1st September, 2008

It's been the least sunny August on record. Not surprising then that some of the yields seem lower than last year, specifically the beans. I noticed the price of runner beans in the supermarkets, ~£4/kg! That seems a lot for a veg that most home growers have more than they know what to do with. Maybe the supermarkets can't sell any because they are given away to everyone free at this time of year? Or maybe not now that there has been no sun.

I'm keeping a record of the potato yield. So far I'm getting about 1kg per plant. I think that could be better and again I blame the soil quality for this. It's horrible dry clay clumps, not even the spuds have broken it up and the grass clippings mulch doesn't appear to have done much to retain the moisture. So, whilst the soil is loose I've taken the opportunity to dig in plenty of compost from the compost bins.

As for the potato quality, well the Valor variety are very floury and only good for roasting and chips; they are good chips though! The Lady Balfour are more waxy and slightly better; they hold up to boiling/mash but can explode if overcooked. There is quite a bit of slug damage so they won't store well; I'm hoping that I can dig them up as they are needed. I think they will be OK to leave in the soil until the frosts. On the GYO forum, the consensus is that Kestrel are a good variety for slug resistance and taste. So I'll be trying those next year.

There has been poor growth of the pumpkins and squash which I put down to the lack of sun. That said there are fruits forming but I'm a little concerned that they won't have enough time to grow to their full size. It's a waiting game.



The sweetcorn was tried out and as expected it was very sweet but still needs some more time for the cobs to fatten up. Come on sun!

The sub arctic plenty tomatoes are ripening; I haven't grown or tasted this variety before. They are not too sweet and more suited to cooking in my opinion but then I may be spoilt by the sweetness of the gardener's delight tomatoes growing in the greenhouse.

Sub arctic plenty tomatoes



Gardener's delight



The carrots in the buckets are perfectly formed and taste so much better than shop bought ones. They are a bit on the small side so the yield won't be much. Next year I vow to sow a lot more.

The autumn raspberries are starting to crop big time. We can never have enough of them! Also the blackberries are ready and they needed a partner for a crumble so some apples were picked. I didn't think the apples would be ready but I was wrong. They are even sweet enough to eat uncooked so I'm optimistic about making a cider that won't strip the lining of your throat.

The dwarf beans have not been a success this year. They didn't germinate well to start with and then I took my eye off them after the first crop and they have been eaten by slugs I assume. Must try harder.



After all my enthusing about the plums, only 4 were harvested which meant one each in our family. The pleasure was all too brief.

There was I thinking I had a tasty aubergine nearly ready until I inspected it closely to discover some thing had beaten me to it! Fortunately there is another one. But that's all, there are flowers but I think it's too late to form fruit now. A poor yield.



The sweet peppers look OK.



The coriander bolted and flowered but the lower leaves are still usable and the flowers attract lots of insects, so it's staying.



The parsnips are putting on leaf, it was worth persevering with them after all.

17th August, 2008

There's been no blog for a bit because it was holiday time. You hope for blazing hot weather but then you worry about the veg drying up. The weather was mixed so both situations were accomodated. The in-laws kindly oversee the watering just in case; despite the automatic drip system for the greenhouse not all the plants are covered by it and a watering can has to be involved.

So what is happening in the greenhouse? I've got a decent cucumber! I hope it's not bitter as this is the first time I've grown a non all-female variety.



And there is a half decent melon forming, but I never seem to be able to grow more than one per plant.



The chillis are also fruiting. I bit into one to try it out and they have a good amount of heat in them despite them still being green.



I found this little guy living in the tray of water that the aubergines and peppers stand in. I can't adjust the flow to each dripper so this tray fills up whereas the trays for the tomatoes dries out so it's a compromise. The water helps maintain humidity levels and provides a home for slug eating amphibians. The aubergines and peppers are fruiting so standing in water has not been detrimental.



Outside the tomatoes (sub arctic plenty) are ready and they taste good; never tried them before.



I think I will get some leeks this year after all, they were very thin when they were planted out late but they are fattening up nicely.



It's surprising what people throw away. Nearby several bags of spent potting compost had been fly tipped so ever the opportunist I bagged it up and spread it over the beds that had once been lawn as these need it the most. Here it is around the developing squash plants which have started to develop little fruits.



Some of the sweetcorn cobs look nearly ready! Another few weeks perhaps, when the tassles have darkened a bit more.



I've been picking beetroot for a few weeks now as and when they are ready. I did plan to pickle some but I probably will eat them all before that.



I was concerned that the asparagus was not growing well but it has continued to throw up new spears through the season and the ferns are a decent size now. I've added some compost as a mulch too as the soil looks quite dry. In the winter I'll lay on a nice deep mulch of well rotted compost.



It's a mixed bag on the fruit trees. There is only one pear.



