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Quick visit from me for tonight.....
Just got back from a weeks holiday to find my garden completely wild!! Thank goodness for my neighbour who has watered everything but I've got a lot of work to do tidying everything up (Tomatoes need securing as they have grown so much they are now too heavy for the supports I left them with, Peas need a bit of re-alignment to train them up their supports and not up their neighbouring potatoe plants etc etc.....)
Can someone please advise me about my spuds. My second earlies have loads of flowers but, as far as I have looked (and it was only a very quick look before having to unpack and start the 'washing/drying/ironing' malarky that happens after a holiday), my first earlies don't seem to have flowered yet. When will either of them be ready to start digging them up to eat?? Is it after they have flowered or are they ready now??
A few on here seem to be enjoying their crops already and I'm feeling a bit left out!!!
Hi Mandie - my 1st earlies, Rocket, flowered a few weeks back. The flowers were gone within days, so it's possible you've simply missed them. Mine were in tubs so I could have a dig around to see what was in there without having to dig the lot up. The first tub only had just over 3lb of tattties, from 3 plants - a bit lower than I'd hoped for. Most of the potatoes were a good size, 3 inchesor so, with very few pea sized ones so I don't think I took them too early.
I'd say dig 1 root up - see what you've got
Guffawwwwwwwwwww
Buney will love you for that, she's all woman heheheheheh
Kohl Rabi what can you do with em & @ what point should you harvest them???????
Just thought I would give them ago this year for the 1st time & I have about 30 that have grown to about tennis ball size & any suggestions??????
BRT- tennis ball size is ready. Pull em. You eat the root ball thing, slice a thin layer off the outside, then slice the inside into think slices and steam.
We get them in our veggie bag; first year I had to i.d. them from a gardening book and then look up how to cook. It's a bit like brocoli stalk. I wouldn't go so far as to grow them personally!
Hmmm...kohl rabi. I remember eating it as a kid when my dad used to grow it. Strange stuff! I'd recommend having a bit of butter on it after you've steamed it.
Second earlies flowering away now - they're monster plants, and loads of 'em for such a small plot! Starting to think maybe I overdid the "oh I'll just plant what I know works" but I do love spuds!
Salad leaves have been lovely, but rocket and mispoona (yes, that is the correct name; not mizuna. It's an unusual variety from a seed catalogue of heirloom stuff) are trying desparately hard to bolt. I'm still picking leaves at the mo though, and they still taste really good.
Proving the point of how good homegrown stuff is, hubby and I had for lunch yesterday - Co-op Jersey Royals which were pretty tasty, masses and masses of our homegrown salad leaves and mustard-and-cress from the windowsill, some anchovies, olive oil and lemon juice dressing, a big dollop of Moroccan-style topped houmous and some huge Dutch import tomatoes char-fried on the griddle pan. Hubby commented that the blandest thing on the plate was the tomato!
I'm currently doing battle with slugs, which are decimating (sp?) my chard
. I'm slow-baking empty egg shells in the oven as I type...
Really enjoying my salad leaves also LP.
I have just planted my 3rd batch of Radish,some free seeds that came with grow your won mag.
Strawberry plants are thick set with fruit as are my black currant bushes(makes lovely ice cream),that are just starting to ripen & I had my 1st elephant garlic this last week & have hung about 30 gloves in the shed to dry along with my shallots.
It's lovely when you start tasting the all hard effort put in over the last few months.
Lady P- you can get organic slug pellets now and they work!
Then you cango back to composting your egg shells.
My runner beans are growing apace, suspect we will have a glut; and the onions and spring garlic are looking great.
my outdoor toms are starting to set! yipppee - summer's coming.......in fact all my stuff is doing well although the first crop of salad leaves are going over and bolting so into the stir fry with them now. the climbing french beans are starting to set now as well....
not long till I hoik the first spuds out I reckon - hope it won't be disappointing
fb - I dug a couple of mine up yesterday (I just couldn't hang on any longer!!) Some were a good size and others were still a bit too small but they tasted yummy! It was lovely digging them up and seeing them too!
Foxy Lady - my onions and garlic seem to be doing great too.
This is my first year of growing my own and I'm treating it a bit of a trial. So far, so good !!
