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Chit Chat Garden ( 2017 )
Chit Chat Garden ( 2017 )
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A few updated pics.
I think my tomatoes that are outside are doing better than the polytunnel ones this year .... [ This image is no longer available. ] [ This image is no longer available. ] [ This image is no longer available. ] [ This image is no longer available. ] Bit short of space this year as i have removed all but one raised bed, i have my Leeks and a Courgette squeezed into this one. [ This image is no longer available. ] My Razzamatazz Peppers have done well, they are very hot. Who knew i touched my eyes (and other parts) so many times in a day   [ This image is no longer available. ] |
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I gave up on Sweet Peas - as little success and i prefer produce at the end
them Toms look magnificent |
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funny ole game this gardening, only a few months back no time planting everything, now already onto no time harvesting everything, fruit, veg etc
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Magnificent toms, Mr Tarse. Congratulations.
Which variety, and what feed (if any) did you use? I found a couple of shrivelled up potatoes in the back of the pantry last month. They'd fallen behind the old Form Books I keep in there, and I only came across them when I was looking up a coup Eddie Fremantle and I had in a Fontwell seller 20 years ago. Each spud had a long growth coming out of it, so I cut each one into quarters and stuck them in the empty space I had in the garden after lifting the radishes and spring onions. Already got magnificent bushy growth thanks to the rain the last few weeks. Looking forward to a good late crop of new potatoes for the winter. |
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Dug a few Manitou main crop potatoes the other day. Good yield with plenty of baker-sized tubers. Some slug damaged but no more than usual for this time of year. This variety looks worth growing again. Good harvest of carrots (Early Nantes). Some runner beans and French beans but yield well below average this year due to weather. Pumpkin plants don't look as luxuriant as they should either. They needed more rain in June and more sun late July/August. Hoping for a warm September to rectify the situation.
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is this true..?
if you have seed potatoes, knock a few of the shoots off before planting which will result in less potatoes but bigger ones? |
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Yes, I do it with main crop and just leave two or three shoots at most. Wider planting, up to a point, also increases tuber size. It all amounts to the number of shoots per square yard, apparently.
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Magnificent toms, Mr Tarse. Congratulations.
Which variety, and what feed (if any) did you use? I went back to my all-time favourite variety this year, Sweet Million F1 Dead easy to grow. I will use any high Nitrogen liquid or soluble feed whilst they are growing and then any high Potassium feed whilst in flower/fruit. This year i used the two cheapest they had in Home Bargains  I water a little everyday and feed once a week. |
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Thanks. I only grow tumbling toms, in the greenhouse, and they always do OK. But with a south-facing garden down here in Zum, I really ought to make use of the location and grow a few toms outside.
When did you sow the seeds? February? |
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10th of march, in a heated propagator, in yoghurt pots.
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I should state that my way of growing has completely changed since i moved house, i now grow all my veg in tubs/pots (apart from one tiny raised bed, soon to be gone). If i were growing toms in the ground like the previous 20+ years then i wouldn't feed at all.
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I'm pleased to report that everything in the garden is lovely.
Runner beans Tomatoes. Chilli peppers. Capsicum Potatoes. Even the line prop has started to sprout. Of course you have to talk to the plants. Thanks for the tip Charlie. Much appreciated. |
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Smartarse - Re Sir Henry Cecil Sweet Pea. It was I, and I grew it alongside my two usual varieties and it did not match them in any capacity (Stem length, number of flower heads, scent or longevity). My two usual varieties are Sir Robert Uvedale and White Supreme.
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This was my first go at growing a Sweat Pea so i can't say if it was good or not, just i wasn't impressed with the scent, or lack of it. It is still producing a good amount of flowers now.
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Today was the end of my Courgette plant. Pulled it up and put it on the compost heap.
