What are you planting this year???

fifthcolumn · Post by **fifthcolumn** » 06 Feb 2008, 17:57

Erik wrote:
fifthcolumn wrote:The peas are a joy to watch and they taste absolutely brilliant.

I'm not the only saddo pea-spotter then. It's dark when I get home in the evenings but I still occassionally nip out with a torch to see what the peas have been up to during the day!

I've been trying to guesstimate how many peas I'll get per plant, and therefore how many servings per crop. At 2 batches of 10 plants x about 10 pods per plant x about 6 or 7 peas per pod it won't amount to much more than about 1200 peas I reckon, which is er... how many servings?!

Well put it this way: I had around four 50cm pots with four peas planted in each. I got 100% germination and four nice pea trees/stalks or whatever they are per pot. Middle of summer time the pods started to form. Flat at first and then with little dimples in them. You get anywhere from a couple to 10 peas per pod. I got about a 10cm bowl filled to the brim from each 50cm pot.

biffvernon · Post by **biffvernon** » 06 Feb 2008, 21:00

But if you pick the first pods and eat them whole - mange tout - the plant will be stimulated into producing more pods. Sorry if that messes up the calculation.

Post by **kenneal - lagger** » 07 Feb 2008, 03:21

Don't forget spinach, beat or chard. It will last right through the year if you stop it going to seed.

SunnyJim · Post by **SunnyJim** » 07 Feb 2008, 08:45

fifthcolumn wrote:
Erik wrote:
fifthcolumn wrote:The peas are a joy to watch and they taste absolutely brilliant.

I'm not the only saddo pea-spotter then. It's dark when I get home in the evenings but I still occassionally nip out with a torch to see what the peas have been up to during the day!

I've been trying to guesstimate how many peas I'll get per plant, and therefore how many servings per crop. At 2 batches of 10 plants x about 10 pods per plant x about 6 or 7 peas per pod it won't amount to much more than about 1200 peas I reckon, which is er... how many servings?!
Well put it this way: I had around four 50cm pots with four peas planted in each. I got 100% germination and four nice pea trees/stalks or whatever they are per pot. Middle of summer time the pods started to form. Flat at first and then with little dimples in them. You get anywhere from a couple to 10 peas per pod. I got about a 10cm bowl filled to the brim from each 50cm pot.

My peas were absolutely decimated by snails last year

I did have a great crop of tomatoes thought, and salad all through the year. A few spuds, which got hit by blight, but were harvestable non the less. Alot of stuff failed for me last year due to over eagerness, and too early planting.

I'm basing most of my planting and growing on Charles Dowding's methods in 'Organic Gardening - The Natural No-Dig Way'. He grows not for the earliest crops (although sometimes that occurs) but to avoid a crops main pests and diseases. Very good book.

Got much more land in production this year though.

I did a bit of seed saving last year. I managed to save seed from some Rocket plants and my tomatoes. I plan on much more of that this year.....

RenewableCandy · Post by **RenewableCandy** » 22 Mar 2008, 21:43

Broad beans (already coming up!!) and sorrel (to be planted next week after all this feckin' snow has gone) are our weapons of choice this year. And of course the obligatory sunflowers, which I now discover count as a Green Manure crop so we have an excuse! (though you can't exactly dig them in so how that works I've no idea). And I've found all the bin-liners from our house move, so we might try using one for growing spuds.

sentiententity · Post by **sentiententity** » 27 Apr 2008, 00:53

Result!

I now have shoots from two of the three hop rootstocks I planted in January. Tiny though...they are about 4-5" high at the moment. Still, I was beginning to lose hope. Or hop.

At this rate though, it looks like homebrew in October rather than September, but I can live with that. A consequence of living in the wastelands of the Frozen North, no doubt...

s.

OrraLoon · Post by **OrraLoon** » 27 Apr 2008, 22:31

RenewableCandy wrote:Broad beans (already coming up!!) and sorrel (to be planted next week after all this feckin' snow has gone) are our weapons of choice this year. And of course the obligatory sunflowers, which I now discover count as a Green Manure crop so we have an excuse! (though you can't exactly dig them in so how that works I've no idea). And I've found all the bin-liners from our house move, so we might try using one for growing spuds.

