Allotment/garden thread 2013

Don't worry, it will be OK. Grass roots are very shallow and a few inches of fine soil over the gravel will do. Make sure it's firmly tamped down and level before rolling out the turf. Finally lay a plank over the turf and tread down to make good contact before watering.

Might be worth spreading some sand over the gravel first to fill the voids before spreading the soil otherwise it could all sink in when we get some heavy rain.

This house has a maintenance free back garden Foinavon, tons and tons of pea gravel  

It is that i have been clearing over the past 3 days so i can have a nice 30 ft square of lawn next to the house with a circle of paving and a sundial or bird table in the centre of it. With a nice border all around the lawn.

I have already divided the garden with picket fencing. The other half of the garden is for the sheds, greenhouse and veg garden of course


So i guess it will be okay to leave the barrier down then, just raise the level with a bit of top soil and lay the turf as per the normal way. Tread the soil firm and level and lay the turf.

Yes,leave it, unless you really really want to shovel tons of gravel to dig it out. As it's the permeable fabric type it will do no harm at all to your lawn.

Well, I tried to watch the allotment programme on Tv and fell asleep after 15 minutes. Fortunately I had recorded it so tried again from the point where I'd nodded off and the same thing happened. Boring.

agreed Foinavon - week 1 of it added nothing to the table tbh


only bit was i recognized a few of the radishes - whey!

There's a programme about photosynthesis on BBC4 now.

Photosynthesis

"The air we breathe, and all the food we eat, is created from water, sunlight, carbon dioxide and a few minerals. That's it, nothing else. It sounds simple, but this process is one of the most fascinating and complicated in all of science. Without it there could be no life on earth. It's that important.

For centuries people believed that plants grew by eating soil. In the 17th century, pioneer botanists began to make the connection between the growth of a plant and the energy from the sun. They discovered how plants use water, sunlight and carbon dioxide to produce sugars - how, in fact, a plant grows.

The process of photosynthesis is still at the heart of scientific research today. Universities across the world are working hard to replicate in the lab what plants do with ruthless efficiency. Their goal is to produce a clean, limitless fuel and if they get it right it will change all our lives."

Yes, watched that Tommy and the programme about Soil which followed it. Both better structured and infinitely more interesting than the allotment challenge. I think the photosynthesis programme was a repeat or I've seen something similar in the recent past, but that made it no less absorbing.

Did some sowing yesterday, carrots in raised beds made from builders bags, broad beans (dreadnought - these were fabulous last year), and radishes in the borders.
Glad I did as the weather today is awful.

I'm growing in boxes but trying the square foot gardening method. Put some peas and mange tout in and will go to the garden centre tomorrow to buy Tomato, Pepper, Chilli and Courgette for my £4 Tomato House I bought in Tesco last year Plan for mostly legumes in these pots but I've 14, each a square foot and will sow in succession.

First flowers blooming on the greenhouse tomatoes this morning. Not long till summer.

Saw just a few minutes of that BBC programme on photosynthesis. The presenter was describing commercial greenhouses, where carbon dioxide levels are tripled to improve the sweetness and yield of tomatoes and peppers.

He had an excellent opportunity to describe how photosynthesis evolved at a time when the planet's atmosphere contained vast quantities of CQ2 and no oxygen; how plants have stripped out virtually all of that CO2, converted it to oxygen and thus allowed animal life to appear. Would the BBC allow him to tell us directly that vegetation, and thus all life, has been at its most abundant when CO2 levels were far higher? That current levels of CO2 are dangerously low?

"In the past," he droned, "carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere were very..."

Go on! Say it!

"... Very different from how they are today."

Censored? Bottled it? I don't know, but I switched off.

Why don't tomatoes in the supermarkets taste like they did when I was a nipper?  And why don't they smell like they did?

If I tried to grow some, is it likely they will be like I remember?!

They will smell like they used to, and they will have a more subtle, tomato-ey taste, but to be honest I find shop ones are sometimes sweeter than the ones I grow, because commercial growers usually raise the levels of carbon dioxide back to those which were prevailing when the plant evolved.

I thought they were cultivated now for yield, size and a long expiry at the expense of flavour.

Doing a Google provides a lot of answers including one about not storing in the fridge I didn't know about.

An interesting point about the early days of photosynthesis is that the seas were rich in iron. The oxygen reacted with the iron to form haematite which precipitated out to form the vast deposits of iron ore we exploit today. This regulatory process ensured that oxygen levels didn't become too high and kill of the cyano-bacteria which were the first to use photosynthesis as far as we know. Eventually cells evolved which consume the oxygen, releasing energy, creating the present self-regulatory system.

