What are you growing?

[GreyCat]

Looks pretty good. Peas like cool, tomatoes prefer hot and dry, so peas will be producing before toms.

Everything is a month late in west/north UK this year. So probably about where they should be, and hopefully we get a dry warm September to ripen things properly.

I grow tomatoes, cucumbers, summer squash/melons and peppers/chillis in the polytunnel, it's not just about temperature, it's also wet and wind that affects them.

As it gets warmer, peas get less happy but toms and curcubits like it.

If you want toms consistently anywhere in the west or north of UK, you need to grow under cover really. Even in east Wales they are marginal outside, and just too wet in west Wales. Maybe if you were on the east coast of Scotland and had a cold hardy variety you'd be OK without cover, but polytunnel or greenhouse will help- and extends the growing season for other stuff too.

GC

 

[DocG]

Great efforts everyone. I’m ashamed by my feeble attempts - going to be away on international jamboree then troop camp then presenting at STEM events = my reasons for not being an enthusiastic cultivator this year.
Great idea to start the thread. I’ll watch with admiration.

 

[bobnewboy]

First proper gathering of raspberries today - about 2Kg. We’ll eat some of these fresh with a little cream in the next two days, then freeze the rest. Cukes are coming on in the greenhouse but will probably need a couple more weeks to fill out and attain their usual length. We have a lot of tomatoes but they haven’t started to ripen yet. The yellow chillies and Padron peppers are going well - everything in the greenhouse is loving this hot sunny weather, but we do need to water every evening. Big surprise has been the square metre of broad beans. I’ve harvested about a kilo of beans and there are still some pods to pick. We have a couple of tubs of strawberries which have been good but the mice do find the ripe fruit often before we do. However there are the wild strawberries all round the garden which we can also snack on . Our first tubs of potatoes are looking ready for harvest, and we have a lot of those tubs so they should keep us fed. No potatoes to glean this year though - all the fields round us are growing maize for animal feed….

 

[Woody girl]

I've been picking my tayberries for about a week . When it cools down I shall make some tayberry jam. I'm going out twice a day to pick as they ripen very quickly and I don't intend to feed the birds too much.
Much else is late, but broad beans and peas are beginning to form up nicely and the courgettes are looking good. Still only a couple of inches long but will be pickable after the weekend I reckon. Runners well behind, but showing flowers and will be ready when the broad beans are over.beets and carrots still a way to go.
My vertical grown pumpkin has reached the gutters and has three lovely baby pumpkins formed. They are small ones so I decided to try growing upwards in a huge pot, to save space in the garden beds.

 

[Woody girl]

Picked my first mini cucumber today.
I've never grown cucumbers before, but bought two plants at the market as I like to try new things.
Only one cuke formed and matured so far, but I'm pretty pleased I've got a result. Lots of flowers and baby cukes coming through.
This might be the best £2 I've spent in the garden so far this year.
No idea what variety but they have prickles on.

 

[bobnewboy]

Picked my first mini cucumber today.
I've never grown cucumbers before, but bought two plants at the market as I like to try new things.
Only one cuke formed and matured so far, but I'm pretty pleased I've got a result. Lots of flowers and baby cukes coming through.
This might be the best £2 I've spent in the garden so far this year.
No idea what variety but they have prickles on.

Good job!

We’ve found the prickly ones often have a slightly tough skin (better for pickling), and so we choose the Mini Munch smooth variety. We have 3 plants: one Mini Munch which is now producing its first few cukes; one massive plant with a minimum of 6 full size cukes on at any one time, and one much smaller plant of the full size type which will produce late cukes for us. We make sure they have plenty of water, and feed them with diluted fertiliser once a week. The most important thing is to make sure that all of your cukes are picked as soon as they get big enough. They can and do hide away. If you don’t keep up with them, one will ripen and then it’s game over for the plant.

 

[bobnewboy]

Our rasps have just about finished, but we’ve eaten loads fresh and put a few kilos in the freezer.

We’ve had a variety of wild and cultivated strawberries but we have to beat the wildlife (mice & voles) to them when they ripen. Not large crops…

Our blackcurrants are ready but I’ve only picked one of the four bushes so far - about 2Kg. I must get up early one morning and do some more picking before it gets too hot.

The broad beans are all picked and mostly eaten. Very nice. I think we have 4 portions in the freezer for winter.

We’ve started eating our spuds, but we’re only digging them up as and when we need them.

The yellow chillies and Padron peppers are going well, and we’ve eaten some of each. Any extras will be dried and powdered for later use.

Our tomatoes are now in full flow, with the several varieties being ripe and ready at differing times. Great in our salads and for breakfast ‘tomato fry’.

Finally our onions haven’t done so well this year. Probably the heat and dry conditions. The necks have turned on many/most of them, so once they’ve started drying back we will lift them and dry them properly.

 

[GreyCat]

I have had quite a few cucumbers this year so far, and yes Mini Munch is very good.

Picked the first tomatoes yesterday. Had a handful of strawberries off the new plants and I will have some cranberries this year. Peas are about finished so I am letting the last few pods ripen so I have seed for next year. Lots of tomatoes in flower/setting and fruit at different stages of ripeness.

Summer squash OK, but I think I need to pick some tiddlers so the others left get bigger! Melon plants have flowers and a couple had set fruit I think. Peppers are in flower and some fruit has set.

A couple of my apple trees have a few apples- 5 between the 2.

I am reasonably content with this as it's all new planting.

GC