The Vegetable Patch Mark 2

[MereDintofPandiculation]

A continuation of the thread for those of us growing edibles, to share triumphs and failures, swap expertise and solve problems

I planted spring bulbs and placed them outside the back door, so now, every morning I’m stood admiring the extra mm they have risen 😬 my dh laughs at me in my happiness just wandering the garden plant watching. 🤣

Last year I grew aubergine for the first time. I'd read that germination can be a little tricky so I sowed 12... and they all germinated.

This year I'm trying 2 varieties so I sowed 3 of each. All 6 have germinated quickly! So are they usually troublesome? I use a heatmat of sorts. It's a cheap thing off Amazon meant for lizard tanks.

Lemon verbena, no.

Lemon balm, yes.

Lemon balm smells wonderful.

I have had lemon balm in a border for at least 10 years and it hasn't spread but it is shady there which might slow it down, it makes a lovely big bush every summer.

Spotted some rhubarb just poking out the soil this weekend.

@Lightninginabox Lemon Verbena is a neat, rather tender, shrub. It’s lemon balm that is in the mint family and which can spread, but not as much as mint. After all, thyme, oregano etc are also in the mint family.

1.4m wide sounds OK. Key is whether you can tend to the middle without kneeling on the bed and preferably without having to use one hand to prop yourself up.

Soapwort is a bouncing robust native. You should have no problem if the soil is reasonably well draining.

So are they usually troublesome? (aubergines) Keep an eye out for red spider mite. Keep them well watered in hot weather. Furriness of the leaves aeems to deter most other pests.

Thanks @MereDintofPandiculation and as I found out last year, watch out for the spikes!!

Oh yes, I was going to mention those. But they are beautiful plants, aren’t they?

Me too 😀

Me too🎉
I also have lemon balm, wonderful and it hasn’t spread but does shoot up in summer and had lovely flowers .

But they are beautiful plants, aren’t they?

Yes! Beautiful shaped leaves and lovely flowers. The aubergines are a bonus! Due to the hot weather last year I had plants thriving inside and outside the greenhouse.

On the topic of Balm and Verbena:

When I lived in the UK I also had Lime Balm, was a lovely more spicy scent than Lemon Balm.

And when I moved to France I also found Mint Verbena, which is a minty lemon verbena - think fresh spearmint and lemon together. So now have that to add to the Lemon Verbenas that I have.

I think I found some Lime Balm in my neighbour's garden which I rescued, I haven't had a huge amount of growth last year due to the extreme weather so am hoping to propagate more of it this year.

so would I grow lime/lemon balm lemon/mint verbena all from seed?

Ok, so I am starting to plant peas, maybe a little early but I am in the south and not long until last frost, I am planting indoors and will then move to the allotment. My question is……how many pea plants should I plant? This is my first year with an allotment and although my plot isn’t huge it’s much bigger than my raised bed in the garden. I usually grow about 10/20 pea plants in the garden which dd tends to just pick and eat raw, we don’t really get enough to eat with a meal.

Do you all over plant seeds just incase some don’t make it? I a, worried I won’t have enough but also worried I will have too many 😬 although I guess I can give some away.

I overseed. So I tend to grow about 30% MORE seedlings than I think I need and then pop them out of the front of the house with a FREE sign, when it's clear which ones are really surplus.

I only ever grow herbs from plants, apart from Basil and Coriander.

There are two of us, and I've got 20 Carouby de Maussane mange tout [tall ones] and about 40 Goldensweet Mangetout [medium height] and I'll resow the same in about a month. However I do still have some from last year in the freezer.

@AlisonDonut is there any special technique to freezing them?

Lemon balm / mint can be tricky to germinate from seed. I know it took me a few attempts. But it's rewarding to look at my plants now and know 'I did that'. I might have kept notes on how I got them to work.

Is it heat or light for germination?

I've looked at my notes: Lemon balm needs light. I covered mine lightly with vermiculite. They prefer a germination temperature of 20 to 25 c. Sow from March to May. Can take 21 days to germinate but mine took 7. Don't like to be wet.

Right, this weekend I must clear out the greenhouse if I'm going to make any headway with the garden this year! I'm itching to get planting but trying to resist the urge just yet!

I did mine last week @ProjectsGalore and have just enjoyed a morning pottering about in my tidy space 😊