Allotments 4 All

Produce => Edible Plants => Topic started by: fitzsie on July 06, 2014, 18:10:36

Title: Can't beat that feeling!!
Post by: fitzsie on July 06, 2014, 18:10:36
This is my first year of seriously trying to grow veg. ( I am in my 50's) I could post these photos on my Facebook but I don't think my other friends would fully understand or appreciate how I am now feeling. I dug up the area for my veg in March and this is what it looks like now. The greenhouse is now full of various tomatoes growing as well ! I have had strawberries and currently have beetroot, potatoes, parsnip , cucumber,leeks, runner beans and carrots,all of which are looking good. Getting ready to pickle the beetroot and cucumbers.......  Can't beat that feeling !!


(http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m9/fitzsie/Before_zpsa162e6da.jpg) (http://s100.photobucket.com/user/fitzsie/media/Before_zpsa162e6da.jpg.html)
(http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m9/fitzsie/Beforea_zps5759c6e8.jpg) (http://s100.photobucket.com/user/fitzsie/media/Beforea_zps5759c6e8.jpg.html)

(http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m9/fitzsie/after_zps35bf7267.jpg) (http://s100.photobucket.com/user/fitzsie/media/after_zps35bf7267.jpg.html)
(http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m9/fitzsie/aftera_zpsca6674af.jpg) (http://s100.photobucket.com/user/fitzsie/media/aftera_zpsca6674af.jpg.html)
Title: Re: Can't beat that feeling!!
Post by: woodypecks on July 06, 2014, 18:34:34
Absolutely brilliant !  Well done you ! You got your water butt fixed up , healthy veggies to eat and a good pile of split logs ready for winter ......  you're a survivor !   :wave: :coffee2:
Title: Re: Can't beat that feeling!!
Post by: Digeroo on July 06, 2014, 18:55:35
Well done.  Looks like you have caught the bug.
Title: Re: Can't beat that feeling!!
Post by: fitzsie on July 06, 2014, 20:01:54
Shed stuck between garage and next doors fence and sopping wet , roof disintegrating so managed to re cover with felt (my own DIY !) Shed dried out and now able to collect some water in the butt and use the shed !

Love it when a plan comes together !!
Title: Re: Can't beat that feeling!!
Post by: Borlotti on July 06, 2014, 20:54:05
Looking great.  Some people understand that one get excited about growing 3 peas and picking them (which I did today), but some people blank out when talking about growing veg. so that is why this site is good.  3 peas and one courgette today, but more to come.
Title: Re: Can't beat that feeling!!
Post by: cestrian on July 06, 2014, 21:25:25
Good to see you're enjoying your garden. It is difficult to explain to non-gardeners just how satisfying it is to enjoy a crop you've grown yourself. Everything is fresher and healthier, but it just tastes better because you've grown it.

We've just finished our dinner and we had back garden stir fry (again) courgettes, pak choi, swiss chard, beetroot tops, japanese cabbage, spinnach, curly kale and a couple of chillis from the green house. Yumm! I love this time of year.

Sat down to eat it with a pint of IPA from the brewery in the garage made with hops that grow over the top of the shed.

Can't beat that feeling.
Title: Re: Can't beat that feeling!!
Post by: antipodes on July 07, 2014, 10:18:46
Lovely! Your runners have beautiful flowers.
Title: Re: Can't beat that feeling!!
Post by: fitzsie on July 07, 2014, 18:15:32
Runner beans are from Lidl  !! We shall see how they turn out, have some small beans already but a bit curly !
Title: Re: Can't beat that feeling!!
Post by: Jayb on July 08, 2014, 08:08:27
Well done you, your fruit and veggies are all looking great  :happy7:
Agree your runners look a picture and you look to have a super crop of tomatoes growing, yum!
Title: Re: Can't beat that feeling!!
Post by: markfield rover on July 08, 2014, 08:16:07
Know that feeling, have been known to slip away Christmas morning to pick brussels. Will you be adding anymore beds ?
Title: Re: Can't beat that feeling!!
Post by: aquilegia on July 08, 2014, 10:38:09
Oh that's brilliant! I'm jealous. I want a greenhouse (no space!) Your tomatoes looks amazing. Looks like it won't be long until you'll be eating them!
Title: Re: Can't beat that feeling!!
Post by: small on July 08, 2014, 15:16:29
You should be proper proud of that, well done. I reckon you could do without so much lawn and get another veg bed in....
Title: Re: Can't beat that feeling!!
Post by: fitzsie on July 08, 2014, 18:47:29
Very tempting for me but MOH will not give up any more of the lawn !!! I've had to be very specific on what to grow this year as space is limited.  Other side of the greenhouse are some courgettes/marrows and as I had two plants left over I put them on top of the compost. OMG !!  they are twice the size of the others and now have two strapping marrows with more to follow!!
Must be beginners luck !!  :happy7:
Title: Re: Can't beat that feeling!!
Post by: Silverleaf on July 09, 2014, 20:08:07
It is a great feeling, definitely!

