Veg 2016

laoch na mona

Thought it would be a good idea to have a thread discussing our boardsie veg gardens. A place to share advice and vent frustration at X pest, it would also be something to help inform anyone looking to start their own bit of a garden. And it would be nice to have a bit of chat in here. (mods feel free to remove it if you feel the need)

I had a late start this year (I just finished final year in college so most my weekends involved sitting in front of my laptop doing assignments) I only managed to get spuds and onions in, they're coming along nicely.

I've a week off so i'll get the rest planted in the next day or two, I spent today getting the patch dug. I'll be planting carrots, peas, courgette, beans, cabbage and beetroot.
I've grown all these before so hopefully there'll be no problems.

I also have some fruit in, just strawberries and a few apple trees. I might add some more fruit if I can find the space.

I've the spuds well in. Home Guard and Queens

Was a bit late with onion sets but they are through now.

Peas doing well.

Broad Beans. First time growing them and am delighted with them. Plenty of flowers the past weeks.

Have too many tomato plants. Didn't think they'd all survive so allowed for fatalities...there was none. I'll be making chutney!!

Beetroot coming on.

Have been eating a variety of lettuce and spinach already. Radish too.

Green beans sown only last week so could be too late.

Strawberries have fruit ripening. Raspberries look like it will be a super crop all green and developing.

Disappointed with pear tree....only half a dozen pears despite an unreal amount of blossom.

Apples developing too.

magicbastarder

rhubarb and garlic coming on well, but they're usually bulletproof. some forgotten elephant garlic is making an appearance, which was planted two years ago.
onion sets fine, but the tumbler tomatoes we planted out were planted about three days too early (i.e. before the current warm spell) and have been ditched.

muckety

Planted rhubarb earlier this year, coming on well and will leave well alone until next year .
Potatoes in about 8 weeks, growing madly, and loads coming up where we had them last year too!
Have a lot of seedlings (cabbage, kale, broccoli) to get in when the potatoes are harvested, if they survive. Also strawberries, courgettes, lettuce in containers which are doing great so far.

laoch na mona

muckety wrote: »

Planted rhubarb earlier this year, coming on well and will leave well alone until next year .
Potatoes in about 8 weeks, growing madly, and loads coming up where we had them last year too!
Have a lot of seedlings (cabbage, kale, broccoli) to get in when the potatoes are harvested, if they survive. Also strawberries, courgettes, lettuce in containers which are doing great so far.

no matter how good you dig you always miss a few

stooge

Potatoes -> earlies are flowering and will be ready for digging soon, main are coming on well
Peas -> I was fairly lazy this year and didnt get the supports/wire in place quick enough. other than that they are doing ok
Raspberries -> coming on well, need to get some covering to make sure that birds dont eat the fruit
Black/Redcurrants -> huge amount of berries so far
Brocolli -> bolted
Strawberries -> huge crop expected
Sweetcorn -> first attempt this year, 2 left out of 10 planted

macraignil

Second year that the rhubarb has been growing in the new garden and it has settled in well. Some stems are about twice the size of the ones I see in the shops. There was loads of horse bedding/manure added to where they were planted so I can see the benefit of that now.

Strawberries in the poly-tunnel have been fruiting a few weeks and the outside ones are just about ready and urgently need some straw to get them up off the ground before the slugs notice them getting ripe.

Grapes starting to form on the vine in the poly-tunnel and courgettes are getting settled after starting them on windowsills when the weather was colder.

Some of the garlic was knocked over recently but it still looks a bit green so I won't be harvesting it for another while.

Parsnips only have a few survivors as I think we got heavy rain just when the seedlings were vulnerable to slugs. I have other veg in containers to fill the space but need to get them a bit stronger before they will be ready to plant out.

evolving_doors

Strawberries--- manicured a load from last year and replanted (why new ones!).
I forgot to drill holes in the new pots so they were waterlogged and stressed out so a lot of whitefly,mould,runners... think I've salvaged enough though and got 4 huge strawberries today (in your face Keelings).

Peas- Good old kelvdon wonder, going grand although there seems to be a few superstrains in there that are about 4 foot tall and growing! I never get a good support system going though and just use discarded twigs from the garden.

Spuds- Home Guard I think! going grand but need to keep earthing em up. Threw in a few sharps express I left in the shed from last year (nicely chitted!) + shop bought roosters I never got around to eating and sprouted away.

Some day I'll tackle that garden.

livinsane

I'm making a big polyculture effort this year and growing veg , flowers and herbs together. I'm seeing better crops and reduced pests plus a very attractive plot.

We had a lot of purple sprouting broccoli earlier in the year, one of my favourite crops to grow. Plants have gone to seed with a while but I leave them up for the bees.

Eating broad beans now that I had planted in October. Better crop this year, most pods are full. Putting them into everything, curries, omelettes..

