Mick's Veggie Patch 2011

[mick]

There's a photo of the flower buds on my potato plants a few posts ago but today the first flower actually opened:

This is a flower from the 'Charlotte' variety which is classed as a salad potato.

I've so far not planted any cabbage's or the like because my partner was concerned that they would attract slugs and caterpillars, so in order to allay any fears I've decided to keep the butterflies at bay by erecting a mesh cover so that I can try my hand at a few cabbages and cauliflowers. To keep costs to a minimum I'm using 22mm plastic drainage pipe as a former for the protective mesh. I've seen these plastic pipes used before and it seems like an economic way of holding the mesh clear of the plants. Here's an glimpse of how they should look once it's all fitted together: -

I started some brussel sprout seeds a few weeks ago and potted on a number of seedlings which are now looking almost ready to be planted into their final positions.

It finally looks like the beans may be starting to take off. They've been very slow growing up to now but they've now produced a lot of shoots and are getting bigger. There's hope yet....

[mick]

Thought I'd finished my update for today but just had to share this one with you....

Yes, that's flowers on my peas....

[drmalesis]

mick said:

Yes, that's flowers on my peas....

There you go then Mick - sugar snaps on the horizon me thinks...

By the way, pick the flowrs off the potatoes. They're pretty, but they will grow little fruits like tomatos (to which they are related), and divert resources away from the tubers...

Duncan

[mick]

I never thought about removing the flowers from the potato's. It seems like opinions vary as to the benefits or otherwise of cutting the flowers but there's sufficient agreement to make me want to give it a try. Might be a bit too late but I've got them all now - well, apart from one set on my Maris Piper that is, as I want to see what the flowers are like when they're properly opened.

[mick]

The Maris Piper potato's have now shown their flowers so this afternoon, after taking the following photo, it was 'off with their heads!'

The flowers aren't too dissimilar from those of the Charlotte variety pictured earlier.

Elsewhere in the garden, despite the weather keeping me inside for much of the morning, most of the plants have come on leaps and bounds over the past few days. My first sowing of sugar-snap peas are well in bloom and the second and third sowings are coming along nicely. I've planted out a number of the Brussel Sprout plants that I started from seed and they look very healthy.

Harvesting of my first batch of potatos is drawing closer. I'm tempted to have a delve within just to see if there's anything there but I think another 7-10 days would be better. By that time I will be needing the barrel for the potato seeds that I planted in pots as these have now emerged.

Over the next day or two I'll grab some more photos to show the progress

[mick]

No need for my weather station to report on the weather this morning - it's been a lovely start to the day.

Firstly, despite my initial concerns over their early growth and development, the first batch of dwarf beans that I planted are now coming on well and have even started producing flowers. In fact there are lots and lots of flower buds on view so I'm hopeful that we'll be having some beans very soon.

The flowers are quite dainty looking - that's them above...

Meanwhile my sugar snap peas (below) have almost taken over the garden but are producing flowers, albeit not in great abundance

And to complete this early morning report, here's a photo of one of my Brussel Sprout plants now happily settled into its final position.

In order to deter the cabbage root fly I have, as recommended, cut a small circular piece of underlay (this is the type used under laminate flooring) to fit around the base of each plant stem. Not sure how successful it will be but it can't do any harm and it helps hold the plant upright in those early stages.

[mick]

I went out into the garden this morning to find a blackbird digging in the soil and trying its very best to uproot one of my brussel sprout plants. I decided it was time to get the plants under cover and so using 3 lengths of plastic waste pipe I formed a quick framework and fashioned a few anchors to hold a length of fleece material in place. Not pretty but it should hopefully keep the birds out.

Yesterday I purchased some more garden canes to prop up the sugar snap peas. The peas have continually outgrown the canes I've been providing up to now and so this time I've used full 2 metre lengths rather than cutting them off short. I'm hoping they don't need the full length but it's there if they do.... and they should hold when (and if) we ever get any additional weight bearing down on them in the form of peas. Notice my initial attempt to provide growing support using those short lengths of cane and attached string at the base What was I thinking?

[mick]

The sugar snap peas are now progressing nicely with a healthy number of flowers and there are still a lot of additional flowers being produced. The flowers themselves are very 'orchid' like in appearance:

And today, now that the flowers are starting to fade, there's the first signs of some developing pods.

[mick]

I'm told that they're at their sweetest when about the size of a golf ball so as there's some thinning out required here's a couple of little turnips that we'll be tasting later today.