I read about the square foot system some years ago Ovalman. Sounds good for people like you with limited space. Let us know how you get on.

Here we are coming up to the end of April already.
Time to think about sowing pumpkin and squash seeds for transplanting outside in June. I'm sowing Marina di Chioggia and Crown Prince in my heated propagator today. As soon as they germinate they will go into the cold frame to make way for a second batch and for a few cucumber seeds. Not keen on courgettes but if you like them they can be started now too.

Finally got my Rhubarb wine on the go, added 6 over ripe Oranges and a couple of apples, it has to ferment for a week before I transfer it to a demijohn.

Went to look at another private allotment but it's just a bit too far away (6.5 Miles) so think I'll give it a miss.

Planted Broadbean, peas, Mange Tout and Courgettes.

Bought MoneyMaker Tomato, Apache Chilli and a Pepper plant (no variety given)

Sounds good Ovalman.
Agree 6+ miles is a bit too far, ideally walking distance is best as you don't have all the hassle with the gates getting the car in and out. Mine is 1.6 miles which is the limit of what is convenient.
You are probably right regarding buying tomato plants. I have 50 or 60 seedlings cluttering up the cold frame and I only need a dozen at most. The rest will be given away.
What's the weather like in Northern Ireland? Just had a hail storm here.

In the city it's not too bad, I think we are 2 weeks behind the South of England for last frosts (which have finished hopefully). With the degree or 2 warmer in the city I can plant a bit earlier. We never seem to get the extremes thankfully. 

Forgot to mention I ordered a dwarf Cherry Tree: http://www.jparkers.co.uk/plant-0003368-cc-1/cherry-kordia-patio/

I'm going to order dwarf Apple and Pear trees but not until November. If you order online always check if there are % off codes or Quidco/ TopCashBack. I got a further 10% off thanks to a quick Google.

Just curious, where is everyone else based on this thread?

I'm based in Birmingham which is also a couple of weeks behind the South. We remain vulnerable to night frosts right up until the end of May as we are further from the sea than you.
Kordia looks an interesting variety, hadn't heard of it before. Might get a couple as they will be easy to net when the fruit ripen and they are not expensive.

Of the ones I remember,

Smar Tarse lives in Notts

Bongo, Sedgefield,

Tommy Toes, Stoke (don't think he's a gardener though)

Screaming and Rob Dylan live down south somewhere.

I am near brighton.  Think screaming is somerset or devon way.

Yes, I remember now, he was dreaming of buying a house on the Somerset levels.

A couple of miles west of Taunton.

The only reason I mentioned the Levels is because property should theoretically be dirt-cheap there, and I would be happy to live with and adapt to flooding if it meant being able to afford a house with land. But the combination of Government-subsidized insurance schemes and residents' expectations that flooding can somehow be made to disappear if enough money is spent means that property on the Levels is still priced as ludicrously as anywhere else.

Picked my first radishes yesterday. Don't think I've ever harvested any in April before. Only planted one row, as I wasn't particularly hopeful sowing so early. Just took a chance on the anomalously warm soil temps after the mild winter. Enjoyed a fresh and pleasant salad of radishes, dandelion leaves and turnip thinnings, mixed with some Caesar salad dressing to counteract the bitter taste of the dandelions.

The other early plantings haven't gone too well. A few carrots have just about broken soil, but no spring onions at all. The row of swedes I sowed in error aren't doing too badly, though, and the turnips I sowed a little later are flourishing nicely. I'm coming round to the view that hours of daylight is more critical than temperatures and, apart from radishes, which seem indestructible, it's simply not worth trying to sow crops early.

Will wait until after next weekend to sow some more, as there's been a consistent signal for a short plunge of cold air then in the weather models.

Have transplanted my pepper seedlings into 8"-pots in the greenhouse, and they're doing fine along with the tomatoes (first blooms appeared on Wednesday).

Last month I laid a stretch of weedy old hazel that was growing behind the greenhouse and blocking sunlight. Now the trunks have been cut to lie horizontally there's a riot of new vertical shoots and greenery erupting into life. Looking forward to some cobnuts in the autumn, if I can pre-empt the squirrels.

ground frost alert for the w/e lads...

Thanks Delta. Going to check today to make sure none of my potatoes are poking through yet.
As my tomato seedlings are in the cold frame I shall give them a hot water bottle at night when the cold snap comes. (Plastic jerrycan filled with warm water will keep the chill off).
Incidentally, always water seedlings in containers with lukewarm water (no more than skin temperature) not cold straight from the tap.

