Growing fruits and vegetables

[ethelb]

Does anyone want to join me for a growing fruit and veg focussed thread?

I took over an allotment six weeks ago and would love to hear how other's kitchen gardens are getting on.

Im just off to the allotment to plant some oriental veg seeds to fill up my brassica bed. I also need to mow the path/hedge and check for slug damage

[AbbyCadabby]

I'll follow! Moving in to our new home in a month, our first with a garden, and I am keen to grow our own fruit, veg and herbs. Am a complete novice!

[pregnantpause]

I'm in it's my first year growing my own, my garden has become my allotment.

So far I have carrots planted in a large pot- coming up lovely though I will have to thin them out- I'll probably end up with 6-8 carrots

Charlotte potatoes- all in pots, they seem to be coming up lovely, and I'm almost certain I'll have at a good haul from these

Courgettes- I've five green planted in grow bags- they seem quite strong though were infested with aphids , I've sprayed them with insecticide soap in hope to get rid. In the cold frame I've got four yellow courgette coming up, they are very easy to grow, I'm looking forward to this crop

Broad beans- some in my veg bed some in a pot- they seem small and I've not spotted any beans yet, but fingers crossed

Peas and runner beans- some in bed some in pots- I reckon I'll be picking these within a fortnight- very excited, though the slugs got at least half if what I'd planted. I did have yellow French beans too but there's only one left after the slugs had done with them

Brassicas- I've purple sprouting and cauliflower in the veg bed, coming nicely though far fewer than intended- evil slugs again

Tomatoes - some tumbling in hanging baskets and some cordon in a plastic tom house- I thought these were going well until I saw what lidl are selling! There's no visible fruit yet

I have sweet corn, pumpkin, beet root, mini corn, more peas and runners, pak choi, spinach, chicory, and lettuces all in the cold frame growing to be panted out into another veg bed that isn't there yet. Getting quite worried there'll be nowhere for these to go- though at the rate I lose plants to the slugs this may be an unfounded worry.

I have three pear trees in large pots-a winter nellis, a Comice and a humbug- all have leafed but not flowered so no fruit this year. But I bought them as one year maidens so that's probably normal. I have three apple trees, a ballerina type which flowered and I'm praying for fruit this year, and two against a wall where I'd intended to espallier, a peasgood nonsuch which has grow wonderfully and I'll be tying soon, and a bloody ploughman which hasnt even got a leaf it's still just a stick in the ground. I'm sure it's not dead, but I think I'll have to reposition it, it's not happy where it is.

I have a cherry tree- morello which flowered and has leaves, but still looks more a stick than a tree iykwim

The damson tree I planted in October is my best tree- it looks like I'll get at least five plums from it the other plum tree- a czar I've no hope for

My fruit bushes are two gooseberries- which between them have produced one gooseberry.
A black, red and white currant- all produced loads of potential berries, but the crows have stripped every berry off the white I'm netting next time
I've strawberries coming along very nicely- at least thirty stawbs and two turning red
Four raspberry canes which are bound to bear some fruit

I also bought a fig tree on a whim last month in lidl- that it's alive is all I can say for it.

What's everyone growing? I think I was far too optimistic and tbh the slugs have had more of what I've planted than I'm going to . I've sown so much that failed, grown so much that got eaten that I'm losing my enthusiasm. I'm hoping that the summer crops will reinvigorate me.

[dreamingofsun]

great idea, count me in. i'm in first year of an allotment.

i too have figs - £2 each also bought on a whim.

plus pots, currants, gooseberries, rasp, straws, peppers, lettuce, carrots, chard, turnips, parsnips, cabbages, flowers, beans, herbs, asparagus, toms, cherry tree.

i haven't the foggiest idea as to what i'm doing and very little water.

flee beetles are my problem. and pigeons which seem to eat anything thats not netted.

your runner beans are nearly ready to pick? i'm jealous, as i haven't even had flowers yet

lidl have been selling seeds really cheap - 0.49p and also park promotions for 0.99

[ethelb]

@ AbbyCadabby That sounds really exciting. Are you planning on buying plants or seeds?

@pregnantpause I'm very jealous of all your fruit. It all seems to be coming it an the moment. However, we inherited two massive strawberry beds with our allotment and have had strawberries for dessert for the past two nights. Our neighbour has fantastic figs hanging over into our patio and I'm planning on ways to scrump them without being noticed! Already planning planting some fruit canes on this allotment and really like the idea of planting trees in pots.

@dreamingofsun so good to have a fellow newbie allotmenteer! Where were these cheapy figs? I shop in Lidl most weeks and they never appeared in mine! (I did get lots of cheap seeds though). How did you get your parsnips to germinate? Mine haven't.

