar :yum: :yum: . I miss that so much. I have tried before but with no luck. Has anyone grown samphire successfully?
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I know a lot of people work hard to grow salads.
What I do is just mix all the seeds together and sprinkle then over well rotten cow manure compost and rake it a little bit. Boom!
Different salads grow in different speed and I pick some leaves from everything. No weeding, no replanting no work. After it's finished I just sign it over, put some more compost and am ready to plant something else.
Thank for remind - forgot to plant borage. I love that stuff. You can eat both leaves and flowers - tastes like cucumber.
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Just reread my last post …. seems I was having a difficult day in my head by the look of my spellings . I hope you guys were able to understand it ..it looked right when I pressed the enter button .
Disklexia rulz KO .
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We’ve been eating lots of spinach for the last few weeks, from the polytunnel, it does well over winter here but I can’ get it to do well in Norfolk ‘s hot dry summers so will have to wait a year once it goes over. We’re trying a couple of different kale’s this year, Afro and Redbor, in addition to Starbor and Black Magic. I’m interested to see if the red leaves if Redbor will be more resistant to pests which is my observation for cabbages.
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Just reread my last post …. seems I was having a difficult day in my head by the look of my spellings . I hope you guys were able to understand it ..it looked right when I pressed the enter button .
Disklexia rulz KO .
Don't worry cloddopper, the human brain compensates for misspelling, typos, and autocorrections made by the imp in the machine, so what you write makes perfect sense.
Even without dislexia, I find I make far more spelling mistakes when typing than I do when hand writing. Also I can reread what I have written and not notice mistakes, because I see what I expect to see, as do we all.