What is everyone growing this year?

[jansman]

Here at Chez Jansman we have chillies, tommyatoes, leeks and onions pricked out and on the way. I always start me onions Boxing Day 'cos I like to put some into a couple of local shows in September. Climbing peas are coming up the sticks nicely, and lettuce pricked out and doing well. Early spuds are in 12" pots in the tunnel and the forced rhubarb looks great.
Lovely hobby isn't it?

That *does* sound lovely, jansman - at mine, I'm still at the stage of composting with leafmould and live mulch, and re-weeding bits that I had to let go when I had my virus last year. But some edible plants that I managed to put in a few years ago are doing well (rhubarb, lots of herbs), as are my Alexanders that I planted this year. Its all about low maintenance for me, until the bones of the garden are done.

Great stuff. The journey starts with a single step. Hugh Whittingsall says that if you can grow just one meal from your garden, then you are ahead of the game. As I said to my new neighbour ( who showed interest in my garden) I suggested they start small, but do it well. Then expand from there.

[PreppingPingu]

Well been busy sticking more stuff in the ground both - seeds and plant plugs. For those of you who use facebook I set up a page on there last year to chart my progress. GardeningPingu So far I have planted spuds, lettuce, cabbage, broccoli, and have garlic, and onions that have over wintered. I planted from seed some carrots, beetroot, parsnips and spinach but I will have to wait and see if they grow. I have a small strawberry patch, 5 blueberry bushes and some raspberry canes all from last year.

My allotment is only a 10min walk from my house but I still didn't get down there as much as I should have done last year so I was always fighting weeds and pests. Also things like my parsnips seeds didn't come up and the pigeons and caterpillars got my cabbage. Learnt from last year and got some decent mesh, clips to hold it onto the frame and secured it properly so that barring storm force winds, they should remain covered! I planted my parsnips in a raised bed so that the sides would hopefully act as a barrier, and as it is slightly raised with extra good soil in, hopefully I will have better drainage so the seeds wont rot as may have happened last year. I am very excited as this year I should be able to produce a lot more food. The first year was fencing, weeding and spud planting, last year was attempting to grow half the patch and learn how to manage it, and this year I should have most of my small patch producing food of some sort.

Met some more friendly people down there this year so its a good source of information. I don't feel quite a newbie this year! I am definitely getting a feeling of satisfaction from what I have achieved from the bare, grassy weed filled patch from 3 years ago so something that can now provide food for my family. As this allotment is off the beaten track, the yobs and thieves in town don't know it exists, so from a food safety point of view I feel good about it. the other allotment site get targeted from time to time but ours doesn't seems to *touch wood* Also my small shed on the plot can also double as a tiny cache.

[preppingsu]

@preppingpingu
Just had a look at your FB page, looking good!

Plant some spring onions or any noons with your carrots, that will help with carrot fly, the smell keeps them away.

We also have that weed that has runners - I think we got infested from some horse muck we picked up from somewhere. The seeds must be in the horses poo.

[FEISTY]

Hi! Had a look at your FB gardening page. It's definitely coming on. This year, we have a lot of structural things to deal with from an elusive leak in our own roof (sorted) to the roofing blowing off one of the huts. I think that was sorted (started yesterday and didn't have enough material) today (hubby and daughter - DD had to shove one section of the roof to meet the other while DH attached them back together with V-shaped brackets - I held the ladder - DD is taller and stronger than me ). DH painted replaced section of fence (again) and the fixed hut (the other one we have is a bit ramshackle and will be coming down soon. There is an area in a corner beside the wall/fence to be cleared levelled and, possible, decked for a new potting shed. My asparagus bed was weeded (wasn't too bad given it wasn't touched all winter), a couple of bags of last year's compost and bagged manure added and topped up with a thick layer of year old composted shredded bark. Will keep adding stuff as the year goes on as raised beds constantly sink. Rhubarb bed weeded, year old compost from our own composted added and again mulched with our own shredded bark. Another large bed has also been weeded and waiting for soil improvement and mulch. Trying to clear as much ground as possible for planting. Didn't want to get in the way of shed work, so have still to clear the designated area for the other raised bed (this may involve taking out a large tree stump and all the crocosmia growing around it - I'll re-site the crocosmia and give some away, although this yellow/orange one grows pretty freely around here. My yellow one and the Lucifer don't grow quite so vigorously). The 4 rhubarbs are new ones planted last year (the old one was on its last legs as the lady had planted it in a dull and dingy corner and I think the fencer stomped all over it ) and they're not huge yet, so I'm trying to be patient with them. Champagne is the strongest growing one and it may be only one I end up growing. If you're a mouse with an appetite for rhubarb, the other ones will be fine . I'll give them this season and then re-plant them in a sunnier spot, once the ground is ready. The asparagus is still pathetic, so will underplant as soon as I get a moment. So far, I have apple trees (none of them prolific), a plum tree (not doing so well and I have no idea why), a beautiful cherry tree (actually three, but one is usually covered in cherries), which I will cover after pollination and we might get to eat them., a fig tree that needs a firm hand, a small bay doing well, planted last year, abundant rosemary, escapee spring onions, raspberries, which I may re-site or start again, brambles , dandelions , a tonne of gooseberries which get stripped every year - have yet to get a gooseberry and I think I am going to dig them all out and shred them. a pear tree that grows about one pear a year , I've just ripped out some overgrown, woody sage which I never used, likewise the lavender (will re-plant with fresh), thyme and more I can't remember. I have French heirloom (can save the seeds for next year if I like it) Squash seeds sown (8) and two have already been potted on. I have courgette, hot (multi-coloured) peppers and cape gooseberry seedlings on the go, as well as a few flowers. I still have lots of other seeds to sow indoors and outdoors and am kicking myself that I didn't get my hundreds of pots scrubbed out before now and annoyed we have so many big projects to get on with now we have a bit of good weather. I'm probably not bothering with potatoes, but would like to get some carrots and more spring onions in, but want to raise them up and I'd like to grow swede. I'll be growing lettuce, pak choi, peas and beans if I get on with it, broccoli and chard. Basically, it's a race against time! Add to that the constant weeding clearing overgrown stuff (just realised a tree we have is a 10 foot sycamore sapling growing in the middle of a shrub and I definitely don't want any more of those - my 13 year old has been earning his pocket-money spending a few hours weeding thousands of sycamore seedlings out of the stoned over areas and the first cut has taken care of the thousands of seedings in the lawns. They seed, literally, everywhere. It's going to be a bit of a job cutting it down. Tomorrow (today), we have hired a van to get a lot of stuff out of our garage and stuff left by a tenant out of a flat. When we get to the big municipal dump, we'll see if they're selling the bags (£2) which you can refill with their compost as many times as you like until it's gone - this compost is made with the stuff collected from the brown bins. If they are, we'll get a few. We'll also call in at a local garden centre where a lady who has horses works and see if we can pop up to collect a load of manure (in rubble sacks). I need as much "stuff" for the garden as possible, as our large composters just aren't big enough and the ground is hungry for it. I forgot I've still to order strawberries and begonia corms (because I never overwinter them properly - maybe this year ). I hope I'm not too late. Still waiting for my tomatillo and asparagus pea seeds to arrive (James Wong! ). The good thing about gardening is it gives you so much to think about, you forget about everything else. Happy gardening, folks!

