Hi GWRS, are you putting the cape gooseberry in your greenhouse? That's something that didn't occur to me, growing exotic fruit, some thing to think about.
I haven't got anything in the greenhouse yet. I wanted to let the ground rest due to the amount of bark I put down and I haven't figured out a watering system for if I have things in pots. I want to grow cucumbers first I think, project for next year.
This year I thought I'd get the rest of the sorting and preparing of the ground done so at least all the space I have available will be useable. Also need to get my waterbutts connected somehow.
Yes , Cape Gooseberry in g/h , will let you known how it does also got 3 different chillies 🌶 , I have found they and cucumbers 🥒 grow better at the back , they like it a bit more humid , although last year , out door cucumbers grew better at allotment I have the water butts tied to a post to stop them blowing away when empty Agree much better to do a bit at time Happy gardening
Harvested some stuff today: These are Purple Wight garlic, some that the storm knocked down. They are a decent size, bigger than a shop garlic. Got them drying out at home. Roasted a few cloves for my tea but couldn't really taste it, not sure if that's because the smell is so strong in the kitchen.🤔 Have to say all the garlic looks like it's doing well, think it's the easiest thing I've ever grown.
Also had some of these for tea: They are Foremost, first early, delayed planting due to weather. Thank you whoever recommended Foremost, they have regained my faith in home-grown pots. No slugs, no watering, normal taste...phew!🤠🤠🤠
Also did some weeding, red pimpernel everywhere, also spurge; hand weeded and didn't burn😑 Replanned my plot plan, going to orchard it up this back-end. Got my cell rasps, half are dead, Royal Mail returned them to the depot rather than leave in my safe place. Now will have another half as many (if they survive) as supplier is sending a fresh batch...will probably give some away.
They look really good Victoria. Do the Foremost boil well as salad potatoes? I grew Nicola and Kestrel this year and have just harvested them. Nicola are very nice but the Kestrel seem to fall apart a bit on cooking.
I was pleasantly surprised with my garlic too, I wonder if it's the combination of the Beast from the East and the recent hot and dry spell that has been particularly good for garlic.
“Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm.” Winston Churchill
Morning Paul, yes they boiled well, no falling apart.
I had Maris peer and Charlotte last year and one or the other was a complete mess when boiling, which along with the slugs boring into the centres really put me off. Also they had a really strong taste which I didn't like (probably boiled slug)☹️ I'll definitely grow these again.
I've got kestrel in the ground still, will harvest next. I was growing them as second crop.
I've never grown garlic before, but yes, very pleased.
P.S I had a notification that mother goose had posted, I cannot see it, poss a forum glitch?
Hello , just back of hols , going to plot this evening to see what’s what Did you plant your garlic in autumn/winter ? I have found we get better results Glad potatoes 🥔 are ok , will be digging some up myself today
Hello, hope you enjoyed your holiday, anywhere nice?
Yes, planted the garlic in October, had the GW offer.
Today I ate some of the first rasps, Joan J which I am attempting to double crop on one plant, and Ruby Beauty which are a patio variety that I have put in the ground.
Did more weeding, collected some seeds from chives and a nice looking grass. They were on the communal paths, didn't nick them😐
Did some thinking/calculating of where I can put more cordons and rasp lines. Made a few shortlists. Would like pears and apples predominantly but some other things are of interest.
Does anyone know if you can grow a dwarf/patio apricot in a greenhouse? It's too grim up north to have one outside, I reckon anyway.
Got an onion and a garlic bolting, but I feel like I have enough to spare so will let them go. Garlic is a Provence Wight and onion might be Centaurian, but more importantly has a curious bulge part way down the flower spike I want to investigate.
Forgot to crop that, will see if it crashes the forum.
