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Calling SMB veg growers

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JumpingAnaconda said:
I used weed control fabric this year on plots I was looking to keep clear of weeds before I dropped in plants, as I usually work a few days in the garden and then am away for a few weeks. It can be useful in this regard, just by blocking out light, but it will not stop certain weeds from breaking through, which is the point of the layer of cardboard and manure on top. However, I would personally recommend before putting the cardboard and everything down, rotating bonfires of weeds and other organic wood on your plots to try and kill off some of the weed seeds that may be lurking. If there are any bindweed seeds in the ground, in my opinion, this will help make them unviable and probably save you a lot of headaches in the future. The ash should complement the manure well while processes are taking place over the winter.



The weather is probably going to be good enough for them to stay out for at least two or three more weeks if they are in a greenhouse. You will probably find everything slows down with them, and (assuming they actually are indeterminate) that the plants might benefit from some additional pruning of any sickly looking leaves. Just don't try to water them more than normal, because that will be likely to split the fruit. In theory most indeterminate plants will actually live until they are killed by frosts. I had a plant on my window sill last year that actually produced tiny fruits in February of this year.
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Thanks

I'm having to harvest my padron peppers today and dump the plants - had no problems with greenfly til I moved them into the porch and there's bloody thousands in there now !
 

I use raised beds so mostly *no dig* apart from bloody bindweed...... Pony and hens supply my manure as well as my compost heap.
Got good results with companion planting this year but still using washing up liquid water against greenfly and organic iron slug pellets.
 
Bad_mother said:
I use raised beds so mostly *no dig* apart from bloody bindweed...... Pony and hens supply my manure as well as my compost heap.
Got good results with companion planting this year but still using washing up liquid water against greenfly and organic iron slug pellets.
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Can't beat nematodes for slugs and snails.
 
duff_man said:
Yeah sort of. I have put cardboard down and a thick layer of manure then waiting for some weed control fabric to be delivered to go over the top. It works by the cardboard keeping the light out to weaken the weeds, the worms pull the manure into the existing soil to fertilise it, and the fabric again keeps the light out. Seems worth a try. There are loads of sciencey reasons why it is actually better than digging, improved soil structure etc but as a beginner I wouldn't know if that was true or not.

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Cheers. Started doing one bed as no dig the other day.
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I've never dug. I spread the compost from the bins in January and let the worms do the work as you say. Works a treat: though I say it myself I have good soil.
 
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There have been a few break-ins at the allotments. Same as always when the gardening season comes to an end but it has begun a bit early this year. I will never understand how the minds of these people work. Luckily ours haven't been hit this time.
 
Got the right hump with my veg garden today....

So much stuff went over and rotted as nobody "fancied" eating it or it was too faffy to pick, wash, peel, rinse off the greenfly etc etc....

Cue days I now have to spend tidying up. Really on the verge of saying 'sod it's as I've enough on with going to work without this.
 
Bad_mother said:
Got the right hump with my veg garden today....

So much stuff went over and rotted as nobody "fancied" eating it or it was too faffy to pick, wash, peel, rinse off the greenfly etc etc....

Cue days I now have to spend tidying up. Really on the verge of saying 'sod it's as I've enough on with going to work without this.
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The perils of the veg plot. It often happens. Get it composted.
 
I've had an odd year. My beans and parsnips mostly failed to even germinate and those that did were rubbish. I probably had about a dozen decent parsnips. Both are usually very good croppers for me (and I do rotate them). On the other hand I always have rubbish carrots and they have been brilliant. Potatoes give a good crop, but after dying back I did leave them in too long and quite a lot had started to rot.

I usually only grow beetroot for leaf, but this year I had a dozen decent fruits so I have pickled them. I did have a courgette problem. My first batch of seeds (left from last year) did not do too well, so I bought and planted another. By then the beans had failed and I had a few gaps. I thought I may as well put out a few extra courgettes. However my butternut squash seeds turned out to have been a mix up at the packing plant and turned out to be courgette too, which I only found out when they started fruiting. I ended up with 13 plants which all cropped very well. After making masses of soup to freeze, eating loads, freezing loads, I was turning up at work and leaving bags full in the kitchen for colleagues to help themselves.

Those who grow grapes, do the plants die right back in the winter? I got a plant in the spring, so it did not do much this year. It now looks very dead. Is that because it has been cold but very dry or just what grapes do?
 
Cheers. Hopefully being established for a year I'll get some fruit.

I forgot to mention how well my tomatillos are doing. Suttons sell the seeds. I only bought them because a mexican recipe book has them listed in a lot of stuff and I can't find anywhere to buy them. They develop late in the season but also make a papery packet that the seeds blow around in like tumbleweed. As a result I have had quite a few plants springing up all over. Where I have already lifted stuff like onions, I have just let them develop and I'm getting loads. I made a serious amount of chutney last weekend.
 
I got nowt off my plum tree however my pallet planter was a huge success and even last week I was picking tomatoes of the tumblers

my herb garden did alright too...

I have made about 20 jars of pickled onions but I didnt grow them... 5kg from the farm shop
 
peachbum said:
I have discussions with my sister about this. She is a gardener and says deadhead in the autumn. I like leaving them over winter and they look pretty if they get frost coverered.
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I read somewhere the old flowers protect the new buds over winter, ant to remove them early spring. Probably won't matter too much like
 
duff_man said:
Going to spend some time today looking online for this years seeds. What tatties do people recommend from past experience?
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Maris Piper, king edwards or red rooster have always been decent for me. I grow charlotte in tubs too

duff_man said:
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Fancy trying a couple of these next year, can get a decent amount of plants in quite a small space
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How do you water them, just a watering can on the top, or is that central pole something related to irrigation?
 
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