Home Grown 2015

Nod

Nod

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How's it going with all those growing for the plate this year?

Courgettes from seed are starting to show fruits, cucumbers bought as seedlings are also well on the way, runner beans from last year's saved seeds are creeping up their poles, radishes have made it to the plate already (burp!) and the spring onions are up but not yet thriving. Tomatoes are a bit of a disappointment this year - maybe the seeds we obtained were from inferior stock. Will have to remember to get some from a market fruit rather than a last minute grab out of a salad! Chillies are coming along nicely after being potted up a week or 2 ago - will need potting on before we go away
 
Everything seems to be ticking along nicely. I'm growing

Lots of strawberries
Maris Piper potatoes
Tomatoes
Chillies
Sweetcorn
Leeks
Butternut squash
Onions
Parsnips
Carrots
Raspberries
Rhubard

I have 60'ish strawberry plants this year. Surely the kids will let me eat 1 or 2 (or truth be told, stick a few in a daquiri)
 
I'd forgotten the rhubarb (only its second year so only pulled 4 stalks - delicious!) and strawberries (plenty of fruits on the way, just in time for us to b... off on holiday!) Got a thornless bramble as well - or at least a very-few-thorns-on-it bramble! Tried doing butternut squash last year but they failed dismally so will just buy them from Lidl! Hoping for a few (3 or 4!) figs to ripen this year. Got none last year but 2 the year before. Wish we had a bigger garden so I could grow more but we rather like the house and situation so will stay here a while yet!
 
Harvested our first little crop of radishes earlier.

Still got:

Veg:
More radishes
Tomatoes (24 plants!)
Aubergines
Courgettes
Spring Cabbage
Spinach
Spring Onions
Silverskin Onions
Carrots
3 types of potatoes
Peas
Beetroot
Rocket
Peppers
Chillis

Fruit:
Kiwi
Orange Raspberry
Raspberry
Blackberry
Grapes
Olives
Strawberries

Plus loads of herbs
 
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Oh and our parsley is going a bit mental:
 
I built a fair sized raised bed this spring and we've cleaned up the greenhouse, so we're growing a lot more stuff this year.

Garlic
Onions, two types
Peas
Broccoli
Cucumber
Courgettes
Strawberries
Tomatoes, cherry and beef
Lettuce, lots of different varieties
Potatoes
Chillies
Carrots
Rocket, parsley, coriander, thyme, mint, sage.

I'm fairy new to gardening, so still finding out lots of things, but I'm pleased with how things are coming along.
 
I was dismally late getting it all planted this year :(
Tomatoes are starting to show flowers, and the first batch of salad leaves have been harvested but everything else is lagging behind at the moment.

Assuming that it all catches up to where it should be, we'll have :

standard cucumbers
lemon cucumbers
beef tomatoes
cherry tomatoes
radishes
peas
green beans
potatoes
strawberries
rocket
And about 3 or 4 other varieties of salad leaves (they'll get planted at 2 week intervals throughout the entire Summer because they grow and get harvested so quickly)

My herb bed is looking good this year though (once I'd cut the sage back to let everything else breathe)
We have the above-mentioned sage, plus thyme, mint, rosemary, basil, parsley and chives.
TBH they're probably the only ones I actually use for cooking so herbs are off the shopping list until at least October and it's lovely to just wander out to the garden to grab something to throw in the pot.

Oh - almost forgot the grapevine too.
That's been established for 10 years now and always crops heavily. Unless we get a very hot Summer though the fruit is a little bitter for eating off the vine.
Home wine-making anyone?
 
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I've aimed mine towards things my eldest (44 and half likes to eat) so we have lots of pea plants he will hopefully be able to eat raw, some runner beans he likes picking, tomatoes, a few carrots. Am trying sweetcorn for the first time - planted them out last week and they are doing ok but the weather has not been ideal. These were plugs I had in our small greenhouse, so going to grow a few more from seeds in case these go pear shaped,

One pear tree looking good (just a small patio one), the large one looks like it will have nothing on it but moved it last year so hopefully better next year. Peach tree (first year) in a pot has leaf curl - holding out for one peach! Plum tree looks barren, also in a pot, may try and find somewhere to plant it out next year. Strawberries looking good but will have to chase off the squirrels, blackbirds and slugs away!

