God I love growing our own

[Amari]

Autumn raspberries: mine taste very poor. I think they are Autumn Bliss but I find the flavour thin and almost unpleasant. So I'm thinking of removing them all to make more space for other fruits.
Any thoughts?

Mine are Polka, said to be an improved variety of Autumn Bliss. Fruit well and taste nice - to my palate - very subjective.

 

[pargyle]

Mine are Polka, said to be an improved variety of Autumn Bliss. Fruit well and taste nice - to my palate - very subjective.

Mine are Joan J's ... lovely big fruits, full of flavour ... seriously delicous - almost to the point where I'm tempted to dig up the summer fruiting ones and go for an early crop on some of the Joan j's and later crop on the others. They may not be as prolific in fruit terms as the summer ones but ... quality not quantity ?

 

[Erichalfbee]

Mine are Joan J's ... lovely big fruits, full of flavour ... seriously delicous - almost to the point where I'm tempted to dig up the summer fruiting ones and go for an early crop on some of the Joan j's and later crop on the others. They may not be as prolific in fruit terms as the summer ones but ... quality not quantity ?

What are the yellow ones I got from you, Philip?

 

[pargyle]

From memory I think the variety was Autumn Gold ...

 

[JamezF]

From memory I think the variety was Autumn Gold ...

We used to grow those too, until my father-in-law decided he only wanted one row of raspberries and dug them all up

James

 

[JamezF]

I've been turning my compost over the last few weeks. Generally I only do so once, and although it's not gone quite to plan this year the bays are arranged such that it's possible to remove the divider between two bays when the one on the left is empty, making it easy to turn a fair proportion of the material from the right to the left before putting the divider back in and lifting the last bit over the top.

Having done all the others I'm now turning the rightmost bay, which we finished filling some time around the end of May. It's not done at all well. Basically it's dry all the way down, despite having had a lot of green stuff put in, and has barely composted at all. I measured the heap temperature at 22°C before I started turning so there was clearly some activity, but not much. I'm probably about halfway through now and have been adding a couple of gallons of water to the new heap after I've made a layer of material about 4" deep. This afternoon the temperature is back up to 49°C, so hopefully by the spring it will have turned into something useful.

The bean plants all went into the current heap this week despite some still being in flower and the asparagus won't be too far behind as they're starting to turn orange. The tomatoes are still going strong though. I picked a good few pounds today, some of which will be used for soup and the rest will get dried in the dehydrator. I've picked even more peppers which will be pickled. I might be close to a peck now The jalapenos are starting to turn red at last so they'll also be picked soon, possibly this week.

The bad news is that I already have plants queuing up to go into the polytunnel for the winter and I can't really do much with them until the tomatoes are cleared out. Perhaps next weekend I'll call time on them and start taking the plants out.

James

 

[pargyle]

We used to grow those too, until my father-in-law decided he only wanted one row of raspberries and dug them all up

James

You were lucky to get rid of them ... they are proliific spreaders ... I had runners popping up yards away from where the majority were planted.

 

[pargyle]

I repotted a load of blackcurrant and josterberry cuttings .. they had outgrown the pots they were in and the roots had gone through the drainage holes and taken root in the ground. Re-used the pots they were in to .... plant more cuttings ! It's a compulsion I fear ... autumn pruning fruit bushes creates such lovely cuttings that it's a pity to waste them ... I need about half an acre just to re-plant the fruit bushes I've grown from cuttings that are currently sitting in pots !

The thunder and lightening today was dramatic ... with accompanying monsoon style rain .. half the time was spent cowering in the greenhouse whilst the end of the world appeared nigh and the rest in lovely sunshine and 17 degrees ... bonkers.

Made space for the rest of my raised beds to go down and now I have 5 tons of soil ready to fill them. It's surprising how much soil and compost you need to fill a 1.2m x 0.8m raised bed to a depth of 12" (Sorry about the mixed metaphores .. I'm ambidextrous !)

 

[JamezF]

Oh, I almost forgot that I have single-handedly ensured that we will not have a long dry Summer next year.

I'm in the process of fixing some corrugated plastic sheet fixed over my compost bins (I used to use it years ago for cloches, but now prefer to use fleece). Laying some mesh across the top of the dividers between the bins also means they'll now be a handy place for laying out onions, garlic and squashes once they've been harvested. I might even hang a joint of pork there to air dry over the winter or make some salamis for the first time in ages. I couldn't let the rain falling on the sheeting go to waste, so I cobbled together some ancient guttering and 3d-printed a water collector to divert it into an old plastic 1200 litre oil tank that I picked up for free a few weeks back and cleaned out.

James

 

[pargyle]

That meets my approval .. I had to leave my 1000 litre IBC behind when I gave up the allotment as 'er indoors considered it reasonable grounds for divorce if I brought it home. I had a 1m square water collector on top of it and even with winters the way they are down here on the Costa del Fareham I could usually bank on at least half filling it over winter - one year I actually managed over 800 litres ... all from one square metre ! I acquired three sheets of clear corrugated roofing sheets which I did manage to smuggle home - I was going to extend my water collection with those ... still trying to find a way to use them for collecting water for the veg garden at home without an IBC ...

 

[Erichalfbee]

. still trying to find a way to use them for collecting water for the veg garden at home without an IBC ...

