Calling SMB veg growers

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Spuds coming along nicely.

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Onions, too.

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And the herbs pots have been picked a few times already.



Rhubarbs and asparagus about done with for this season and passed on to other people. Strawberries picked three times already with plenty more to be picked. Tea plant has grown into a lovely, tight plant and have turned into quite a few cuppas already. And it looks like it could be a very good year for apples again as well as pears, plums, grapes, currants and other berries. And the nut trees are looking as good as they did this time last year when they gave a bumper harvest. All good signs.

Going to sow sugar peas, carrots, salad and radishes next week in usual small tunnels and then pot a bunch of dwarf beans at home as well next week so they are ready to go into the ground when the spuds have been dug up in a couple of weeks time.

This warm weather is doing my head in though. I seem to be doing little but watering everything at the moment. And the mini heat wave expected next week will keep me busy. And the icecream van, too.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful season.
 
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had my first dig of potatoes this week... Charlottes and they taste amazing.
Good couple of picks of strawberries, courgettes and salad in the polytunnel doing really well - ditto broad beans.
Tomatoes are again slow off the mark but look reasonable apart from whitefly (which I'm blasting off with the hose)
 
Had my first two tomatoes of the season with my dinner today, The salad trug is looking canny but a lot of lettuce still died off in the heat despite a lot of watering.

Had some of my first early taties and just lifted the garlic I did over winter in the greenhouse. We were doing tea on the fire pit, so I picked some taties, wrapped them in foil and chucked them in the bottom around the edges. They were amazing.

I'm still struggling with peas. Even soaking in parafin like someone suggested, I think the mice left them but the pigeons dug them out. If I do them in a propagator in the greenhouse, they are getting too hot and humid and the seeds seem to rot. I should have thought of it before and I'm starting some on a cool windowsill in the house. My shed is slowly rotting into the ground so when I replace that I'm thinking of having big windows in the north facing side to start things off that don't like it too hot. Still strange that for 2 years now I've struggled with peas. They are usually really easy to grow and I've had great success with them for the last 15 years.
 
Just been in the greenhouse and notice a load of what I think is whitefly/larvae on my chilli plants. Is there a way to get rid without chemicals? Ideally I’ll try and get a ladybird from elsewhere in the garden and place it on them tomorrow but failing that I’m after suggestions. Thanks
 
Get yourself some "Eco" washing up liquid and a small pressure sprayer - a 1 litre one will be ok.
Mix up 1 litre water, 2 tablespoons of Eco washing up liquid and a small drop of vegetable oil.
Get the sprayer pressured-up, and give the affected areas a blast.
Should do the trick.
 
Butcher's Coat said:
Get yourself some "Eco" washing up liquid and a small pressure sprayer - a 1 litre one will be ok.
Mix up 1 litre water, 2 tablespoons of Eco washing up liquid and a small drop of vegetable oil.
Get the sprayer pressured-up, and give the affected areas a blast.
Should do the trick.
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Excellent. I’ll do that 1st thing. Cheers 👍🏼
 
The leaves on my potatoes have been destroyed by something - maybe caterpillars as I can see little poops. If I cut off the leaves the potatoes won’t grow right ? Might need to just harvest them now - had flowers a couple of weeks ago so I’m hoping I’ll have some growth at least
 
Nookie Bear said:
The leaves on my potatoes have been destroyed by something - maybe caterpillars as I can see little poops. If I cut off the leaves the potatoes won’t grow right ? Might need to just harvest them now - had flowers a couple of weeks ago so I’m hoping I’ll have some growth at least
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It won't do any harm to cut off all the haulm now, after the plant has flowered is not a problem.
You can leave the potatoes in the ground for a bit, and on the sunny day lift them and leave them on the ground in the sun which makes the skins toughen up a bit.
Get a space in the garage/shed sorted to store them, and you'll need a paper sack. -Ask at the local chip shop for a couple.
 
I just harvested my taties yesterday, dug some manure in and planted some late planting ones for my Christmas dinner.

I wish I had made a note of what variety I got. Red skinned, loads of them and some are massive. Will make good chips and baking potatoes. I went to buy seed potatoes at my usual time of the year (mid March), by then loads of first time gardeners had been grabbing anything going and there was not much left. Looks like I did allright from it.

My cabbages failed. It got too hot and dry, and they went to seed quickly before ever really producing anything. However a few self-seeded tomatoes sprung up when I cut them back and I filled a bowl with the first crop of them yesterday. I’ve not done anything to look after them, no feeding or trimming of side shoots, not even any support and they are doing really well. Seems to be a bush cherry variety.
 
DaveH said:
I just harvested my taties yesterday, dug some manure in and planted some late planting ones for my Christmas dinner.