Raspberry looks like it will be ok, and will be plenty of wild blackberries.

2nd year for grape plants, may need a bit longer to establish I guess - had a few grapes last year but not expecting too much this year.

Hoping to get some KIWI fruit, tree been in the ground 3 years now so fingers crossed.

Got a few different salads, and rosemary, thyme, sage and mint - all seem fairly indestructible!

Biggest issue so far has been the kids and friends loading their wheelbarrow with earth and dropping it over the raised beds, and my little one (1.5 years) treating the raised beds as a sand pit!
 
@akr we've just bought a kiwi tree, it's quite juvenile at the moment but I was a little worried that it might not flourish in our climate. Do you feed it at all?
 
kelack said:
@akr we've just bought a kiwi tree, it's quite juvenile at the moment but I was a little worried that it might not flourish in our climate. Do you feed it at all?
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Hi Kelly

I should state at this point I am a novice gardener and learning my aim through trial error and impatience!

Don't feed it at all, other than adding some soil around the base as a mulch which had relevant food (I probably should feed it). Lots of buds to flower this year, I'll try and get a photo tomorrow. It's self fertile, though I guess another tree would help. I just like the leaves and the way it looks but getting fruit would be a nice bonus.I also have a fair few plants including a couple of strawberry ones near the base which is probably not ideal.
 
The recent cold snap is playing havoc with our seedlings :(
Some beans, tomatos and chilli plans have all stoped growing or have died off.
 
akr said:
I've aimed mine towards things my eldest (44 and half likes to eat) so we have lots of pea plants he will hopefully be able to eat raw, some runner beans he likes picking, tomatoes, a few carrots. Am trying sweetcorn for the first time - planted them out last week and they are doing ok but the weather has not been ideal.
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He should be out doing the gardening for you if he's going to still be living at home at that age (although I have a suspicion it's a typo due to him particularly enjoying picking runner beans!)

We've successfully grown sweetcorn for the last few years in North Yorkshire, so its certainly achievable as long as the summer doesn't end too early before they've ripened.
 
Having bought our first home, the missus and I are quite keen to start growing some of our own veg. But is there an idiot's guide on what we could and couldn't practically grow, particularly given garden orientation and layout? Neither of us have really ever done anything more than stick flowers into a vase.
 
akr said:
Hi Kelly

I should state at this point I am a novice gardener and learning my aim through trial error and impatience!

Don't feed it at all, other than adding some soil around the base as a mulch which had relevant food (I probably should feed it). Lots of buds to flower this year, I'll try and get a photo tomorrow. It's self fertile, though I guess another tree would help. I just like the leaves and the way it looks but getting fruit would be a nice bonus.I also have a fair few plants including a couple of strawberry ones near the base which is probably not ideal.
Click to expand...

Cool, that's helpful, cheers. It's currently still in a pot as I'm waiting for our fruit garden to be dug (I tried and failed with quite humorous results). My olive tree and bush are not doing well at all so I need to give them a good feed with some Tomorite or something similar so I wondered whether the kiwi would suffer the same.

omens said:
Having bought our first home, the missus and I are quite keen to start growing some of our own veg. But is there an idiot's guide on what we could and couldn't practically grow, particularly given garden orientation and layout? Neither of us have really ever done anything more than stick flowers into a vase.
Click to expand...

Have a look at this, it might be useful:

https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/begin...and-vegetables-in-containers/vegetable-basics
 
eeyore said:
The recent cold snap is playing havoc with our seedlings :(
Some beans, tomatos and chilli plans have all stoped growing or have died off.
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Garden fleece works well at protecting seedlings which you've planted out (if you know its going to be a particularly cold night)
 
Ah I didn't think of if they had been planted out, sorry, having a blonde moment :lol:
 
