Vegetable Growing 2024

Tried it several years ago; not impressed. It grew alright but required stewing to render edible. Very strong flavour, probably better grown as green manure !
It may be better if grown quickly; as in a Mediterranian climate, or a polytunnel. It did not in N E Hampshire.

 

The courgettes are in!
They’ve started putting up flower spikes with not much foliage so I hope they do. I’ve used my own compost for them this year. The bought compost has been rubbish this year - I’ve noticed dry tops and when you tip the plant out, the underneath is saturated. They are in big pots - two green patio varieties - ‘Ambassador’, and a yellow one - ‘butterstick’.

 

I've taken all the open flowers and larger buds from my squashes and courgettes in the hope they'll concentrate on some strong growth before trying to fruit again. I've planted out a Potimarron/uchiki kuri and one of those very pale Italian courgettes, each in a pile of freshly excavated garden compost.

I have 4 left to plant out but they'll have to wait for OH to clear their bed and empty out more compost.

Yesterday I also planted out a dozen Swiss chard 'Pink Flamingo' and some Little Gem lettuces in the bare soil which will eventually be covered by squash foliage. I also got 11 tomatoes and a chilli planted out in the hsorter bed in the PT after piling on loads of horse muck, laying out a seep hose and spiking in some twirly metal supports for them.

Today I'll be planting the other side with a dozen more tomatoes and another chilli. Anything left over will just have to go in pots up by the kitchen. Once they're all in, the basils will follow in the gaps and then I'll tackle the brassica planting.

Keeping busy and lots of help from the chooks who just love tossing freshly laid compost and exploring the bins.

 

I planted out my runner beans since my last post, a few days ago. 2 have been munched but the others are OK so far. I gave my spare plants to a friend. Good thing I planted 2 to a pole.

We had our first helping of sugar snap peas two days ago and I have eaten a few lettuce leaves. I dug up a potato to see how it was doing and we had two very small potatoes each. I re-planted the plant and watered it and it's growing as though nothing had happened.

 

A little disappointed this morning, looks like the pigeons have completely stripped my pea plants. I had a second batch to go in, so planted these, just hope the first batch can pull through.

 

OH has piled barrowloads of compost on the new brassica bed and we've left it to the chooks to go thru it and scatter it before I get stuck in and plan this pm.

He's also gone over a bare couple of square metres at the top of our raspberry bed and barrowed more compost on there so I can get our new raspberry plants in.

Meanwhile I have planted a tarragon in the polytunnel in the hope it will do well thru winters as the old one is barely showing signs of life after a cool, wet winter. I've also been potting on fower seedlings and baby roses grown from cuttings while I wait to plant fruit and veg. Run out of compost now.

Some of our potatoes are just starting to flower @Busy-Lizzie but I'll wait another fortnight to start firkling as OH and I are away for the second half of this week and OH is off golfing near Bordeaux for the second half of next week.

Every time I go into my stash looking for pots I find masses of snails hiding in there. No wonder things have been scoffed. I hope everyone's new pea and bean plantings survive the molluscs.

 

@hamesy we have to put up stick barriers to disrupt the flight path of pigeons for any veg plants we put outside. We criss cross the sticks. A lot of time and then when you are trying to weed you get stabbed. But we do manage to get the plants to produce what they are supposed to...well most of the time.

 

@On the Levels a friend of mine here makes "cloches" out of chicken wire to protect his lettuces and hearting cabbages such as Savoy and pointy. Easy to move and re-use and no pokes in the eye.

 

Thank you @Obelix-Vendée We already have chicken wire around the veg patches to keep the rabbits at bay so doing more sounds good.

 

My second batch of peas have been protected with stick barriers and then netting. I'm not allowing the pigeons to have these

 

Cima di rapa is one of our favourites, but we found flea-beetle to be a problem here in the UK if you plant it after Spring. I guess you could protect it, but we don't really have the space. We cook it a bit like friarielli (lots of web recipe's out there), basically with chilli and garlic in olive oil with sometimes a little dolcelatte cheese added. It is NOT to everyone's taste, as has been said, it does have a strong bitterness to it.

 

As hardly anyone seems to post on the Allotments thread I thought I would update here.
Like most people, the weather caused a very slow start and several things have effectively stalled, or are progressing very slowly. The first lot of peas were demolished by the pigeons but the second lot are coming on. The Broad beans are smothered in blackfly.
On the upside the Asparagus did well, I am leaving them to build up now. The Foremost early spuds are in flower, lettuce doing well, and I am picking lots of strawberries every other day, see pic above. The Raspberries are coming but so are the Loganberries (bit early) can't win.

 

My climbing French bean plants are a disaster. Is it too late to sew some seeds?

 

@Tabather We are the same. Germination for many vegs has been very poor. This week I have sown more carrots, peas, dwarf french beans, lettuce and beetroot. Haven't even stared on the spinach or swiss chard. I will keep sowing and hope that some germination takes place and we have a better harvest....not anything as brilliant as @Allotment Boy is doing.