It was also the end of half my tomato plants  A great big Wood Pigeon was scared into the polytunnel by a Sparrowhawk ! I was sat there at the time and seen it from the start, the Sparrowhawk wasn't actually after the Wood Pigeon, i often see the Sparrowhawk land in the big Oak tree and the Wood Pigeons which are just a couple of feet away don't move at all. So, the Pigeon snapped half my tomato plants I managed to get rid of most of the moss in my lawn by cutting it longer this year, i did use a moss killing treatment too ( iron Sulphate ) How is everyone else's stuff doing ? |
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Well that is the end of my Runners ( Lady Di ). First time i have grown these and i really like this variety, excellent yield and very tasty. Will do these again.
I read somewhere about NOT pulling runner beans up when they are done, they have stores of nutrients attached to the roots apparently, so i have just cut the plants off level for now. |
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Correct re the beans!! - https://www.gardenseeker.com/vegetables/peas_beans/
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"I managed to get rid of most of the moss in my lawn by cutting it longer this year, i did use a moss killing treatment too ( iron Sulphate )"
Still a load of moss lurking in there  It's bleddy hard work doing it by hand with a rake [ This image is no longer available. ] |
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Not very nice weather today but I went to the allotment to harvest a few provisions.
Early Nantes carrots are superb this year, Large blunt tipped roots and very sweet. Collected some Borlotti beans for shelling as haricots. Last of the runners, they were a bit stringy which is not unexpected this late in the season. Harvested the first two winter squash and roasted some chunks for dinner. There is enough to last a month on these and the rest of the crop will be left on the vine until the first frosts. Collected a carrier bag of golden coloured quince. I love making compote for eating at breakfast time and these won't last long unfortunately.  |
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been a good year all round i think for carrots,
had some Butternut squash in, but done poorly, however last years throwaways on the compost heap took hold and some lovely ones on there to harvest! potted on 50 odd strawberry runners today, fingers crossed first crop to sow for next year this w/e Broad Beans, its all starting again  |
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I've never been able to get a crop from butternut squash and don't think the climate here in the Midlands is suitable for them without protection. I prefer to grow the two varieties shown in my photo, Marina di Chioggia (green skin) and Crown Prince. I've had a successful crop from them every year for at least the past ten years and they taste as sweet as butternut. They are pest-free too.
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A couple of those runner beans i cut off have re-shooted and are curled 7 inch up the canes again
I pulled up my sweet pea plants today, there were still a few flowers at the top but otherwise they were done. I cut the "everlasting" sweet pea down to a few inch. And my Clematis only had a few flowers at the top, so i have cut that down to about 6". I noticed lots of bulbs showing tips in my borders today. |
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Runner beans are perennials given the right climate but are usually killed off by our winters.
Last year (late spring 2016) I had some roots survive and push up shoots. I collected the last of my Borlotti beans today which now need shelling and left some mature runner bean pods on the vine for next year's seed. French beans (Cobra) were very poor this season, too cold and wet at the critical time. I will grow them again though, as we can't predict the weather. Harvested more carrots and a few of the pumpkins and had thick, peppery pumpkin soup for dinner. Have left most of them out on the allotment for another week but will keep an eye on the forecasts in case of night frosts. Collected a bag of Jonared apples for making crumble and apple sauce. Quite a few have bird or wasp damage so won't store. The Pitmastons are not ready yet so will leave until needed. I think Blackbarn told me that they can be left on the tree well into winter. |
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Gleaned a carrier bag of potatoes this morning while walking the dog. The farmer had harvested yesterday and they were just dotted around on the surface. Some lovely big ones too. Means I can leave my very late crop in the ground a while longer at home. The other crop I planted very late was carrots, and they've done surprisingly well. Just scattered the left-over seeds from the ones I planted at the correct time, and the later ones have done much better.
Went scrumping yesterday evening. Three trees from an abandoned orchard, where the apples are otherwise just left to rot. The best and biggest crop I've ever seen. Filled two rucksacks with flawless red apples. It's extraordinary how many people walk past those trees every year and just ignore all that food lying on the ground. |
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I have just opened a 25ltr tub i had filled (and topped up) with Comfrey leafs many months ago, at first i thought what people said was true, it really doesn't smell bad......then i gave it a stir !!!