Potatoes are flowering. Growing golden wonders this year. I made wire cages and am growing in those, earthing up the cage as they grow.

No luck with carrots. I did two plantings and seeds didn't seem to germinate at all or else something ate them quickly. Maybe the soil is too heavy. That's probably it. I'll try again in a raised bed.

Tomatoes are doing really well. I always grow outside so get a later crop. Growing three varieties - Sungold Select, Ananas and Tumbler. I have some in pots and some in a raised bed. I'm growing basil with them which is said to improve taste.

Courgettes doing really well, looking very healthy. Have one in a huge pot and another two in the tomato bed.

Rondo peas starting to flower and growing up a lovely wooden frame with wire in the centre.

I planted about 50 cloves of garlic over winter, some straight into beds and others in modules in a cold frame, which were planted out in the spring. Just experimenting. Should get a good crop.

Have dill, coriander and thyme among the veg.

Beetroot coming along and planting some all the time. Growing Bolthardy and Chioggia. I'll make a lot of chutney with it.

Pear trees are young and again have dropped all their pears.

Got two raspberry bushes and will get a small crop. They are in pots at the moment. Will look about putting them in the ground at some stage.

Growing nasturtiums among the veg for ground cover plus eating the leaves in salads.

Growing parsnips for the first time and a nice amount of seedlings survived and seem to be thriving. Excited to get a crop.

None of my leeks germinated so bought a tray in a local garden centre. In pots at the moment and will move them into the ground when they are pencil thick.

Love the mix of sun and rain we've been getting this month, great for the garden.

laoch na mona

got some tomato plants and made a simple green house last week hopefully they survive (should be fine I grew them a few years ago and had no issue) growth in the veg patch has been slow enough for the last 2 weeks but it'll get there.

smacl

Rhubarb good and tasty, peas small and pasty. Courgettes in flower looking healthy, likewise cucumbers and and couple of sheafs of corn. Tomato plants and chillies also vigorous in cheapo aldi greenhouse, and potatoes making a takeover bid on the compost heap. Not sure what happened the peas as they were good last year, might put another batch together in the greenhouse.

pwurple

Peas are taking over the place, and the kids keep eating them off the plants. All good I guess. I managed to get a good rotation for once on my lettuce and salads by sticking alerts in my calendar and doing a few seeds a week, so we have plenty, without a glut.

Didn't do spuds this year, I'd a failed crop last year and it put me off them. I stuck red cabbages and fennel into the ground there, and they are looking awesome now if I do say so myself.

I'm doing garlic again, because it's tricky to get good garlic here, but they take up so much space. I'm not sure do I just need to splash the cash on the fancy french garlic from the english market... I don't know will mine be good at all. I've them in a raised bed, with mostly clay soil... we'll see sure.

Gooseberries aren't ripening for me yet, which is a bit late. I've a bit of shade over them from the apple trees though, so I'll just have to wait.

laoch na mona

a bit of an update. I lifted my spuds a little early due to blight still got a good crop though. Beans and peas are cropping regularly. onions are about ready to harvest, cabbages have all been picked, courgette plants are huge put have no fruit yet.

Tomatoes and chilies are going good in the green house.

I'll be setting garlic and some over wintering beans and cabbage in the next week or so

fryup

beetroot & potatoes came up a treat,

but sweetcorn is struggling, not enough sunshine i'm thinking

RebelButtMunch

laoch na mona wrote: »

a bit of an update. I lifted my spuds a little early due to blight still got a good crop though. Beans and peas are cropping regularly. onions are about ready to harvest, cabbages have all been picked, courgette plants are huge put have no fruit yet.

Tomatoes and chilies are going good in the green house.

I'll be setting garlic and some over wintering beans and cabbage in the next week or so

Are you buying the garlic seed or bulbs from a garden centre or can you just use something from the supermarket?

laoch na mona

I have a few bulbs left from last year, and I've some supermarket bulbs as well.

Supermarket garlic is okay, if the soil is well dug and you have a good rotation the risk of disease is minimal

I only grow a small amount so 3-4 bulbs is enough for me. IMO It's not worth buying seed for such a small amount

fryup

how's the sweetcorn people?? mine is struggling ..planted end of may..too late??

Sgt Pepper 64

fryup wrote: »

how's the sweetcorn people?? mine is struggling ..planted end of may..too late??

mine too, not going to make it

fryup

^^^^^

when did you plant it?

DX85

This post has been deleted.

fryup

most of my sweetcorn is half-rippened....would it help if i took them off the stalk and put them in a greenhouse to ripen ??

miezekatze

My sweetcorn didn't do well either, took mine out at the weekend and will eat it as baby sweetcorn instead.

smacl

fryup wrote: »

most of my sweetcorn is half-rippened....would it help if i took them off the stalk and put them in a greenhouse to ripen ??

Same, looks like it will end up as baby sweetcorn in a stir fry.