Allotments 4 All
Produce => Edible Plants => Topic started by: Hyacinth on December 11, 2003, 12:31:19
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;D Ordered most of my seeds yesterday, and how could I resist the allure of Good King Henry, or not want to try Marvel of Four Seasons lettuce in the summer? Ahhhh, sheer poetry!!
btw. the celeriac I'm giving a go for the 1st time is BALDER - anyone tried it?...and
Florence Fennel - SELMA? Says that it's slow to bolt. Stephan/anyone, is it as good as Rudy?
My dwarf french beans, along with yellow and rainbow chard, are going to be a riot of colour..got green, purple and sungold..
and again, thanks to Stephan's recommendation, even the beet (Chioggia) is going to be stripey.
Purple sprouting..they've a new one RED ARROW, which promises to mature to picking in about 3 months?
OH! and has anyone grown Harbinger toms, please?
All these will be new varieties to me.
I'm so looking forward to next season!! - Lishka
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Don't forget the Golden Beet (non staining) - a must!! But sow 3 times as many as normal - temperamental.
Red Arrow didn't do us too well - but we mess up lot's of things.
Harbinger - yes - like it. HDRA say if you have only one type, have that. = Tim
(http://www.hpphoto.com/servlet/LinkPhoto?GUID=1a0c5586-721a-3207-e25d-22e62aba5225&size=lg)
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ooooh tim, i am smacking my lips. great veggie pics! I am so looking forward to growing mine. my garden is so tiny that i only ever grew tomatoes and herbs. I have had a demented time looking through catalogues and am frequently seduced by the names and pics. There are a lot of us who are new to vegetable growing so advice or suggestions from people who actually grow the veggies rather than sell them, is priceless. I read Gavin's tattie reviews and promptly ordered Red Duke of York, Pink Fir Apple and Kestrel potatos. Can we have more suggestions and picsif possible.
Thanks, suzy
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Aha Tim, you have answered a query for me! I was going to give up on the golden beetroot cos of it's poor show for the past 2 years, now thanks to you I shall put in 3 seeds per plant! Thank you ;D
Campanula, I have an awful habit of not jotting down what I have grown, where and when, which is a very bad habit!! Must be my New Years resolution to get a book and keep notes ;D
I am pouring over potatoes at the mo, and so far have only come up with Kestrel, and I definately want to give Anya a go. I do not bother to grow main croppers as they take up far too much space and time for my liking,(plus the slugs seem to get to em before me) so I stick to the first and second earlies.
I would highly recommend bright lights chard, and you have to have a squash or 6! I have always had luck with butternut. Growing loads more of them next year.
Courgettes are a must, I find 8 plants are way too many for this family of 4, and am constantly giving them away to anyone that will take them! I grow defender, yellow, and green round ones. (see if I had written the name in a book.......!) Rambled enough! Dottie P.
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I am horrendous! I buy at least 50% of my seeds purely because I like the name! :o The other 25% are made up of odd lookers and weird colours (doing purple sprouts next year!) :D and then the last 25% are sensible seeds purchased because they are good croppers or disease resistant. 8) I lurve beetroot (is there a veg I don't like ???) and the golden ones look yum, gotta try 'em! ;D
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Doris - you have limited room yet you grow squash ?? Living-in daughter takes up 1/5 of our plot with the damned things - and then uses them for her art class's still lifes!!
Suzy - thanks for you prompt - was going to remind you of my Kew Gardens thing in Gallery some weeks ago - checked it and only found 8 photos intead of 48!!
So - if you haven't seen it, have a look at the new one - at great cost in mental gymnastics = Tim
PS Red Duke of York - great - very resistant with us. Pink Fir always, but very much a 'salad' pot (par-boil or boil before peeling) - although it sort of roasts and bakes & is great in casseroles. One really needs a later, more floury pot after your RDY?
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Tim, I grow my squash upwards remember!! Going to try and build proper frames for them this year, instead of the Heath Robinson things they had last year.
BTW do you grow summer squash? If so, where do you get the seeds from? DP
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For Alishka - the Choggia beetroot we grew this year were gorgeous.
For a start they taste like beetroot! I found that if I boiled them, they lost their stripes and became a pale pink. Baking them (wrapped in foil for about 45 minutes, depending on size) means they keep their rings - much nicer (taste and looks)!
I'm interested in the comments about the golden beetroots - ours looked good, but were pretty tasteless. Go on somebody - persuade me they're worth trying again!
