God I love growing our own

[enrico]

Have harvested and shelled the broad beans. The aphids made a right sticky mess and I decided to just dump them in the sink filled with water. Gave them a right rumble about and a couple of rinses and lo and behold they came out pristine. What was interesting was that the fingers turning black after shelling was eliminated so will do that from now on whether aphids or not. Think they were just dirty with dust etc. plus the honeydew.

Good thing about honeydew is that like honey it dissolves easily in water.

 

[pargyle]

Because what else is there to do on the afternoon of the hottest day of the year so far (at least here) than barrow around a tonne of well-rotted horse manure into a polytunnel? Hopefully tomorrow I can get the hotspot tape done and the cover on and it's ready to plant up.

I'm right down to the dregs of my cardboard stash now, too. I think it's nearly all the stuff printed with shiny inks. I prefer to reserve that for paths than growing space. Or for lighting bonfires.

James

That's not bad for £250 ...did that include the cover and hotspot tape ? I don't have room (well I do, but 'er indoors will not tolerate any more garden structures) to install one. The next place will definitely get one. There are two huge redundant industrial ones in a field near where we walk the dog .. those and the greenhouses adjacent have not ben used for years. The covers have gone and the greenhouses are chest deep in brambles ... so tempting to ask but I've nowhere to store it even if I could obtain it.

 

[JamezF]

Yes, the cover and hotspot tape were included as well as four ground anchors (bent over bits of galvanised rebar, basically). I bought some more ground anchors and ideally could have done with a little more hotspot tape, but it will be fine.

The cover is not as good as the one I have one the main polytunnel. It's reinforced polythene, but quite lightweight and not really long enough to trench into the ground. It'll do the job for a while though, and when it gets to the point of needing replacement I'll get a heavier weight polythene.

Now I've seen one "in the flesh", if I were to have another cheap one like this I think I'd probably just buy the frame (which is available with or without the door for around the £160 mark as far as I recall), make my own doors/door frames and fit my own cover. I think that would give a reasonable structure for an affordable price. If money were no object on the other hand, I'd go with something rather more robust from the likes of First Tunnels or Northern Polytunnels.

James

 

[JamezF]

And it's done...

Probably two full days work to go from a patch of scrubby grass to planted up polytunnel, though I still need to find some more "heavy stuff" to weight down the edges of the cover, and then spread woodchip around the outside so I don't need to mow up tight to it.

Butternut squashes on the left, spaghetti squashes on the right, with one Crown Prince squash (which seem to do ok outdoors here unlike the other two) at the back right because I had the space.

James

 

[JamezF]

The veggie plot being full, I decided to harvest all my Red Duke of York first earlies today...

I think I'd have had a bigger crop if we'd had any significant rain in the last six weeks. But now I have space to plant out more vegetables this weekend

After putting them away in the workshop I went to shut the chickens in for the night and spotted this chap in the field behind the house. Actually I'm fairly sure there were at least two, but this was the only one I saw at the time...

James

 

[Garry R]

I saw a couple of deer today as well and seem to have seen more this year during the day. Wonder if they are less fearful with the dry weather and looking for water though the rheins are still wet

 

[JamezF]

We quite often see roe deer, but red deer (as I think these were) are quite uncommon. I'd guess they've come down off Exmoor looking for better grazing and perhaps water too.

James

 

[Garry R]

The ones I saw were roe. Those look like red deer in velvet.

 

[enrico]

This years seeds are terrible at germinating. Something to do with last years weather maybe. Sweeping statement but had so many failures across the board.

 

[JamezF]

This years seeds are terrible at germinating. Something to do with last years weather maybe. Sweeping statement but had so many failures across the board.

The one thing I had real problems with this year were the Crown Prince squashes. I had to have three goes before I got them to germinate and even then two of the six seeds didn't. Pretty much everything else has been ok I think.

James

 

[pargyle]

This years seeds are terrible at germinating. Something to do with last years weather maybe. Sweeping statement but had so many failures across the board.

