This week in your Kitchen Garden.

[Corax]

Are they sown straight into the trays ?
If so, how many have you sown of each ?

Carrots are a bit iffy I'm afraid - they don't transplant well. Not sure about onions either.

I would be going for small pots or modules - or even peat pots ...

And this time of year, the propagator covers will make for some scary temperature swings ...
I would take them indoors. You don't even need light.

Not straight into the trays no, I've got insert thingies:

I assume I can lift the whole clod out once they've germinated and bed it in?

I've sown loads of each. For most things I've put 2 seeds per 'cell', in two separate little holes, in the assumption that plenty of them will just fail to germinate. About 15 cells for each, although I've sown a few more onions at the expense of other things as they're small and I can fit more of them in the patch.

If everything I've sown grew I'd have no way near enough space in my little patch. I thought I'd err on the side of a high failure rate!

Should I sow some carrots direct into the soil at the weekend do you think? I've got plenty of seeds left.

I can't really bring them indoors - nowhere to put them. The ambient temperature doesn't seem too variable down here at the moment (Southampton). The days and nights are equally warm and muggy!

 

[gentlegreen]

phew !

Are the carrots the stubby salad variety ?

Definitely get them in out of the direct sun and get the covers off.
Covers are useful sometimes - but not in July.

Wilkinson's have got PVC greenhouses in at the moment for £10

 

[Corax]

phew !

Are the carrots the stubby salad variety ?

Definitely get them in out of the direct sun and get the covers off.
Covers are useful sometimes - but not in July.

Wilkinson's have got PVC greenhouses in at the moment for £10

They're 'nantes 5' - not particularly stubby (only ones in the shop I could sow at this time of year!) - but can be harvested as baby carrots.

I'm was going to get a couple of multi-cloches after payday, does it do the same job as a PVC greenhouse?

Multi-cloche

PVC Greenhouse

 

[LilMissHissyFit]

Ive had a bumper harvest of runner beans already more than we can eat so Ive chopped and blanched them and put them in the freezer. I can see us living on runner beans all winter! and I only started off with 8 plants!! I nipped the tops as soon as they got to the top but they are still flowering madly and getting a bit heavy for the canes!!

Have had three courgettes and the pumpkins have gone mental, day of the triffids mental... yet only two female flowers so far with one turning into a tennis ball shaped fruit... Im wondering whether to just let em go and see what happens or if I need to do anything!

 

[gentlegreen]

The PVC greenhouses are over 2 feet wide, 18 inches deep and maybe 4 feet tall - I use a bigger one as temporary greenhouse staging.
I actually have mine indoors in a ventilated cupboard with artificial lighting, but anywhere sheltered with reasonable light will do.
Indoors is the bee's knees - much easier to maintain stable temps - with the PVC zipped-up, and later on with just the shelves.

Long before these things appeared in the shops I used to have bits of office furniture and scrounged polythene.

 

[LilMissHissyFit]

Im gonna head to wilkos and grab one of them

 

[Melinda]

Are Wilkinson's in London? There is one in Canterbury, but that's the only place in the South that Ive seen one.


Can I just say I loved reading Sheo's 'catch up' post! It was as if she was tucked up on my sofa with a coffee talking to me!

 

[gentlegreen]

Oops.

They turn up all the time in cheap shops ...

 

[Corax]

The PVC greenhouses are over 2 feet wide, 18 inches deep and maybe 4 feet tall - I use a bigger one as temporary greenhouse staging.
I actually have mine indoors in a ventilated cupboard with artificial lighting, but anywhere sheltered with reasonable light will do.
Indoors is the bee's knees - much easier to maintain stable temps - with the PVC zipped-up, and later on with just the shelves.

Long before these things appeared in the shops I used to have bits of office furniture and scrounged polythene.

View attachment 11150

Hmm. Not sure the missus is gonna go for that. The house is cluttered up with enough of my crap as it is.

 

[Corax]

Are Wilkinson's in London? There is one in Canterbury, but that's the only place in the South that Ive seen one.

There's one in Southampton, 5 minutes walk from my place!

 

[sheothebudworths]

No more invites!

Can I just say I loved reading Sheo's 'catch up' post! It was as if she was tucked up on my sofa with a coffee talking to me!

I'm SOOOO excited!!! <does a wee>

Soz

 

[Strumpet]

I have a tiny green tomato growing!! I'm so excited And we have eaten 6 lovely strawbs so far yumm

 

[fogbat]

Are Wilkinson's in London? There is one in Canterbury, but that's the only place in the South that Ive seen one.


Can I just say I loved reading Sheo's 'catch up' post! It was as if she was tucked up on my sofa with a coffee talking to me!

There's one in Penge, and a few around E/NE London.

 

[Melinda]

Penge?! Please, I dont go them endz. *




(*We re-watched the piss funny 'Phoneshop' pilot last night and I may have accidentally absorbed some attitude.)

 

[fogbat]

It's Penge or Stratford. Make yer choice

 

[gentlegreen]

I ought to say I've only witnessed on pile of these things in Bristol - so it could be a local thing ....