3 cucumbers that will need picking and eating within the next week, plenty more tiny fruits on them too. Given up on the free seed toms - will collect new seeds from a market bought tom soon, ready for next year. Burping well from all the radishes... Will do successive sowings next time I sow the trough! Spring onions probably went in late but can stay in until we return, Bought a couple of tom plants to shove in the outdoor grow bag that the courgettes aren't in. Courgettes starting to be croppable - will be eating everything that's on them before we go so there should be some new ones when we get back. Runner beans are a bit slow but will probably go monkeypoo while we're away! Must get the auto watering system out of the garage.
 
omens said:
Having bought our first home, the missus and I are quite keen to start growing some of our own veg. But is there an idiot's guide on what we could and couldn't practically grow, particularly given garden orientation and layout? Neither of us have really ever done anything more than stick flowers into a vase.
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Salad leaves have to be the easiest thing ever to get you started.
No special requirements, they do fine in a pot or basket if you don't have much space and they're ready to harvest about 3 weeks after sowing the seeds.
I tend to go for successive plantings across 3 containers a week apart all through the Summer, so no reason why you can't start right now with them.
Pot of compost, sprinkle the seeds on top and keep moist (y)

There's loads of choice out there too.
You can buy pre-packed mixes of to suit your tastes (either mild or spicy) or you can buy the individual seed packets and sprinkle a few of each into a container.
Rocket, Lambs Lettuce and Mizuna are three of my favourites, but the seeds are so cheap that you can have fun experimenting and trying different combinations.

Radishes are another easy option for quick, simple container growing
And potatoes are quite satisfying - again you don't need a lot of room if you buy or make a potato planter.
 
omens said:
Having bought our first home, the missus and I are quite keen to start growing some of our own veg. But is there an idiot's guide on what we could and couldn't practically grow, particularly given garden orientation and layout? Neither of us have really ever done anything more than stick flowers into a vase.
Click to expand...

As Sarah suggests, salads are pretty easy to grow. The only problem I have found are slugs. This year I have tried copper tape around a raised bed and so far it seems to be working, though the largest slug I have ever seen in my life did manage to get in and eat a man size portion of lettuce. I have also tried a few beer traps which do catch some slugs and snails but I very much doubt enough!

In my limited personal experience, Rosemary is virtually indestructible, looks nice and smells nice - every garden should have some! Mint is also pretty tough and both seem to do ok in light \ shade etc. And they come back year after year which is always a nice bonus!

Tomatoes are fairly easy to grow, though may need some support and some sun. You could buy some already developed this year and just plant in a grow bag, water and you should be good.

Courgettes are also pretty easy to grow once they get going and you can get quite a good crop (they do get big though!). Same with Spinach.

Strawberries again pretty easy just plant them and next year you will have more strawberry plants assuming their runners settle somewhere!

There is so much you could do, and of course you have fruit also.

I'd think about what you really like to eat, and see if that is viable for the conditions you have. RHS has plenty of info online, you could get a book or just google per veg you want to plant.

kelack said:
Cool, that's helpful, cheers. It's currently still in a pot as I'm waiting for our fruit garden to be dug (I tried and failed with quite humorous results). My olive tree and bush are not doing well at all so I need to give them a good feed with some Tomorite or something similar so I wondered whether the kiwi would suffer the same.

Have a look at this, it might be useful:

https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/begin...and-vegetables-in-containers/vegetable-basics
Click to expand...

Just to be clear I meant I don't feed it, as opposed to you should not feed it!

I have something very similar as no room for a greenhouse - works well, but make sure you secure the base!
 
TopBanana said:
He should be out doing the gardening for you if he's going to still be living at home at that age (although I have a suspicion it's a typo due to him particularly enjoying picking runner beans!)

We've successfully grown sweetcorn for the last few years in North Yorkshire, so its certainly achievable as long as the summer doesn't end too early before they've ripened.
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:) ahem yes 4 and a half! That said I'm 40 and I do enjoy picking runner beans! :D

Had another look and the corn is definitely still with us - could just do with a bit more sun, let's see. Have you ever grown peas alongside sweetcorn? I've read it's good as it puts the nitrogen back in the soil that the sweetcorn takes out, and the the sweetcorn acts as the climbing frame for the peas? Am thinking of trying it but fear my peas will overtake my sweetcorn in size.

