Author Topic: new for 2018  (Read 2944 times)

johhnyco15

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new for 2018
« on: December 22, 2017, 10:11:04 »
as we are all sitting on our hands waiting to start the new growing season i was wondering what new to you crops/varieties your going to try for the first time or resurrect  back into the veg plot for me its red cabbage I'm trying it for the first time in years  for use in summer salads and coleslaw and i might even pinch some of your ideas  as im not showing this year ive a load of free space to fill
johhnyc015  may the plot be with you

BarriedaleNick

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Re: new for 2018
« Reply #1 on: December 22, 2017, 10:24:22 »
I am certainly going to give sweet potatoes one more go but I might try them from scratch as the deliveries from the suppliers were rubbish this year.
I always do some red cabbage - they go a long way and I love it cooked with some butter, splash of balsamic and some raisins.
Moved to Portugal - ain't going back!

tricia

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Re: new for 2018
« Reply #2 on: December 22, 2017, 12:22:10 »
I'm going to have another go at growing celeriac. I grew it years ago but gave up as slugs and woodlice damage was so bad I felt it wasn't worth the effort. However, on another forum I read about cooking a whole celeriac in the microwave and decided to give it a go and bought one for a pound at my local supermarket. Scrubbed and microwaved for about 30 minutes - depends on size and microwave oven wattage of course - I just cut off the top and scooped out the delicious results!

If anyone knows of a way to protect celeriac as it grows I'd be glad to hear of it!

Tricia  :wave:

Paulh

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Re: new for 2018
« Reply #3 on: December 22, 2017, 14:05:22 »
Beetroot and elephant garlic (this year's sets that went in too late to form cloves) are the only new types so far, plus tall pea varieties, but I'm trying new varieties of several things I've grown before - I can't find the variety I want, or another one looks interesting (like yellow and white striped courgettes) or what I've been growing is disappointing.

My successful new ones this year included Black Spanish Round Radish which is more like a turnip but with a later season.

small

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Re: new for 2018
« Reply #4 on: December 22, 2017, 14:18:53 »
I'm going to concentrate on getting brassicas right, dire last year, so I'll get new varieties and try harder. Especially red cabbage, I used to grow it every year but missed the last couple, and the stuff you buy in jars is rubbish. I want to try mini cucumbers, but I'm put off by the high price for so few seeds, meanie that I am!

Tee Gee

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Re: new for 2018
« Reply #5 on: December 22, 2017, 14:57:55 »
Quote
I want to try mini cucumbers, but I'm put off by the high price for so few seeds, meanie that I am!

I think this company is as good as any at the moment:(BTW I have no connection with this company but use them when I can't find what I want at Kings)

I have found that germination percentage is usually quite high, the prices are reasonable and if you buy their end of season stock you can get some right bargains, I have been known to buy seeds at penny per packet, currently they have quite a bit of stuff on sale for under £1

https://www.seedparade.co.uk/31-cucumber-seeds

There are no bells & whistles with the packaging all you get is a transparent 'snap seal' plastic bag with very basic info.

Postage is lower than most suppliers.

If you want specific data you can visit their 'Growing Guides'

https://www.seedparade.co.uk/news/growing-guides/

Certainly worth a look!



Regarding new for 2018 

Basically for me I think it will be 'a whole new growing regime' now that I have got rid of one of my plots.

What I am aiming for is more successional sowings so that I have continuity throughout the season.

