Grow your own 2013

Stan_Lite said:
Thanks for the advice guys :) Looks like I'll be getting some exercise.

I'm still away at work for another week and a half. Hopefully by the time I get home, the weather will be more conducive to digging and weeding.

I don't have any home-made compost - yet. It's something I plan on doing but, even if I start it straight away, it's going to be a while before I can use it. Would some organic compost from a garden centre be good to dig in this year?

I don't eat a lot of tomatoes, what else could I grow in the grow bags to use the contents in the autumn?
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just get the cheapest compost you can and mix it in with your soil.

The quality of the compost doesn't really matter when your not using pots because the roots can stretch out a lot more anyway
 
arknor said:
just get the cheapest compost you can and mix it in with your soil.

The quality of the compost doesn't really matter when your not using pots because the roots can stretch out a lot more anyway
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Thanks for that. I'll get some of Asda's cheapo stuff to dig in.

Never got anything done last time I was home as it was still quite chilly and frosty at night. I'm away at work again now and not home for another 3 weeks. Hopefully I'll get something done then. I did get some herbs sown in pots in the windowsill the week before I left and they were coming along nicely when I left. Hopefully they'll be well on when I get back. I have a neighbour who looks after my chillies and herbs while I'm away. She was going to re-pot the chillies while I'm away and keep an eye on the herbs and pot them on if required. She was also going to dig up the daffodil bulbs from the small growing bed I have out the back and take them for herself as I don't want them. That should give me a head start on the digging. All I'll need to do is dig up the weeds, cut back the tree root and dig in some compost and I'm ready to go.
 
Spring seems to finally be in effect :cool:

Tomatoes getting stronger by the day



Experimental aubergenes



Winter veg



And the first of the squash just about to break through.

 
I tried aubergines a few years ago and they were a disaster. Only got a few flowers and fruit to develop. And in the end, they just went moldy.

I've sown some more this year but I'm yet to get any seedlings.
 
Tomatoes (moneymaker variety), Red and White strawberries, Dahlias and Sweet pea to go in next, our little project for the summer to help teach responsibility to my three daughters (9,5&4).
 
topgun06 said:
I tried aubergines a few years ago and they were a disaster. Only got a few flowers and fruit to develop. And in the end, they just went moldy.

I've sown some more this year but I'm yet to get any seedlings.
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I was rather late for sowing so grabbed these from the local nursery. Hopefully they'll do ok in the greenhouse.
 
I'm sure they will be more successful than my previous attempt. They were a pain to pollinate from what I remember in the greenhouse. So maybe try to get them outside as much as possible on nice days.
 
That might be tricky as they'll be planted in the borders :) I've got auto-opening windows though so the insects can get in & out, plus there's always hand pollination.

My worry was that they like it humid, whereas that's not good for tomatoes. They'll be on opposite sides so I might try with a dish of water beneath the plants to try to raise the local humidity.
 
This years is coming on

Tomatoes

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Potatoes onions and garlic

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More potatoes

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My late nan's pear tree has loads of blossom

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Ditto apple

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Rhubarb

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Wisteria flowers first flowers after 5 years

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Seem to have an invader any one know what this is?

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Got 150 onions in the ground and growing, the over wintered garlic is comming on strong and I've added row of shallots for the first time this year. Was finally planting my last potatoes on the weekend (The first earlies are finally showing!) and one of my plot neighbours offered me some spare broad bean plants which I couldn't turn down so I now have three rows of those in! Finally the strawberries are growing well so hopefully a good crop from them this year! The joys of allotment gardening!
 
a1ex2001 said:
The joys of allotment gardening!
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Amen brother!

Garlic is looking good this year, just need to hope for a dry late summer. The onions are looking a bit patchy so I think I lost quite a few over the winter. I've sown some from seed as well this year as an experiment and they're just coming up now.

In the greenhouse the tomatoes, peppers and aubergines are in the borders. Cucumbers & squash are ready to pot on with the latter going to be hardened off in the cold frame before planting out and the cucs going onto the greenhouse. Sweetcorn is about 4" and will need hardening off soon, and the winter veg needs to be moved into bigger trays. Lettuce and chard all on the way as well.

Potatoes are finally up and this rain is going to be doing them a world of good. Fruit bushes have lots of flower and the old raspberries are putting on lots of new growth. The new raspberries though didn't survive the winter and my sprecially made soft fruit bed is just home to a dozen brown twigs :(

I go over every other evening bu I can't wait for the weekend to get back over properly for some more good work.
 
No pictures yet but I have put down / am sowing Basil, peppers (2 types), chillies, tomatoes, coriander, mint (2 types), strawberries, sage & thyme.

Already eating my rhubarb.
 
I redid my herb garden at the weekend. It's now packed with; peppermint, sage, chives, rosemary, thyme, lemon thyme, coriander, Flat leaf parsley, curly parsley, oregano, basil and I think that's about it... They're looking great too.

Also bought some already growing stuff to plant, so have about 6 types of tomatoes, cucumber, peppers, strawberries... some other odds and sods! Just need some sun now!
 
Just re-potted my tomatoes this evening in the hope of getting a bit more growth out of them.
They didn't look particularly pot bound, but have been rubbish so far. Still under a foot tall and no signs of any flowers on them yet.
Beginning to think I won't be getting any fruit from them. :(

Strawberries are looking good at least :)
 
Put the beans in the ground yesterday evening. I hope none have been eaten by slugs yet. They were looking really healthy. Lets hope this year won't be as much of a washout and I can get a decent bean crop.
 
Put your beans out...? I've only just got round to sowing mine. I also realised I'd also forgotten to sow any beetroot, so did half a tray of them.

I wish the sunshine would come back.
 
Finally got round to digging my little plot. This is what it looked like before:

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After 3 hours of digging (mostly with hand trowel and hand fork), several blisters and a dodgy back, it now looks like this:

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It was full of daffodils, weeds and had 4 small tree stumps and associated roots that needed to be dug up. I've got it all out now and I've dug in some compost (£6 for 125 litres from B&Q). I've given it a good soak and I'll leave it to settle for a few days before planting anything. Damn hard work but, hopefully, worth it.

A picture of the devastation in my yard just now. It'll get cleaned up tomorrow. Right now I'm having a well deserved ice cold Hoegaarden before I soak in a hot bath for a bit.

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