All the potatoes had come through and were in leaf so good job I went.
Earthed them all up so protected now.
The spring cabbages planted last Autumn are ready, spring greens for dinner.
Noticed that weed seeds are germinating so the soil is warm enough to do outdoors sowing. The old way of having a buxom maiden sit bare bottomed on the soil is no longer feasible in this politically correct age so have to have another way of checking that the soil is warm enough.

1000 posts already! who would have thought it.

My Cherry Tree arrived this morning, no blossom but in great condition. I wasn't expecting any fruit this year but hopefully it will get established and have some next year.

I'm able to fit 2 grow bags into my tomato house and maybe some small pots so that's double the growth I was expecting. Gonna have my Tomato and Pepper in one and will now grow Cucumber and maybe try a squash. I could also squeeze a chilli plant in between the 2. Upside down planters are starting to fall apart but I'll buy new ones and fill them with something. Rhubarb is starting to show growth again (what a great hardy plant!) and my peas and beans are starting to poke through. I said to my wife I wasn't going to go crazy but I lied

I have plans for a few other things over the coming month.

Their giving away bags of free compost and manure in my local refuse centre on Monday, I'll try and nab a few bags.

Always a good idea to give rhubarb a liquid feed after it's given you a good crop. At the moment mine is growing well and I'm pulling just a few sticks every week. Thinking of making jam tomorrow so will need an armful to make it worthwhile.
The first batch of winter squash has germinated so turfed them out of the propagator to make room for a dozen more. These should be sprouting in about five days at which point I will need the space for climbing beans.
Planning to sow hardy annuals in the border over the next few days. Escholtzia, cornflower, Virginian stock and love in a mist. Should give a good display well into September.

Had a bit of trouble finding this thread but how is everyone getting on?

My Tomato plant is bearing it's first fruit and chilli is flowering well. Rhubarb is close to gathering again - thanks for the tip Foinavan, I fed it a liquid feed and it's doing really well in such a small container. Maybe a good idea for anyone thinking of growing it. Peas/ beans are sprouting well and I just planted some beetroot and radishes using the square foot method.

My Cherry Tree seems to be struggling? any idea's?

Hanging upside down planters are coming down. Lidl has Strawberry and Tomato hanging baskets on Thursday so I'm going to replace the upside down planters with these.

All in all, except for the tree, everything is growing well in such a small space. I've still some space to fill in my grow bags and I think I'll try some squash/ cucumbers in these.

Can you describe what is wrong with the cherry tree Ovalman or perhaps post a photo?
Seem to remember it was bare roots so will need plenty of water, (but not waterlogged) to become established. Phosphate fertiliser such as bone-meal helps roots establish after planting and of course plenty of light. If the plant dies a reputable nursery will replace it for you.

All of my tender plants, tomatoes, squash, climbing beans are still in the cold frame but will go out early June. Have suffered an unusual amount of slug/snail damage due to mild wet winter and spring. It's annoying to lose young tender plants but can't be helped.

Outdoor strawberries have set a lot of fruit this year (but are still green) as have the apple and quince trees. Kent strawberries are already in the shops and are exceptionally sweet and fragrant, just hoping mine will be as good.

I was about to take a photo and upload it but I thought the water logging might have been a problem so I went to poke more holes in the base of the pot. While it probably was getting too much water and not enough drainage (I didn't put stones at the base of the pot) I did notice strong roots popping through the holes I had already drilled. I poked more holes in the base to give it some more drainage but what I think is happening is the tree is pushing all of it's resources into it's roots at the expense of everything above. I think once it gets established the top half will get growing.

I wasn't expecting anything from it this year anyway, just got a bit worried with what little leaves were wilting and turning brown. I'm much happier seeing strong roots poke through and now with the extra drainage I think it will be fine. I'll report back in a month or so.

Can't say the same for the blueberry bush I have in a pot. There is very little greenery on the plant and I think it will go in the bin. I gave it no care last year and let it dry out several times.

Everything else is looking well in pots and things are starting to produce. I planted some Beetroot and radishes although I won't eat much of the latter.

Sounds like you need a bigger pot for the cherry tree.

Assume you know that blueberries need acidic soil and should be in  ericaceous compost like you would use for Rhododendrons and azaleas.
Mine get a dressing of leaf mould every year.

dont blueberry need to be in ericaceous compost only?

blimey Fionavon - if I didnt have to spell check that could have beat you too it  -

strange looking word Delta, you obviously know your stuff.

Do you grow blueberries too? looks like a bumper crop coming along this year, have just netted mine against the dratted pigeons.

no I gave up as never had much success between the compost keep drying out and the birds beating me to them - felt my time was more fruitful with other things...

Yeah, it's in eracious soil - I just didn't look after it last year. Time for the bin and start again, I've still some soil left so it's only a plant I need.