I wish I had made a note of what variety I got. Red skinned, loads of them and some are massive. Will make good chips and baking potatoes. I went to buy seed potatoes at my usual time of the year (mid March), by then loads of first time gardeners had been grabbing anything going and there was not much left. Looks like I did allright from it.

My cabbages failed. It got too hot and dry, and they went to seed quickly before ever really producing anything. However a few self-seeded tomatoes sprung up when I cut them back and I filled a bowl with the first crop of them yesterday. I’ve not done anything to look after them, no feeding or trimming of side shoots, not even any support and they are doing really well. Seems to be a bush cherry variety.
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I grow a red skinned variety as a main crop - Desiree.
A good all-rounder - mashing, baking, roasting.
Just waiting for a good day to lift them.
 
DaveH said:
I just harvested my taties yesterday, dug some manure in and planted some late planting ones for my Christmas dinner.

I wish I had made a note of what variety I got. Red skinned, loads of them and some are massive. Will make good chips and baking potatoes. I went to buy seed potatoes at my usual time of the year (mid March), by then loads of first time gardeners had been grabbing anything going and there was not much left. Looks like I did allright from it.

My cabbages failed. It got too hot and dry, and they went to seed quickly before ever really producing anything. However a few self-seeded tomatoes sprung up when I cut them back and I filled a bowl with the first crop of them yesterday. I’ve not done anything to look after them, no feeding or trimming of side shoots, not even any support and they are doing really well. Seems to be a bush cherry variety.
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I’ve got a cracking crop of Albert Bartlet roosters. Red skin and big potatoes. My main crop is rubbish.
 
Big Jeff said:
I’ve got a cracking crop of Albert Bartlet roosters. Red skin and big potatoes. My main crop is rubbish.
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I wonder if that is what I got. I keep trying to remember to keep a veg diary, enough to note down what I grow and how it has done. Probably less than 2 hours work spread between the start and end of season. Never done it. I keep a log of where I plant stuff, for crop rotation, which is useful.
 
My climbing French beans got decimated this year. Bloody black fly were rampant, even though I treated them. Didn't get anywhere near what I normally would.

Great crop of onions, tomatoes and first early potatoes did well too. Had a decent crop of garlic too which I had grown over winter in the greenhouse.
 
Not a very good year In the greenhouses tbh, the courgettes and tomatoes have been a disappointment and the cucumbers were just ok.
Various types of potatoes, with the exception of the tasteless Swift, have been decent. Loads of garlic with only the odd one lost to rot. Onions and shallots were canny and the pumpkins are getting to be a canny size now.
Not sure if it’s the weather we’ve been having but the weeds have been an absolute nightmare this year.
 
gasman said:
Not a very good year In the greenhouses tbh, the courgettes and tomatoes have been a disappointment and the cucumbers were just ok.
Various types of potatoes, with the exception of the tasteless Swift, have been decent. Loads of garlic with only the odd one lost to rot. Onions and shallots were canny and the pumpkins are getting to be a canny size now.
Not sure if it’s the weather we’ve been having but the weeds have been an absolute nightmare this year.
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The weeds have certainly got a spurt on at the moment.
 
spitfire said:
My climbing French beans got decimated this year. Bloody black fly were rampant, even though I treated them. Didn't get anywhere near what I normally would.

Great crop of onions, tomatoes and first early potatoes did well too. Had a decent crop of garlic too which I had grown over winter in the greenhouse.
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I just picked a 2 gallon pail full of climbing beans today. No problems with aphids. I'm more into baskets and tubs (x20) and Dahlias all of which are prone to green and black fly. I spray fortnightly with Bug Clear mixed with a little washing up liquid. Spray beans at the same time.

12x6 greenhouse that I use for plug plants for baskets and tubs for 4 houses has 10 tomato plants and they have the biggest crop Ive ever had. They are a variety called Grenadier. Difficult to find seed for them though. This year I've got tomatoes the size of cricket balls.
 
My pepper plants were getting too big to keep in the greenhouse, so I stuck them outside, expecting them to die off or a least stop growing. The buggers are thriving, and the peppers themselves are some of the biggest I've ever had.
Carrots have been a disappointment this year, but my apple trees are laden.
 
tonyfromalnwick said:
My pepper plants were getting too big to keep in the greenhouse, so I stuck them outside, expecting them to die off or a least stop growing. The buggers are thriving, and the peppers themselves are some of the biggest I've ever had.
Carrots have been a disappointment this year, but my apple trees are laden.
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I've just moved my tomatoes outside from the polytunnel and they seem to be going much better. I know a few people who only start the plants off in the tunnels/greenhouses and then put them outside and get a great harvest so thinking of doing the same next year.

What are people growing over the winter?
 

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