The Vegetable Patch

[MereDintofPandiculation]

Now bookbook has sadly left us, and stirred into action by @DobbleDobble, I think it’s time to start a general thread for those of us who try to grow edible produce, fruit, veg, herbs, to share successes, failures, questions and answers

@deplorabelle we actually grew four types of sunflower last year (SunKing, Russian Giant, Black Magic & Key Lime). We're trying to encourage as much wildlife to the garden as possible so got a honeysuckle & buddleia too.
Atm all the bulbs I planted last autumn are coming up ready for the Queen bees.

@APurpleSquirrel Nice! Feeding the bees gives me so much pleasure. Bumble bees are going mad for my pulmonaria at the moment. Two years ago the honey bees were all over my flowering spearmint. Last year the oregano seemed to be far more popular.

Your sunflowers sound amazing. I grew from a mix last year which was fun but I had no real way of knowing which ones would be taller, shorter etc. The bees adored them so I'll grow again but I'd like to make them look a bit more integrated into the garden. Last year they loomed up from random spots I'd been able to squeeze them in.

@deplorabelle lol - yes I did the same - stuck the sunflowers wherever & hoped for the best! I also have several bee hotels which are used by leaf cutter bees & mason bees - the leaf cutters love the cherry tree leaves. Favourite plants were the loganberry, buddleia, sunflowers, mint, lavender & clover in the lawn.

[quote PoseyFlump]@StyleDesperation I got a bit carried away buying from Real Seeds, they all sound fantastic! Even bought tree cabbage that someone talked about on here [/quote]
Cook it slightly longer than you cook ordinary cabBages. It has a sort of kale like taste. I usually cut it in very fine strips, (cut out the centre rib, pile the leaves on top of each other, roll them into a sausage and cut)a sort of cabbage spaghetti. Just pull leaves when you want to harvest - the plant will go on for at least two years. It’s really useful as you don’t have to plan ahead, it’s just sitting permanently in your garden ready for use. Currently I have I think 4 of them, which is an abundance - don’t sow too many seeds. Keep the rest for later years.

I've got some physalis seeds called 'tomatillo pineapple' that I'm going to start with my tomatoes. Ive just looked at my notes and I've put 'need more than one for pollination' so if that's true you might need to sow more! I have one plant, several years old now, and it has a steady stream of fruits, never enough for a bowlful at ant time, enough for garnishing. So it may be that it will fruit by itself but fruits better with two.

If physalis and tomatillos are the same in all but name They’re not. What we know as Physalis, with little orange fruits inside a husk, are Physalis peruviana. Tomatillo is Physalis philadelphica or Physalis ixocarpa, and these two species have green or green flushed with purple fruits, and are used more in savoury dishes. Another species, Physalis alkakengi, is the Chinese Lantern, with bright orange husks.

Very reassuring about the clay soil, @deplorabelle, to know that it isn’t a lost cause!
There's quite a lot of surface water in winter and we have enough room to plant a fringe of trees to soak up some moisture and provide a bit of a windbreak, so I will stick in some curly willow and alder.

A friend keeps bees and when everything has grown up a bit, I'll be offering some hive space 🙂 so lavender and the usual herbs in the herb bed I'm creating, and must remember to include honeysuckle in the hedgerow mix.
BTW, the herb bed is literally a bed! I got a metal bed frame from Freecycle and will make it into another raised bed, a bit like this:

@Giggorata that's amazing - so creative!

Adding organic matter to your clay will also help its ability to take up water so you are doing all the right things. I would love to have space to grow willow for cutting. You will be able to make even more wonderful things!

Thanks @MereDintofPandiculation the Tomatillo Pineapple seeds that I've got are called Physalis Ixocarpa but the description reads: "An unusual rarely seen yellow ground cherry with an excellent sweet, fruity flavour that really does remind you of a pineapple."

I was hoping to eat them like fruits!

Am looking forward to seeing the progress of some of the unusual things being grown by you all. I'm a bit of a magpie for unusual fruit/veg. If it weren't for DH and DD I think my whole garden would probably be fruit, veg and cutting flowers with a tiny patio squished in for sitting with tea/wine.

Have just managed to get my summer canes in and moved some autumn canes to their new home. The supports will have to go in for the summer ones at the end of the month when I have some extra pairs of hands.

I'm going to have a big seed organising and sowing day on Thursday. Can't wait for that. I think I have half the world's cardboard in my garage ready for laying over the vegetable garden and covering in manure to start my no dig beds too. Need to get on that this weekend/next week ready to plant my first earlies. Have loads of ornamentals to go in too but they're in pots and looking happy so not a priority just yet!

Lovely sunny brisk day here today. Have put my washing line back up, one of the other joys of spring 😂

I've finally got some seeds in, in my new electric propagator - all Real Seeds Co, I've done bush toms, cherry toms, tomatillos, chocolate peppers, red peppers, chillies, garlic chives (mostly because I had space) and early dwarf peas. So we'll see.