The Cherry Tree is in a bigger pot than displayed on the site where I bought it from

http://i62.tinypic.com/2zr27g5.jpg

http://www.jparkers.co.uk/plant-0003368-cc-1/cherry-kordia-patio/

As I said I'm not as worried now but you can see the dying leaves (ignore the rubbish behind it )

The pot looks big enough for now but wouldn't read too much into the catalogue photos. Don't like the look of the leaves, even the green ones are drooping lifelessly. Looks like it dried out after the leaf buds had opened but could be something else. Wish I could share your confidence, it might be worth asking Parkers to replace it.

It's the strength of the roots that are reassuring me, I didn't plant it too deep and there wasn't much roots with the plant. There were poking through the holes I had drilled originally so I put another few holes in to help drainage more.

I'll ask them for advice and show them the photo and see what they say.

I don't know is this is of any use to anyone but at present Sainsbury's are offering three living pot herbs for the price of two (the cheapest one is free).

They're well grown things - and may be suitable to plant outside, if you so wish.
Good value.

Here's the collection available:

http://tinyurl.com/op4zjk4

They took me a bit by surprise when mine were delivered today mind you. I couldn't believe how big they were when I took the protective sleeves off the 3 I bought.

It's like the hanging gardens of Babylon in here now!

they look good TT

They're very good, Delta. Really well looked after, well grown and as fresh as a daisy.
I bought a pot of Basil, Rosemary and another one of Thyme.
Total cost: £2.75

Even if I kill them (which I probably will) you can't complain at that price.

By the way, you can find them under the fresh vegetable tab: 'fresh and pot herbs' on Sainsbury's online pages.
I suppose they'll be somewhere near to the veg in store.

Planted out the squash and climbing beans today as the nights are getting warmer.
Was surprised by the amount of moisture just under the surface and the consistency can best be described as sludge. No wonder the blackbirds are having a field day every time it rains as the worms have nowhere to go. I normally mulch after planting but decided to leave the soil bare in the hope of some evaporation in order to aerate the soil.
the slugs have wiped out the spinach seedlings and half of the beetroot so need to sow again but will wait a week or two in the hope that things will dry out.
We need June to be a scorcher!

FAO Foinavon: Excited by your purchase of new Shropshire potatoes yesterday I went to town today to see if there were any available here.
No such luck I'm afraid - but there were new Cheshires on the open-air market stall.
Whoop!

This is what they look like. Note, they always look like this: Very dark soil covering with bits of 'papery skin' showing through:

http://i57.tinypic.com/16gij2s.jpg

Washed:

http://i60.tinypic.com/v457k2.jpg


I haven't had any yet but when when washing a few under the tap for the photo if I'd have rubbed them a bit harder with my fingers all of the skin would have come off  - that's how light the skin is on them.

They cost just £1 for 4lbs.
What a bargain!

Hi Tommy, thanks for the pics. That's very cheap for new potatoes. They look sound, I'm sure you will enjoy them.
The Shropshire Maris Peer are an oval salad type with a distinctive yellowish waxy flesh and a flavour reminiscent of Charlottes but even better. Those Cheshire potatoes are round and are a different variety probably Rocket which is very early to bulk up. If so the flesh will be white with a different, less pronounced, flavour. Nevertheless any fresh new potatoes are a delight at this time of the year.
With the warmer growing conditions out there, I'm expecting the first allotment potatoes in about a fortnight and will post a photo for you. Hope the slugs don't eat them all first.

Tommy,

There are some Shropshire Maris Peer in my local ASDA supermarket.
They are labelled Organic, the farmer is stated to be Nick Taylor.
http://www.taylororganicfarms.co.uk/

Obviously don't want to send you on a wild goose chase as they might not be in every store but as they are in Shirley it's possible they are also in Stoke which is not a million miles away.

Cheers Foinavon but I'm more than happy now I have some new Cheshires. It's a close call for me which I'd prefer when the Shropshires and the Cheshires are about - even though they taste so different.

Plus, I'm very happy to be supporting small traders now I'm buying almost 100% of my fruit and veg requirements from the indoor and outdoor market stalls in town. It feels so much better than paying (often through the nose) to the big supermarkets.

I got some fantastic Yorkshire tomatoes yesterday from the indoor stall and it said on the wrapper: 'Mill Nurseries 1st class Yorkshire Tomatoes. Marketed by East Ridng Growers' - and it brought a smile to my face.

My pet hate is having to buy Canary, Dutch, Guernsey and Polish - and God knows who else's - tomatoes from supermarkets when English tomatoes are the finest in the world - yet are of very limited availability if they won't do catastrophic (for the farmers) deals with 'the big boys'.