I'm growing

Tomatoes -stupice, yellow pear san marzano and tigerella. They were sown in April and I need to make sure that I don't measure my overall success purely on the success of the tomatoes as they are currently very bushy, but very small. I'm telling myself that they are developing root systems as I planted them very deep.

Cucumbers - watoma (DP is desparate to pickle some so on the lookout for big jars)
Beetroot - bolthardy
Salsify - sandwich island (the one's I didn't accidently weed!)
Parsnip - white gem (the one (!) that germinated)
Fennel - sweet florence and finale
Chicory - witloof (other half is half belgian)
Rhubarb chard
Lettuce catalogna and a mixed seed packet
Squash - bentons green tint
Pumpkin - jack be little
Purple sprouting broc
Black kale - cavolo nero di toscana
Leeks - mussleburgh
Spring onions
Pak choi - hanakan and golden lion
Chinese kale
Chinese cabbage wong bok
Okahijiki (it is supposed to be like salsify)
Semposoi Greens
Jerusalem artichokes -feseau
Cardoon
Sweetcorn -sweet nugget
Runner beans - lady Di

and my herb patch

Moroccan mint
Horseradish
Dill
Sorrel
Rosemary
Italian parsley
Tarragon
Sage
Greek basil
Holy Basil
Camomile

And of course the giant

I need to restrain myself!

[dreamingofsun]

ethel - figs were B&Q sale. i just planted the seeds - parnsips. i've struggled with carrots more - first load i got 2 plants. think it was too early - maybe same with your parsnips and worth trying again? also they take ages to germinate, so be patient.

so whats the easiest/most successful thing you have grown so far with least effort?

[pregnantpause]

Ethel- I want your herb patch! I got thyme, lemon balm, basil, sage and mint. I sowed red veined sorrel last week- probably too late but I thought its worth a shot. Tarragon is my nemesis- the little bleeder just won't grow

For pots for trees home bargains sell 35l pots for £3.99. I bought them last oct and the trees are thriving.

I've found peas the easiest- I'm successionally(sp) sowing and the peas ( twinkle and bingo) I sowed ten days ago are two inches high today. Runner beans are very reliable too (I have scarlet emperor- boring I know, but I knew they'd grow- they grow anywhere! ) courgettes have been easy too though quite a while between sowing and germination, and i can't be sure they will produce veg , but they've grown and seem strong.

Has anyone tried aubergines? I sowed ten in feb and three have grown, but they have barely grown. They're tiny

[dreamingofsun]

audbergines need a greenhouse or hot weather don't they? i think they are a bit tricky....haven't heard of anyone on my site with them. let us know how they go.

think i'll give peas a go next year if they are that simple.

origano - dumb question - is it an annual or will it grow back next year?

[afriendcalledfive]

Hellooo, can I join?

First time grower of veg and herbs, might try fruit next year if all goes ok this year:

I have:

cherry tom plants with yellow flowers (yay)
Sweet pepper plants
seedlings coming up on boltardy beetroot,
few seedlings showing on carrots.
Spinach fully grown, and currently using in salads
Rocket
Few herbs.

All in containers, in mini greenhouses/cloche thingys.

Does anybody:

Find themselves constantly checking over everything?
Or talk to their plants?

[pregnantpause]

Oh yes five- I congratulate those plants doing well ("oh, you lot are doing a good job, keep it up" to the peas ) and chastise the lesser crops ( "now come on! Don't collapse, you're supposed to be easy to grow" to the lettuces) Incidentally- how do you all grow salad, my seedlings always get leggy and collapse, and never seem to make it beyond seedlings- they just stop growing. Maybe I should plant them deeper

[dreamingofsun]

maybe thats where i've gone wrong then, not talking to them.

pregnant - are you watering them, as they don't like it really dry? they don't like it very hot either and are happy in a bit of shade. you aren't transplanting them are you? i don't think the depth is the problem. salad is pretty easy

[pregnantpause]

I am transplanting some( didn't realise that's wrong- I really am a newbie to this)- other sown direct, all failed. Well they're there just not the nice lettuce/ chicory/ chard I expected. Fallen over seedlings I'd call them.

[mousmous]

if you need to transplant seedlings never touch the stem, always hold the plant by the seed leaves. the stem will otherwise get damaged and the little baby plant will die.

[afriendcalledfive]

Is is too late to grow lettuce now, anybody? Was thinking of buying one of those growbag/planter things with compartments to grow lettuce, rocket and spinach direct, instead of separate containers.

Driving me mad all the lugging about ..... still love it, though.

Sunny up here in the NW today, going to treat the tom & pepper plants to a good old sunbathe, out of the greenhouse. No point in watering anything today, as I think the downpour we had yesterday did the job juuuuuust fine.

Glad I'm not the only one who talks to my plants..

[IDismyname]

I'm a mad keen fruit and veg gardener, although my kitchen gets ripped out in august and replaced, so Ive decided to cut back a bit this year on my usual veg fest!

