God I love growing our own

[OldFarm]

Elephant garlic is ready to harvest, but the ground is so hard at the moment struggling to get it out.

 

[Erichalfbee]

I companion plant marigolds and basil which control tunnel pests really well.

 

[enrico]

Elephant garlic is ready to harvest, but the ground is so hard at the moment struggling to get it out.

Just harvested ours, really pleased. Dont forget to plant up the little side bulbs. Next year they will be a single bulb and the year after they will be proper elephant garlic. You can use them after the first year though.

 

[enrico]

Lavender bed just coming into its own

 

[JamezF]

I've spent a few hours over the last couple of days doing some of the glazing on Frankenstein's Greenhouse. What else is there to do when the wind is gusting up to 40mph but climb a ladder carrying sheets of glass? One of the donor greenhouses has a very strange mechanism for retaining the glass. I'm really not sure I trust it so I've added loads of "W" clips as well because I seem to have hundreds despite never owning a greenhouse that uses them. I also discovered that it probably used butyl mastic instead of nitrile seals on the glazing bars. Unfortunately by the time I found that out I'd already bodged an alternative solution. I suspect I'm going to be about twenty panes short on the glass, but if so as I posted earlier I'll probably just stick some 4mm twinwall polycarbonate in on the north end where there's not much light coming in anyhow. Until I've done all the cutting for the places where a standard size greenhouse glass sheet won't fit I won't really know.

Not sure I'll have time to get any more done tomorrow as I need to sort out a new run for the chicks that hatched a few weeks back now they don't need the heat lamp. As there's sufficient glazing to provide a reasonable amount of shelter from the wind though, it's quite tempting to take half an hour and stick in a few peppers and tomatoes that I had left over when I planted up the polytunnel for the summer.

Talking of which, it seems to have taken a long time but the first few tomatoes are finally ripening. The plants are probably about five feet tall now and growing well. The peppers are also doing nicely. I have fruit on a couple of plants and they're looking more healthy than I've ever had them before. I suspect that might be down to transplanting them into pots for a month or so before they were planted out. As bigger plants they appear less susceptible to slug damage. Not that I've seen many slugs this year.

We've started harvesting Romanesco cauliflowers and calabrese from the main veggie plot. The calabrese is a bit of a nightmare. It seems to be ready to eat for a couple of days and then starts flowering. I suspect the weather may be the cause. I'm sure the bees would love it if the borage weren't flowering. My summer/autumn cabbages are looking outstanding though. I'm really pleased with those. I lifted the last of the first early potatoes a week or so back. I reckon we got somewhere between 25kg and 30kg in the end. This weekend I'll probably start lifting the second earlies as I need the space freeing up so some of the winter brassicas can go in. Most of the peas seem to be fading now. I was hoping they'd last a bit longer, but I suspect they're just responding to the weather too. I've left them in the ground so the plants can dry out so I can harvest seed for next year.

Fortunately the weather seems to be getting a bit cooler and less humid here, but we're still desperately short of rain. There seems to be plenty forecast, but very little is actually happening and when it does it's rarely sufficient to get anything wet.

James

 

[Amari]

Good crop of broad beans this year despite blackfly. Sowed Aquadulce Claudia early spring in greenhouse (autumn sown and planted beans didn't survive the winter) and then planted in allotment. Later-sown Longpod still to come. 4kg beans blanched and frozen.

 

[JamezF]

Sadly my broad beans have been somewhat underwhelming this year. Not as bad as the field beans though. Whilst they were certainly an experiment and I really didn't know what to expect, the beans have proved to be hard and bland. I may sow them again as a winter cover crop, but I won't be bothering to eat them -- I'll just cut them off at ground level as I need the space and put them in the compost.

In other news it has finally rained here today -- some in the early morning and then a long period of light rain this afternoon which is exactly what we need even if it has meant that I've got quite wet more than once whilst getting stuff done outdoors. I'm fairly sure it's the longest period of rain we've had in more than eight weeks. I don't think it will make a lot of difference in the long run, but at least it means I won't have to do any watering other than in the polytunnels and greenhouse for a few days.

James

 

[Goran]

We already harvested pickles for conserving.. Saw first signs of disease catching, but since we won't harvest any more I won't treat.. We will remove it from garden.. I never eat pickles from a shop, since I had nasty episode long time ago - after eating pickles from a shop I changed skin color into green and felt like I was dying.. So, after that I never eat any we don't grow by ourselves.. Bought ones are full with pesticides..
Our banana plant is firing with opening flowers.. bees are also on it, small fruits are each day bigger.. I wonder will they manage to be ripe for eating.. Last year catastrophic drought scorched it..

