Vegetable Gardening

irish_bhoy82

Well folks,

Anyone planted anything outdoors this year yet? finished digging over my plot this week. Thinking of sticking in a row of early potatoes in a week or 2, then maybe 2 rows of maincrop come early April. Going to plant onion sets too next month. I planted lots of different veg last year and was fairly successful with the yields but I found alot was wasted as we just didnt eat it all. So this year I'm going to focus on just growing veg that will be eaten, namely potatoes, onions and Im looking at growing Peas and French Beans(never grew these before so this will be an experiment for me).

All in all Im look at planting outside next month. let us know what your at.

Zzippy

Off next week so will be weeding, laying out new raised beds, digging in some compost, and getting everything ready for new polytunnel. Scaffolding boards arriving today hopefully. Chitting potatoes at the moment in the house so they will go in over the next few weeks. Also need to get bare root hedging for a bit of a field we own at the end of the garden, and a few apple trees to plant in it. Might do a few against the wall espalier-style...

laoch na mona

spent a few hours turning over beds and building a small pollyframe. Have some winter garlic in the ground. I'll be starting some plants inside this week.

Onions and spuds in a few weeks

Living Off The Splash

I have tidied 7 of my 9 raised beds. Given my grass it's first cut. I have had to tidy up my compost heap. I put too many "sticks" in it last year out of laziness and it was a mistake, so sieving these now.

My potatoes are chitting on a window sill. These will go down in a couple of weeks. I don't intend to sow many seeds just yet as I find they "catch up" when sown later anyhow.

I will stick to lettuce, beetroot, spinach, curly kale, suedes, turnip, Mange Touts, French Beans, green beans, Broad Beans.

I will grow some peas so I can eat them raw uncooked in the garden as a snack. I prefer the supermarket ones strangely enough. I won't grow cabbage. I cannot keep the butterfly white away no matter how hard I try. They always seem to get in. I will eat the curly kale from the young leaves as these are also attacked by various bugs.

Then I will supplement the rest from Lidl.......

muckety

I had that cabbage white butterfly problem, veggie-mesh solved it for me.

I've a few rows of garlic in a few weeks now. They are coming through a few inches now.
Beans went in and I chanced my arm with a few carrot rows, both under glass panels in the raised bed.
Rest of raised beds has been turned and loosened and is weed free and ready for planting. Onion sets ready to go in.

I've a few potatoes in the ground the past week. The area they were planted I covered with leaves so to avoid direct frost.

Strawberry plants went in last weekend using the runners from last years.
In the fruit cage the raspberries, blueberries, cranberries, tayberries have all begun to bud with new leaf. Only one variety of raspberry is letting me down. Also the currants are a bit slow. I'm worried as they were established plants that Id moved last year.

All my tomato plants have survived thus far and have a few inches of growth and doing well. These are grown from seed and left on windowsill in the very sunny spare bedroom and has proved ideal for starting them off previously. They were planted early February.

First lawn cut last weekend. Apple and pear trees pruned.

Looking forward to getting the rest of the vegetables in.

irish_bhoy82

Well Its been a rough few weeks weather wise, my back garden is saturated not had a chance to do much. I had a look at it today and it looks like it will need another raking over to sort out the mess the rain made. Anyway in the mean time I have been INVESTING, over the past week or 2 I've been picking things up here and there. Compost bags from local store 80 litres 3 for 12 euro. Couple of boxes of blood fish and bone, bucket of chicken manure, even spotted today Aldi were selling perlite so got a bag of that not sure I'll use it this year. On the growing front I bought some mange tout and French beans for sowing directly outside later in the year. On the potatoes front I follow alot of allotment channels on YouTube and I heard Rocket and Sharps Express mentioned alot so I bought them today and have them chitting in the garden shed.the are both first earliest so will probably get a main crop of something as well to put down so please god I had a long supply of potatoes. I also bought 100 red and 100 white onion sets. Today was dry enough so hopefully another dry couple of days I can start prepping the ground for sowing the potatoes and onions probably in 2 weeks time with a cocktail fertiliser concoction of blood fish and bone/chicken manure to get them going. I've a strawberry plant too that I just got last year moved a to a bigger pot about a month ago and it seems to have settled in well. And I bought a few primroses for the kids, they add a bit of colour to the garden they are in pots. Happy growing guys.. keep us updated with your progress and any hints or tips bargains you see around.