I've got a bed with an acer at one end and a conifer at the other, which has a gooseberry under the conifer, then a blackcurrant and a red currant. I threw loads of bulbs in last year and they look fab but I'm wondering what I can plant in and around the fruit bushes and the acer to cover up the bare soil - as you can tell I'm new to this gardening lark!

Hi everyone,

I’ve finally decided to take the plunge and join the thread. There is far too much wisdom to not join and ask for advice.

I am in the fortunate position of being responsible for a primary schools edible playground (basically an allotment). The classes have a 30min slot a week where they tend, plant and harvest the crops.
There are at least 10 raised beds and maybe 3 beds in the ground.
We have a small greenhouse, wormery and compost bin.

We are currently growing onion sets (dec) and garlic. Rhubarb, some herbs and some soft fruits.

I am a big noob to gardening and I have other responsibilities in the school. I really want it to be a success, last year wasn’t great due to covid and weather.

The children adore digging and aerating the soil. - to the point I’m worried they will be upset when seeds start growing. 😂.

The organisation that set the playground up gave fantastic growing guides and calendars. It’s just remembering to get seeds out to people and advising them/answering their questions when I feel a bit of a fraud gardener!

Perhaps I could forward questions on to you on here?

Things like courgettes confused me, do I pick them and will others grow etc.

Thanks so much

Oh and also, I was wondering your perspectives on square foot gardening. From the point of view of the children it may be a bit dull to have one veg per bed to be responsible for, perhaps a mix may be more enjoyable/competitive. Good for labelling/ maths too.

dandelion - i got a veg book by Hessayon when i first started and just followed that and the seed packets.

If you dont pick courgettes then they will do what a load of veg does and assume its completed its job - to product fruit that holds seeds. and then it wont produce any more.

are you growing any sunflowers? they are great for wildlife (leave heads on over winter) and i'm guessing the kids would love them

No we aren’t, but we had a big wild flower bed last year with lots of cornflowers.

I think we may have sunflower seeds too, quick google says I can plant them now so maybe that’s a job for this week.

I've just been offered a huge, overgrown allotment! Never had one before. Loads of work ahead but so exciting.

About a third of it is covered in brambles but I think there's a little wildlife pond and right at the bottom runs a babbling brook.

Oh that's exciting @PoseyFlump, have you got plans in your head already?

I've just been down to the plot to clear up my shed after the storm....it had tipped over onto its back! Luckily somebody helped me right it, and I just went back today to sort the mangled contents.

Saw the first little peek of rhubarb coming through :) I thought my crown hadn't made it through the winter so I'm delighted.

@tentative3

Oh that's exciting *@PoseyFlump*, have you got plans in your head already?

Thanks at the moment I'm scouring the internet to figure out the best way to tackle the weeds! There seems to be a lot of disagreement about whether to use a rotavator or not! I met a nice older chap down there today so I think I'll ask him to help me identify a few things as I don't want to take anything valuable out. I definitely saw rhubarb and there were a couple of cane type bushes that are hopefully fruit. There's also a shed that might be beyond repair. Phew. First I want to tackle the brambles so I can at least sit by the brook on tea breaks!

rotivating will break every single root up into lots of potential new plants...so might look good for a few weeks but after that will be worse....its what they did on the neighbouring plot to mine. Personally i would cover with thick black plastic, or thick card/manure as this will weaken the weeds whilst you start digging out the brambles.

@dreamingofsun that makes the most sense to me! I think there's already a fair bit of black plastic down with a little bit of weed trailing over it so it might not be half as bad as it looks (hopefully!) but the brambles are head height eekk.

When you say thick card and manure do you mean spread the manure out and top with card or vice versa? I can get horse manure I think! I read manure has to break down so would this plan be for planting in next year?

Sorry for all the questions!

For what it's worth I agree with @dreamingofsun. I did that with my ginormous brambles and it worked marvellously . The manure over the cardboard @PoseyFlump

Got it thank you! I think I'd like to do raised beds and maybe grass paths. Could I just do that over the weeds with cardboard?

What I’ve found to help with brambles is to cut them down to the ground every time you catch them sprout. Mulching helps but they are so strong they can lift and push up through card or weed control fabric and tons of mulch. But if you are vigilant about cutting them they are weakened much quicker, and won’t have popped up like hydra when you turn your back.

They ended up more of a pleasant foe than the ground elder in my last garden! Especially as if you can tame them you do get blackberries from them…. Big pair of long handled loppers (bastards will still conspire to whack you in the face unexpectedly, very whippy things brambles!) and protective gear, as well as a lot of patience for teasing out whatever may be in among the brambles from rubbish to surprise plants.