All best - Gavin
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Gavin, the taste of the golden is lovely (or rather Tim's was) - Tim gave me some - but as germination is so iffy & my space limited, I prefer to grow something a little more reliable. Pleased to hear that the Chioggia's good. - Lish
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For Emma Jane:- The one time I grew purple sprouts (Rubine) I was quite disappointed. Out of 300 plants I had 3 that actually formed 'sprouts' while the rest just formed loose clusters of leaves at the stems. All tasted delicious but don't expect sprouts, based on my experience. They also need a very long season.
On the subject of being seduced by a name; a turnip will always be called a swede if the breeder thinks it will sell it better. The reverse is also true. It is also the reason that one particular type of turnip is sold as Broccoli raab not 'flowering turnip'.
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...turnips/swedes...you've answered another question that was puzzling me & I asked about here some days ago, John! ;D
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DP - just lost the whole thing!! Try again. Of course - on sticks!!
This is the one daughter finds best for eating - others go as still lifes for her art class.
Came from Seeds of Italy - hate to say - I only buy British. = Tim
(http://www.hpphoto.com/servlet/LinkPhoto?GUID=5d582682-3824-4ada-4db6-4249341c2845&size=sm) (http://www.hpphoto.com/servlet/LinkPhoto?GUID=7df02f55-39bb-6b51-43ed-7268339d5134&size=sm)
SORRY, SORRY, SORRY - she now tells me they are WINTER. The summer ones were Leprechaun from Mr Fothergill.
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Aha-quite a lot to go on here. I must confess that some of my tomato range is based on name-who could resist trying `Box Car Willie` or `Green Zebra` ?(both very good).
Celeriac-Balder,yes tried it, was OK but I am still looking for the variety that best suits me-link to florence Fennel Lishka-Rudy is the best IMO.
Tom `Harbinger` is good, reliable out doors and tasty.-(I would have sent you some seeds Lishka)
Marvel of the 4 seasons is a superb variety-you can sow all through the season.
I did grow Rubine in the days when my soil was heavy enough for good sprouts but was not that impressed.
Good King Henry-not grown that since the lottie days-I think I must have done something wrong as it just meandered around looking straggly.
Stephan.
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Thanks, Stephan...would have bought Rudy but it wasn't in the catalogue, so, as Selma was described as bolt-resistant I ordered it. One of the joys of last year, tho, was harvesting your Rudy ;D ;D ;D shall I say that again? - it's the sort of thing the automatic censor might put in ;)
Thanks also for the feed-back on Marvel of the 4 Seasons & your opinion, along with Tim's, of 'Harbinger'.
Anyone tell me of their experience of growing mooli, btw? In for 1d, in for £1, and a pkt of their seeds cost me all of 45p...Lish
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Mooli?-now that takes me back a bit-I really should try again- same as trying those large raddish.
a big garden is no substitute for 6 lotties-one has to be selective.
Will send you some Rudy and you can do a trial. Oh and another thing I found out just this year-if you twist the fennel out of the ground leaving the root it grows back-may not bulb but gives stems and leaves for the stock pot.
Stephan.
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Do you just LOVE radish?
Mooli - picture in my album? When you're faced with these 10"x3" things, unless you're Asian, what do you do with them? And they don't stop growing! = Tim
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Hey Steph! I read that abt the twist & regrow thingy..at this Organic Lotties Soc they have a 'library'?? An I borrowed Bob Flowerdew's 'Bible' - it was writ there..
Thanks ever so for the offer of Rudy seeds - much appreciated and, in time, gratefully accepted. BTW do you have a part in the Xmas Panto? I'm casting this w/end...fancy being the Xmas Fairy on top of the Might Oak?? You can look down on us all and scatter your seeds willy-nilly, so to speak...an' it won't hurt - promise..
And, er...Tim... not going to go there, just not going to go there ::) - Lish
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Ah Alishka - I love mooli. Had a good crop last year, and they kept crisp and fresh for ages in the ground. Trouble free and easy - and a lovely fresh taste; goes really well with lentils or bean dishes.
All best - Gavin
And for Tim - I also slice them and add to any green salad; I enjoy the crisp bite!
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Well Lishka-oh OK,but would much prefer being the mighty Oak on top of the fairy.
;) ;)
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...back to mooli then Gavin..so they go in the patch that's not had manure, then? or shall I fork in just a tad (to improve the soil, you understand? Just love this stuff) that's under the apple tree, but far enough away to not be disturbed by the tree roots, and will be a new veg. plot next season? OR!! I can improve that spot with b/f/b, as Hugh's recommendation, if I decide that that's where the mooli grows - thanks, Lish
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Hi Alishka - I sowed my mouli in July following on from something else (lettuces, spring onions, and ??? - sorry, don't remember). The bed had had a good dose of compost in the spring.