This is getting quite addictive, I'm already thinking about where I am going to plant things for next year!
 
akr said:
The only problem I have found are slugs. This year I have tried copper tape around a raised bed and so far it seems to be working, though the largest slug I have ever seen in my life did manage to get in and eat a man size portion of lettuce. I have also tried a few beer traps which do catch some slugs and snails but I very much doubt enough!
Click to expand...

I've invested in some of those cheapy plastic hanging baskets and I've got them hanging from the greenhouse roof - so that's my salad safe from any slugs and snails this year :D

(y) to the Rosemary and Mint suggestions too.
BTW Most of the herbs I have started life in the fruit&veg section in the supermarket as potted herbs.
At 99p a pot they're much cheaper than garden centre 'garden herbs' and grow perfectly fine when they're planted out.
 
SarahLee said:
I've invested in some of those cheapy plastic hanging baskets and I've got them hanging from the greenhouse roof - so that's my salad safe from any slugs and snails this year :D

(y) to the Rosemary and Mint suggestions too.
BTW Most of the herbs I have started life in the fruit&veg section in the supermarket as potted herbs.
At 99p a pot they're much cheaper than garden centre 'garden herbs' and grow perfectly fine when they're planted out.
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Sounds good - I think I may drill into the wall next year and try to grow some strawberries up high, but might also try some salad, had not thought of that! What I really need is a hedgehog! I thought about trying to rehome an injured one but you need a completely secure garden and I also have a fox den at the bottom of the garden under the neighbours shed - but the shed is coming up so that issue will go away.
 
I've spent last night having a read of some of the RHS links as well as going on to the moneysaving forum and having a look there. Then it hit me. Cats. We have neighbours with cats and some of them will happily roam around our back garden. Not been an issue so far but I imagine it would be when we're just trying to plant stuff.
 
You can keep cats off an area easier than birds - some netting a couple of inches off the ground will do the job. Ground pepper can dissuade them as can orange peel.
 
I use coffee grounds from filter coffee and ground pepper. Keeps cats and slugs away
 
I don't have a problem with cats as thankfully my neighbour who had 6 cats has moved away. I am growing lots of mint. I tried seed but not having a huge success so I also bought store bought mint. I took cuttings a few days ago, popped in a jsr of water and they have rooted well already. I'm planning several large pots around our decking area followed by several large mojitos later in the year ;)

Parsley grew well from seed but not chives and basil. I think my seeds are too old now so will buy a fresh pack next year.
 
SarahLee said:
I've invested in some of those cheapy plastic hanging baskets and I've got them hanging from the greenhouse roof - so that's my salad safe from any slugs and snails this year :D
Click to expand...
Don't believe it.. slugs/snails will climb up a wall, along a bracket and down a chain to get to something they fancy. Wrap a little bare copper wire around either the bracket or the hanging chain/straps.


Quick link to the allotment thread..
https://www.talkphotography.co.uk/threads/eeyores-great-allotment-thread.580147/
 
Julie1979 said:
I'm planning several large pots around our decking area followed by several large mojitos later in the year ;)
Click to expand...


A friend in Crete had a bar on the beach (So Far So Good in Aghia Galini if anyone else has visited it!) and had a wrecked boat full of mint for Mojitos. Many happy evenings spent attempting to use all the mint - I can even remember a couple of them! He's now waiting for another boat to wash up on the beach where his new bar is so he can do the same but with a couple of other herbs as well for the kitchen.
 
Alastair said:
Don't believe it.. slugs/snails will climb up a wall, along a bracket and down a chain to get to something they fancy.
Click to expand...