Underground with a pump

 

[pargyle]

Underground with a pump

Underground with a pump

I'm fearful of even admitting that they are safely stored behind the workshop ... 'er indoors will never go there as she would have to pass the bees ! I think rainwater collection should be a mandatory requirement for all new builds and should be subsidised for retrofit ... using drinking water to flush toilets, wash cars, water gardens etc. is diabolically wasteful ... as well we should be looking at grey water recovery. The cost of these systems compared to the cost of a new build is small and when all new builds are forced to have metered water would more than pay for the initial cost in a relatively short time. Water and energy are bot critical components in being able to live comfortably but we seem incapable, in the UK, to grapple with some of the simple solutions that are available to make savings.

 

[Erichalfbee]

I agree
New builds should have solar for roofs, underground heat source and swift boxes in eaves
We have water collection off practically all our roof surfaces
The only area to have defeated us is the poly tunnel.

 

[Newbeeneil]

I agree
New builds should have solar for roofs, underground heat source and swift boxes in eaves
We have water collection off practically all our roof surfaces
The only area to have defeated us is the poly tunnel.

I agree re solar and it would be great to have GSHPs on all new builds. Unfortunately the average area required for the collector is getting on for 1000m2 of clear land which is hardly feasible with the modern house build. The cost is also significantly higher than the slightly less efficient ASHP (450% v 350%).

 

[enrico]

I agree re solar and it would be great to have GSHPs on all new builds. Unfortunately the average area required for the collector is getting on for 1000m2 of clear land which is hardly feasible with the modern house build. The cost is also significantly higher than the slightly less efficient ASHP (450% v 350%).

I am running ashp, PV panels, batteries and pumped water from my well so trying to be as off grid as possible! The batteries are a godsend at the moment as I can fill them on night time electric and the panels fill them again during the day!

 

[pargyle]

I agree
New builds should have solar for roofs, underground heat source and swift boxes in eaves
We have water collection off practically all our roof surfaces
The only area to have defeated us is the poly tunnel.

Yes ...rainwater collecrion from a poly tunnel was something I linvestigated when I was looking at polytunnels some years ago. The only effective solution I came across was someone in the USA who had taped a polythene 'skirt' around the base of the tunnel (using UV resist tunnel repair tape) and this fed the rainwater into a gutter fixed around the base of the tunnel. The water collected in an underground tank and was then pumped into his main water reservoir. It was a youtube video but I can't find it anywhere now. Very creative idea through and relatively cheap and simple to install.

I did find this video ... he's got a similar set up which seems to work.

 

[philipm]

Noticed my Fartichokes sorry I mean Artichokes are ready to dig.will have to give the wife a fork to dig some.

 

[MJNT]

I've been turning my compost over the last few weeks. Generally I only do so once, and although it's not gone quite to plan this year the bays are arranged such that it's possible to remove the divider between two bays when the one on the left is empty, making it easy to turn a fair proportion of the material from the right to the left before putting the divider back in and lifting the last bit over the top.

Having done all the others I'm now turning the rightmost bay, which we finished filling some time around the end of May. It's not done at all well. Basically it's dry all the way down, despite having had a lot of green stuff put in, and has barely composted at all. I measured the heap temperature at 22°C before I started turning so there was clearly some activity, but not much. I'm probably about halfway through now and have been adding a couple of gallons of water to the new heap after I've made a layer of material about 4" deep. This afternoon the temperature is back up to 49°C, so hopefully by the spring it will have turned into something useful.

The bean plants all went into the current heap this week despite some still being in flower and the asparagus won't be too far behind as they're starting to turn orange. The tomatoes are still going strong though. I picked a good few pounds today, some of which will be used for soup and the rest will get dried in the dehydrator. I've picked even more peppers which will be pickled. I might be close to a peck now The jalapenos are starting to turn red at last so they'll also be picked soon, possibly this week.

The bad news is that I already have plants queuing up to go into the polytunnel for the winter and I can't really do much with them until the tomatoes are cleared out. Perhaps next weekend I'll call time on them and start taking the plants out.

James

… I’ve never used a dehydrator but am intrigued… do the tomatoes and any other veg of fruit end up dried enough to store unfrozen?

 

[pargyle]

… I’ve never used a dehydrator but am intrigued… do the tomatoes and any other veg of fruit end up dried enough to store unfrozen?

Yes ... it removes all the moisture from most fruit and veg and I just store them in seal tight containers or vacumn pack them to save space. No need to freeze or refrigerate. Things like bananas and soft fruit are great in home made muesli bars or on cereals .. great in stews etc.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Yes ...rainwater collecrion from a poly tunnel was something I linvestigated when I was looking at polytunnels some years ago. The only effective solution I came across was someone in the USA who had taped a polythene 'skirt' around the base of the tunnel (using UV resist tunnel repair tape) and this fed the rainwater into a gutter fixed around the base of the tunnel. The water collected in an underground tank and was then pumped into his main water reservoir. It was a youtube video but I can't find it anywhere now. Very creative idea through and relatively cheap and simple to install.

I did find this video ... he's got a similar set up which seems to work.

We had explored something like that but reckoned if we were going to dig that we might as well get somebody to install a borehole. It’s a plan still