I suspect manure would not be a problem - I'd be tempted to try both (and tell us how they go!). The plant grows so far into the soil, and then starts rising out; at least half of the root was above soil level.
I've just been looking in a couple of books - they suggest the possibility of slug damage. Mine weren't touched, but that may be because I had snowball turnips next door (I still haven't tasted them!).
All best - Gavin
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Gavin - I do agree on flavour and crispness but, good as they are, I can only cope with so much goodness in a week! = Tim
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mmm good to hear feedback re. marvel of 4 seasons - i have ordered this (as well as 8 other varieties!! - perhaps a bit of greed and overkill but, for those of you who have any faint interest, i am a libra so all indecision allowed)
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Well that's one curmugeonly old grump thoroughly seduced (bludgeoned?) into Xmas spirit! And thoroughly seduced by some wonderful names and histories.
A package has just dropped through my door, with all sorts of beans to try next year.
Dwarf beans - "Top Crop"; "Sequoia"; "New Mexico Cave" (reportedly discovered by archaeologists searching for pygmy elephants, and said to have been carbon-dated to about 500AD :'( ).
And Climbing Beans - "Corn Field White"; "Violet Trionfo"; "Rattlesnake"; "Vermont Cranberry"; "Genuine Cornfield" (aka Scotia); "Greasy Grits"; and "Amish Knuttle" (aka "Mayflower" - preserved by Amish farmers, and apparently recieved its name because it resembles a "dropping" - gnuddell translates as "turd" ??? ).
More than a few things to look forward to next year - that's going to be a fascinating couple of beds!
Happy Christmas everybody - and for goodness sake, can we not agree to move straight to spring-time on January 3rd? I want to get them started!
All best - Gavin
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Lish, Lish, what have you done now? Everything gets all mixed up. A veritable vegetable soup here.
Anyway, getting back to the beet roots. I have grown chioggia's every year, very reliable. (I started growing them for my sister who loves beet roots but refuses to eat food that is red....honestly!) Tried Burpees golden last season after searching all over the place to find the seeds here, very bad germination, first and last time for me. The Egyptian flat rounds are very good too but I don't know if you can get them there.
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Oh yes, mooli. Good stuff. Mine pushed themselves way out above the ground and I thought it was because I had not loosened the soil deep enough. As they came higher and higher I just earthed them up, I don't know why but it seemed like the right thing to do.
Brown bread with a slice of old cheese and lots of slices of mooli, yummeeeeeeeeeeeeee. Took it to work almost every day. Just love the crunch crunch crunching sounds.
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Brown bread - yes; mooli - yes; old cheese ------ ??? Not Limburger (spelling?), please?
All best - Gavin
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Not stinky cheese, just regular aged cheese, doesn't even have to be old, I just love the combination of mooli and cheese.
Since this thread is veggie soup anyway, I may as well use it to tell the world we ate the first salad made of homegrown, bathroom forced, witloof this year! Wonderful and not very bitter either. I also love boiled witloof but it takes so many chicons and I want to savor what I have growing in containers in the bathroom. Seems like using it for salads will stretch it more.
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Must rush up me lottie and check my mooli, had forgotten about it!! Love it fresh, also Tim, good in a stir fry ;D
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ina, what on earth is witloof? chicons? duh ???
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Thank goodness Campanula! I have been wondering what Witloof is for ages, but was too afraid to ask! Began to think it must be like our chicory, forced roots producing that tight bullet of 'hot' leaves used in salad. Is it???
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Emma Jane, that is the perfect description, except for the hot part. "Forced roots that produce a tight bullet of leaves".
A mahvelous veggie dahlin but so expensive in the shops. I am taking pictures of the process but I'm afraid if I post them on the gallery, it will be wasted on you hahaha.
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Awww. go on, Ien...I need a good laugh..and then I can tell peeps exactly how mine differed from yours ;D ;D ;D - Lish
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And the laughing won't stop for a long time! Hahaha.
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OK - so you have a new camera?? = Tim
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Yes, really nice too but I do miss the old play camera, so tiny and only one button hahaha.
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dottie P! can i have some more detail on your squash frame please? i want to grow my squashes upwards too! had some butternuts in my yard in a growbag last year and they covered nealy all of it :D
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Yes please Dottie I too want to try them on a frame as I am down to growing my vegies in my back garden.Now who can I get to build me a frame????
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- a ready-made rose arbor - wood or metal? = Tim
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I do mine sorta, well it is hard to explain!! Ummmm well like goal posts, with some wire fencing across. (I had it laying around!! ) Tried using runner bean netting, that worked too, but a bit flimsy for the frame, made it wobble ;D