So to that end I have been buying types of veg I have grown in the past but in more varieties, in particular differing 'maturing dates'

So I think I am in for an interesting year what with trying to get rid of old habits and trying some new ones.











ancellsfarmer

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Re: new for 2018
« Reply #6 on: December 22, 2017, 16:41:24 »
I'm going to concentrate on getting brassicas right, dire last year, so I'll get new varieties and try harder. Especially red cabbage, I used to grow it every year but missed the last couple, and the stuff you buy in jars is rubbish. I want to try mini cucumbers, but I'm put off by the high price for so few seeds, meanie that I am!
Try Lidl, seeds appear after Christmas but go quickly. Courgettes, cucumbers  were 49p packet, courgette quantity 12, Restina cucumber about 20. Overwhelmingly productive!
.Germination close to 100%
Freelance cultivator qualified within the University of Life.

saddad

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Re: new for 2018
« Reply #7 on: December 22, 2017, 20:03:08 »
So now I have a reason to succumb when OH wants to go to Lidl after Christmas..

Obelixx

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Re: new for 2018
« Reply #8 on: December 22, 2017, 22:51:45 »
I fancy trying tomatilloes after responses to a recent thread on here.    I have some sweet potatoes that have spontaneously sprouted so I'll plant those and I need to grow a few new chillies cos the choice ( or lack of it) here is shocking.    I have 3 new green apsaragus plants too cos I can only find teh white stuff here and it isn't right.
Obxx - Vendée France

ACE

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Re: new for 2018
« Reply #9 on: December 23, 2017, 07:38:58 »
I don't think I will experiment with new veg. I am quite happy with the varieties I have ended up with over the years, so if it ain't broke why fix it. But potatoes still need sorting out. I need to find what grows on my ground that gives me the waxy types I prefer. I was dubious of the varieties I grew last year some being what was on the packet and others nothing like it. So it will be a few of every variety I can get, carefully written down and all in the same tattie plot so they are all in the same soil and given the same conditions.

Borderers1951

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Re: new for 2018
« Reply #10 on: December 24, 2017, 08:46:43 »
Up to now I have never grown more than two red cabbages for pickling.  However, my daughter and her family have returned from overseas.  Her family love the stuff so I will probably grow more just to give to them.  Likewise gherkins - two plants don't yield enough for voracious little appetites.  I may grow sweet potatoes in the coming year and I will probably plant a few  romanesco in my brassica bed.   I grew it with some success on my last plot but haven't tried on the new one yet.  More soft fruit for jam is also on the cards for the same reason as the extra red cabbages and gherkins.

Wishing you all a very Happy Christmas and a 'fruitful' new growing season.

Vinlander

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Re: new for 2018
« Reply #11 on: December 24, 2017, 12:01:19 »
You imply you'll be growing gherkins for kids - I'd suggest growing Crystal Apple/Lemon (both the same now, may have been different in the past).

It's worth growing anyway, but kids find the green balls irresistible, and when encouraged to eat them smaller, quickly find that on taste the smaller the better* - they also start to enjoy the competition to see who can eat them smallest and therefore prickliest - obviously this has to be stopped before they destroy the crop like locusts...

* The larger fruit also go paler, almost white as they move towards yellow and over-ripe - don't believe the picture on the packet - the yellow ones are horrible.

Cheers.
With a microholding you always get too much or bugger-all. (I'm fed up calling it an allotment garden - it just encourages the tidy-police).

The simple/complex split is more & more important: Simple fertilisers Poor, complex ones Good. Simple (old) poisons predictable, others (new) the opposite.

Digeroo

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Re: new for 2018
« Reply #12 on: December 26, 2017, 08:26:05 »
I am going to grow more broccoli.  I had a variety which put up more and more small heads after the first big one. 
I am turning more of one plot into a fruit garden with squashes rambling around the place.  Hoping this will be less work.   I am going to try some more apple tree grafting.
Certainly will not be wasting my time again with sweet potatoes!!!  I hope others have more success than me. 
Have ordered some Gete Okosomin Squash  and they are awaiting my daughter going to USA to bring them here.   I just hope they will not be expensive slug food or very susceptive to mosaic virus.  I will now have to get to grips with hand pollination.
And I am going to try again with a hot bed.  Last time I cooked the plants they were not best pleased.   Depends on whether the fresh manure will be available when I want it.

 

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