 

[pargyle]

My broad beans are done now ... and mostly eaten .. a few packs in the freezer but with just a couple of square metres of beds they did better than expected. Butternut squash are taking over my allotment area and there's a few flower buds forming. I've still got some more squash plants in pots that are taking over the greenhouse so they may go where the broad beans were. The sweetcorn is chest high and not a sign of any cobs forming which is a bit of a worry. French beans are producing more than we can eat so there's going to be a freezer full of those this year. Loads of lettuce and no sign of blight on the tomatoes yet ... that will be a first - I vowed I would not bother after three years of blight destroying every single plant. Onions are looking good ..not sure about the garlic - it's already falling over but it's too early, I fear the bulbs are going to be small. Lots of herbs looking good - Basil, Coriander, Parsley, Oregano, Chives. The dessicator will be up and running soon ...

 

[user 819]

Picked a litre tub full of black currants tonight , the second such picking in the week.
Not bad as I only paid a £1 for it from the pound shop some 10 years ago and it has produced plenty over the years.

 

[Garry R]

Had a great crop of loganberries and now raspberries. The canes for next year are growing well too. Sweet pea in common with all blossom have been excellent. Main disappointment has been parsnips - usually a guaranteed produce. Tomatoes just ripening and a good crop in prospect. French beans will start to be picked tomorrow. Haven't had my early poke at the spuds - they went in very late due to cold and wet but do look OK foliage wise. Beetroot great and lettuce, Eating salads daily now - feel like a rabbit.

 

[JamezF]

not sure about the garlic - it's already falling over but it's too early, I fear the bulbs are going to be small

My garlic started keeling over a few weeks back so I lifted it all. What was actually happening was that the stem was splitting open lengthwise just above the bulb whilst the leaves were still green. I've not seen that before. The bulbs were still very healthy-looking though and some are enormous.

James

 

[enrico]

Garlic and charlottes all out and drying, all the Charlotte new potatoes dug and into storage. It was a good crop. Need to dig the Sagitta next as the slugs are getting into them now the ground has had 3mm of water!!

 

[pargyle]

Garlic and charlottes all out and drying, all the Charlotte new potatoes dug and into storage. It was a good crop. Need to dig the Sagitta next as the slugs are getting into them now the ground has had 3mm of water!!

I rarely get enough Charlottes to store - we eat them very quickly but it looks like a good crop for me this year - how do you store them ?

 

[pargyle]

Had a great crop of loganberries and now raspberries. The canes for next year are growing well too. Sweet pea in common with all blossom have been excellent. Main disappointment has been parsnips - usually a guaranteed produce. Tomatoes just ripening and a good crop in prospect. French beans will start to be picked tomorrow. Haven't had my early poke at the spuds - they went in very late due to cold and wet but do look OK foliage wise. Beetroot great and lettuce, Eating salads daily now - feel like a rabbit.

I was going to net over my loganberries ... there was loads of fruit on them but they were still just turning red ... the blasted wood pigeons had the lot in a single day whilst I was at work when I was going to net them that evening, I was so cross ...

 

[JamezF]

I rarely get enough Charlottes to store - we eat them very quickly but it looks like a good crop for me this year - how do you store them ?

This year I'm trying some hessian sacks that I've bought from the river place.

James

 

[Garry R]

I was going to net over my loganberries ... there was loads of fruit on them but they were still just turning red ... the blasted wood pigeons had the lot in a single day whilst I was at work when I was going to net them that evening, I was so cross ...

I grow mine up against a wall and have a couple of wires that I attach them to by tying in the new shoots at the end of the season. When they have flowered I attach a fleece over them using clothes pegs in a double forwards and return to keep the birds off. When picking I just undo pegs taking the top from the bottom fleece and sort of go underneath the fleece to pick them. I also paint the bottom of the new growth with a splash of emulsion so I know what tp prune out the following year and then paint the next lot.

 

[Erichalfbee]

This year I'm trying some hessian sacks that I've bought from the river place.

James

Where do you keep them?
I’ve tried that and put them in a cool shed but they still sprout after a few weeks.
My most successful storage was keeping them in the bags/sacks they grew in and popping them into the polytunnel to keep dry.

 

[pargyle]

Where do you keep them?
I’ve tried that and put them in a cool shed but they still sprout after a few weeks.
My most successful storage was keeping them in the bags/sacks they grew in and popping them into the polytunnel to keep dry.

I've tried keeping Charlottes in boxes of dry compost and they always seem to sprout .... so we generally just gorge ourselves on lovely new potatoes for a few weeks and then look forward to next year. I understand potato merrchants keep their stocks in giant refrigerated buildings but you don't see English new potatoes much out of season so I wonder whether the likes of Charlottes are right for storing ?

 

[Erichalfbee]

You could be right. Maybe filling an old freezer with CO2 might work