Allotment and stuff!!!

[tommy the cat]

It was hard graft (and still is) due to the neglect over the years, we have had most of the day there today digging over and removing weeds, hopefully the weather and life generally will be a bit better than last year when little got done, but there is little better than being able to go up in the morning and "pick lunch" from the garden...

Ya not wrong there!!!! Just about to steam that spinach now...

 

[tommy the cat]

Ok I've got some poly type blue water pipe scrounged and want to make a net over the brassicas. I've got sprouts in there which I guess will be the tallest plant.... so how high dya reckon?
Many thanks d

 

[British Red]

just over 3' in the middle...works for me


Brussel Sprouts by British Red, on Flickr

 

[tommy the cat]

Okdokay then ta d

 

[petrochemicals]

Just thought I`d say, I`ve resown my carrots, a great long thick row came up, the slugs came along ate all the roots and I have one left. I think farmers grow them in raised soil bed mounds so the sloping soil sides provide loose soil that slugs and snails dislike sliming over.

 

[Bowlander]

Slugs.....what you need is some ducks, just so happens I've got some runners x khaki Campbells just hatched off!

 

[tommy the cat]

Ok here's a few belated pics...
Sorry for the lack of updates..

Frame started for the blested cabbage whites!!!

A bit rough and ready but I needed something over the brassica quick smart.

First meal off the spuds. Very poor yield not sure i did owt wrong?!
Also some quite warty??
Tasted nice still Arran Pilats I think

Green house looking good if a bit too full!!!
I must learn when to say no or pass on plants to others as most of the plants in here were given to me!!
Toms are Italian and a few cherry type plus courgettes are Trombetti (sp?) which is Italian for trombone. I've decided to grow them up which is what some Italians do.

Carrots parsnips onions

Peas and beans... peas flopped over a bit?Meant to be self supporting?!

Field brand courtesy of BR (ta !)

This is a bit of a mish mash....brassicas but I had no bed built for the strawberries and they needed to go somewhere quick.... I'm hoping they can be moved later in the season to a dedicated strawberry bed?

Crocs + gardening =

Gollam feet..

Got a free barrel but no way to connect to green house..... Hmmmnnnn

Soup for dinner+ a bit of thinking....

The lovely Mrs Tommy the Cat bending quality streets tin....

Tap drilled into barrel

Voila
Atb Dave

 

[wingstoo]

Good stuff with the rainwater collection, just need the rain water to come now. What about the other side though?

All looking good, not sure about the low crop yield on the spuds, we had 80lb from our first attempt from 15 - 20 seed spuds.

 

[tommy the cat]

Good stuff with the rainwater collection, just need the rain water to come now. What about the other side though?

All looking good, not sure about the low crop yield on the spuds, we had 80lb from our first attempt from 15 - 20 seed spuds.

That's way more than these but they are first earlies!!
The other side er er to be honest I need to eat the other soup first....
;-)

 

[British Red]

Right in the order that things occur to me

The "warty" stuff is potato scab

Probably the spuds dried out when they were developing - nothing to worry about and easy to solve.....

http://apps.rhs.org.uk/advicesearch/profile.aspx?PID=230

The peas probably got knocked over by the wind - shove a few pea sticks in around them next year (they look about ready to harvest btw)

Great job on the gutter and insect netting - get that net on as soon as you plant out the brassicas next year

Field beans should be harvestable at the bottom of the plants now (or very soon) - mind you mine might have been in for longer!

All looking great Dave!

 

[tommy the cat]

Thanks BR, I have found a few rotten spuds??
I've been pretty good on the watering front but they were under 10 " of snow for two weeks after planting!!
Peas I've been picking and eating.... some even made it to the saucepan.
Haven't got any beans on either of the varieties but as you say I was late 😒
Given thunder storms and rain here so well see of me guttering works.
Just been picking stuff with my nephew and he loved it, I got him to pick some basil and I said "what's that smell like"
He said " pesto".... I think he'll be a chef..

 

[British Red]

Were the rotten spuds the seed potatoes? Bet they were!

You have got beans mate - I can see them Small but there - see the black stuff between where the leaf joins the stem? That's a dead flower - its sitting on a (tiny) bean!

 

[tommy the cat]

BR it's too darn dark to go take a look now!!! I'll have a look tomorrow... I've never grown broad beans as the ex wasn't that keen ( the new Mrs Tommy the cat isn't either) but I reckon I can give some away and trade+ I seem to remember you saying something about drying them?!
D

 

[British Red]

Make home made barbecue baked beans with them Dave - its a revelation. Field beans are much smaller and sweeter than broad beans - less like blotting paper

I'll do a recipe if you like?

You can certainly dry them - the Trail of Tears are better for that though

 

[tommy the cat]

I seem to remember you saying baked beans and kidney beans??
I eat quite a lot of chilli??
Any recipes involving toms or how to store/ make pasta sauce I'm sure we'd all like to see..ta Hugh
d

 

[British Red]

Hmm tomatoes are tricky - right on the borderline of sufficient acid for water bath canning - I generally pressure can to be safe. There's a tutorial here on pressure canning - it works just as well for storing pasta sauce (or chilli)

http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=79938

The Trail of Tears come out like little kidney beans - great in a chilli - but you can harvest them younger and use them like green beans too.

The field beans look like broad beans but make a great "baked bean"


Baked Field Beans by British Red, on Flickr

 

[tommy the cat]

Wahoo yep beans on the field beans BR...... I'm guessing like most things the older they get the tougher/ less palatable they get?
Still seem quite small at the mo so must resist scoffing some!!!
d

 

[British Red]

Field beans are better than broad beans (they rarely get tough). They should be about half as long as a broad bean to harvest

 

[tim_n]

Voila
Atb Dave

GENIUS!

My old connectors are about 30 years old and the plastic is delicate to say the least. Hadn't even thought of extending the metal, I was making do with a silicone caulking gun!

 

[tommy the cat]

GENIUS!

My old connectors are about 30 years old and the plastic is delicate to say the least. Hadn't even thought of extending the metal, I was making do with a silicone caulking gun!

Genius might be a bit strong there fella!!
Thrifty I'd say!!!
Sometimes we need to look at things a bit differently ( especially when money is a bit tight)
Atb d