The "G" word

[tigerburnie]

Yes the year before I was eating root crops all winter, but my leeks all went to seed, I blame the weather, can't possibly be me lol.

[tigerburnie]

Already starting for next year sowed my onion seeds in the heated propagator in the house, I'm a bit later than I had planned, but it's so dark up here at the moment.

[melmerby]

I had a generally good year, The onions were superb, as were the shallots both now in store, hanging in the garage in sisal bags.

Toms lasted well into November, finished off the beetroot a week ago, good crops of Sweet Pepper, all eaten & Chilis (now frozen) and the OXhear toms did reasonably well in the end.

 

Sunflowers (4) recovered well, the tallest hit nearly 3m and the others about 2m

 

I found a bug killer made from vegetable oil which worked quite well, a couple of doses on the broad beans and the blackfly vanished.

 

Must make up next years list, I'm going to add a climbing cherry tom variety for the (unheated) greenhouse and see whether I can get toms until Christmas (which I have done before)

[tigerburnie]

11 hours ago, melmerby said:

I had a generally good year, The onions were superb, as were the shallots both now in store, hanging in the garage in sisal bags.

Toms lasted well into November, finished off the beetroot a week ago, good crops of Sweet Pepper, all eaten & Chilis (now frozen) and the OXhear toms did reasonably well in the end.

 

Sunflowers (4) recovered well, the tallest hit nearly 3m and the others about 2m

 

I found a bug killer made from vegetable oil which worked quite well, a couple of doses on the broad beans and the blackfly vanished.

 

Must make up next years list, I'm going to add a climbing cherry tom variety for the (unheated) greenhouse and see whether I can get toms until Christmas (which I have done before)

Do you nip the growing tips out of the Broad beans? I do mine when at a good height, works every time, so the blackfly attacked the black currents instead, you cannae win.

[melmerby]

1 hour ago, tigerburnie said:

Do you nip the growing tips out of the Broad beans? I do mine when at a good height, works every time, so the blackfly attacked the black currents instead, you cannae win.

Yes, I always nip them but the blackfly arrived afterwards.

There are some blackcurrants that the previous owner planted as a hedge(?), they never get attacked.☹️

[Michael Hodgson]

15 hours ago, melmerby said:

I found a bug killer made from vegetable oil which worked quite well, a couple of doses on the broad beans and the blackfly vanished.

 

I've tried all sorts.  Pinching out the tops seems to help but doesn't make a big difference.  I've tried all sorts of chemicals (most of which you can't get any more) but nothing I've tried really works.  Though to be fair, this year has been nowhere near as bad as the previous few.  How are you using this vegetable oil - spreading it neat on the leaves?  Mixing with something & spraying?

 

I've got next year's coming though nicely, though sometimes I have trouble with something digging up the seeds and eating them - don't know what but I suspect the squirrels (there's three in the garden right now - one grey and two black, attacking a "squirrel-proof" bird feeder).  It could be mice/rats/water rodents - I'm close to a small river.

[tigerburnie]

Onion seeds that were sown in mid December in cells in a heated propagator are now potted  on into old yoghurt pots and the Chillies  are now sown in larger cells in the prop, Anaheim, Torro Rosso and Tepepo Rosso to start with.

[tigerburnie]

Commenced some seed sowing in the greenhouse, some early peas and broad beans sown in the greenhouse in cells.

[The White Rabbit]

I'm on flowers this year, using the conservatory as the greenhouse blew down in the gales. Nearly through a fence but we managed to stop it just in time. Alyssum, aubretia, antirrhinums, campanula, cornflowers and lobelia.  

[tigerburnie]

I don't grow many flowers, done a Hugh Fearlessly Eats it All and turned most of the garden over to food production, we do grow Roses though.