 

[toggle]

i found a shitload of mint when out with the kids and brought a bit of it home. a whole armful didn't dent the amount there. Loads of sloe bushes there as well. i'll be back for them later in the year now i know where they are.

anyway, some of the mint in wine vinegar, some in the freezer for a mint and apple jelly and some as mint and (this is where the garden comes in) nasturtium pesto.

 

[toggle]

There's one in Penge, and a few around E/NE London.

one in west ealing

 

[gentlegreen]

I have some mange-touts in my front garden that I put in for an experiment, and they've just produced a really good second flush - thanks to meticulous harvesting and the recent rain, but I don't fancy them thanks to :-

1. The new rat tunnel whose full extent was revealed by some wilting ornamentals.
I think I fixed that by poking with a stick so it collapsed a bit then chucking on buckets of water to finish the job and resettle the plants.

2. Local cats deliberately dumping huge piles of poo near the entrance - right next to the peas -which in turn attract vast numbers of flies.

I'm going to leave them to fully ripen and see if I can get half a cup of pease pudding out of them - or use them for seed ...

 

[gentlegreen]

That bastard rat has chewed up the bedroom compartment of my £200 tent. I half thought I might sell it.



I hope it enjoys the poison I just stuck near the entrance of its hole.

Doubtless I will be adding a trap or two shortly.

 

[Melinda]

That's really awful; get on to environmental health and they'll treat the area with serious gear for free.
Ive not seen any cat poo in months. That might have something to do with my lemon balm which is very large now- apparently they dont like the smell? Plus, I plugged their main thoroughfares entrances to the garden with masses of razor sharp rose prunings.


Squeal! I have courgettes, beans and tomatoes forming and my squashes are about to flower!

Today I cleared about 3 cubic metres of tree height elder and thorny rosa rugosa. Worse possible time of year, but I dont care, that part of the garden feels completely different now- so much light. God bless my big fuck off telescopic tree pruners.

Spoken to the chicken rescue lady and the July rescue isnt going ahead on the 28th as planned. Still, it gives me more time to prepare.

 

[Melinda]

Plantain fritters are taking over my kitchen! Ive made them with chorizo, polenta, extra chilli, with/ without sugar, different herb combos.

These were sweetcorn and chilli and so frickin tasty I could have eaten each one twice.

You can eat them hot or cold.

 

[Corax]

We have lift off!

(It's Rocket you see. Lift off. Rocket... Oh sod you then. )

 

[Melinda]

*Woo hoo's for Corax!*

Incinerated the masses of shrub prunings, and then had a lovely sleep in the hammock.
To avoid tipping out, my feet have to hang out each side. Which leaves them free for insect bites. YAY.

 

[Melinda]

Also my attempt to mount a small ceramic tile picture (6 tiles) in the garden has come to nought but semi disaster.
Ive cracked two corners.

Any tips? The urban crafty crowd have been strangely silent

 

[pennimania]

Been away for a fortnight and come back to a jungle!

Toms are ripening well, already eaten some much better than last year when I had a lot of trouble with blossom end rot.

also got courgettes, green French beans and flat podded yellow ones. very pleased

Some of tomatoes have leaves that are yellowing- mostly the older ones - should I worry about this?

 

[Corax]

Also my attempt to mount a small ceramic tile picture (6 tiles) in the garden has come to nought but semi disaster.
Ive cracked two corners.

Any tips? The urban crafty crowd have been strangely silent

That's what I'd do. I stuck the nipper's wooden playhouse thing together with it instead of nails. Worked a dream. You may not be able to get them off again though.

 

[Corax]

Multiple posting, sorry!

My veg patch is home to an ant colony. It was before I dug it up, and I felt kinda bad about destroying their home.

I needn't have worried though, they seem to have quadrupled in number and I have little worker ants and big winged ants (that have now lost their wings and just have stubs) all over the patch.

I don't really want to do any harm to the busy little buggers. Are they okay to leave alone, or will they damage my veg?

 

[Melinda]

Multiple posting, sorry!

My veg patch is home to an ant colony. It was before I dug it up, and I felt kinda bad about destroying their home.

I needn't have worried though, they seem to have quadrupled in number and I have little worker ants and big winged ants (that have now lost their wings and just have stubs) all over the patch.

I don't really want to do any harm to the busy little buggers. Are they okay to leave alone, or will they damage my veg?

Hippy!

As far as I know apart from administering the occasional bite, the ants arent harmful in themselves. But they do actively encourage and farm inselts which ARE harmful to your plants.

Ive not had to face this issue and so have no idea how you would deal with it in organic/ hippy manner. I'll have a google.

Solutions Ive found-:
Hot soapy water poured over the nest.
Any of cinnamon, black pepper, bicarbonate of soda shaken over the nest.
1:1 vinegar -water solution
Semolina - it apparently expands insides their stomachs and they 'explode'.

 

[Melinda]

Im planing on harvesting my first three courgettes today. Any idea for delicious things to do with them?


Corax- I want to mount the tiles on a piece of hardboard first so I can take it with me should I move.
Will the no more nails stuff do for that and then I just screw the whole thing to the wall?