God I love growing our own

[enrico]

I hope Enrico hasn't taken to growing rice looking at the pictures coming from the Somerset Levels. Looking very wet.

Yes, it is like living by the sea but we are up above it and just get the views!

It is a lot higher than that now.!!

 

[Skinfaxi]

Anybody have a source of grow lights that aren’t t Chinese?

Anybody have a source of grow lights that aren’t t Chinese?

 

[JamezF]

Excited to get a new greenhouse in a few weeks. When we bought the house 12 years ago, there was a large one full of a grapevine in one corner & I brought one with me (buyers of our old house wouldn’t pay for any extras)…. So they were installed end to end. Not the best arrangement & neither were particularly high.

I'm about to attempt joining two greenhouses together to make a "passive solar" greenhouse (what greenhouse isn't passive solar?). They're not even the same design

James

 

[fian]

A passive solar greenhouse has a face facing north (cold) and part of the roof made of masonry or non-transparent material. The other part of the roof (south side) would be transparent but it can be covered with a tarpaulin reducing solar incidence.

I'm about to attempt joining two greenhouses together to make a "passive solar" greenhouse (what greenhouse isn't passive solar?). They're not even the same design

James

 

[papa_sierra]

Yes, it is like living by the sea but we are up above it and just get the views!
View attachment 34959
It is a lot higher than that now.!!

Good to know you are not involved. I know bees need access to water, but that is taking it to extremes !!

 

[JamezF]

Just been hunting through some photos for stuff my daughter wants for an art project and found this from a few years back



James

 

[Erichalfbee]

I can feel a big tomato contest in the offing

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Just been hunting through some photos for stuff my daughter wants for an art project and found this from a few years back

View attachment 35047

James

reminds me of my cricketing days when as wicket keeper I caught someone out by getting the ball wedged between my box and inner thigh

 

[JamezF]

reminds me of my cricketing days when as wicket keeper I caught someone out by getting the ball wedged between my box and inner thigh

Caught the batsman out with a googly, eh?

James

 

[Amari]

Just been hunting through some photos for stuff my daughter wants for an art project and found this from a few years back

View attachment 35047

James

I can feel a big tomato contest in the offing

That's a cherry tomato. SWMBO grew this @ 680g

 

[Amari]

Excited to get a new greenhouse in a few weeks. When we bought the house 12 years ago, there was a large one full of a grapevine in one corner & I brought one with me (buyers of our old house wouldn’t pay for any extras)…. So they were installed end to end. Not the best arrangement & neither were particularly high.
After the wood base rotted away on the old one & the increasingly bad weather destroyed the thin panes of glass, decided to splash out on a big new one. Not massive in comparison to some folks polytunnels etc on here but will suit me just fine.
Old ones have now gone & new base being done in a few weeks. I’ll have so much more useable space.
View attachment 34956View attachment 34957View attachment 34958

SWMBO has just treated herself to a Robinson's. The old wood Alton started rotting (poor design, improved in later models after takeover by Robinsons) so that the roof panes became loose and threatened to guillotine any passerby.

 

[Bryang]

What Potatoes are folk growing?

I grow Nicola (2nd early) and Piccaso (main crop) Last year 50 (4 kg) Nicola seed spuds gave a return of 7 bread crates and the same amount of Picaso seed spuds gave me 9 baskets.. Prefer Nicola for texture and flavour, when boiled.. Will be trying some Cara this year on my brothers recomandation.. Why 50 seed spuds? my plots can take 5 spuds across the plot and 10 rows in length.. My seed pots were delivered this morning..

 

[Amari]

Gardening Which this month tested second early salad spuds. Charlotte and Nicola came out best.

 

[E&MBees]

SWMBO has just treated herself to a Robinson's. The old wood Alton started rotting (poor design, improved in later models after takeover by Robinsons) so that the roof panes became loose and threatened to guillotine any passerby.

Looks very smart

 

[JamezF]

I have a Robinson's greenhouse. I suspect it might well be as old as me as has a plate on the door that says "Robinson's of Winchester". I'm fairly sure they've not been based in Winchester for quite some years. I think they may have been bought out and the business moved to wherever they are now (Stoke on Trent?).

