seeformiles
Lost in the wood
The poppies are out
This week in your Kitchen Garden.
- Thread starter Mrs Magpie
- Start date
andysays
Love and solidarity
Depending on how many there are, you could try hand picking them and re-locating them to somewhere else, though as many caterpillars depend on a narrow range of food plants, you'd have to provide them with some sort of brassica to eat if you want them to survive and turn into butterflies.
I've been relatively lucky with caterpillars on my brassicas this year; most of the damage has come from birds when I've forgotten to put nets up, and then when the nets have blown over in the wind
Little Piranha
Small or far away?
Bloody birds, although maybe they took care if the caterpillars too!Depending on how many there are, you could try hand picking them and re-locating them to somewhere else, though as many caterpillars depend on a narrow range of food plants, you'd have to provide them with some sort of brassica to eat if you want them to survive and turn into butterflies.
I've been relatively lucky with caterpillars on my brassicas this year; most of the damage has come from birds when I've forgotten to put nets up, and then when the nets have blown over in the wind
Think I'll just leave them to it. I've only got two plants (which were actually given to me as french bean seedlings), not exactly going to feed us much anyway. Maybe the heads will survive, they're already golf ball size.
Mine were attacked by birds then bulldozed by my neighbour's rottweiler (they let her out to chase away the fucking wood pigeon, with my encouragement tbf) a few times before I got round to putting up netsI've been relatively lucky with caterpillars on my brassicas this year; most of the damage has come from birds when I've forgotten to put nets up, and then when the nets have blown over in the wind
friendofdorothy
Solidarity against neoliberalism!
Why I can't grow parsley? So far this year I've planted lettuce, spinach, coriander, parsley seeds. Coriander crop was rubbish, lettuce ok but small, spinach didn't come up or was eaten by slugs and no sign of any parsley at all. What am I doing wrong. I'm growing it all in pots/ troughs and have now protected it all with copper tape.
friendofdorothy
Solidarity against neoliberalism!
Yes that's how I remember cherries early summer for a couple of weeks and blackberries for weeks and weeks later summer.Ok, did cherry and blackberry seasons used to be at completely different times or have I just imagined this? Could swear they were months apart when I was a kid.
The39thStep
Urban critical thinker
Parsley is tempermental and can take ages to germinate
I've picked both in the last week!
Artaxerxes
Look out, he's got a gnu!
Ok, did cherry and blackberry seasons used to be at completely different times or have I just imagined this? Could swear they were months apart when I was a kid.
Blackberries used to be towards middle or end of August, now its more like mid-July (around here the domesticated ones at my plot have been ripe for about a month now though so thats been nice, the wild ones not ripe yet or have gone a bit funky and dry for some reason)
Cherries I picked start of June.
Artaxerxes
Look out, he's got a gnu!
Mutant tomato!
Runner beans have finally begun to bean. I already ate all the pickable-sized cucumbers but looks to be a glut coming soon. Cucamelons too.
Bah, my mutant ones only have one nub
Foods all ramping up, courgettes, toms mini cucumbers and plenty of greens so far this this month. Got a nice cabbage in fridge for tomorrow
Little Piranha
Small or far away?
Two stalks!
Artaxerxes
Look out, he's got a gnu!
Little Piranha
Small or far away?
Left the caterpillars to it on my broccoli and it was all fine, just harvested my first head.
The39thStep
Urban critical thinker
Got off lightly well done
seeformiles
Lost in the wood
First tomatoes appeared today 
nogojones
spelling is overrated
Dealing with gluts of kale, french beans, courgettes, cucumbers and random salad leaves at the moment. Waiting for the first tomatoes to ripen, but they look a bit off yet. Am a little worried about my potatoes as they've took a bit of a battering. To fit them all in I had to plant a little closer than would be ideal, so I've only been able to bank them up a couple of times.
Artaxerxes
Look out, he's got a gnu!
Cucumbers, courgettes, tomatoes and a few early damsons and some windfall apples.
seeformiles
Lost in the wood
Tomatoes getting a bit of a wriggle on - about time too (Beef, San Marzano & Gardener’s Delight Toms)
I am disgusted at the fails in my fruit plot this year. Every cherry, hazelnut, plum, redcurrant and strawberry has been eaten by ravening blackbirds (my own fault for encouraging nesting), squirrels (I escaped these for years until 2 years ago when my hazels were discovered...game over) pigeons and even bloody woodmice. Leaving me with a gazillion apples (no teeth, though) and blackberries (meh). Raspberries, blackcurrants and almonds succumb to disease (thanks to my fucking useless neighbours). Appalled, I have ordered another dozen strawbs to add to the 24 first year plants I put in last autumn), 3 supposedly fabulously disease resistant blackcurrants, an apricot (because the almond is going to be kindling) a pluot (although I should have learned my lesson regarding these interspecies hybrids because the almond (a prunus dulcis x armenica ) was also horrible and a dwarf mulberry (because the hazels are getting stooled back to the ground (fuck you, squirrely tree-rats). Badly wanting a loganberry but not an inch of space left...unless I demolish the honeysuckle, blackthorn and blackberry hedge where hoards of blackbirds have endless broods and rob my plot all summer. Would be a shit of a job though...and blood would cettainly be shed. Or removing ferocious roses - equally unpalatable. Hopefully, the saskatoons and aronia might actually get on with fruit producing (year 3). On the plus side, I am not spending untold hours crouching over some currant bushes...nor am I toiling away over a preserving pan.
Artaxerxes
Look out, he's got a gnu!
Chillies are going orange now
Artaxerxes
Look out, he's got a gnu!
3 kilos of damsons so imminent jam making.
A fair number left on tree but the wasps and rain have hit some of them quite badly so probably only one box left on there.
A fair number left on tree but the wasps and rain have hit some of them quite badly so probably only one box left on there.
Garden is full of windfalls from next door's apple tree atm. Unfortunately it's a very tall tree and the garden is mostly paved, so instead of getting anything to eat or cook with I'm just spending lots of time scraping rotting apple mush off the patio and all my plants and my shoes/tools/etc
(scuse the crappy nighttime pic) 
andysays
Love and solidarity
Good compost material though.Garden is full of windfalls from next door's apple tree atm. Unfortunately it's a very tall tree and the garden is mostly paved, so instead of getting anything to eat or cook with I'm just spending lots of time scraping rotting apple mush off the patio and all my plants and my shoes/tools/etc
If current performance is anything to go by, this should be a good year for the late brassicas.
So far those look like the best Brussels sprouts I've ever managed to grow
