The vegetable garden

[Justanotherobserver]

What are you growing this year?

For us, it'll be the usual suspects - beans of all types, peas, sweet corn, squash, greens, carrots, onion, garlic, a bit of salad stuff. Going to try some ginger in the greenhouse again as it does well in there.

Hoping for a better fruit season after last year's cold spring spoiled it all. Snow in mid-April did for a lot of stuff.

Peas, beans, carrots, parsnips, herbs, tomatoes, strawberries, raspberries. Hope they are better than last years, also trying pumpkins for the 1st time.

Planted tomato seedlings today and radish seeds.

Plan is potatoes, carrots, onions, leeks, courgettes, green beans, beetroot, cabbage and lettuce, various types.

Oh I forgot I done some potatoes too.

I've love to grow more leeks but we get leek moth, which is vexing.

Forgot to mention beetroot, potted on some seedlings earlier and they look good.

I've got a new huge garden so already have garlic in, and onions and over half the potatoes, should have around 200 seed potatoes going in. Mange tout is in with another 2 sowing so far and will do another 2. Tomatoes, around 50 varieties sown, and about 10 varieties of chillis and peppers. All in little pots and will be taking my extras to a plant swap in may. Got lettuce, spinach, Celtuce, some beets in. And will also do achocha, melons, courgettes and cukes. The previous owners left some purple sprouting broc and kale, and we've been eating that. Got leeks growing ready to go in later. And goodness knows how many beans which I'll sow in a month or so. Also carrots have been sown.

I love a succession plan so will keep sowing lettuces, beets, spinach and spring onions all season. Probably forgotten loads as I am a bit of a seed hoarder and I've got loads yet to even dig out of the box yet.

Alison, that sounds wonderful, you're so lucky. I'm guessing you have a decent area of protected growing space if you're doing melons.

I forgot to mention gherkins. Grew them a couple of years ago and they produced masses, which I pickled.

Tomatoes, cucumber, aubergine, peppers, padrons in the greenhouse. Cape gooseberry, courgettes, butternut squash, runner beans, French beans, leeks, shallots, pak choi, potatoes, pumpkin, herbs, little gem lettuce, kalettes.

Spuds, obviously. I'm following Huw Richard's Veg in One Bed plan. Half in pots; half in a raised bed
And I've got in some perennial veg - kale, Caucasian spinach. And onions, garlic and tomatoes. And herbs. And flowers that pollinators love like nasturtium, calendula, cosmos and bergamot

Beetroot, nearly forgot the beetroot.

Strawberries, salad leaves, tomatoes, chilli’s, loganberries, kiwi (yep, in the UK), hazelnuts (by accident). Apples if hubby has not killed the tree. Want to do loads more but family reluctant to get involved. Going to try sweet potato slips too.

@Justanotherobserver

I've love to grow more leeks but we get leek moth, which is vexing.

Forgot to mention beetroot, potted on some seedlings earlier and they look good.

Just companion plant leeks with carrots for the moth problem.

Spuds, spring onions, few different toms, radishes, beetroot, French beans, peas for shoots, various salad leaves, kalettes, people sprouting broccoli, kale, chard, courgettes, couple of squash, asparagus pea, peppers, herbs, chillis, also trying chick peas & edamame beans. That's the plan, anyway 🤞🏻

*purple sprouting broccoli, can't see how a people-sprouting version would be helpful unless we turn cannibal 😂

How do you grow your ginger op? I'd love to try that and have just got a greenhouse.

My salad leaves were ravaged by flea beetle in a day last year (and most of my kale) so am growing them in my greenhouse under fine netting this year and hope I can keep the buggers out.

Am forcing myself to focus on succession growing this year. Last year I had masses of coriander, and then it all bolted around the same time.

Have tried tomatoes outside for the last two years - with no success. First year they wouldn't turn red. Last year they went rotten. Hoping for better results in the greenhouse 🤞

We grown in our garden so are a bit limited on space plus don't have the benefit of a green house, but still manage a fair bit. We are/will be growning:

Fruit: strawbs, wild strawbs, raspberries, black currants, gooseberries, and rhubarb (technically a veg, I know, but treated as a fruit)

Veg: potatoes, sweetcorn, green beans, peas, globe artichokes, beetroot, carrots, chard, spinach, courgettes, and pumpkins. Maybe some tomatoes, but we rarely get enough for the effort due to the lack of greenhouse.

Herbs/remedies/misc: thyme, rosemary, sage, mint, chives, bay, camomile, nasturtiums, and lavender.

@SkankingMopoke the chard will last through the winter and the following spring.

Only if DH doesn't get twitchy... He always has an overwhelming urge by the end of October to strip the veg patches clear to begin his Winter routine of enriching the soil and weed suppression It drives me nuts!

@SkankingMopoke my Dad's like that but it's not about enriching the soil. He thinks by 1st September all vegetation has to be cleared away, greenhouse included. I don't follow my Dad.

Growing in pots in a yard. So two pots of runner beans, one of perpetual spinach, one peas, one courgette. Hope to get more than one courgette this year. A very expensive courgette.

@SkankingMopoke

Only if DH doesn't get twitchy... He always has an overwhelming urge by the end of October to strip the veg patches clear to begin his Winter routine of enriching the soil and weed suppression It drives me nuts!

Eep! I’ve only just weeded around the garlic and onions I sowed in the autumn.

How does he over winter veg like that? Purple sprouting broccoli et?

Surely enriching a bed with well rotten manure or fish blood and bone just before planting is the most cost effective method?

I’m behind here. I need to figure a good spot for starting seeds. Buying my tomatoes again this year.

Broad beans are flowering and fresh sowing may have gone in ditto peas. Potatoes by the bucket load but the earlies will be harvested and courgettes and pumpkins will go in those buckets.

@Justanotherobserver

Alison, that sounds wonderful, you're so lucky. I'm guessing you have a decent area of protected growing space if you're doing melons.

I forgot to mention gherkins. Grew them a couple of years ago and they produced masses, which I pickled.

Yes and I moved to France. I dismantled my polytunnel and brought it with me. Put it back up a couple of months ago.

That sounds like a great move, I hope it goes really well for you.

You took the polytunnel with you, that's the sort of thing I'd do

You can get melon seeds from real seeds. Look for “Minnesota melon” which is bred for short, cooler summers. I’ve not had luck with it yet (north of Scotland) but a friend in Dorset had great success.

Oh I’m going to have to try those melons! Maybe not this year but making a note in my gardening book for next year. Don’t have enough beds yet but working on it.