I can't remember the last time we purchased turnips as we've always chosen swede in the past. In fact I don't ever remember purchasing a turnip before unless I've somehow got one by mistake and not noticed. They look tasty enough so we'll see...

I will be harvesting my first barrel of potato's this week as I need the barrel for another batch. I'm not sure how successful they've been but I can see potatos peeking out when the slide up panel is pulled upwards. The panel itself doesn't feel quite so tight as it did last year - it becomes more difficult to open as the tubers swell - but there is some resistance. It might be a bit early but we'll have to make a start sometime.

[willo]

they look tasty mick i havent grown any myself for a couple of years but wish i had looking at some of your stuff coming along nicely

[mick]

The turnips were very nice. Compared to a swede they were of a much softer texture and with extra sweetness. The outer skin simply peeled away. I've just sown some more!

[mick]

I was very disappointed with the results of my first potato harvest. I've sensed that things were different from last year due to the limited amount of water I've had to pour on them compared to 12 months ago but not having any records to check against I can't say what the problem might have been. Although there was a nice selection of potatoes around the lower half of the barrel, there were none in the top half whatsoever.

I'm sure it's all down to the weather. Perhaps the early mild/warm spell didn't go down very well. Whatever it was, there seems to be some set conditions that determines whether they also produce potatoes higher up the stems in the top half of the barrel or whether they produce them just near the base. It will be interesting to see how the later barrels compare as the staggered plantings will mean they haven't endured exactly the same weather conditions.

Few as they were, they certainly tasted very nice and there are enough for several servings.

[Dave]

My wife has started growing veg this year in an ad-hoc veg patch, and was planning to harvest later in the year. But an emergency lack of onions at the weekend (we were making a chilli to feed adults at #1 child's 6th birthday party) meant she harvest half a dozen early. Despite the onions being rather undergrown and not being much bigger than oversized pickled onions, I was very impressed. They were beutifully fragrant, without being offensive to the nose and tasted fantastic. Everyone who had the chilli asked if she'd added a special ingredient

I can hardly wait until the rest are properly grown and we can harvest them! I shall have to help my wife construct a more substantial and organised vegetable patch for next year - after I've finished constructing my railway, of course!

[mick]

I have one of my raised beds planted three-quarters full of onions. They're doing okay and haven't caused any problems but they do seem to take up a lot of space for what they are. I planted approximately 60 onion sets and should get up to 60 onions in return. Given the limited space I have available that's not a good enough return for me to plan growing them again next year and so they're probably one item that will be best purchased from the supermarket in future. All the same, I'm looking forward to harvesting them if only to free up space for something else.

On a positive note I have completely removed the silver birch tree that used to stand at the bottom of the garden. I had intended to manage it before it became too tall but just never got round to it and it got to a point where it was well out of arms reach. So with assistance from a neighbour and his colleague the top was taken off and the tree reduced to a manageable height until I decided exactly what to do with it. In the end I decided to remove it completely and so spent some time yesterday digging out the stump and associated roots. More space.....!

[mick]

Yes, and as I've just reported on my layout thread, that additional space created by the removal of the tree has enabled me to add a small greenhouse. I've never previously owned a greenhouse but I was tempted by the fact that the growing season could be extended slightly and that plants could be started off earlier in the year with the protection afforded by the greenhouse. The building itself is just one of the cheaer (and yet not so cheap) aluminium framed structures with polycarbonate glazing which I incorrectly assumed would come flat packed in sections for easy home assembly. As it turned out, it arrived in just 2 boxes with every single part needing to be assembled.

The instructions provided were far from easy to understand but we slowly managed to get bits fastened together. I had previously cleared the ground where the tree had been planted and assembled the metal base, sinking the retaining legs into the ground to be concreted in once everything was completed. The first photo shows the outer framework of the two longer sides and the inner sections of one end. It was very flimsy in this state and the slightest breeze was enough to get the old heart fluttering - even more so once the glazing panels were being added.

I'm sure it had been my partner's intention to make a photo diary of the entire construction but confusion and cut fingers meant that by the time of the next photos many of the lower glazing panels were in place. Partly obscured by the protective covering of the glazing panel, that's me sliding one of the front facing side panels in place.

With the greenhouse base being assembled the previous day, construction of the actual greenhouse started at just gone 9am and was finally completed by 8pm that evening. It began raining just before the final sections of glazing were installed in the roof.