I've had a lot of germination failures but worse has been the number of seedlings that have germinated and then failed to grow on. I think it's down to bought in compost - the ones that have done best are those that I pricked out early into my own mix. Fortunately, I got enough of everything started to plant out. My cucumbers did not germinate at all and I had to buy in some plants ... they are not doing very well ... they've been in thr ground for nearly three weeks and have hardly put on any growth - annoying, as this time last year I already had fruit set.

 

[drex]

For the last couple of years I have used Jack's Magic compost from Westlands. Found it very good. I no longer have the stuff for making my own.
I sometimes find transplants just sit there for a few weeks, doing nothing but then romp away. I always say my plants have two choices, grow or die. That's nature

 

[Goran]

Potatoesss..

 

[JamezF]

Potatoesss..

I have some that look very similar. Just not quite so many

James

 

[Goran]

Some of mixed up..

 

[pargyle]

I have some that look very similar. Just not quite so many

James

My Sagitta have become triffids ... I've never had potatoes I've grown in bags with so much top growth on them - just totally unebelievable ... they are just starting to flower. If the crop of spuds is anything like the top growth it will be a bumper year.

Spent most of the day weeding - the sycamore seedlings are finally receding... now it's the milkwort that seems intent on taking over the planet (fortunately shallow rooted so they come out easily). Planted out lettuce into the troughs on my A frame. I've just about run out of my own compost so bought three 50 litre bags of Westlands General Purpose from B & M Bargains ... very good looking and at £15 for 3 bags 10p a litre - good value.

 

[Amari]

We quite often see roe deer, but red deer (as I think these were) are quite uncommon. I'd guess they've come down off Exmoor looking for better grazing and perhaps water too.

James

We occasionally see fallow deer here in the agribusiness desert: invariable rotation of cereal/OSR/cereals, very little pasture or woodland.
However Muntjac are seen almost daily - they might be on the road verge and don't bother to move when we drive past.
It's seven miles to the nearest town and it is standard to pass 2-3-4-5 road kill corpses on the way.
The problem is these Labrador-sized deer can jump field gates so we have had to fix a strand of extra wire above the rabbit fencing around our 7-strip allotment site. For a few years now we believe they're responsible for biting broad bean pods in half so I now grow the bb within plastic netting. I think they must be still getting in because the pics show today's findings.......

 

[enrico]

My Sagitta have become triffids ... I've never had potatoes I've grown in bags with so much top growth on them - just totally unebelievable ... they are just starting to flower. If the crop of spuds is anything like the top growth it will be a bumper year.

Spent most of the day weeding - the sycamore seedlings are finally receding... now it's the milkwort that seems intent on taking over the planet (fortunately shallow rooted so they come out easily). Planted out lettuce into the troughs on my A frame. I've just about run out of my own compost so bought three 50 litre bags of Westlands General Purpose from B & M Bargains ... very good looking and at £15 for 3 bags 10p a litre - good value.

Sagitta haven't let us down yet. Our biggest weeds are field elder. Pretty flowers and not as bad as ground elder but still strangle things. And spotted medic. It is a grass weed but is a real pain as the roots are so deep. Gets into flower beds all the time.

 

[pargyle]

You know what a cheapskate I am and my love of recycling.. so I'd run our of biggish pots and I still have 20 or so tomato plants in small pots... so there I was with 15 empty Invertbee Jerry cans and I had a drill and Stanley knife moment... the cane goes through a second hole in the bottom of the can, drain holes about an inch up from the bottom and enough space cut out around the top to plant the tomatoes but I've left the strong bits of polythene around the top so it does not flex. I love it when a plan comes together... such a rare occasion for me. Cost...nothing for a change !

A few still to go but rain stopped play ... not that I am complaining...its the kalahari del Fareham at present !

PS: I found that a couple of small cable ties around the cane - one above and one below the screw cap - so the cane stays in place when I pick them up ... I've potted a few tomato plants in them this afternoon - they really work well - I can pick them up by gripping them either side of the hole (it's fairly rigid polythene) and it doesn't flex.

Definitely one of my better recycling ideas ...

 

[Amari]

Rain, what rain? None here yet. Ground absolutely parched.