I bought 4 punnets of these Yorkshire toms weighing about 500g each for just 69p and they're 'proper' tomatoes.

9p per punnet by the way - but it really is massively cheaper buying from the stalls than the supermarkets.

Plus, it's the old saying: "Use them or lose them" isn't it. It would be terrible if there was nowhere else to buy from other than the supermarkets.

There's only 2 fruit and veg stalls left in Hanley now - and no greengrocers shops at all, nor a single butcher's shop.

Unbelievable for a town centre in a City.

Damn numbers!

*69p per punnet!

Just looked at my receipt - and (surprise surprise) it was the wrong number!

60p a punnet.

Looks good value Tommy.
It's irksome that so much produce such as tomatoes and flowers comes from the Netherlands which has a similar climate to much of Britain. That said the siting of commercial greenhouses and poly-tunnels is often the subject of controversy.
Just like electricity,roads and railways, everyone wants to use them but many of the same people object to having them next door.

I've just checked something else. I bought some tomatoes from Tesco last week as I had to have my delivery of fish from them (they do the best fish) and as I was out of tomatoes I had to buy some (I can't survive without tomatoes!).

I bought 2 packs of 6 - of which Tesco are proudly boasting their 'only 69p' ads at you at the moment.
Well, they weigh 300g - and they're flaming Spanish!

No competition for the English toms at 60p for 500g from the market.

Agreed, Foinavon.
It really makes me mad about the tomatoes in particular though as, in my opinion, every supermarket in Britain ought to be stuffed to the gunnels with them at this time of year.

Same as English strawberries. How can they possibly sell Spanish/whatever ones when it's English strawberry time?

Ants have set up camp in and around my rosemary plant. Is this a good or bad thing or neither? I do wonder if they are stunting the growth to it though - hasn't grown much recently.

There's a colony of ants in the middle of my veg patch and they seem to make no difference. If anything, all their burrowing must break up and aerate the soil, which is a good thing. And all that crawling around must help with pollination.

I've never really thought about them, other than being a part of what makes soil the way it is, along with worms, microbes, spiders and whatnot.

But I stand to be corrected, as always...

Agree with you, they do more good than harm. They eat many insect larvae and aerate the soil. The main downside is the nurture of aphids but those are easily squidged  between finger and thumb. If you turn a nest over when digging, some of the exposed eggs make a treat for the ever vigilant robin before the ants can take them underground again.

Good afternoon.

I thought this link might be of interest to some of the gardeners in here.

It's about watercress  (the large leafy type) and how brilliant it is nutritionally.
It's packed full of Vit C, calcium and iron - as well as numerous other micro nutrients.

I had no idea it was so good for you before I saw the programme and have always thought of it as little more than a weed, but after watching the programme I then bought a big bag of the stuff and have been adding it at the very end of stir-frying meat and veg in a sauce and also to salads with plenty of vinegar on. Both methods mean you can't taste a the watercress - which suits me fine!
I'll definitely keep buying it now that  know of its benefits.

The whole half hour programme is good as it covers how they make Guinness and how Coleman's mustard is produced - as well as the watercress bit - but if you just want to watch the part about the watercress it starts at about 5 mins into the programme:

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/food-unwrapped/4od#3743171

Thought the whole "Food Unwrapped" series entertaining and informative Tommy.

Growing watercress is best left to the professionals as a source of clean running water is required. A related plant, land cress, is however easy and safe to grow and can be grown all year round in the smallest patch of ground even if shaded.
here is more information
www.quickcrop.co.uk/plantdetail.php?id=land_cress

Many people may not know that the popular flowering plant nasturtium is also good to eat in salads and grows profusely in almost any soil. The leaves are delicious and slightly peppery and the flowers make an edible decoration to any salad. The seeds too can be eaten and have been used as a flavouring for pickled onions or pickled red cabbage.

It pains me to see sprawling beds of nasturtium in people's gardens. The leaves and flowers on mine get picked on sight.

Picked some sprigs of elderberry for tea last night. If you eat too many of them raw, they can give you tummy ache, so best to heat them, which destroys any toxins in the tiny seeds.

Pull the fruit off with a fork and discard the stalks, which shouldn't be eaten. I heated up mine with bits of windfall apple from the garden, some blackberries I picked up alongside the elderberry and a chopped up banana which the greengrocer in Taunton had been selling at 50p/kg because they were ripe. All poured into a the contents of a tin of Ambrosia custard (45p/tin in £oundstretcher) and seasoned with ginger and cinnamon.

The result is a delicious purple mess, total cost 53p.