Shhhh . . . don't tell them that!
We have a particularly stupid breed of slug down here who haven't quite figured that one out yet, so don't give the game away ;)

Good tip with the copper wire (y)
 
Hi, this year I (I live and work as a gardener on a hundred acre estate in Shropshire) will be growing,

Broad beans
Runners beans
French beans (climbing and dwarf)
Mange tout
Lettuce (many types)
Summer Purslane
Sweet corn
Potatoes (Charlotte, international Kidney,)
Tomatoes
Cucumbers
Cucamelons
Aubergines
Giant Bolivian Achocha
Onions
Purple sprouting broccoli
Garlic
Courgettes
Spaghetti squash
Sweet peppers
Swiss chard
Beetroot
Parsley
Celeriac
Spinach
Radish
Cavolo nero
Chicory
As well as the perennials
Rubbarb
Globe Artichokes
Jerusalem Artichoke
Apples
Pears
Peach
Raspberries
Gooseberries
Red and black currents
Asparagus
Figs

I think that's it
Now I've written it all down I don't know how we got it all in the kitchen garden ;)
 
Nostromo said:
Hi, this year I (I live and work as a gardener on a hundred acre estate in Shropshire) will be growing,

Broad beans
Runners beans
French beans (climbing and dwarf)
Mange tout
Lettuce (many types)
Summer Purslane
Sweet corn
Potatoes (Charlotte, international Kidney,)
Tomatoes
Cucumbers
Cucamelons
Aubergines
Giant Bolivian Achocha
Onions
Purple sprouting broccoli
Garlic
Courgettes
Spaghetti squash
Sweet peppers
Swiss chard
Beetroot
Parsley
Celeriac
Spinach
Radish
Cavolo nero
Chicory
As well as the perennials
Rubbarb
Globe Artichokes
Jerusalem Artichoke
Apples
Pears
Peach
Raspberries
Gooseberries
Red and black currents
Asparagus
Figs

I think that's it
Now I've written it all down I don't know how we got it all in the kitchen garden ;)
Click to expand...

We need pictures! That's an impressive list. Out of interest do you for cucumbers outside or inside?
 
Inside the greenhouse for the cucumbers, peppers, Aubergines, cucamelons, peaches. And the tomatoes go in the polytunnel. I don't have any photos of the kitchen garden fro this year but here are some from last year.
Please excuse the quality of the photos, they were taken with my phone.
 
Nostromo said:
Inside the greenhouse for the cucumbers, peppers, Aubergines, cucamelons, peaches. And the tomatoes go in the polytunnel. I don't have any photos of the kitchen garden fro this year but here are some from last year.
Please excuse the quality of the photos, they were taken with my phone.
Click to expand...

That looks amazing Dominic! I think that greenhouse is actually bigger than my house! lol I shall post some pictures of mine, it's a tab smaller and less organised! :)

I've planted on cucumber plant outside but may get another to grow inside my 'greenhouse'.
 
'Ok here we go - apologies for photos, taken with phone and getting dark!:

1. Sweetcorn and some peas. Peas grown from seed, sweetcorn bought and raised in greenhouse when small plants (still are fairly small but bigger!)

20150605_201506.jpg


2. Peas that were planted out earlier, lettuce, am growing carrots in the cut up drainpipes. 1 cucumber plant. Pots have sunflowers that are not doing so well, think I kept them inside too long.

20150605_201349.jpg


3. Raspberry, Kiwi tree @kelack , Grape in pot, apple tree in ground, peach tree in pot (has leaf curl but still holding onto one peach!) and about to open kiwi flowers I hope in 2nd picture

20150605_201418.jpg


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4. Tomato plants growing from seed, the holes are where I took the peas out now planted with the sweetcorn

20150605_201744.jpg


5. Patio so sort out, hopefully rearrange a bit for next year and plant some of the plants better. Rosemary, sage, thyme, mint, strawberries, tomato in pot, trying an aubergine and courgette in pots.

20150605_201553.jpg


6. Pear tree - took a battering in the wind, still has a decent amount of pears starting out for it's size. Had 3 last year, hoping for more this year as it's been settled for the over a year in the same spot now.

20150605_201650.jpg
 
So far it's looking like a good year for fruit (figs, apples, plums) but I need to rebuild the cages over the soft fruits after the wind earlier in the week. Nice to see someone else with grape vines..

The new vines (Pinot Noir) as planted on 10th May..



Now showing some good growth today, I'll need to get some canes in soon..



And signs of things to come, flowers forming on the established Mueller-Thurgau hopefully a portent of bunches of grapes to follow..



Our fig (Brown Turkey) is going mad this year, there's already a very good set of fruit.
 
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