The problem with getting parsnips to germinate is to have fresh seed. Don't ever use last years seed for them. Also be patient. Failing all that, get yourself down to the garden centre and get some seedlings. There is no shame in that at all!

I've had great advice from a website called allotment.org. Sorry can't do links on iPad, but you'll find a huge amount of knowledge about fruit and veg gardening on there. It was a massive help to me when we tripled the size of our veg patch, and I wanted to get an asparagus bed going.

[LadyGardenersQuestionTime]

Allotment Life is a great Facebook group for new allotmenteers (its pretty much all I use Facebook for now!).

I talk to my plants. And stroke them too.

[EmilyAlice]

Have been growing fruit and veg since we dug up our front garden in emulation of The Good Life in 1970something.
Now have half an acre in Normandy with thirty raised beds screened with espalier apples, pears and plums. Two raspberry beds, four strawberry beds (cropping), leeks, beetroot, salad (cut and come again cropping), spuds, broccoli, various brassica, cucumber, courgette, aubergine, beans, radishes, peppers, squash, onions, garlic, shallots all in. Huge broad bean crop from plants put in in October. Five compost bins which pretty much give us all the nutrients for the soil, plus we have been trying out volcanic ash.
Toms and more aubergine and peppers in the greenhouse.
We are members of Garden Organic and love their heritage seeds.
Still masses to learn and feel we are always playing catch-up!

[dreamingofsun]

afriend - i'm sewing some today and did rocket last week which is now growing (last lot was decimated by flea beetle). the packet says you can sew till july and it takes around 10-14 weeks to crop. my favourite type is the cut and come again mixed salad packs.

if you google 'growing things on a leeds allotment' i've always found this site useful and also the rhs one.

[EmilyAlice]

Also have grown early spuds in bags this year very successfully and have an asparagus bed which was great last year and rubbish this year. Lots of herbs and other fruit trees round the garden.

[ethelb]

Ishoudcoco I used a brand new seed packet that I had packed for my own seed company. Pretty embarrassing. But I'm going use the space to plant some fennel and chicory.

Thanks for the allotment life tip, I have been looking for something that has frequent updates.

Off to the lottie now before it gets too hot!

[Dragonlette]

Can anyone help me with what's wrong with my pumpkin? I have 2 pumpkins and 3 courgette plants that we grew from seed. They looked great inside on the windowsill but now thheyve been outside for a week they look like this. They are in large pots in a mini greenhouse on our patio.
Do they need more water/ less water? Please help these are the first crops we've tried to grow and they look to me as if they're dying :(

[mousmous]

they look gone, sorry.
have you touched the stem when potting on? always use the seed leaves or roots to move a plant.
off to a dyi centre to buy seedlings I would say.

[Dragonlette]

Oh no!! I don't think I touched the stem when potting on, I was trying to use the leaves but I had 4yo dd2 "helping" so we may have damaged the stems by accident. Is there nothing we can do to save them?

[SilverSixpence]

Id like to join please I had grown courgettes from seed but all were decimated by slugs.i have now bought slug wool pellets which were recommended on another thread and a couple of plants look like they may recover.

I have also planted a squash and about six tomato plants, Swiss chard and chillies and an aubergine plant. I have sown some beans as well in the last week. We have coriander and basil growing too.

I still have seeds id like to plant but not sure if it's too late? I have peas beans and spinach as well as herbs.

[IDismyname]

If it doubt, sew them out!

My mum has always said that stuff usually catches up, and you have nothing to lose by actually putting them in the garden in the first place... and you may gain a crop too!

[ethelb]

@dragonlette are they all like that? My pumpkins are looking a bit sad (planted them out last week after hardening off under fleece). Maybe they haven't really liked the recent weather. Don't know why though, there has been lots of sun and rain. Do they still have a growing tip? If so watch and wait otherwise maybe get some plugs.

@afriendcalledfive lettuces can still go in. Infact mine didn't start really taking off until the last fortnight. You can plant purslane and cornsalad in August for autumn leaves.

Got back from the allotment earlier and have a massive 1.5kg strawberry haul.

Lettuce and chard seem to be doing v well. Kale and purple sprouting broc have trippled in size since we planted them out last week. Runner beans are starting to grow flower buds and we only sowed them about 3 or 4 weeks ago.

Pak choi, kohl rabi and chinese kale very ready to be planted out tomorrow.

Tomatoes (bar the stupice which has started flowering), squash, cucumber, pumpkin and cardoon all ok, but growing v slowly considering how much sun and rain they have had. Any idea why they are so miserable?

We have started adding to our compost bin but is huge, any tips for filling it up? as I realised it would require 200 kitchen caddies to fill it and we only fill it once every 3-4 days!