Plans for planting

[gar1990]

I haven't planted this myself but there is a-lot of this growing in one of our fields. Does anyone know what it is and if the bees like it? (the white flower)

 

[Erichalfbee]

Meadowsweet. Bees collect pollen which is green
Your grass is very green. Where are you?
Mine looks like this

 

[gar1990]

Thanks! were in northern ireland, No issues with lack of rain here....

 

[Goran]

Something new I've learned.. bees like bananas.. Well, I can take that as excuse to plant some more.. Now to wait will the fruits manage to ripe..

 

[Xander]

I have rat tail radish on my allotment, absolutely buzzing with bees since it started flowering. Still going strong now.

 

[Bettenham]

I have rat tail radish on my allotment, absolutely buzzing with bees since it started flowering. Still going strong now.

Had to look this one up! Some will be going in the garden next year!
I don't know if Hux70 is still on here but a thank you for his recommendation of St Pierre tomato. Great flavour and cropper. It has suffered a bit from greenback but I should have shaded the greenhouse more - especially this year!

 

[Erichalfbee]

greenback

What is that?

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

What is that?

Arch villain - the bane of Dangermouse

 

[Bettenham]

No JBM.

What is that?

Contrary to JBM opinion it's inedible woody green flesh around the stalk end and is, I think, where the tomato is ripening unevenly due to high heat/light levels. Some varieties are more prone to it than others. Not a problem usually but this years summer!!!

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

it's inedible woody green flesh around the stalk end

AKA as the monkey's a*sehole

 

[Erichalfbee]

We have th

No JBM.

Contrary to JBM opinion it's inedible woody green flesh around the stalk end and is, I think, where the tomato is ripening unevenly due to high heat/light levels. Some varieties are more prone to it than others. Not a problem usually but this years summer!!!

Thanks
We have that on the plum tomatoes but they are red inside so edible.

 

[Erichalfbee]

We have th

No JBM.

Contrary to JBM opinion it's inedible woody green flesh around the stalk end and is, I think, where the tomato is ripening unevenly due to high heat/light levels. Some varieties are more prone to it than others. Not a problem usually but this years summer!!!

Thanks
We have that on the plum tomatoes but they are red inside so edible.

 

[Belgianbeekeeper]

Made a start today getting my trays ready to sew seeds, thought if i prepare early it'll be easier at sewing time if I'm more organised. Have quite an array of flowers,few veg but mostly flowers geared up for the bees. So my fellow beeks, do you grow flowers from seed, if so what?buy plugs?more of a veg grower and if so,what do you grow? Or do you just allow your bees to go and find what forage is in the area?

Seeds go two ways,one way are beefriendly mixtures of local wildflowers,that i seed out spreaded over 3 goes,mid may,mid june and mid july on 3 different patches and two,as far as seeding myself goes,mainly dahlia's,they are just too easy,i seed couple two meter rows,that gave me around 400 tiny plants,125 i transplanted myself,the rest i gave away,in the neighborhood and by a beekeepers fb page,and sunflowers,put some seeds between the dahlia's if i plant the tubers,otherwise i take a lot of cuttings and ruteshoots .The rest is mainly perenials planted in combination with bushes and trees,going from weigela,sevensonstrees,lindens,holly,amandelwillow,wizzard and regular hazles,a whole lot of mahonies spread out from shadow to sunny spots,a mixed hedge with 4 different wild roses,blackthorn,hawthorn,privet,oak and bunch more,regular and russian lavendle,row of butterflybushes,hedera allover,different fruittrees and berrybushes,symphoricarpus,climbers as passiflora,kamperfoelies and few more.As perenials,lot of heleniums,verbenas both bonariensis and hastata,32 different campanulla species but i'll need to replant some the heat and drought killed some,lot of different fuchsias,all sort of veronica's,bunch different salvias and so on and so forth.And as last bulbs bulbs and more bulbplants,couple thousend alliums,uncountable number of crocusses and i just ordered 6000 more they are a pollenbomb early spring,several thousend iris reticulata and 3000 more ordered,winteraconite,forrest,indian and siberian hyacints,firework,milkweeds,one of my absolute favorites Angelica,dwarf medlars.....best way to describe if i go to a plantcenter,no matter how big it is,i mostly have to leave empty handed cause i couldn't find anything that's not allready in the garden,except for a number of trees,but for those i ran out of space.

 

[Nannysbees]

Anyone planting winter crops?

 

[E&MBees]

Anyone planting winter crops?

I’m hoping too, but don’t know if I’ll get time. Would like to do winter salad leaves

 

[Nannysbees]

I’m hoping too, but don’t know if I’ll get time. Would like to do winter salad leaves

That's a thought I may do that always nice through the winter to have home grown greens

 

[Robinredcar]

I've got lots of cabbage to get through the winter, hoping to try some salard in the green houses to. Never tried it so well see

 

[Erichalfbee]

A few of our leeks bolted early this year so we left them to flower. The flowers are now spent so we dug the rest up.
Has anybody tried planting the bulbs to grow new leeks?

 

[pargyle]

A few of our leeks bolted early this year so we left them to flower. The flowers are now spent so we dug the rest up.
Has anybody tried planting the bulbs to grow new leeks?

View attachment 34047

If you had let them go to seed they produce hundreds of little leeklets on the seed heads and they grow well. I've kept bulbs in the ground after they flowered and they either rotted over winter or throw up some straggly leeks on spring which were pretty useless.