Always worth leaving the odd plant just to see what happening , remember leaving some lettuce and it was enormous in the end Can’t help with Apricots we dug up all the onions , Shallots & garlic and due to nice weather left them on ground to dry Planted 2 pear trees last year and got some fruit Have a couple of apple trees but they don’t do that well keep gardening
Sick of potatoes now, ate too many. The kestrel looked like nice potatoes, white with purple patches, no meddling slugs. Didn't enjoy them as much as the Foremost and they did fall apart when boiling but both issues might have been due to my incompetent cooking.
Raspberries on the other hand are marvellous. Tried 6 varieties now, Joan J by far the nicest. Wonderful raspberry, sweet and juicy and enough flavour for the juice without being sharp. Next fave is Glen Coe, small and purple but sweet. Ruby Beauty are a bit sharp but were the earliest summer (but some of my summer's are more recently planted so may be settling in) and are prolific. Are already showing new growth.
Also tried Malling Juno, Glen Fyne and All Gold who I believe is a relative of Joan J. Will need to eat more to make a proper comparison.😋
I have 4 other varieties at home, cell raspberries I've potted on. They are all still small, will post a pic and compare how they get on versus canes.
Tried some redcurrants today, bit sharp, poss not ripe, hopefully. The ones that came with the plot were lovely last year and this is one I bought.
After my yellow gooseberry got stripped by sawfly then my pinkcurrant did. Didn't even know there was a currant sawfly.
I've tried a few purple gooseberries, not sure if they are ripe as the stalk keeps coming off with the fruit. They don't have a lot of taste but aren't horrible. I'd like one of those green types with seeds in to make jam. I wonder why you never see goosegog jam in the shops? It's a browny-green colour if I recall correctly.
Got loads of berries on blackberry Loch Marree, only a small plant. Other blacks looking ok, none or not much fruit, Reuben, Chester and Black Satan.
Got my waterbutts rigged up before it rained. Fittings don't work very well. If I'd bought them from Hall's they would have cost £20 each. Found them cheaper on Amazon but still thought they should be more universally fitting to a butt. Using these you'd have to either have an open top butt (😕)or cut a hole in the lid and many butts aren't designed for this. I also think that although the fittings can be cut to size the angle suggests a butt so low it's probably not on a stand or else not stood next to the greenhouse. Anyway, I used spare corrugated tubing from my other butts at home and wrapped the gap with tape. It leaks and works in equal measures.
Cell rasps, Erika, Polka, Cascade and Tadmor, the replacements for the batch that was stuck in the post, plus 4 survivors from the first batch. Malingerer's Ward. I marked them 'dead', 'good' and 'poss' as a gauge as the supplier thought they might recover. One of the 'good's' now looks fairly dead, but a 'poss' has sprouted from the base.
Posts
I haven't got anything in the greenhouse yet. I wanted to let the ground rest due to the amount of bark I put down and I haven't figured out a watering system for if I have things in pots. I want to grow cucumbers first I think, project for next year.
This year I thought I'd get the rest of the sorting and preparing of the ground done so at least all the space I have available will be useable. Also need to get my waterbutts connected somehow.
also got 3 different chillies 🌶 , I have found they and cucumbers 🥒 grow better at the back , they like it a bit more humid , although last year , out door cucumbers grew better at allotment
I have the water butts tied to a post to stop them blowing away when empty
Agree much better to do a bit at time
Happy gardening
These are Purple Wight garlic, some that the storm knocked down. They are a decent size, bigger than a shop garlic. Got them drying out at home. Roasted a few cloves for my tea but couldn't really taste it, not sure if that's because the smell is so strong in the kitchen.🤔 Have to say all the garlic looks like it's doing well, think it's the easiest thing I've ever grown.
Also had some of these for tea:
They are Foremost, first early, delayed planting due to weather. Thank you whoever recommended Foremost, they have regained my faith in home-grown pots. No slugs, no watering, normal taste...phew!🤠🤠🤠
Also did some weeding, red pimpernel everywhere, also spurge; hand weeded and didn't burn😑
Replanned my plot plan, going to orchard it up this back-end. Got my cell rasps, half are dead, Royal Mail returned them to the depot rather than leave in my safe place. Now will have another half as many (if they survive) as supplier is sending a fresh batch...will probably give some away.
