How does your garden grow? (Fruit & Veg)

I've had my first spuds (Maris Pipers) from the Garden. Lovely. And my peas are just delicious, I munch them as I'm going around the garden. My cherries are also ripe and despite the weather, sweet and juicy. Green house courgettes are also on the menu, tho my cucumbers are not doing so well for some reason, nor my pumpkins. Lettuce aplenty too. Sweet corn is struggling a bit, I'm covering ground in black plastic to increase temperature, so hopefully this will improve growth.
 
regarding slugs and snails eggshells seashells sand and ash are all good deterrents. i've also heard that nettle tea works, but best of all are dawn and dusk patrols and throw the captives onto a road or into a wild patch where they'll do no harm.

apropos new and edible gardens, i'm starting a new garden. it's right on the sea on soil that's wet and hard to work. my first job was to set up some raised beds on the roof. onions are doing well but strawbs are suffering due to lack of water.hgerbs - tansy, mint, lemon balm and catnip are doing well but thyme, including the lemon variety is not.
at ground level,i'm trying to establish trees and shelter. tomorrow, i plan to put leeks,caulis, asparagus crowns, and some more strawbs. oca and mashua are growing in tyres and doing well and jerusalem artichokes are just sprouting. i intend to get some globe artichokes soon.
 
We purchased cauliflower plants in Woodies. They are now growing nicely but they look like broccoli. Question. Do cauliflower plants look like broccoli when they start off or will I be enjoying brocolli instead of cauliflower?
 
Grizzly said:
We purchased cauliflower plants in Woodies. They are now growing nicely but they look like broccoli. Question. Do cauliflower plants look like broccoli when they start off or will I be enjoying brocolli instead of cauliflower?
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Great stuff Grizzly, and yes they do like very similarwhen they are young! Keep an eye on white butterflies around now, as they are laying eggs, and are very partial to caulies etc.
 
No. My young Cauliflowers look like minature Cauliflowers. My Broccolli looks like minature Brocolli. I guess you have brocolli.
 
I've been eating radish's, peas, beetroot, swiss chard & pak choi for the past few weeks. Cant beat the fresh taste. I'll be harvesting the spuds very soon and storing them. My tomatos have flowered and i've some small fruits appearing, they are in a green house which is nice n cozy, and they are watered and misted every day. I've also got two chilli varieties and some sweet bell peppers in the green house. Nasturtiams and borage have flowered and are a tasty addition to salads.

I started off some courgettes in a cold frame and put them into the ground, but the slugs had them for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Had to start some more in the green house, got them to a decent size and have planted them in the ground. Will have some tasty courgettes right up to October/November now. I'm thinking of planting more peas soon, will have a winter harvest to look forward to then.

I've harvested the first load of raspberries and currants. My strawberries are very slow this summer, I'm guessing they will fruit soon though. My apple trees are doing very well, loads of fruit, will be making loads of apple tarts.
 
Did ye like the swiss chard RonanC? I planted some borage btw, the texture when eating takes a bit of getting used to. Peas haven't made it to the pot at all, just munched in garden. I did harvest most of my spuds, (maris pipers) as they were falling over. Fairly reasonable size too.
 
horusd said:
Did ye like the swiss chard RonanC? I planted some borage btw, the texture when eating takes a bit of getting used to. Peas haven't made it to the pot at all, just munched in garden. I did harvest most of my spuds, (maris pipers) as they were falling over. Fairly reasonable size too.
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Love the swiss chard. I fry it with sliced garlic in some olive oil and eat it as a side dish. Very like spinach, just much nicer looking. The borage is a strange one. It's meant to taste like cucumber, but its very bland. Looks nice though.
 
I'll try that recipe with the SC, sound nice. I've also given chinese cabbage a go, had some of it yesterday, and it was very nice I must say. Kind of texture of normal cabbage, but a smoother taste.
 
stop it folks, yer making me feel hungry ... not to mention hopelessly inadequate as a gardener! Strawberries and lettuce apart my efforts have failed this year - am still hoping the peas will start to grow large enough that you can actually see the peas inside the pod! :D Now I'm off to complain to Brendan about other posters making me feel inadequate, just to add to his list! :p
 
when i lifted my onion sets the other day some of them had a white type powderly covering near the roots. I recall i had a similar problem previously. any way to avoid this?
 
dewdrop said:
when i lifted my onion sets the other day some of them had a white type powderly covering near the roots. I recall i had a similar problem previously. any way to avoid this?
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This is a serious problem dewdrop. The mould is untreatable, and onions are unstorable. Basically you need to stop growing onions there for around 8 yrs... sorry to say.

I have attached a link with more info [broken link removed]
 
Lots of peas, quite hard when eating though. Courgettes growing nicely. Maris Pipers good. Homeguard potatoes very poor but planted them in a shady part of garden as a trial to see result. Cabbage fantastic.
 
@ horusd, you may be able to help me here. I harvested about 13kg's of Maris Pipers yesterday, about half of them being monster size. But, 1/3 of them have been affected by what looks like wireworm. They have tiny holes which are a couple of cm's deep. Nearly sure it is wireworm. Question is, are they waste, or can they be cut and then cooked?
 
RonanC said:
@ horusd, you may be able to help me here. I harvested about 13kg's of Maris Pipers yesterday, about half of them being monster size. But, 1/3 of them have been affected by what looks like wireworm. They have tiny holes which are a couple of cm's deep. Nearly sure it is wireworm. Question is, are they waste, or can they be cut and then cooked?
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Hi RonanC the wireworm just eats into the spud, so I see no reason for not eating undamaged parts. I certainly cut around all damaged veg if I can, and use them. some info on wireworm including pic's that might help identify if they are the problem.
 
Progress so far

Happy so far with my first season's veggie gardening..!!
Was late starting as it was in our new house and so decided to take my time and experiment and learn..

Plot is at back of my garage on a steep enough slope, so I put in 4 boxed areas using waste wood from the house build..not the best carpentry in the world but will do for me!.
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Have planted cabbages which are now ready for eating, parsley, Red & white onions, beetroot which is not yet ready, celeriac also not ready yet...
Also planted spinach which gave me a poor return in terms of plants that actually grew and a pepper rocket which is the tall one at the back of the picture..gone to flowering stage now but still quite tasty..!!
 
Have started eating my baby turnips now..bit of butter and pepper...mmmm!!

Also yesterday, I harvested my first courgettes too..
Then had an evening salad of Rocket (2 types), Lettuce, Beetroot leaves, Courgette, Spinach, Radishes Coriander and Parsley....all home grown..!!
All beautiful....

Happy with my first year's work so far with Beetroot, Peas, Onions, Celeriac, Carrots and scallions yet to be harvested....

Have also planted my winter Carrots, Brocolli and Brussels sprouts and some Pak Choi...so will see how they do...
 
Is Celeriac easy to grow? I have a lot of beetroot leaves but I haven't eaten them. Are they O.K. to eat?
 
Tintagel said:
Is Celeriac easy to grow? I have a lot of beetroot leaves but I haven't eaten them. Are they O.K. to eat?
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Hi

As Ronan says, they are very nice when eaten as salad leaves mixed with spinach, lettuce, rocket etc..

Celeriac?..well, I just planted it and kept it weeded around it..haven't done anything else with it at all! Plant leaves have grown to a nice size at this stage.....Although I havent pulled any yet so there might be nothing under there :)
 
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