Anything goes in The Snug, General Discussion's rebellious little brother. An off-topic den of iniquity where any subject not covered elsewhere may be discussed. Well, anything except golf, Star Wars and Arsenal.
Up the Junction wrote: ↑Fri May 27, 2022 10:04 pm
Favourite YouTube channels - what are yours? I've always found these three on the ball for UK-specific, veg-related info.
Basically, those three! (Garden Focused also not bad, most of the American stuff seems a bit crap as does the immaculate regimental layouts where everyone seems to grow an abundance of food... without ever encountering pests or diseases..)
Worcestershire update:
Toms doing well, even the outdoor (Lizzano F1) showing some green fruit, my 3 step over pears (now 5 years old) so well laden I've been thinning out the fruit, my fig, on the other hand, following me pruning it 18 months ago, has about half the number of fruit developing... though the dry spring probably hasn't helped..)
Currently in the greenhouse, toms, peppers, lettuce, parsley, coriander, rosemary and basil all flourishing.
Outside, spuds, carrots and radishes are coming along nicely along with beetroot, sprouts with only the baby sweetcorn dragging its heels at the moment.
Can’t wait to taste the tomatoes, I can pop them down my throat like sweets.
The Exmoor files .
Garlic white onions and strawberries all coming along nicely.
50 spuds doing well nice flowers on them
Parsnips still non existent
Leeks flying
Swiss chard getting nibbled by something.
Greenhouse cucumbers ok and a few small green tomatoes progressing .
My local coffee shop were giving away the dregs for compost in big bags so lobbed 6 of those on the garden in March it seems to have helped .
I have no greenhouse and it would appear that planting out some of my Toms a few weeks back may have been a bit premature. It was sunny back then and at first they thrived but the wet and rather cold weather looks to have put a bit of a stop to it all.
Leaves on plants have turned a yellowish/white indicating over watering. Think they will pick up with a few days of sun but am now a little paranoid as regards blight.
Meanwhile those still indoors are thriving and getting bushier by the day.
mushy wrote: ↑Mon May 30, 2022 4:40 pm Think they will pick up with a few days of sun but am now a little paranoid as regards blight.
They'll be fine - they do love a flounce, do the toms. Mine have pretty much all given up the ghost too for now, it's almost as if they've gone into some kind of hibernation.
On which, it was 4.1° here at 7am this morning... I covered my tenders (sweetcorn, peppers etc) last night and just as well.
I'm not i growing veg and the like but am getting into my gardening. In fsct my gardener enjoys teaching me stuff, which is cool.
Last weekend I made a 1.2m x 0.5m x 0.5m planter out of a couple of pallets. Never done it before, no plan, just a bit of trial and error. Cost me 30 quid in bits and bobs from screwfix opposed to 90 quid online.
My gardeners new assistant is studying horticulture at Writtle and she was saying that to feed my Japanese Maple with conifer leaves as they mulch down and put acid into the soil which acers love.
She also said to get 4 stalks of stinging nettles abd stck them in a bucket of rainwater for 3 weeks. Apparently they stink but they ferment and give you enough liquid fertilizer for the season. Cheaper than tom feed.
Everything out in the wild now bar the late-planted Spinach and (last minute, reduced-price) Water Melon. Meaning altogether this year we have in the ground...
Tomatoes (five varieties); Lettuce (several varieties); Rocket; Peppers (four varieties); Jalapenos; Sweetcorn (three varieties); Winter Squash; Courgettes (two varieties); Kale (two varieties); Rhubarb; Early, Second Early and Main Crop Potatoes; Pumpkin; Cabbage; Cucumber (two varieties); Carrots (three varieties), Leeks, Parsnips (two varieties); Snap Peas, Broad Beans; Dwarf Beans; Peas (two varieties); Pak Choi (several varieties); Kohl Rabi; Garlic; Onions (Red, White and Spring).
And 13 herbs.
Now it's time to sit back, cross my fingers and let Mother Nature take over.
Now it's time to sit back, cross my fingers and let Mother Nature take over.
Yeah right....weeding? watering? pest control? harvesting? worrying?
Amazing lot of stuff you're growing there boss.....don't forget succession sowings...all the salad stuff can be sown in small amounts up to the beginning of August. Still plenty of time to get spuds in too.