I have yet to concrete the legs in place to hopefully keep it all in the garden during periods of high wind and there are several areas that would benefit from a bit of sealant to prevent water ingress, especially around the guttering area, but I need a prolonged period of dry weather which we haven't got just yet. Although the interior has yet to be completed (staging and pathway) I've already placed my tomato plants inside along with some other pots and tubs that had been cluttering up the patio area. I'll get some photos of the finished article later.

[mick]

It's done nothing but rain all day but under the cover of the greenhouse I did manage to lay a few paving slabs to provide a central walkway before leaving the cement to harden. With an improving forecast for the coming days I'm hoping to get some wooden staging built and all the gaps in the greenhouse framework sealed.

A few days ago I decided it was time to lift the onions and after some trial and error we managed to get the bulbs fastened up for drying. I've never been happy with the onions as they seem to take up a lot of space with a smaller return than the initial outlay, albeit at a slightly bigger size. I doubt onions will be in my plans for next year but these are what we've managed to harvest on this occasion.

And finally, here's a chap who seems to have been following me around the garden for the past couple of weeks. Not exactly sure what type it is but I assume it's some kind of toad. How I've not trod on him before now or picked him up with the mower I really don't know.

[mick]

Before I post photos of the greenhouse I thought I'd just show you these slug traps I recently purchased. It's well known that a dish or saucer containing a small amount of beer proves a very good lure for trapping slugs but when it rains the beer often becomes diluted or washed away. There are many commercial slug traps available but the one I have used is the 'http://www.kakoi.co.uk/productpages.asp?item=1&page=1' rel="external nofollow">Slug Inn' sold through the Kakoi website.

The Slug Inn comprises an outer plastic container into which you pour your beer or lager, and an inner plastic container with a small hole in the bottom and a lid that attaches to the top of the container to prevent rain ingress. After pushing the outer container into the soil in your desired location, you fill it about half full of beer, place the inner container into it and the beer slowly fills the inner container by seeping through the small hole. The trap is then set and you just wait for the slugs to come along.

The following photos show the two separate parts of the Slug Inn and how the inner container fits inside the outer container. The third photo shows the trap inserted into the ground.

Are the traps successful? Well, I've been having trouble with something destroying my dwarf bean plants and suspecting slug damage I decided to purchase 12 of these traps for placing at various locations around the garden. I set 7 of the traps (that was one full can of Guinness!) on Monday afternoon and completely forgot about them yesterday. This morning I checked the one inserted between the dwarf beans and after lifting out the inner container and allowing the beer to drain back into the outer container (the outer container remains in the ground) this is what I discovered: -

There were 13 slugs in that one single trap placed between the dwarf beans. Not a bad result. The 7 seperate traps captured a total of 29 slugs along with the odd unidentified beetle/spider.

The traps cost £10 for a pack of 6 plus postage.

[mick]

Here's a few photos of my newly erected Walton polycarbonate clad greenhouse.

I've erected the greenhouse at the top end of the garden where it should receive the most sunshine. The large curve of my railway layout now runs behind the greenhouse. The garden's looking a bit cluttered but it's better than having a plain old lawned area. At least there are some promising brussel sprouts, carrots, and a decent supply of other tasty vegetables available at mealtimes.

For the past couple of days I've been making some wooden staging for the interior and this is where I've got to with that: -

Only the left hand side will have staging, the right side will be used for growing tomatos etc in pots. Both sides will have the addition of a gravel floor.

The tomato plants were given to me by my mum and although the seeds were sown late in the season the plants are now doing well. The protection of the greenhouse should see some fruit available soon.

[mick]

Phew, what a relief. I've found that slugs really don't mind if it's my best draught Guninness or the really cheap and nasty Morrison's basic lager at 79p for 4 cans - they just dive in head first all the same and I've now managed to clear the garden of in excess of 60 slugs within the past 7 days alone. 4 more cans of 'slug lager' please!

[drmalesis]

mick said:

Phew, what a relief. I've found that slugs really don't mind if it's my best draught Guninness or the really cheap and nasty Morrison's basic lager at 79p for 4 cans - they just dive in head first all the same and I've now managed to clear the garden of in excess of 60 slugs within the past 7 days alone. 4 more cans of 'slug lager' please!

And old Mr. Frog is doing his bit as well - he loves slugs...

Duncan