How does your garden grow? (Fruit & Veg)

SOLYENT Green;

Kerrs Pinks are the flouryist. But a good even cropper without knobbly bits and quite floury are Rooster
 

We have a fine mesh over a frame over our cabbages. The mesh is held down at the side with plenty of rocks. The Cabbage White still managed to get under our frame on a few occasions and lay her eggs. As a result we spend quite a time picking off numerous caterpillars daily.
I also have never seen so many Cabbage Whites about. Every day we see them flying over our covered cabbages almost frantically looking for a way inside.
Our crop of peas was poor this year. Our green beans somewhat better but not as good as other years.
 
Hi all.

I bought a greenhouse in May last . I started sowing Tomatoes Peppers and Cucumbers in growbags, in early June.
All seems to be growing well as I have used some of each . I still have Gardeners Delight tomatoes and while they are a good size, they are still green . How much longer should it take before they will turn red?.
Also I have about 10 fully grown Cucumbers which I notice are beginning to turn yellow , Why is this

Thanks.
 
I see that some of the garden centres have this years's seed potatoes already in stock. Has anyone started the process of buying these and any varieties to recommend?
 
1. Home guard are a good early potato. Always get certified seed.British Queens are a good early type as well but not as early as Home Guards.

2. In the country St Patricks day was the planting time.So fire ahead.Since they are under ground even late frosts will not get them.

3. Until then put seed potatoes on open /frost free window in egg boxes. They will bud up/harden nicely before you plant them.
 
Can I ask a question re my garden pls????

Money is tight with us as with most people ....I am unemployed at present due entirely to recession ...company who I worked for gone into liquidation and my hubby is out of work for moment due to illness.

We are firstly paying our bills bit by bit and keeping vehicle on road and food on table and roof over our head. We want to get back to veg gardening on our small plot this year. We had scutch grass on this little plot and now cos we didnt plant on it for two years .... hubby was ill and I with sciatica could dig this tough grass. Its full of grass now and the raised beds timber edges are shook. What is the best way to kill this grass? I am reluctant to use chemicals cos we are trying where possible to eat more raw food and juice and just follow healthy diet. I used to have a compost bin but think I was doing that wrong too....a rat got into it from underneath and then my dog pulled up the little door of it and got in after the rat.....I left it at that stage and its now covered in briars that I need to clear and begin again. I will be fine with the planting once the space is cleared of grass..............help any ~GIY.ers out there. There is a GIY group in our area is this worth joining for support and advice if nothing else?
 
If you are planning to plant potatoes you do not have to clear grass. You can plant the potatoes and raise one sod over them . In Spring the potato stalks will outgrow the grass.
 
Thank you Ger

Thank you for that info. I don't think I will do the spuds this year. I know the last time we grew them they cleared the grass but sure it grew back. If I lived near the sea I would go off and gather seaweed but not possible inland. I will keey eye on this post and see if any more who are gardening longer than us can help with this grass prob. Wish the slugs mentioned in an earlier page ate lot of grass.
 
I'm planting out my seed potatoes this weekend. I hope the ground is warm enough. (raised beds).
 
midleton said:
We had scutch grass on this little plot and now cos we didnt plant on it for two years ....
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Scutch grass (aka couch grass) is a nightmare and is far more a scourge than lawn or field grasses. I've had it, i.e. the stolons, grow right thru' potatoes! It also propagates very easily from just a few bits of stolon/roots.
If you're willing to persevere, it can be extracted by hand. If you've the ground well dug over you may be able to pull it out a metre or so at a time. It's very high in nutrients so if you put it into a close-lid tub of water for a few months you'll end up with a nutrient rich tea.
 
Gerry Canning said:
2. In the country St Patricks day was the planting time.So fire ahead.Since they are under ground even late frosts will not get them.
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Given the wet spring so far and the frost/sleet/etc we're experiencing this weekend, St Patrick's Day is too early.

This tradition of planting potatoes on St Patrick's Day is to do with practicalities rather than horticulture.
It was the first day off that people had that would allow them to garden.
(Back in the day, people used to work six days a week. Sunday was the Sabbath therefore no gardening then either).
The tradition in England was Good Friday for the same reason.
 
I put mine down on St. Patrick's Day. Four different varieties and a half dozen from the supermarket shop bag just to see how they do. I tried potatoes purchased from Dealz last year and they grew fine. This year I am trying a mix of seed potatoes from Dealz, Woodies and Aldi. The Aldi potatoes were the cheapest to buy. I planted them a little deeper because of the frosts still about although my back garden is well sheltered.
 
This year I planted the following potatoes.
Rocket first earlies. Sown on St. Patricks Day. Harvested 11 weeks later. Outcome. Very white potato, lacked flavour. 30% had some sort of slug or worm attack and couldn't be used. Purchased from Woodies, two packs €5.
Swift. Sown on St. Patricks Day and harvested July. Yellow flesh. 20% had slug or worm attack. Slightly better flavour. Purchased from Dealz.
Kerrs Pink. Sown St. Patricks Day. Harvested 15 weeks later. Knobbly type of potato. About 10% slug or worm attack. Purchased Woodies.
Rooster. Trial bed of potatoes saved from sack of potatoes purchased from supermarket eating bag. Great yield. Very little worm attack.
Homeguard. Sown St. Patricks Day. Good yield. Very little slug or worm attack. Harvested July. Purchased Lidl.

I will definitely grow Homeguard next year and try the supermarket bag again.

After I harvested the potatoes I grew Turnips in their place that produced a great crop.
 
How and when did ya grow the turnips and when did you dig up the home guards? Thanks in advance.
 
noproblem said:
How and when did ya grow the turnips and when did you dig up the home guards? Thanks in advance.
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Harvested the Homeguard in July (I probably could have lifted them earlier). Immediately after harvesting the potatoes I planted the turnip seeds straight in to the ground where the potatoes had been growing. I also put another batch of turnip seed in the ground in early August and I have a great crop already.

I planted salad leaves about two weeks ago straight in to the ground and they are already about 2" tall. If the weather keeps fine we expect to be picking these leaves in about 10 days.

Other good crops this year were Broad Beans. Beetroot. Chard, Curly Kale, Suedes, Mange Tout. Even though we protected our cabbages with covering, the butterfly white still managed to lay her eggs.

I have planted cabbage seed in to the ground about 3 weeks ago and these are also about 2" high. I might get a few leaves from them in a few weeks time.
 
Thanks so much SlugBreath for that, I wasn't too sure on when or how to sow turnips, I've lots of empty beds from potatoes this year so might try the turnip seeds even at this late stage. Like yourself, I did well with baby beets, lettuces, home guards (the best).
 
Our atlantic giant pumpkins are allmost ready for harvesting.They grew very well and very fast this year.Used a secret home blend liquid feed on them and then put on a huge amount of size and growth in the last 4 weeks alone.Weather has been good so far for pumpkin growing so far this year.The minute the 1st frost hits its time to harvest them and let them ripen up some more indoors in some hay and also with some bananas.
 
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