This week in your Kitchen Garden.

[prunus]

Is it a good idea to remove the male flowers to encourage more female ones?

Just leave them to it, they'll be fine. There's usually a flush of male flowers before the first females arrive, but it all works in the end

You can increase your yields by manually pollinating them - just transfer some of the yellow pollen from a male flower onto the stigma (yellow lumpy bit) in the middle of a female one with your finger or a bit of twig or a paintbrush or anything really. Females that don't get pollinated will wither and rot.

 

[Melinda]

. Females that don't get pollinated will wither and rot.

Aint that the truth!


Ive decided on my stuffing for the courgette flower.

Minced chicken breast, mashed potato - plus onion, rosemary, sage and parsley fried up together first.

Then dipped in tempura and fried.

 

[fogbat]

I had loads of female flowers turn up on my butternut squashes nearly a week before any males turned up.

They still ended up pollinated, so I think the little hussies went off with the courgette boys.

 

[BoatieBird]

Aint that the truth!

Thanks for the advice, I'll just leave them alone then

 

[gentlegreen]

I'm considerably overwhelmed with cucumbers. I was hoping that having them so fresh would inspire me to actually eat them ... I started two plants for insurance purposes ... but even the dodgy leaf-lurgy isn't slowing them down.

Most of the greenhouse tomatoes are up to the ridge and up to about 5 trusses ... most are showing signs of magnesium deficiency - yellowing between leaf-veins on older leaves - plus curling - so I will try foliar spraying with epsom salts.

I have lots of green tomatoes and peppers and a couple of long, thin aubergines that some swine of a snail has eaten small holes in.

The courgettes are starting to crop, and I have at least one winter squash that's set.

The beans are only half way up the poles but at least I have beans.

I'm running out of steam a bit. I'm supposed to be getting the automatic irrigation sorted out so I can at least think of getting to a beach next summer ...

 

[Melinda]

Photos man, photos!

My cucumbers are only a foot tall. But it did seem to put on half of that over night. Freakish plants.

 

[Melinda]

Aint that the truth!


Ive decided on my stuffing for the courgette flower.

Minced chicken breast, mashed potato - plus onion, rosemary, sage and parsley fried up together first.

Then dipped in tempura and fried.

Made them! Properly gorgeous.
Served with a massive salad and two dipping sauces- sweet chilli and garlic lemon and parsley. Im making these again.

*doesnt care if she ever gets female flowers! *

 

[gentlegreen]

Another three "mini" cucumbers ...

 

[gentlegreen]

Some pointy Italian peppers ...

 

[Melinda]

Ive had a fun day away from the home office and accompanied me maw to a retirement expo at Olympia.
Even though she was wearing her snazzy trainers, she refused to climb up the rock wall and instead planted herself in a £4,000 massage chair while I went into a 'Gardeners Question Time'session (the only reasons I went at all!).

The panel was: Roddy Llewellyn, Edwina somebody who is a NGS county organiser somewhere, and a gorgeous curly blonde girl called Jules Claridge. What fun! Got in questions about my squashes, chickens and wormeries.

Roddy is also getting chickens!

I came out of the session in time to see the old dear parting with £150 for a back massager.

There are another couple of GQT sessions tomorrow if anyone fancies it.

 

[Corax]

Well, I've started!

The soil seems to be 80% flints stuck together with clay!

I've taken it down to about 8-9 inches, at which point it becomes rock hard. Dead soil below that I think. My plan is to then put a thin layer of compost down, then the removed turf upside down on top of that (apparently this is a good thing to do), then another layer of compost, then replace the topsoil, then a final layer of compost on top.

 

[gentlegreen]

using planks ?

 

[Corax]

Is that for me? I don't think I understand!

I'm a total novice - I only know what I've googled!

 

[gentlegreen]

I wondered if you were consciously going for a raised bed ...

 

[Corax]

Ah - so then I'd have planks as edging?

I wasn't planning a raised bed I suppose, I just need to get plenty of compost in to improve the soil. It is going to end up a bit higher than the lawn I think, but I'm hoping this'll be alright with a bit of this stuff around the edges.

Will that work do you think?

ETA: That patch was just scrubby lawn yesterday, it's not been used for growing veg. That's why I'm digging it out thoroughly.

 

[gentlegreen]

You'll be lucky to rein it in with that. It would be OK a s a decorative finish ...

It looks like you won't have much depth of soil unless you really go for it.

I suppose it depends what you're hoping to grow in it...

 

[Corax]

Hmm. I thought 9 inches would be enough.

Spring onions
Broad beans
Carrots
Rocket
Spinach

For my first lot.

Where can I get planks from? I don't drive...

 

[gentlegreen]

That's a bit of a challenge. I had a car once and have occaisional access to my brother so have gravel boards from Wickes...

9 inches of good soil would be OK - you would have to grow stubby carrots though.

You really need to get a fork into that solid bit to make it earn its keep as drainage.

 

[Itziko]

Hi Melinda,

I have a courgette plant with around 10 female flowers and a finger size courgette each. The plant has male flowers too. Some of the courgette are beginning to wilt with the flowers, instead of growing into full size courgettes. Is it because they haven't been polynized by the male flowers?

My aubergines,on the other hand, are thriving in this warm weather.