Apple and blackberry is a great combination Screaming. This year though, the blackberries around here are not at all sweet yet.
have just started picking James Grieve apples which are exceptionally juicy and tasty. Pity they are not seen in the shops as they are better than what's usually on offer.
The apples on my other two trees are not ready yet but looks like it will be a good crop this year.

Hi Foinavon, Hope you are well. Even though I do not contribute much(enough) I enjoy all the allotment posts.  I have a James Grieve in my new'ish orchard - not fruited yet but you are correct an excellent apple.  What else do you have?

Re veg. not sure if I ever confirmed to you that my Florence Fennel was a complete failure (as I think you predicted) despite being in a sunny spot in sunny Sussex.  Just one recommendation from this year, the Climbing French Bean Blue Lake (widely available). Have been picking for nearly six weeks and picked just over 2kg this morning.  Am currently supplying the village nearly!. Admittedly there are 26 plants (in a double row) over a 3.5m length. One of the best things about this variety is that it doesn't make a huge mount of leaf (unlike Runners) so the crop is easy to find and pick, so virtually nothing runs to "bean".

Hi Blackbarn,you seem to be enjoying your gardening.
As well as James Grieve I have Jonagold which I'm training as an espalier and a third apple tree where I have forgotten the name. One of the old guys on the allotment site was into conservation of endangered Worcestershire varieties and had a choice of dessert or cider varieties. I chose a dessert type on a dwarfing stock and it's covered in fruit this year. Nowhere near ripe though and they look as if they will keep well.
Apart from apples, I grow quince, plums (Victoria) and damsons, the latter having already been converted into jam already. Used to have a pear tree in the back garden but it grew too big and had to cut it down. Which other varieties have you planted?

Haven't tried Blue Lake and am growing Cobra climbing bean this year. Also grow dwarf Borlotti and Impero Bianco (cannellino bean)from the Taste of Italy range. These will be grown on for shelling to eat both fresh and dried for winter use in stews.
Like you, I give most of the green French beans and runner beans to neighbours as they are best eaten fresh and only a few plants still produce a glut in August.

About a third of my allotment space is taken up by winter squash at the moment. There are 24 plants, half are Crown Prince and half Marina di Chioggia. I grew these last year and photos are still on my site if you click on Foinavon.

Lets hope that the night frosts keep away for another 6 weeks at least.

Been picking blackberries beside the Tone since the end of July down here in Zummerzet. Extraordinarily early. The smaller ones which cover the hedgerow in my garden aren't sweet enough yet.

Decent crop of apples on the tree in the garden, though not quite on the scale of last year's bumper crop. On the other hand I've never known so few to fall and get damaged by the wind. I don't know whether that's because the same ultra-early spring which has supplied a bumper crop of berries has somehow also toughened the stalks or whether it's just been less windy than usual.

The late row of radishes I sowed 3 weeks ago have been enjoying the cool, damp conditions. Other than that there's just three or four swedes and turnips left in the ground, along with the potatoes. I wait for the farmer to harvest his spuds as the sign that the time is right for mine - after all, they're grown from the seeds from his sowing which failed to enter the soil.

Tomatoes in the greenhouse have been the best ever - still loads ripening in there. Peppers on the other hand have been the worst ever. Lots of leaf curl early for some reason, and the fruits which have set have been a magnet for pests burrowing in them. Here's hoping for a December 2010-style freeze-up to reduce the pest population.

I like your economical style screaming, I have to buy my seed potatoes. Had to dig them in July as they were hit by early blight. Managed to save most of them and the yield was good this year. I grew Ratte as a salad potato and the flavour and texture is excellent. Have made a note of Tommy's suggestion, Maris Peer and will grow a row or two of those next year.
If you are in Brum next July Tommy,you can have a bagful with my compliments.
Outdoor tomatoes were ravaged by blight yet again and are a total write off. Maybe next year, we live in hope.

Anyone grow big potatoes ?  whats a decent one for baking ,everything has done well in the garden this year ,although been trying to grow pumpkins for a few years and not much luck ,have a tryphid like pumkin plants ,plenty flowers  but no fruiting bodies ,suppose i should have stopped them running and forced them on but kind of just left them to it.
Nights fairly drawing in but looks like getting decent temps again ,will be interesting to see how it affects things .
Was eating fully ripe brambles today ...very early and weather seem to have had  a fresh feel about it this last week or so and been some cold nights  as if we have jumped straight into autumn .

I grow Desiree for baking potatoes as they bulk up early and are tolerant of dry conditions more than most. Good flavour too.
Where do you live BnB? Anywhere South of the Humber should be fine for pumpkins.
Are you growing for eating or for Halloween carving?

