What are we planning to grow this year?

[featherstick]

I got a big bed at the front of the allotment dug. It had been a jungle of bindweed, couchgrass, nettle, old-man's-beard, feral raspberry, and carpet. Now it's ready for planting potatoes in a week or so. I'll still be fighting weeds for a while but it was a big job and I'm glad it's done. Once I did it I realised that the last little patch of undug space is perfect for a fruit tree.

I was given some onion sets yesterday too, so I put in 80. I wasn't planning on growing any as they are so cheap on the high street at the moment, but they're in, and it's a good use of a relatively new bed. I top-dressed it with chicken manure, bone meal, and the remains of a bag of bio-char left over from one of Garden Organic's grower trials last year. It will be interesting to see how they do.

[junmist]

Question=== thought I would try sweet potatoes this year. But do I treat them like normal potatoes or are they different. If they are different how do you propagate them to increases your stock.

[featherstick]

You propagate them from "slips" - strips of skin with sprouts on them. You can do your own, but probably better off buying some initially. From memory they need a lot of heat and moisture to set tubers. However the leaves are also edible and nutritious.

[Brambles]

I was thiking of having a go with Sweet potatoes too, but not this year. Anyhoo here's a couple of reputable sites you might want to take a look at.


https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/grow-your ... t-potatoes

http://www.thompson-morgan.com/how-to-g ... t-potatoes

A friend grew some from shop bought potatoes last year and had some success, but I think you need to start them off quite early if growing the slips yourself.

[valderee]

I planted some sweet chilli peppers, and im planning to grow some tumbling tom tomato`s, in a hanging basket, done this before and worked a treat. I plan to grow some peppers, courgette`s, lettuce, raddish, and onion`s, I always grow herbs, eg, basil, thyme, mint, chives, rosemary. I need to make room to grow these before I can start, hopefully in the next week or two. Might try a few more veg too, trail and error with me..

[Lanky Yankee]

We got an allotment last year and just started small. This year we are going to work more of the space and plant potatoes in it. We are doing some onions, strawberries, tomatoes and squash. Might start putting lavender on the boarders as it's a good plant to have around.

[Stasher]

Technically this is already an established hedge, but..................I just wanted to share my thrill at seeing the first soft leaves of the beech unfurling today - it's even more exciting than watching the onions grow.......

Also, I'm mulling over the ethics of picking the violets in the garden to eat

[featherstick]

Beech leaves are rather special, aren't they?

We seem to have a profusion of apple blossom at the moment too, I don't remember so many trees having so many flowers before.

Potatoes are starting to emerge from where they'd been planted. Onions are going well. Peas are up with the sugar snap doing better than the ordinary ones.

I decided at the last minute to grow sweetcorn so put some in last week and it's up already! I also sowed Czar runner beans indoors, this is a delicious bean for eating in the pod or drying and using as a butter bean.

Squash and toms are nearly ready to go out, and the allotment is nearly full!! I'll get some leeks into a seedbed next week, and then start filling the containers at home with spare squash, toms, salad leaves and so on. We're getting some work done to the garden soon which will mean we have another couple of beds to play with.

[Decaff]

Well!!!! My endeavours to grow "something/anything" indoors have been quashed my monster of a mogsplosh has eaten the cress, shredded what he didn't fancy of the remains and dug out my pepper seedlings to add insult to injury, he also stole 2 sausages which were on the grill pan awaiting sizzling . I wouldn't mind but he's always got food in his bowl and is far from starved!! Anyone want a cat??

[featherstick]

I'll have him. I'll have half now, and freeze the rest for later.