I have spuds....4 varieties
Onions...2 varieties
garlic
spring onions
Golden beetroot
Lettuce
Carrots,,,,5 varieties
Sweetcorn
Courgettes
Sprouts (red and green)
Cauliflower
Broccoli
Perpetual spinach
Outdoor cucumber
Runner beans....3 different flower colours
Leeks
Dwarf French beans
Tomatoes....2 varieties
Parsnips
and.....sweetpeas
Not forgetting loads of strawberry plants and quite a few raspberry canes, all doing well and loaded with fruit.
Unfortunately, the pear trees dropped all their fruits but I do have a few cherries in the fruit cage and the grape vines have fruit on,
Today Ive been lifting the first of the onions (jap overwintering var 'Senshuyi'), slightly smaller than cricket balls, but they dont keep like the maincrop, though they're about 6 weeks earlier.
This isthe week I sow swedes, I know it's late, but I want them to keep up to March next year.
Spent a couple of hours in the garden today doing bits and pieces.
I weeded Allotment No 1a s some of what I thought were spring onins were actually grass! Spring onions have failed to grow at all, total failure.
I have some kind of serious growth where I planted my Carrots and Brussels but as a noob I forgot to markout/label what was what and I'll just have to see what comes up.
My non chitted potatoes have really taken off and have flower buds on them. My chitted potatoes have just had a growth spurt and and taking hold - even the two potato plants that I didn't plant and just sprung up are doing very well!
I've played it safe with the brussels and broccoli I have bought. I've got one of each in the greenhouse as backup, repotted into bigger pots, and another two that have gone straight in the ground near my curly Kale. I bought a cutting of a butter nut squash and put that straight in the ground today too.
In the greenhouse all the toms are doing well, I've started feeding them Tomoright as the flowers have now developed into little tomatoes. The Chilli's have been potted on into bigger pots, my peppers continue to sprout well and my 1 sole aspargus out of 24 seeded is growing stronger. My rockets are still tiny and are growing slowly and two tom cuttings are still alive and growing.
The flowers my mate potted are doing well - replanting time soon.
In the garden a lot of roses are in full bloom - yellow, while, red, pink - there are loads of them. Pionies and carnations doing well, as is loads of other stuff I have no idea of their names. The plum, apple and cherry trees have lots of proto fruit on them and my Gooseberry bushes are flourishing.
And my 1 rhubarb plant is still alive, if not exactly flourishing. Oh and I went round the lawn and spayed all the weeds with salt water. My mate says it dehidrates the weeds, killing them off and any excess salt is washed away by rain, so the grass is uneffected. It certainly is killing the weeds off and I'm going to reseed them with grass tomorrow, just after I've (weather permitting) mowed the lawn.
Also in the garden tomorrow. I'll be planting sweetcorn and them massess of weeding under and around the flowers, to get rid of any parisitical growths.
jevs wrote: ↑Fri Jun 03, 2022 6:04 pmYeah right....weeding? watering? pest control? harvesting? worrying?
Well that, of course! Biggest problem this year not primarily the slugs or snails, but the bloody starlings. Ripping up seedlings while diving for worms. Been a nightmare. And the cat and chooks too, which love digging up my beds for no apparent valid reason...
jevs wrote: ↑Fri Jun 03, 2022 6:04 pmNot forgetting loads of strawberry plants and quite a few raspberry canes, all doing well and loaded with fruit.
Ooh, I forgot me frewits - apples, pears, grapes, strawbs, blackberries and cherries (if the ants leave 'em alone this year).
i had my first strawberries on Thursday.I only grow 6 plants in 2 troughs,although I have 3 more waiting to go in another trough.
The only other thing I grow is potatoes in polythene pots,Charlotte salad variety every year and Rocket first earlies this year.I'm also trying Maris Piper in larger polypots,this year.
Everything else I grow is totally different to what most of you grow.
No,nothing so clever.
My main interest is alpines,woodland plants and small bulbs.
My herbaceous bed looks quite good at the moment and gets better over Summer.
My front garden is a small forest of small trees and shrubs,many in pots,mainly Acers(maples) and also a border.
I always look for the non veg posts here.MB's photo is stunning and Richie getting the bug is good to see.
If you would like to see,search on Facebook for AGS Essex Group and it will give an idea of my passion.
One of the admins is one of the best alpine growers in the country.The other is me.