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'd never buy seeds...I use whatever plantain and dandelions are gorwing wild near me.

3 years ago I collected hundreds of dandelion flowers from a neighbouring allotment, you need around 100 flowers per jam jar of honey.

I think the thing is to find out what is growing near you, find out what is edible and then what to do with it. Don't go buying in weeds!

Saying that, they do sell dandelion seeds in every garden centre here.

100 flowers per jar, got it.

I do know somewhere local that has a lot of dandelions but lots of dogs go there so I'm thinking dog wee 🤔

veganonboard.com/vegan-dandelion-honey/

Yeah you have to pick from somewhere that is guaranteed no dog wee.

Spring is best to pick them. So store the above recipe for then.

That recipe sounds great and pretty simple to follow! Thank you 😊

You should be able to find plenty of dandelion clock's around atm, so maybe pick & store? Then plant in spring - foraging them, you'd need to be sure of who else has access to them (dogs, cows etc), & whether you have permission. Plus remember to leave some as they are one of the main sources of nectar for newly emerging bees & bumblebees.
I picked some this spring from my garden (to dry & infuse in oil to make soap), but made sure I did it over weeks to ensure some were left for the bees.

I've found dandelion seeds for just a couple of pounds for a few thousand so unless I can find a small boy to agree to pick them for me for free I think I'll go that way

Apparently people grow them for tortoises!

I use whatever plantain and dandelions are gorwing wild near me. Which plantain? Ribwort plantain with the long leaves, or greater plantain with the big round leaves?

I've used both. I also used to pick a load and dehydrate it all, and crush up and put into a jar to use in stews as a herb all winter. I had both growing in the lawn in my old house, and a fair amount in the abandoned allotments which proved a great source of wild flowers. I always cook it.

As with all foraged plants, use one type at the start, in small amounts, to make sure you don't react - don't go all out to make a huge foraged salad. As if you react you won't know what to.

@AlisonDonut I think I love you🌱

Every day is a school day on this thread. I thought a plantain was a banana

That’s why we have scientific names! No-one confuses Plantago with Musa, or Tilia (lime) with Citrus.

Thank goodness for google 😂

For me, food growing is about making sure you eat it!

So today I am cooking a fig and grape confit from the ripe figs from our tree that was here when we moved, grapes from the grape vine we bought this summer and from the grapes our French neighbour gave us the other day from his garden in Montpellier [they come here for 2 weeks a year only].

And in the roast dinner, I've got a tart from the local boulangerie, roast potatoes and sweet potatoes, and a veggie stir fry of onions, peppers, achocha, chard and green beans from the plot all picked fresh this morning. I'll add soy sauce to the veggies and then a spoon of the fig and grape juice just before I serve up. The chard I didn't even sow there, I sowed a load last november when we got here and it didn't germinate so I chucked the compost out of the tray and I've now got 2 chards growing in amongst other stuff and I'll leave them be all winter.

I did used to grow stuff and then compost it because I couldn't bring myself to try it but now I look for ways of cooking things once they start to get ripe.

And in other news, I have one of the Charentais Melons that is turning yellow! Actually ripening. Happy days.

I put beetroot leaves and stems into a lentil and veg stew and they were good. I like growing chard, and think that also works in soups.
My figs didn’t ripen this year. Lots of them , but tiny, perhaps I should have thinned them. I got grapes on my vine for the first time and ceremoniously cut the biggest bunch. The grapes are small and sweet, but very seedy. Altho I washed them thoroughly, 2 enormous earwigs and a spider crawled out in the fruit bowl, grossed us out. I guess I need to sit them in water for a bit. I planted lots of stuff in August and it is doing well, although the radishes have been nibbled . Is that flea beetle? Lots of gorgeous apples. .I have a container of basil that I should have brought into the green house. It got a bit cold and has turned brown, if I strip the bad bits and tuck it in now, will it last a bit longer?
Dahlias grown from seed we’re very slow to get going , but are flowering their socks oo now. They have black fly on the stems. I know there’s a theory that the black fly will stay off the veg if they are on flowers, but Worry that I’m just providing a nursery for 5hem.

The only way to stop aphids is to leave them be, and let the ladybirds and other insects that do eat aphids find them. In my opinion!

I genuinely don't stress about it. I once had a panicked student who found some greenfly on roses and wanted to nuke them. I got them all collecting ladybirds and they put them at the base of the roses and the next week the plant was clear. Since then, I literally just leave them be.

I doubt basil wil come back, sorry.

I'd sow another pot of it in the greenhouse and bring that indoors when it gets colder.

Radish nibbling for me is always slugs

Small seedy grapes are good with oats and nuts, little bursts of flavour, and the seeds aren’t noticeable among the nuts. Also good in a cake, sandwich a thick layer of grapes between two layers of cake dough, cook a fraction cooler and slightly longer than normal.

Ooh , useful. Thanks. I will try both things with my grapes., I won’t worry about the blackfly, and I’ll start some more basil.

Unfortunately blackfly have devastated my chives & now moved to my garlic chives Despite having a lot of ladybirds about too

My pumpkins have been badly hit with what I think is powdery mildew in the three weeks since I've last had time to do anything much in the garden. Lots of leaves dying, no pumpkins growing. Anyone have any tips?

I did that this year and sadly lost all my runner bean plants, my dahlias and my broadbeans. Nothing from them at all. Was devastated

I've been in the UK for three weeks and returned to find my tomato seedlings had grown by a mere 1cm! I will persevere as they are an experiment growing from seed. The winter in Melbourne has been full on, cold and rainy and the first month of spring no better, so a four-month winter in effect.
All my veggies: lettuce, broad beans, celtuce, rainbow chard and spring onions are all way behind schedule. On the other hand broad-leafed rocket, land cress and parsley are racing away.
Started basil, more spring onions, runner beans and dill.

Interesting, echt!

I need to decide when to end tomato season by picking the green ones. It’s still sunny here & some are still reddening.

I plated squash late & it has flowered by I assume fruits will hit the first frost. Will covering them help avoid this? If so, can I make a cover “on the cheap”? My whole garden is a cost cutting exercise - all grown from seed, etc.