Would refer you to Crown Prince and Marina di Chioggia mentioned in an earlier post if you are looking for flavour and good keeping qualities. They taste similar to butternut squash but are much more reliable in the British climate and have a higher yield.

Foinavon, the house I previously lived in had a small pond with a fountain and little did I know at the time but it produced tons of watercress!

I always thought it was just 'pond weed' and occasionally used to grab loads of it off the top of the water and throw it in the bin.

If only I'd known what a great bit of nutritious food I had available for free right in front of my eyes, eh?

Yes, would probably been fine to eat in that situation Tommy.

The main danger is growing it in water which may contain liver flukes such as unfiltered water that has passed through fields where sheep graze. Also you wouldn't want to eat raw cress grown in stagnant water or water containing fecal matter.
Commercial growers are aware of the pitfalls and go to great lengths to maintain hygienic conditions.

Ah, good points Foinavon.

I don't know whether mine would have been safe to eat or not then.

My dog decided it was her 'cooling off pool' in the summertime and would go and sit in it for ages - which always made me laugh!
But it did ensure I had to keep topping it up with fresh tap water regularly and the fountain kept it aerated, so it always looked very healthy.

Probably as well I never risked it though?

You could still eat it, washed then cooked like spinach, Tommy.

Thanks for the offer of a free bag of Maris Peers next year, by the way!

Cheers Foinavon. It's all 'after timing' now anyway. We live and learn though don't we?

You are welcome Tommy.

Because of the programme 'Food Unwrapped' in the section about watercress, when the woman was going around an outside market asking people to place cards where they thought the fruit and veg with the most Vit C, iron and calcium were - and the correct answer to Vit C was red peppers and not citrus fruit, as everyone there (plus myself) thought would be the right answer, it led me to read up online about peppers and their nutritional value as I've been eating loads of them, in all colours, this year in stir-fry meals.

I couldn't believe how brilliant they are nutritionally!

One of the best foods you can eat - and they, like tomatoes (which I did know about), are considered a fruit and not a vegetable.

As I said, we live and learn don't we?
Which is great - but there really is a trick being missed by all the farmers and food producers in this country by not pointing out the immense benefits fruit and veg give you.

We all know that they are 'good for you' - but how fantastic they can be for a person is very much a light hidden under a bushel.

Foinavon ....i am well north  of the Humber ,seeds were started indoors in late march and then brought on  undercover in the garden but  took a long time to get going in april/may .When should the flower  start producing the fruiting body ?
I should have cut it back to one or two flowers but  need to try a different variety next year ,its just to keep the kids interested tbh traditionally  its the Turnip that was used for Halloween up here in Scotland  and maybe thats just what i will do,kids are just Americanised now and want a  pumpkin .Tbh a struggle to produce a decent sized turnip as well

Am sure i tried Desiree before and they done well but just not huge ,prob need some decent manure ,not put any down for a few years .

breadnbutter,
I've never tried growing pumpkins undercover. Without artificial heat April/early May will probably be too cold for them even undercover. Sub-tropical plants like these need continuous growth and they are unlikely to recover from any setbacks caused by low temperatures.
Here in Birmingham I start them in a heated propagator early May and keep them in a cold frame until ready to plant out first or second week of June when all danger of frost has passed. The first flowers appear in July and at this time of year, late August, the fruits are large but soft and unripe. They need about another 6 weeks to ripen and mature and are left out as long as possible, keeping an eye on the forecast for the appearance of night frosts which will kill the plants.
Because of your shorter frost free period it's unlikely you can grow them outside successfully unless undercover when they should do well. (They need about 100 frost free days and nights to set fruit and ripen them).
I would suggest you follow my germination and planting out time table and grow them under plastic.Make sure they are kept well watered and ventilated. they are greedy feeders and I find chicken manure pellets work well.
I wish you success with them as they are tremendously satisfying to grow.

Here is a photo of the pumpkin patch taken about a week ago.
it's about 12 ft wide by 30 ft long and you can judge the size of the plants by the half buried 40 gallon blue drum.I only pinch out the growing tips when they stray beyond the boundary of their growing area.

breadnbutter


Cara does the job for us bakers wise!

A cant see no pumpkins ,could do wi getting into that lot wi a strimmer only joking nice looking  plot  is that fruit bushes at the back ?

Aye i have similar ,just  no pumpkins  ,still putting flowers out ,them leaves are vicious ,barbs and spikes

Tried Cara year  before last Delta ,the year that nothing grew ,not a spud was seen in these parts .

So will maybe try it again next year ,its a waxy spud ?

