This week in your Kitchen Garden.

[invisibleplanet]

First tomato seedlings are up! I had *almost* given up on them and planted a load more *just-in-case*.
Hopefully, I'll have lots of spares to give away to family/friends

 

[invisibleplanet]

I'm sending for some french cobra climbing pencil bean - (it has a purple flower), and some okra seeds. The flower of the okra is beautiful too.

Has anyone here tried to grow okra?

 

[invisibleplanet]

My Anaheim Chilli Peppers have sprouted
I'd almost given up on them too, so I'm very happy.
Just waiting for the cucumbers to appear now ...

 

[invisibleplanet]

Planted 30 more chilli seeds - the remaining Anaheim, more Jalapeno and a chilli seed mix, and also gave lots of rocket seedlings to one of my non-flat neighbours to plant in tubs. At some point the remaining seedlings will need redistributing around the front and back garden, as everyone in my flats eats rocket every day if it's available.

Potted up my olive tree into an ornamental terracotta pot. Pinched out my bay tree so it doesn't get too leggy.

All the mangetout have germinated Still waiting for my marrow and latest dwarf beans, but beans have to travel to hell and back before they germinate (so legend has it). Potted up some boring runner beans. Still waiting for the okra/cobra climbing bean seeds to arrive.

 

[sheothebudworths]

RAAAAIIIIINNNN!!!!!


It's been WEEKS without, here!

 

[tarannau]

Blimey IP, you're a little late with the chillies. It may be touch and go if they'll be reach full chilli-ripening maturity in the remaining growing season, even if Jalapenos are one of the faster growers. I ignored the mid-March sowing 'deadline' as well, but end of April may be pushing it even with this weather.

Probably about half my chillies are flowering now, with the remaining seedlings powering ahead. Thai, Opal, Lettuce Leaf and Aristotle basils are in the the props, but hard to discourage from getting too leggy still - a little bit of tactical planting of the plugs is needed. In general my little front herb patch is doing well, everything springing into life. Chervil and coriander are sprouting, the perennials look healthy and I've even managed to keep the herbs sufficiently moist in those awkward strawberry planters. And the back balcony is full of chillies hardening off

Have had some big self watering pots (Octogrows) arrive in the week, so I'll be transferring some more chillis to the allotment greenhouse over the week and reallocating the space on the windowsill, but so far so good for this year.

 

[free spirit]

I've been well slack this year as I'm stupidly busy, but am still enjoying the fruits of last years labour with purple sprouting broccoli supplying 2 meals worth of veg a week, and the last of the kale, and leaks still around + the rocket seems to have survived the winter is now thriving.

 

[zenie]

Repotted the taragon and mint yesterday, sowed some lavender.

I filled one of those strawberry pot/herb planter things with basil, corriander, rosemary and thyme the other week, the thyme's covered in flowers now, Sadly, the basil immediately died and I went and bought a big one form Tesco which I've since repotted as they shove too many plants in one pot!

Also planted a load of basil seed in seperate pots and they're now shooting.

Found my propogator lid so shoved all the small pots in there heat them up!!

 

[invisibleplanet]

Blimey IP, you're a little late with the chillies. It may be touch and go if they'll be reach full chilli-ripening maturity in the remaining growing season, even if Jalapenos are one of the faster growers. I ignored the mid-March sowing 'deadline' as well, but end of April may be pushing it even with this weather.

My last chilli plant kept flowering until the beginning of January, and then went dormant for around 6 weeks before beginning to grow again (I'd trimmed it back too). I'm sure it'll be fine in the long run. If I have probs, I'll pass the plants on to a friend of mine with a HUGE green house that's bigger than his house! (he's a horticulturalist).

Update: The cucumbers have begun to appear. The rosemary is flowering. The dwarf yellow and green beans have just begun to show. All the marrow plants have germinated, but I'm not putting them out until I have a suitable slug defence! The broad beans are very quiet still The mangetout are coming along strong. The tomato plants haven't got their second leaves yet. The potted potatoes are looking rather splendid now. The rhubarb is throwing up two new spurs after it's failed flowering. The spuds I put in the ground in the front garden haven't begun to show yet - should provoke some fun comments from passers when they do! I think the sorrel is just beginning to come through, and I thought the coriander had begun to come up, but that might be a stray weed.

 

[BoatieBird]

My last chilli plant kept flowering until the beginning of January, and then went dormant for around 6 weeks before beginning to grow again (I'd trimmed it back too). I'm sure it'll be fine in the long run. If I have probs, I'll pass the plants on to a friend of mine with a HUGE green house that's bigger than his house! (he's a horticulturalist).

Update: The cucumbers have begun to appear. The rosemary is flowering. The dwarf yellow and green beans have just begun to show. All the marrow plants have germinated, but I'm not putting them out until I have a suitable slug defence! The broad beans are very quiet still The mangetout are coming along strong. The tomato plants haven't got their second leaves yet. The potted potatoes are looking rather splendid now. The rhubarb is throwing up two new spurs after it's failed flowering. The spuds I put in the ground in the front garden haven't begun to show yet - should provoke some fun comments from passers when they do! I think the sorrel is just beginning to come through, and I thought the coriander had begun to come up, but that might be a stray weed.

Don't you hate it when that happens?
I've been nurturing something that I thought was a lupin and now it appears that it most definitely isn't.

Garlic, shallots, spinach, potaotes, and beetroot are all doing nicely in the veg plot.
Courgette, runner and french beans have been in the greenhouse and are at the hardening off stage to go outside in a week or so.