Early tatties, parsnips, onion sets and French climbing beans. Will add maincrop tatties.

Returning for another season: gooseberries, brambles, blackcurrants, blueberries, redcurrants, a tayberry, two apples and a cherry tree.

Plus a artichoke which should have been cut, a stray rasp and a pomegranate which may have succumbed.

RenewableCandy · Post by **RenewableCandy** » 28 Apr 2008, 13:33

sentiententity wrote:Result!

I now have shoots from two of the three hop rootstocks I planted in January. Tiny though...they are about 4-5" high at the moment. Still, I was beginning to lose hope. Or hop.

At this rate though, it looks like homebrew in October rather than September, but I can live with that. A consequence of living in the wastelands of the Frozen North, no doubt...

s.

This is why I subscribe to the "sporting chance" school of gardening: a lot of things which look like the proverbial Parrot turn out, in fact, to be "just restin'"!
Sorrel's come up (just!). Other 1/2 has put in Dill and Corriander. Have bought something called "Borage" which is supposed to help the beans grow. Anyone know if you can eat it?

Carrying on the Biodynamic experiment, lots o' stuff going in this coming weekend (last bit of olde moon).

sentiententity · Post by **sentiententity** » 28 Apr 2008, 13:45

Have bought something called "Borage" which is supposed to help the beans grow. Anyone know if you can eat it?

I believe that borage is the strict traditionalist addition to a Pimm's No. 1 cup, not mint. So yes!

I like the concept of the "Sporting Chance School of Gardening". I may need to steal that from time to time, with your permission. The wildlife is liking our garden at the moment. Chaffinches, Tits, Mistle Thrushes, Dunnocks and lots of bugs joined us yesterday afternoon. Not to mention Tubbs the squirrel, of course...

s.

RenewableCandy · Post by **RenewableCandy** » 28 Apr 2008, 14:06

sentiententity wrote:
Have bought something called "Borage" which is supposed to help the beans grow. Anyone know if you can eat it?
I believe that borage is the strict traditionalist addition to a Pimm's No. 1 cup, not mint. So yes!

...

s.

Have Pimms, will do! Eee I loove a bit o'Class (pron. "Class", not "Clarse")

Post by **kenneal - lagger** » 28 Apr 2008, 23:55

You use the blue flowers of borage to make things pretty.

Our asparagus is coming through strongly now but we've got another year to go before we can start cutting it. The first lot of spuds are up as well and beans are forming on our overwintered broad bean plants. The spring planting is showing as well.

RenewableCandy · Post by **RenewableCandy** » 01 May 2008, 20:21

Carrying on the lunie gardening experimant (sorry, Biodynamic...) some more seeds went in today: cucumbers, celeriac and beefsteak-toms. The latter 2 are in Chateau Renewable's new "Greenhouse", a.k.a. an olde Recycling box lined with corrugated cardboard, 1/2-filled with compost and some ash, and topped off with a sheet of Perspex I found in the garage. Now all I've got to do is remember to water it, even when it has been raining.

The borage goes in tomorrow. I now notice that the illustration on the front includes a discreetly-placed glass of Pimms

biffvernon · Post by **biffvernon** » 01 May 2008, 21:56

Borage flowers look good on salad too. Totally edible - just the petals - pull them off the green sepals which are tough and hairy. If the bees haven't got there first you get a tiny drop of sweet nectar with each flower.

Bedrock Barney · Post by **Bedrock Barney** » 05 May 2008, 17:59

Planted a kiwi vine against our south facing garage wall this afternoon. Not sure if we will actually get edible fruit out of it but it's worth a go. We have a couple of grape vines against another warm south west wall which are looking very happy this year.

Newly planted asparagus bed also looking good. We have shoots poking through. Can't wait for next year!!

Will be planting another 10 apple trees soon as well. Vigo cider press and mill on the shopping list!!

RenewableCandy · Post by **RenewableCandy** » 05 May 2008, 20:49

Now the warm weather's here, our hopefully-not-dead lemon has been put outside, and watered and 'fed'. All the brown bits have been trimmed off so it doesn't look so grim and perhaps that'll help.

The grapewine (which I thought had snuffed it in last year's frost) has got leaves unfolding! The grapes all shrivelled before they got ripe last year: anyone any idea what we might have done wrong?