I have purchased a PPM meter (parts per million), and was wondering what PPM do others dilute their Comfrey solution to ? I have read online that somewhere around 600 PPM should be about right ? For this batch that equates to about 35ml added per 1.0ltr of water. |
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I don't have any comfrey, Smarty, so can't help you there. I would try a very dilute solution first and see how you go, colour of weak tea perhaps?
Collected the rest of my pumpkins today. Have 28 in all from originally 30 seedlings. Some were wiped out by slugs before they got going in June. Most were smaller than last year due to the weather but there are more than enough for various friends too. Battened down everything including composter lids in case the high winds materialise tomorrow or Tuesday. Need to get the allotment prepared for winter now, I don't do digging but weeds need chopping down with the adze and the ground mulched with leaf mould and rotted grass cuttings to feed the worms who will do the digging for me between now and next April. |
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I still have two tomato plants in the polytunnel, they got some of the Comfrey diluted to 600ppm two days ago. It was probably the very warm weather this week that has made them send more side shoots out and flower rather than the comfrey "tea". I can't see any odd colouring or "burn" in the new growth, so i would say 600ppm is a safe mix.
I will separate a few of the new plants in the spring and do a comparison with home brew comfrey against whatever i buy in. I pinched the tops out on the re-growing runner beans. Just out of interest to see what they do now. Potted three dozen or so Sweet Pea seeds i collected from this years pods, some Sir Henry Cecil and some "Everlasting". If they germinate i will pinch the tops out when they are 5 inch (ish) tall. |
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Just had the biggest Humming-bird Hawk-moth i have ever seen in my garden, feeding on my Antirrhinum. 70mm ish and as fat as a fat man's thumb
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garlic in here today,
still got to get up for winter store [exc brassicas/parsnips] carrots, celeriac, butternut squash, + grass wont stop growing  |
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I find that autumn is the best time to plant garlic and I usually have mine planted by now.
This year I can't find the energy to prepare the ground and will give them a miss. I could plant a few in the spring to ensure I have cloves to plant next autumn. |
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I have just mown my lawn. I have thoroughly cleaned the mower and sharpened the blade (and paint sprayed it) and put it away for the winter. Hopefully that is job done for my lawn, for now.
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I did my lawn a couple of days ago. Definitely the last time before spring.
I admire the care lavished on your lawnmower, mine will have to fend for itself in the shed until needed again. |
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I've been away from this Fred for yonks - nothing personal :)
My tomato crop was nowhere as good as last year ... due mainly to the wind wiping a few plants out mid-season. Long story. Courgettes much better than last year with circa 20 reaped from two seeds  Internal peppers in my window did great and they're still at it! They kept dropping their flowers early season and they taste rather bland ... but sticking them in a Thai curry rocks 'em up a bit ... eyalb bakke ... got a Thai on  |
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We always get another growth of fine grass in November (at least down here in Zummerzet we do). Relied on it when I used to have horses to graze, and could turn them out for an extra month without haynets.
Every year everybody expresses surprise when it appears though, and puts it down to global warming. |
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frost tonight threatened!
winter store cupboard therefore taken off garden today and tucked up. and madness I known, but the Autumn b/beans have popped up so I fleeced 'em |
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It got down to 3°c inside my polytunnel last night, and like you say Delta it is meant to be getting colder tonight.
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Feckin freezin in Perth
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My dog has just sniffed out a big fat Hedgehog in my garden
 Its been a lot of years since i last had one in the garden. Hope it doesn't find its way to a bonfire  |
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Another Hedgehog last night, a lot smaller this time.
I think i have just cottoned on to the sudden appearance of these Hedgehogs after all these years ! I started a Mealworm "farm" in one of my man-caves a couple of weeks ago, they must be able to smell them |
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The seeds i saved from the Sir Henry Cecil sweet pea plants i grew this year have germinated in the polytunnel. I was given an "Everlasting" sweet pea plant by my neighbour, nothing showing from those saved seeds yet.
Tomorrow i am going to build a couple of Hedgehog homes. I have got plenty of wood kicking about plus half a roll of roof felt, so i should be able to knock something together the Hedgehogs will use |