James

 

[JamezF]

On the list of things to do this weekend is to sow broad beans. The weather here is a bit marginal to sow them earlier and my autumn-sown ones really don't seem to be doing that well either.

This evening I've also been through all my seed acquisitions, updating my planting plan to make sure I haven't missed anything, and I've found a couple of things I need to buy more seeds for at the same time.

I'm also thinking that perhaps I should get some extra shallots to grow this year. I pickled all of last year's harvest, ending up with five ¾ litre Kilner jars full and I'm far from convinced that's going to last until the next batch are available. I've always pickled shallots rather than onions. I didn't actually realise until recently that the onions used for pickled onions are just normal onions planted at very close spacing. I quite fancy growing some silverskin onions to pickle as well, but I'm not sure I'm so keen on having to prep them after harvesting

My seed potatoes haven't turned up yet, but I'm in no hurry for them right now.

On the experimental list for this year are endive and radicchio. Unfortunately it seems that some of the more desirable varieties must be unsuitable for growing in the sunlit uplands of post-Brexit UK and are no longer available (I assume the seed is usually produced in Europe and we're too much of a faff for the exporters to be bothered with any more) so I'm still pondering on what I'm going to do there. Fortunately it's some time until I need to have a solution.

I also really need to get out in the veg plot and do some tidying up, but the ground is still so wet. Instead I've spent a "happy" couple of days laying a stretch of blackthorn hedge down alongside part of our drive. We ordered some bottled gas a couple of weeks back and whilst the delivery chap turned up he refused to deliver because the drive was "too overgrown" (he didn't stop to tell us that though -- just drove off). Odd that a much larger oil delivery truck had made it down without a problem only three days earlier. We needed the gas (it's for the kitchen hob and we were running low) so I had to get out and do something about it. Fortunately they've now turned up and we shall not be having to eat cold baked beans for the next two weeks.

James

 

[pargyle]

Onions for pickling are best grown from seed ... I sow about end of March time (depending on weather) straight into the ground... I just scatter the seed fairly thinly into a prepared bed. As they grow they tend to push each other out of the way and don't grow more than an inch or so in diameter if you don't thin them out. They usually reach a decent size by the end of July/early august

Any variety can be pickled - depends on what flavour you like. I don't bother with Paris Silverskins as the prep work prior to pickling is tedious.

The ones I prefer are Bedfordshire Champion - it's a brown round onion, not too strong when pickled, a packet of 200 does a square yard of bed and that gives me about 18 jars. By not thinning them I get a mix of sizes and it's better for packing the jars out. I use 16oz pickle jars from F & H. I reuse them every year as I bought extra lids when I bought them a few years ago and just put new lids on.

 

[Erichalfbee]

The ones I prefer are Bedfordshire Champion - it's a brown round onion, not too strong when pickled, a packet of 200 does a square yard of bed and that gives me about 18 jars. By not thinning them I get a mix of sizes and it's better for packing the jars out. I use 16oz pickle jars from F & H. I reuse them every year as I bought extra lids when I bought them a few years ago and just put new lids on.

Now that's good idea. I grow those for ordinary onions. I put the sets you sent me in far too late and then it started raining for weeks but lo and behold many of them are through.
I pickle my shallots in sweet balsamic vinegar and they are sublime.

 

[enrico]

SWMBO has just treated herself to a Robinson's. The old wood Alton started rotting (poor design, improved in later models after takeover by Robinsons) so that the roof panes became loose and threatened to guillotine any passerby.

We have had two massive Robinson's greenhouses. The first stated at the house we sold and so we bought another for our present abode. We have a big cheaper one too. There is no comparison. The only hard thing about the Robinson's s getting the cover strips on once all the glass is in! But it has withstood huge storms. The cheaper one not so much!!!!!

 

[JamezF]

I pickle my shallots in sweet balsamic vinegar and they are sublime.

I did half of ours from last year in balsamic vinegar, but I've not tasted them yet.

James