We ate the first potatoes of the year today and they were delicious. It was worth bagging up all that horse manure. ;)
Title: Re: Can't beat that feeling!!
Post by: fitzsie on July 10, 2014, 08:39:42
Knew I should have kept my mouth shut !! Take a look at my photo with all my veg , far right side are two small rows of potatoes which I can now see are turning a bit yellow. Thought they were dying off but in a few days they have gone black etc so yes I have got blight.  :sad11:
Going to cut them off this morning but now I am just hoping that they have missed my toms in the greenhouse. Have a couple of them (which were left over) that are sitting in front of the runner beans. They look OK at the moment but we shall see. AArrrhh !!
Title: Re: Can't beat that feeling!!
Post by: galina on July 10, 2014, 09:10:48
Quote from: fitzsie on July 10, 2014, 08:39:42
Knew I should have kept my mouth shut !! Take a look at my photo with all my veg , far right side are two small rows of potatoes which I can now see are turning a bit yellow. Thought they were dying off but in a few days they have gone black etc so yes I have got blight.  :sad11:
Going to cut them off this morning but now I am just hoping that they have missed my toms in the greenhouse. Have a couple of them (which were left over) that are sitting in front of the runner beans. They look OK at the moment but we shall see. AArrrhh !!

Fab garden and great gardener all the same!  Blight happens.  :BangHead:  However greenhouse tomatoes are far more protected unless you keep your greenhouse too damp.  Now is the time to ventilate and ventilate more.  I leave the doors open day and half open at night too.  The drier the atmosphere, the better the chances you won't get blight.  You cannot avoid the blight spores, but they need moisture to be activated and the drier you keep your greenhouse (watering only into the ground and not onto plants, leaving doors open for the breeze to help dry moisture etc) the better for your tomatoes.  This is easier to do in a greenhouse and harder in a polytunnel. 

With any luck you will find a lot of potatoes where you have removed the foliage by now anyway.  Just give it about 2 weeks before you dig them up.

i have never quite understood why potatoes and outdoor tomatoes are not affected exactly the same by blight.  i have had substantial losses in the potatoes and none in the tomatoes and vice versa.  The same environmental conditions do not affect both exactly in the same way.  Could of course also be down to tomatoes and potatoes being grown in different parts of the garden.  Maybe the blight-free ones were just that little bit drier (breeze getting to them better for example).  Next to our hedge they seem to get it earlier, as the hedge blocks off most of the westerly wind.

Good luck keeping your tomatoes safe.  My greenhouse ones usually go in late October/November, but with a bit of luck in a good year I have been able to pick late ones in December.   :wave:
Title: Re: Can't beat that feeling!!
Post by: fitzsie on July 10, 2014, 10:21:56
Thxs Galina, I was going to keep everything closed to keep the spores out !! What you are saying makes so much more sense. I have the soil covered and a cheap water drip feed on each plant so should keep humidity down. Greenhouse is in sun all day so soil dries too much and becomes dusty which is why I covered it this year. Soil is very poor because nothing been done to it in years, I just added some gro bag soil this year and have kept feeding. End of the year need to decide what to do with it, either remove and replace or just add good compost. Must go out now and open it up !!