 

[Corax]

9 inches of good soil would be OK - you would have to grow stubby carrots though.

You really need to get a fork into that solid bit to make it earn its keep as drainage.

Ta. I'll see if I can get it a bit deeper than 9 tomorrow then. It's only 9 inches on the near side in that photo - the rest of it's only had the turf removed! I'm not done yet!

 

[Melinda]

Hi Melinda,

I have a courgette plant with around 10 female flowers and a finger size courgette each. The plant has male flowers too. Some of the courgette are beginning to wilt with the flowers, instead of growing into full size courgettes. Is it because they haven't been polynized by the male flowers?

My aubergines,on the other hand, are thriving in this warm weather.

Have they turned slightly yellow or look like they are beginning to rot? If they look similar to the pic below then you're right and its poor pollination. Cut them off the plant so it can save energy and try again.

You can leave the plant to it (it will eventually sort itself out) or you can play pimp.
Cut a male flower off the plant, strip off the petals so the anthers and pollen stand proud.

Then very gently expose the centre of the female flower (still on the plant!) and rub the male anthers and pollen across the female gubbins. That should do it.

Then have a cigarette.

pics from here: http://chiotsrun.com/2008/07/14/pollinating-squash/

 

[Corax]

Bleedin nora my hands are bruised today!

 

[Melinda]

Well no wonder your hands hurt!

Well, I've started!

The soil seems to be 80% flints stuck together with clay!

I've taken it down to about 8-9 inches, at which point it becomes rock hard. Dead soil below that I think. My plan is to then put a thin layer of compost down, then the removed turf upside down on top of that (apparently this is a good thing to do), then another layer of compost, then replace the topsoil, then a final layer of compost on top.

Its a good burn though isnt it!

Where you hit compacted soil, if you're really struggling to get a spade in, try and loosen it with a fork. Letting a hosepipe run into it for a good while may help.


Double digging: http://www.bbc.co.uk/gardening/basics/techniques/soil_digging1.shtml

 

[Corax]

Well no wonder your hands hurt!

Its a good burn though isnt it!

Unsurprisingly, I definitely feel better in myself than when I've just wasted the weekend on the net and in front of the tv!

I have started boring everyone I meet by telling them about it though.

Where you hit compacted soil, if you're really struggling to get a spade in, try and loosen it with a fork. Letting a hosepipe run into it for a good while may help.

I'm having to do the whole lot with the fork. The spade doesn't stand a chance on this stuff, even just under the turf!

I now have a small cairn of stones and the bottom of the garden. It's about 50% the size of the heap of topsoil - that's how flinty this soil is!

The hosepipe's a good call. I'll give that a go once I've got the top 9 inches off. I'm about half way through the patch now - but it's got quicker as I've acquired the knack.

 

[gentlegreen]

Always good to see another bit of lawn put to good use.

I just harvested some courgettes and some mini cucumbers.

It will be interesting to see what the biggest cucumber is like - seeing as this is a pollinated variety ... (It was hiding behind the bucket the plant's growing in.)

 

[Melinda]

^^^ Errrrmm!!


Corax, I salute you!

Dig in as much rotted manure and compost as you can get your hands on. And start a compost bin ASAP if you haven't already. It'll really help and in this weather your first batch could be ready in a little over a month.

Any local farms/ petting zoos/ stables should do you a deal on poo/ pooey animal bedding.

---
Found my first old school slug of the year today- it has* a bright orange skirt. Thus far they have all been grey and stripey.

*Well HAD a bright orange skirt; it has since passed into history.

 

[gentlegreen]

And there I was thinking you'd finally found a slug you could love.

I'm in danger of making almost proper compost this year - albeit the bulky material is cardboard (Almost the only paper that goes for recycling in the usual way is the stuff I take to work for shredding.).

Usually I just keep chucking it in and like last year wait until it's about to rain before extracting several year's worth of dubious stinky slime.
This year I'm actually stirring it from time to time and I think it may be making some of its own heat.

Corax, forgot to say that in all my years of (sporadic) gardening, I have rarely found a use for a spade. I use a lawn edger to define the edges of beds, then use a border fork (small) to do the actual digging.

 

[Corax]

Dig in as much rotted manure and compost as you can get your hands on. And start a compost bin ASAP if you haven't already. It'll really help and in this weather your first batch could be ready in a little over a month.

No chance of getting any manure into it as I want to get it finished pronto and don't drive, so no time to pick some up. Got plenty of compost though, so hopefully that'll do for now and I can dig some manure into it for next season.

Corax, forgot to say that in all my years of (sporadic) gardening, I have rarely found a use for a spade. I use a lawn edger to define the edges of beds, then use a border fork (small) to do the actual digging.

Yep. It was no good for digging the turf up (so I got a border knife shovel thingy, which worked well), and naff all use for digging it up. The only thing I think it'll be useful for is shovelling the (now huge) pile of topsoil from the tarpaulin back into the hole.

 

[Corax]

Ps: I am in love with this simple little thing:

I'm sure that I would have given up after a couple of hours without it!

 

[Corax]

Here we go then... this has been my weekend!

Stones...

Turf...

Soil...

And a dirty great 'ole!

It's about 9" at the near end, and 14" at the far end. The soil got a bit easier.