God I love growing our own

[pargyle]

Mine all got hammered in the cold spell.

I thought I'd lost them .. I'd covered them over with a fleece tent and after the first heavy frost most of them folded in the middle of the stem but I re-staked them and tied them up and they have recovered and looking quite healthy. If we get a decent spring and they survive I should get a very early and good crop out of them - not out of the wood yet though !

 

[cwinte]

Very few of my broad beans survived in the long snow and -6C, I got hoops up but no chance too get a cover over. I'll wait and see a while if any look viable... The few backup / fill-in plants in greenhouse are 3" so I must start a load more now!

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Very few of my broad beans survived in the long snow and -6C, I got hoops up but no chance too get a cover over. I'll wait and see a while if any look viable... The few backup / fill-in plants in greenhouse are 3" so I must start a load more now!

one of the reasons that it's never been a thing around here to plant anything (apart from the occasional cabbage) in the autumn in the hope it sees the spring

 

[pargyle]

Very few of my broad beans survived in the long snow and -6C, I got hoops up but no chance too get a cover over. I'll wait and see a while if any look viable... The few backup / fill-in plants in greenhouse are 3" so I must start a load more now!

I would not give up on them - I've had frost damaged broad beans re-grow from the roots in the past ...

 

[rossbyjove]

Very few of my broad beans survived in the long snow and -6C, I got hoops up but no chance too get a cover over. I'll wait and see a while if any look viable... The few backup / fill-in plants in greenhouse are 3" so I must start a load more now!

I'm giving up on autumn sowing, beans and onions competely ruined.

 

[pargyle]

I'm giving up on autumn sowing, beans and onions competely ruined.

The key to success is protection (learned through experience). Onions hate waterlogged soil particularly before they are well rooted and will rot, Beans hate frost as the stems freeze and they blacken and die back .. if you are lucky and they are well rooted they will regrow from the base.

Invest in some hoops (I use plastic water pipe). Cover the onions with polythene to keep the soil dry - they will tolerate dry(ish) soil and grow but won't tolerate wet soggy soil. Cover the beans with horticultural fleece - make sure it's a complete tent to keep any frost out. Do it before there is any signs of frost or snow.

I often start a second batch of onions in the greenhouse - just put the sets in a plug box with a bit of compost underneath them - they will start to grown and can be planted out later on when they are well established to replace any lost in the ground. I've just started my second crop of beans off in the greenhouse in 3" pots and they will follow on (or in some cases replace) the first crop if that does get weather damaged. I cover them over in the greenhouse (unheated) with cut down fizzy drinks bottles or similar to keep them reasonably warm and retain the soil moisture - getting early crops (without a poly tunnel) is always a bit hit and miss and you do need back up plans - then it will all come together and you find you have a glut and a freezer full of beans and onions hanging in strings everywhere you can put a nail in the wall ... Don't you just love it ?

Nearly as challenging as keeping bees - and there are EVEN MORE pests to deal with !

 

[JamezF]

I do pretty much the same. I had some lengths of MDPE water pipe left over from various bits of work we've had done. It does a lovely job of making hoops to support lightweight covers for plants. Fleece works really well for protecting plants from some of the colder weather and I use it right the way into Spring, just laid on the ground.

I did try sowing "normal" onions in the autumn one year and they were quite happy despite getting buried by snow. Unfortunately many also decided they'd already had a year's growth once warmer weather arrived and flowered. "Proper" over-wintering onions may perhaps be a better bet.

If broad beans struggle then it might be worth trying some field beans. They're like broad beans, but smaller and allegedly more cold-hardy. I sowed some last Autumn mostly to act as ground cover, but we'll eat the beans if they get that far before I need the space for summer crops. I may have mentioned it before, but I've read that many of the field beans grown in the UK are shipped overseas because whilst we don't tend to eat them so much others do.

James

 

[fian]

And you do not plant cabbages and turnips.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

And you do not plant cabbages and turnips.

why not?

 

[Erichalfbee]

why not?

Sweetheart cabbage, broccoli and parsnips

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

my grandfather would wait until the first frosts to start lifting the swedes, they, and parsnips would usually stay in the ground until needed, he didn't often plant autumn cabbages but often had sprouts to pick for Christmas

 

[fian]

why not?

Because cabbages and turnips can withstand frost. In fact, in Galicia the turnip gives three harvests, the root, the first leaves and the second with the flower bud. The second harvest occurs after frost.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

but you just stated

And you do not plant cabbages and turnips.

or should we only do that during second fifth cycle of a waning gibbous quarter moon?

 

[fian]

but you just stated

or should we only do that during second fifth cycle of a waning gibbous quarter moon?

It was in question format, but I forgot to write the question sign?

 

[Moobee]

This morning my daughter skinned these:

They still need a bit of a clean, but I reckon they'll last us a while

James

I tried to grow these a few years back but couldn’t get the seed to germinate….

 

[Mabee]

This morning my daughter skinned these:

They still need a bit of a clean, but I reckon they'll last us a while

James

What are they? they look like loofahs

 

[JamezF]

I tried to grow these a few years back but couldn’t get the seed to germinate….

That's a shame. I've not found them any harder to germinate than any other gourd/squash seeds. The bigger problem in the UK I think is that they take something like four months from pollination to ripe fruit and certainly where I live the weather just isn't sufficiently benign for that long.

James

 

[JamezF]

What are they? they look like loofahs

That is indeed exactly what they are

James

 

[Erichalfbee]

What do you use them for?

 

[Mabee]

That is indeed exactly what they are

James

well something else i’ve just learned! I thought loofahs came from the sea (having never really given it any thought till now).