[jansman]

Great post. Do not worry about the fruit trees. They will come good. Think of them as a long- term investment. My plum trees took 5 years to fruit. Now we are over loaded every Summer.
This is a busy time of year isn't it?

[featherstick]

Fruit trees benefit from a good mulch of compost every year or so. They also benefit from really good preparation pre-planting (yes, I know it's too late now). The Blessed Lawrence D. Hills used to recommend 6 inches of tealeaves at the bottom of the hole before planting, they'd be a source of nitrogen for ages as they break down so slowly. I've been collecting teabags at work for months now, I put up a little sign saying "Help me turn teabags into apples" and I now have 2 big 25l drums full ready for apple and plum trees.

I picked up some Nicola and Linda seed potatoes in Germany on hols last week so they'll go in as well - they were selling seed potatoes on the market! I also sowed nasturtiums and parsley before we left but they haven't come up yet. I'll be putting in some Hokkaido squash seeds shortly, a wonderful squash, full of flavour and keeps for months.

I've signed up for a biochar experiment from Garden Organic - they are supplying biochar, seeds, and a record sheet, and they want us to set aside 2 x 1sq metre plots, check soil pH and structure, and keep notes on what grows, what the yield is, and how healthy the plants are. It should be interesting.

[nickdutch]

Now May is finally here and the chances of a frost killing the crop is greatly diminished, its time for me to top up my B+M and poundshop gardening supplies. I have kept aside some butternut squash seeds (from the butternut squashes that i have bought) which I will be planting soon and also some pepper seeds (from supermarket peppers). Peppers help to make meals look nice so they are worth keeping IMHO. Some of the homegrown peppers I intend to dehydrate for autumnal / winter storage to pep up my various slow cooker meals.

I mention that I have been keeping my seeds because I just think that it's a waste of time and money to buy things that nature gives us for free (or included in the price of the fruit and veggies that we buy) anyway.

[jansman]

Now May is finally here and the chances of a frost killing the crop is greatly diminished, its time for me to top up my B+M and poundshop gardening supplies. I have kept aside some butternut squash seeds (from the butternut squashes that i have bought) which I will be planting soon and also some pepper seeds (from supermarket peppers). Peppers help to make meals look nice so they are worth keeping IMHO. Some of the homegrown peppers I intend to dehydrate for autumnal / winter storage to pep up my various slow cooker meals.

I mention that I have been keeping my seeds because I just think that it's a waste of time and money to buy things that nature gives us for free (or included in the price of the fruit and veggies that we buy) anyway.

Absolutely! I save squash seeds too. And it works. I save an heirloom pea seed that is so reliable. As you say, nature gives it to us.

[featherstick]

I mention that I have been keeping my seeds because I just think that it's a waste of time and money to buy things that nature gives us for free (or included in the price of the fruit and veggies that we buy) anyway.

Well, up to a point, but given the nature of modern agri-business there's every chance you are saving an F1 seed which won't grow true, or a pepper that needs a specific climate. Check out realseeds.co.uk for a company that will sell you heirloom seeds proven to grow in the UK and actively encourage you to save your own seed by providing instructions with every pack.

[Arzosah]

I'm growing yacon now, and chitting some oca that a kind neighbour gave me. A replacement lavender is about to go in, the salad burnet is really healthy, the lemon balm, blackcurrant bush and strawberries are mahoosive the supermarket chives that I split into four are looking good, the creeping oregano is healthy, and I've got so many roses I'm *seriously* considering rose petal jam