And a few plums.



But lots of apples!



Looks like there will be a lot of stewed apples! I do plan to have a go at making cider although I suspect the result will be a very dry cider. I'm going to make a cider press using these plans

And talking of gluts, the mother of all gluts has been the courgettes. I've made curries, soups, cakes, puree and chutney and still they come! More like marrows sometimes.



What about this for a turnip? A monster! It was made into a rather nice gratin meal; I got the recipe from Milly on the Grow Your Own forum.

29th July, 2008

The plants in the greenhouse seem to be a bit later than last year, but I didn't keep notes so I can't be sure. The aubergines are flowering....



and so are the chillis...



and finally the first of the tomatoes (Gardener's delight) are ready for eating.



But the outside tomato plants (sub arctic plenty) have formed about 2 or 3 trusses and that's it. The growing point is not there anymore which is strange. As a result the plants are only about 2 foot tall. They better taste nice!



I dug up the spring planted onions as they had mostly fallen over and were a good size. The weekend weather was lovely and hot, perfect for drying onions.



In the place of the onions I was going to plant a pumpkin but I decided two more squash plants would be more productive. They have lovely large yellow flowers, but only last for a day. I dug in a good few spadefuls of well rotted farmyard manure that I collected last January, it's turned out really well. The soil was really dry, I'm amazed the onions did so well and the leeks before that.



The runner beans are ready at last.



I'm not so sure about the sweetcorn. It is starting to show the male flowers (and at the top and on some the female flowers are showing too. But most of the plants are no more than a few feet tall and don't seem to be as tall as last year. Again, this might be due to the heavy clay soil drying out, despite me mulching heavily with grass cuttings.

21st July, 2008

The harvest continues! The last of the overwintered broad beans were picked. A few had gone too far but there were some that could be popped out of their leathery skins after cooking and were made into a spicy dip. In place of the broad beans were planted two butternut squash.



It's goodbye to the overwintered broad beans and hello to the spring sown beans, and it's a very impressive crop.



The shallots were dug up as they were falling over and looked ready but also I used the space to plant out the pathetic parsnip plants as a last gasp attempt to rescue them. It's probably too late for them really but I have nothing to lose.



I'm still not sure why they didn't grow well. I have a suspicion that it may be due to a new hose I bought from Wilkinson's. When I turned the water on it came out smelling stongly of Jeyes fluid and foamed a lot. I don't think that would promote plant growth and several other plants appear to have suffered. But maybe the home made potting compost was to blame as there was too much clay in it I reckon.

For example, the dwarf beans struggled at first, but now they are planted out they are starting to look good.



The sweetcorn has struggled and I put that down to a cool summer so far. I'm not alone it seems, the grapevine forum members are also worried about the lack of swelling cobs. I'm hoping there is a hot spell coming to bring them on.



The spring planted onions are starting to bend over which indicates they are ready for lifting. I could plant a pumpkin in the space.



The garlic cleaned up nice too despite my concerns with the rust, although the bulbs are a bit on the small side. I had a go at plaiting them, but I didn't take a picture.



Finally, the beetroot are growing well and starting to swell.



This weekend saw the first tomatoes being picked from the greenhouse. They were nicely complimented with some freshly cut lettuce. More turnip and kohlrabi were dug up and the kohlrabi made an absolutley wonderful casserole! Yet, I have never seen it for sale in a supermarket, that's probably a good thing as with today's prices it would probably be sold at a premium.

I've been challenged by my better half to show that this veg growing lark is actually saving money. So I'm going to keep a check on how much I spend on seeds etc next season and then cost up the yields against supermarket prices. It's not all about cost though, the freshness and taste make it all worthwhile.

8th July, 2008

Lots of tasty veg was harvested this weekend. You can't beat strawberries!



There weren't many peas but they were incredibly sweet and no sign of the dreaded pea moth maggot. More of these may well be grown next year!



I risked emptying the early potatoes grown in buckets. The soil was quite dry despite what I thought was regular watering. The clay loam I'd used did not have enough compost in it and had formed into solid clumps. As a result there weren't as many spuds as I'd hoped. However, they tasted very good but were rather floury. Next time I'll select a waxy spud, perhaps International kidney which is Jersey royal in the shops.



The overwintered onions and garlic were lifted and left to dry in the sun (when it shined). The garlic is acceptable despite the rust, it certainly smells good!



In the gap, some more dwarf beans and leeks were planted.

Also harvested and eaten were the little gem lettuce (very good), more overwintered broad beans, two courgettes (stuffed with broad beans), kohlrabi, turnip (mashed with carrots) and radish (these were too old and were a bit woody and hot).

The broad beans are nearly finished and the spring sown ones are now ready to take their place.

In the kohlrabi gaps I planted some flat leaved parsley.