I had Maris peer and Charlotte last year and one or the other was a complete mess when boiling, which along with the slugs boring into the centres really put me off. Also they had a really strong taste which I didn't like (probably boiled slug)☹️ I'll definitely grow these again.
I've got kestrel in the ground still, will harvest next. I was growing them as second crop.
I've never grown garlic before, but yes, very pleased.
P.S I had a notification that mother goose had posted, I cannot see it, poss a forum glitch?
Did you plant your garlic in autumn/winter ? I have found we get better results
Glad potatoes 🥔 are ok , will be digging some up myself today
Yes, planted the garlic in October, had the GW offer.
Today I ate some of the first rasps, Joan J which I am attempting to double crop on one plant, and Ruby Beauty which are a patio variety that I have put in the ground.
Did more weeding, collected some seeds from chives and a nice looking grass. They were on the communal paths, didn't nick them😐
Did some thinking/calculating of where I can put more cordons and rasp lines. Made a few shortlists. Would like pears and apples predominantly but some other things are of interest.
Does anyone know if you can grow a dwarf/patio apricot in a greenhouse? It's too grim up north to have one outside, I reckon anyway.
Got an onion and a garlic bolting, but I feel like I have enough to spare so will let them go. Garlic is a Provence Wight and onion might be Centaurian, but more importantly has a curious bulge part way down the flower spike I want to investigate.
Forgot to crop that, will see if it crashes the forum.
Can’t help with Apricots
we dug up all the onions , Shallots & garlic and due to nice weather left them on ground to dry
Planted 2 pear trees last year and got some fruit
Have a couple of apple trees but they don’t do that well
keep gardening
Raspberries on the other hand are marvellous. Tried 6 varieties now, Joan J by far the nicest. Wonderful raspberry, sweet and juicy and enough flavour for the juice without being sharp. Next fave is Glen Coe, small and purple but sweet. Ruby Beauty are a bit sharp but were the earliest summer (but some of my summer's are more recently planted so may be settling in) and are prolific. Are already showing new growth.
Also tried Malling Juno, Glen Fyne and All Gold who I believe is a relative of Joan J. Will need to eat more to make a proper comparison.😋
I have 4 other varieties at home, cell raspberries I've potted on. They are all still small, will post a pic and compare how they get on versus canes.
Tried some redcurrants today, bit sharp, poss not ripe, hopefully. The ones that came with the plot were lovely last year and this is one I bought.
After my yellow gooseberry got stripped by sawfly then my pinkcurrant did. Didn't even know there was a currant sawfly.
I've tried a few purple gooseberries, not sure if they are ripe as the stalk keeps coming off with the fruit. They don't have a lot of taste but aren't horrible. I'd like one of those green types with seeds in to make jam. I wonder why you never see goosegog jam in the shops? It's a browny-green colour if I recall correctly.
Got loads of berries on blackberry Loch Marree, only a small plant. Other blacks looking ok, none or not much fruit, Reuben, Chester and Black Satan.
Got my waterbutts rigged up before it rained. Fittings don't work very well. If I'd bought them from Hall's they would have cost £20 each. Found them cheaper on Amazon but still thought they should be more universally fitting to a butt. Using these you'd have to either have an open top butt (😕)or cut a hole in the lid and many butts aren't designed for this. I also think that although the fittings can be cut to size the angle suggests a butt so low it's probably not on a stand or else not stood next to the greenhouse. Anyway, I used spare corrugated tubing from my other butts at home and wrapped the gap with tape. It leaks and works in equal measures.
Cell rasps, Erika, Polka, Cascade and Tadmor, the replacements for the batch that was stuck in the post, plus 4 survivors from the first batch.
Malingerer's Ward. I marked them 'dead', 'good' and 'poss' as a gauge as the supplier thought they might recover. One of the 'good's' now looks fairly dead, but a 'poss' has sprouted from the base.