hytrogen

This evening just started germinating some lettuce, chives, tomatoes, parsley and basil in the front window. Will transfer out to compost filled egg shell at the weekend once they sprout. Not in a huge rush but the lads in work are already ahead of me with their polytunnels, beds, etc. Hair and the tortoise..
I've some compost brewing from last year, this is my first time growing at home in about 10years so am a bit rusty. I've had a read through Pinterest etc. and saw a grounded eggshells and coffee beans fertilizer trick so going to give that a go. Also going to give the garlic and mint insect spray a try when the raspberries return.
Aiming for a summer bbq for it all to enjoy so we'll see how it goes..
I'd love to go down the polytunnel road but I'd prefer to make a greenhouse out of upcycled stuff first.

irish_bhoy82

Hi hytrogen. . I used the garlic spray trick last year on my brassicas and it worked well but you need to keep spraying them every 2 to 3 days. I'd love a greenhouse too, had a cheap plastic option last year that was falling apart by September, Done the job it was a nice entry level option but I wouldn't go down that route again, when the time comes I would like to get a more permanent green house but not this year.

worded

Roll on spring ... have loads to do

Living Off The Splash

Transferred compost from my compost heap in to a couple of my raised beds today. The soil in my raised beds was lovely silky stuff after 4 years of taking care of it. There is always the worry that I am transferring some "bad stuff" in with this new lot of compost. I will plant out my seed potatoes next week in to these two beds that I have prepared. I can't seem to get cheap suede and turnip seed in my local Lidl so I guess I will have to spend a few extra Euro on these seeds. I always try to keep my costs as low as possible.

hytrogen

Just been down the end turning the compost heap and tilling some of the soil around (secretly trying to find places to bury the thicker stuff) and found I've potatoes growning, they look like red roosters possibly from some chittings I tried last autumn and failed so threw them out but they're all sizes! Like the size of your fist to the size of a pea.. well chuffed

irish_bhoy82

I seen in my local Aldi today they are selling seed potatoes, decent amount for 2 euro. Didn't get any myself today but if they are still in the next time I might take a chance on them for my main crop.

GuitarTown

First time growing fruit or veg for me this year, apart from a blackberry bush that was planted in a bed a few years ago (and gives an incredible yield).

Cleaned up a bed in the garden approx 8 foot x 3 foot a few weeks ago; weeded, turned the soil etc. Planted a Raspberry and Loganberry bush as well as pruned the blackberry bush. All coming along very well already.

Last weekend I started the first batch of seeds for both hanging cherry and regular upright growing cherry tomatoes (have a flat roof on an extension at the back of the house that gets constant sunshine so I will have the hanging ones from pots on the roof) plus medium sized tomatoes and bell pepper plants. Will do another batch of the same next weekend, and one more the week after. Plan on having 5 or 6 pepper plants, 5 or 6 regular tomato. And then 3 hanging cherry and 3 upright cherry tomato plants all in pots. My bed is kinda limited on space so container growing for them will work best.

Then for the bed itself along with the fruit bushes that are trained up a wall at one edge of it, there will be a few varieties of lettuce, scallions, some herbs all planted in succession and 2 courgette plants. Finally will plant some hanging strawberry plants on the edge of the flat roof, like the hanging tomatoes. Not sure what way to go for the strawbs; buy seeds, just roots or developed plants. May have left it a bit late for seeds anyway

I'm trying to start my first veg garden with things that are relatively easy to grow. Been very enjoyable so far!

irish_bhoy82

GuitarTown wrote: »

Last weekend I started the first batch of seeds for both hanging cherry and regular upright growing cherry tomatoes (have a flat roof on an extension at the back of the house that gets constant sunshine so I will have the hanging ones from pots on the roof) plus medium sized tomatoes and bell pepper plants. Will do another batch of the same next weekend, and one more the week after. Plan on having 5 or 6 pepper plants, 5 or 6 regular tomato. And then 3 hanging cherry and 3 upright cherry tomato plants all in pots. My bed is kinda limited on space so container growing for them will work best.