Fb I did wonder about the greens,they look quite nice,just steam them?
Hi all,
Quick question. Can I use tomato plant feed to feed potatoes?
I use it on everything.
cheers
my first outdoor courgette and cucumber flowers are out today and the little fruit can be seen so I should be getting some to pick in a few weeks. and toms are starting to set nicely now. chillies will be flowering soon as well.....
Morning all!
Peas flowering, courgettes beginning to flower, and the purple flowers on my Maris Peers are oh so pretty (am I allowed to say spud flowers are pretty? These are!
)
Parents came up this weekend for my little bro's wedding, and brought with them a big load of very fancy planters from some friends who've recently had their garden re-designed (the pots don't go with the new "look"). Two of them are big enough for dwarf fruit trees - got to think now about what fruit we want.
Parents also brought up some leeks - can't think for the life of me where to plant them, but I'll think of something.
On a more miserable note - I appear to have an ant's nest in my compost bin - only noticed it yesterday, but I think it's been there a while.
Now... I'm not an expert on compost, but I'm assuming that's a bad thing? And how do I get rid of the buggers? 
I use the pelleted chicken shite made into a solution on my spuds.
I reckon I will be eating cucumbers from the garden within 10 days.
I have never had so many Broad Beans as this year & toms are looking great.
Makes a nice change to the last few years when most of the more delicate crops have been lost to wet weather.
My chillies & peppers are flowering & I have plenty of fruits especially peppers.
Elephant Garlic in abundance,I reckon I have 12 months supply hung in the shed.
My garden is looking as though it will produce about 90 % of salad & veg needs for the next few months & for the 1st time in 3 years I have switched on my large chest freezer in the shed to freeze excess produce
I sat in my garden last night & eat a green salad & new potatoes all from my patch & washed it down with 2 glasses of my own cider
Does it get any better than that?
Sounds like bliss, BRT!
My plot's a little small to meet all our needs, but it still makes a definite difference. And I just bloody love growing stuff.
right - tomato problems
some of my toms are starting to show signs of leaf curl at the growing tips and growth has slowed down dramatically. googling around for this I seem to have either one of 4 problems:
1. herbicide damage - could be a possible as I put some well manured horse shit into the pots pre-planting and it could be some residue on that. but only the tip leaves so far so doubtful as it should affect the whole plant.
2. a virus - again possible but unlikely. there is a tomato leaf wilt virus but it's pretty uncommon in the UK.
3. physiological leaf roll - common problem, no cause known but should affect the whole plant. unlikely but a maybe
4. overwatering - most likely cause, as I have been watering them very regularly and the trays the pots are on have been holding water. so I will hold back on watering and see what happens.
any other ideas folks?
fecking gardening - why is it so hard sometimes!!
Plum & Apple are a great combination LP?
Not sure about the ants,leeks you could try in buckets or tubs, 5 or 6 in a tub make great bayb leaks which will go nicely with some freshly dug maris peers.
The purple spud flowers are pretty!!
remind me where you live again....
Hold back on the watering for a few days FB & then just go gently, small amounts often.
Thanks for the tip re: leeks, BRT - I do have a number of buckets and tubs that would do the job, if I can fish them out from their current hiding-place, and be a little creative with where to put them (garden's getting somewhat cluttered now) - they just need a good clean-up and they'll be fine.
Yes - plums and apples would be good.
Parents have a plum tree in a large pot that does really, really well.
Last years apples from my 3 tree's.
Piss easy to make.
Put them through a garden shredder to make a pulp,press them & pop the juice in demijohns or barrels & leave 4 months.
Then rack them down into clean vessels of your choice.
I put some into King Keg pressure barrels & some into bottles(I have about 100 old flagon bottles) charge the bottles with a tea spoon of sugar & hey presto 6 or 7 months later sparking cider.
The longer you leave it the better,12 months produces a mighty fine drink.
I had the press made for me but you can by mechanical presses from Vigo fairly cheaply..
Mine is a traditional press which you wrap the pulp in muslin cloth & make 3 or 4 cheeses & then wind down a huge wooden threaded press plate.
Makes 5 gallons per press approx.
Made 40 gallons of elderflower champagne 2 weekends ago from hedge row elder