Thanks The leaves are solar panels making sugars for the pumpkins.
There are 24 plants so hoping for at least as many fruit. Will send you a pic at harvest time.
The bushes at the back are red, white and black currants. there are also some raspberry canes which need staking. The large tree is a damson which is shared by the 4 adjoining plots. I've made all the jam I need and there are plenty left over on the tree and covering the ground.
The rest of my plot is to the right of the camera and there are a couple of dwarf trees behind also out of shot.

I'll leave Delta to talk about spuds.

Lovely sunny day so went and planted garlic, 100 cloves in a 10x10  block.

Garlic planted in the Autumn always produces bigger bulbs than spring plantings and it's a much more pleasant task while the weather is warm instead of during a cold wet Spring.

Footnote for Breadnbutter.

Cara is a floury general purpose spud. If you want to grow a waxy one, then you can't beat Charlotte. These can produce bakers especially if you limit the number of eyes and give them some room.Usually ready by late July so can be dug before the arrival of blight.

Harvested the last of the winter squash (pumpkins) and shelling beans on Friday as night frosts are forecast.

It's the end of the gardening year and the start of preparations for the new one.

Photo for BreadnButter pending approval will be attached later.

My growing in pots wasn't a big success but what did grow well was Tomatoes, Chillies and Peppers. I'm going to over-winter the latter 2 and hopefully get an early crop next year. The strawberries I bought from Lidl were also astounding, I've planted several runners for a bigger crop next year.

It's also time to bottle my Rhubarb wine that I made in May, it's still very cloudy but I think it's drinkable.

Pleased you got some decent results Ovalman. It's always a challenge when you haven't much space to play around with. Home grown strawberries are always worthwhile, thinking of expanding my crop too for next year. Have masses of raspberries this season (autumn gold) and am making loads of jam for want of something better to do with them.

The pumpkin photo is still awaiting approval. Either the moderators have gone on holiday or they noticed the naked woman in the background.

Here we go, photo for breadnButter as promised on 30th August.
The white ones are Crown Prince, the green ones Marina di Chioggia
I grew equal numbers of each variety but some of the green ones were harvested earlier as they ripen several weeks sooner.
For this reason, Marina di Chioggia would be the better choice for growing in Scotland.

explain over wintering Peppers and Chillies someone please ...

I've always grown them [g/house] then chuck the plant at the season end

tar

It's a first time for me but you trim the plant down like you would a rose bush and keep watered. It grows back as normal next year. Don't know why I'm bothering with the chillies as I've used 1 chillie all year for cooking

Nice looking pumpkins, I've never tried growing them.

Thanks Ovalman. They are easy to grow (see 29 Aug 14 21:05 post) they need a sunny spot and can be grown up supports. The named varieties are firm and sweet with similar flavour and texture to butternut squash.

dont know how to trim a bush do how far back am I going on these peppers?

* so

and also, will they survive a winter in an unheated g/house iyo ?

Debatable whether it's worth it, Delta.

I've grown corno di toro peppers in an unheated greenhouse for several years now. Each autumn I prune the plants back and bring them indoors and keep the soil just damp enough to keep the stems green and the plants alive. The idea is to rest the plant so that it resumes youthful growth when conditions are suitable. (They definitely do not survive a UK winter in an unheated greenhouse, even in balmy Somerset; I've tried a few just to confirm that.)

About February time I'm feeling quite pleased with myself, as nearly all are looking green and healthy, but then one by one most go brown and die, perhaps simply owing to old age, or perhaps because of the cumulative effects of months of low-angle sunlight during a non-tropical winter. But about one in five does survive, with a tiny shoot appearing which grows into a whole new plant from the original stem once it becomes warm enough to send it out into the light of the greenhouse again.

But the reason I question whether it's worth it is because in my experience the over-wintered plant does not flower significantly earlier than newly grown seedlings, and they do take up a hell of a lot of room indoors over the winter.

If I'd made a better choice of woman to live with a few years ago and still owned a large house as a consequence, I'd just stick them in a spare room, water them occasionally and not care that 80% of them never make it to the spring. But having limited space filled with 4'-high stalks in 8" pots for half the year gets a bit annoying.

If you'd like to give it a go, you're looking at something like this:

This is from last year. I'd pruned the branches back to V-shapes an inch or two long, apart from the ones where fruits were still growing. Once those were were harvested, everything was cut back to V-shaped branches.

This year, however, all my peppers are still in the (unheated) greenhouse producing fruit. I've had to remove plenty of flowering branches, because there's not enough hours of sunlight at this stage to power everything that's still budding. But for now I don't need to make a decision on whether to bother to prune properly and bring indoors for the winter.

Go back to page 17 and there are more pics and a long post by someone called Deltâ describing how to overwinter peppers.

cheers screaming - I wont bother then if the unheated g/house bit dont work  ..