Sounds good GM. Are you growing the peppers outside or in a greenhouse? I grew some last year in a Greenhouse wasn't sure you could grow them outside in Ireland's climate.

GuitarTown

irish_bhoy82 wrote: »

Sounds good GM. Are you growing the peppers outside or in a greenhouse? I grew some last year in a Greenhouse wasn't sure you could grow them outside in Ireland's climate.

They're actually staying indoors I should have said yeah. Though I was told they could brought out and hardened off over 2 weeks or so when its well into summer but it still could be risky depending on how the weather goes so I'm just going to keep them inside

laoch na mona

Tomatoes can be grown outside if you have a good sunny spot but the best results will be from a green house or poly tunnel. I'd imagine the same is true for peppers

Living Off The Splash

irish_bhoy82 wrote: »

I seen in my local Aldi today they are selling seed potatoes, decent amount for 2 euro. Didn't get any myself today but if they are still in the next time I might take a chance on them for my main crop.

Yes. They look good. About half the price of what I paid in Woodies. I have used Aldi's potatoes in the past and they performed well. I don't know why I didn't wait for them this year, maybe they were a little later than normal coming in to their stores.
I always try and keep my annual gardening outlay to a minimum. Not much point in overpaying for seeds etc when vegetables can be purchased in many of the supermarkets on special offer and at reasonable price.
There is great satisfaction in planting, growing, taking care of and harvesting. I always feel good after a day working in the garden but there is an added bonus when you can say.....and these cost me nothing. (If you know what I mean).

GuitarTown

Anybody have any tips on seed germination? I have 2 varieties of tomato doing very well, but a third variety and bell pepper seeds haven't sprouted at all after ten days. They were all planted at the same time and kept in the same place. Could it be they just take a bit longer? I just assumed they'd be all around the same time, ones that have sprouted have been up since last thursday. I read that I could leave them on a radiator on a low heat to act as a heating pad, would this be a good idea to help them on their way? I have plastic bottles over them cut in half like mini greenhouses which seems to have helped the ones that have come on already.

Living Off The Splash

If anyone is interested. Heatons have a range of vegetable seeds for €1.49 in their stores.

hytrogen

GuitarTown wrote:

Anybody have any tips on seed germination? I have 2 varieties of tomato doing very well, but a third variety and bell pepper seeds haven't sprouted at all after ten days. They were all planted at the same time and kept in the same place. Could it be they just take a bit longer? I just assumed they'd be all around the same time, ones that have sprouted have been up since last thursday. I read that I could leave them on a radiator on a low heat to act as a heating pad, would this be a good idea to help them on their way? I have plastic bottles over them cut in half like mini greenhouses which seems to have helped the ones that have come on already.

Have to say the damp cotton wool in a seethrough takeaway tubberwear trick worked a charm in the bay window. No need for the radiators, just direct sunlight and the lid on got them going quick

goose06

GuitarTown wrote: »

Anybody have any tips on seed germination? I have 2 varieties of tomato doing very well, but a third variety and bell pepper seeds haven't sprouted at all after ten days. They were all planted at the same time and kept in the same place. Could it be they just take a bit longer? I just assumed they'd be all around the same time, ones that have sprouted have been up since last thursday. I read that I could leave them on a radiator on a low heat to act as a heating pad, would this be a good idea to help them on their way? I have plastic bottles over them cut in half like mini greenhouses which seems to have helped the ones that have come on already.

Give them 15-20 days and they should pop up

Shemale

A glass jar or clear freezer bag with seeds on cotton wool are good too

GuitarTown

Thanks for the replies. How long after would the seeds go from the cotton wool into soil, once they start to sprout?

Most of them are coming up in their own time, there's a few duds in there as expected, but some planted nearly a month ago have only sprouted in the last week and there's some of the same variety that have come up in a few days of planting. So much for my plan for succession planting for a harvest that's nice and spread out between plants haha :P