[Oldddudders]

I returned from three weeks in Torquay to find the grass is well-risen, but far too wet to tolerate a cut. I have nevertheless put the lawn-tractor battery on charge just in case. A keen breeze is lifting some moisture, so we'll see, but most days in the near future seem to have some rain forecast, and the pond beyond the boundary bramble patch is high, and has a lonely duck quacking his head off. The forsythia is starting to come out, so much less advanced than some I have seen in recent days. Sherry's block of flats has a palm tree in the forecourt, one of very many in Torbay, which indicates the balmy climate there. 

 

My cleaner looks after the flowerbed opposite the terrasse, which is currently a sea of daffs, but has scope for much more as Spring advances. Typically in a few weeks time we will go to a nursery and choose some things for Alison to plant. She is a greenie - and the World's only cleaner who owns a house in 17 acres, all hers. She has been distraught at recent rainfall - in the first three weeks of Feb, rainfall was 10 times the total 2023 amount for the whole month - as she grows a lot of their food, and has been unable to get things planted to her preferred timescale. 

[tigerburnie]

 

[melmerby]

Poor start to the season due to the wet.

Onion & Shallot sets only recently planted in the raised beds.

Some Toms & Sunflowers on the go as well, not much else happening and to add to the problems my back is playing up, so no "hard"work.

[tigerburnie]

Planted a few more seed grown onions, not in a rush to do much as it's snowing at lower levels just up the road in Aberdeenshire.

[tigerburnie]

I now start my peas in the greenhouse and then plant out, get much better germination rates, just planted out the first batch, I don't sow them all at the same time, the idea being they won't all crop at once, sort of works as the last sowing usually races ahead and catches up a bit.

[40152]

On 25/04/2024 at 15:09, tigerburnie said:

Planted a few more seed grown onions, not in a rush to do much as it's snowing at lower levels just up the road in Aberdeenshire.

It did indeed, the fields round about here were white over. Glad I held off planting my tatties for a couple of weeks this year, they’re not through yet thankfully. Might go and get some onion setts this afternoon, given the forecast is looking a bit warmer into next week.

[The White Rabbit]

Food for thought? 

 

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/may/04/pesticides-by-stealth-garden-soil-conditioners-killing-worms-experts-fear

 

I've not used these myself, I try and improve the soil by providing a mix of materials, including vegetation as food for the worms. A good dig over and then a mix in of things like dead leaves and grass cuttings breaks up the soil and gives the worms something to feed on. I grow some 'window-sill salad' in trays using compost and when the green stuff has been harvested/eaten, the compost and roots/stems mix gets emptied into the 'dig-over' areas. 

 

Whether veg or flowers, I try and spread the sowings over time too. Doesn't always work, for all sorts of reasons, not least weather! 

[tigerburnie]

Sadly a look around any garden centre these days and the amount of chemicals that folk are buying makes me realise there's probably no more than one gardener in every hundred who buy such crap. I don't dig anymore either, I collect all the compostable stuff in a bin at the bottom of the garden then spread it over the surface in the winter, the weather and the worms do the rest.

[Nick C]

We planted a bunch of veg and flowers in the garden last weekend - the whole lot have now been eaten by slugs...

[tigerburnie]

The conservatory is awash with colour(and the smell of coconut).......................................

Epiphytes..........................

 

[tigerburnie]

The garden is doing ok, Rabbits eating the wife's new flowers, so chicken wire fence erected, Rabbit now gone, slugs and snails are hammering the peas and lettuce, but the Song Thrushes are doing their job well enough, smashed snail shells on the path. In the greenhouse everything is coming along nicely, we have had some early Radishes, the Strawberries are just beginning to ripen, there's flowers on the Peas and the slug free lettuce are looking good. First flowers on the Chillies and Peppers, but out side the Carrots are being eaten by slugs and snails, I fear for the second year we may get no carrots or beetroots, you win some and lose some.

[melmerby]

The ongoing bad problem has curtailed my gardening exploits considerably this year, so just onions, shallots & tomatoes for food and several variety of sunflowers, which are doing very well.

 

I did manage to cut the grass a week ago.

Edited May 20 by melmerby

[tigerburnie]

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