Tumbling toms are doing really well and are looking like they need more space, but I think it's probably a bit early for them to go out - but at least if I plant them in hanging baskets it'll be quite easy to put them in the greenhouse if we get any more frosts. That's a job for the weekend I think.

I've also got some other toms (loads of Alicante and 1 lonely Harbinger), gherkins, cucumbers and chillis that will all stay in the greenhouse.

I really need to get on this weekend and plant some broad beans and peas. I know I'm a bit late but I keep getting distracted by my new flowerbeds when I get in the garden.

 

[invisibleplanet]

I don't think you're late with beans and peas. They can be sown every couple of weeks, until end of August, right?

I'm not sure about planting the broads out until the annual blackfly plague has arrived and left, and somehow their arrival and departure is linked to the elder flowering... at least I think so

 

[BoatieBird]

Not too late, but late in the sense that I wanted to sow every couple of weeks and I haven't got round to doing any yet.
Although when I was walking the dog last night I came upon an entire field of what looks like broad beans so I think I'm going to have plenty of them

 

[invisibleplanet]

ya girt bean pirate!

 

[tarannau]

All good here so far, apart from some fucking animal seems to dig up at least one of the pots directly out the front of the block nightly. Seedlings, young plants, even a decent size rosemary bush have been uprooted and left on the floor for me to frantically repot in the morning. Surprisingly most are clinging on, but it's a surprising wrench to see your coriander seedlings finally appear after a few weeks and then be killed off in a jiffy.

I'll catch the fucker and make a display of the thing to discourage the others. Hopefully it'll be a squirrel or fox rather than a particularly cunty neighbourhood cat. Anyway, tonight the protective spikes go into the soil. I'll leave off the bolivian death poison for the moment.

Chilles are being furiously distributed to all and sundry, yet are still overfilling the windowsill. Greenhouse also full down allotment. Have got full on early flowers on a handful of plants now, with others carrying plenty of buds.

 

[invisibleplanet]

Bolivian death poison??!! does it work on slugs?

 

[invisibleplanet]

RAAAAIIIIINNNN!!!!!


It's been WEEKS without, here!

Same here this afternoon! Wish there was more, but it seems to have stopped for now

 

[tarannau]

Bolivian death poison??!! does it work on slugs?

Probably better than bran or slug traps tbh.

I've even got a full set of waiwai arrow tips and bow from Guyana if the need arises. Two parts rat poison to three parts of Sunny Delight works well

 

[invisibleplanet]

I just use scissors - ruthless, but it means the birds can eat their mutilated bodies (if they're that way inclined) without harm. When I come across slug/snail eggs (round pearls clumped together), I pour boiling water over them to kill them all.

We've alot of rain forecast over the next few days, so after I've finished reading the urban news, I will plant out all the bean plants (dwarf and climbing) and pea plants that I've been hardening off this last week, as nature will spare me from doing my customary rounds with the watering can. The trenches along the bottom of the fence are already dug, lined with cardboard and filled with veg clippings for the peas and climbing beans. I've stapled netting along the fence and placed some trellis at the bottom for the peas, and intend to alternate peas and climbing beans along it's length.
In the other bed, the wigwams are all built.

My okra and cobra climbing bean seeds haven't arrived yet, but I'll start those off indoors when they do, to give them a head start.

How to build a wigwam (lol)

 

[pennimania]

I have nearly ripe strawberries !

and lots of flowers on my tomatoes

Ridiculously early

 

[invisibleplanet]

Wow, that's wonderful! What type of strawberry are you growing, pennimania?

The rain's pretty much constant now I scattered some fish, blood and bone over the veg and the flowers earlier, so the rain will be working that in for me. It'll be nice to have a bit of time off from watering.

 

[hiccup]

OK, so I'm really late with the garden this year, but yesterday I planted tomatoes, cucumber, potatoes, melon and rhubarb (from the garden centre, not from seed), and started off rocket, mixed lettuce, radishes and brussels sprouts (from seed).

And repotted two chilli plants.

All this made me very happy.

 

[sojourner]

Found an ancient jar of linseed at the back of the kitchen cupboard. Flung it about the garden with gay abandon, partly to feed the birds that scuttle around on the flowerbeds and also to have flax filling in the gaps.

!!

Someone just gave me a bag of linseed for health benefits, but I think I might do this with a few of them instead Brilliant - never knew that!

 

[BoatieBird]

OK chilli heads - some advice please

I have 4 each of jalapeno and pyramid chilli plants. The pyramids are looking fine, but the leaves on the jalapenos are turning slightly yellow, they're in the greenhouse and I re-potted them about a week ago - any ideas what the problem might be?

And while we're on the subject, what size pots do your chilli plants usually end up in?

Everything else in the garden seems to be coming on a treat, I think it's going to be a bumper year for fruit

 

[tarannau]

I'm afraid yellowing leaves on a chilli plant is one of those indeterminate symptoms. It could be overwatering, could be the wrong nutrients (too much, too little) or they're just at that inbetween stage. Sometimes some of my plants are a bit crowded on the windowsills, yellowing or loss of the lower leaves the likely result. More space, a bigger pot and more sun, possibly some tomato feed or nutrients, generally helps. Nearly all of mine like that have recovered and done at least fairly well with a little extra care.

Over here I've got my first chillies growing, plus plenty of flowers. Had one of those unbelievably perfect moments when, Leon-like, I took a flowering Purrira plant out off the sills on to the balcony to get a little breeze and the rare chance of a passing insect. Look out 5 mins later and there's only a bleeding bee fluttering around from flower to flower. Cut to a week later and the plant's back on windowsill with no further interference, flowers dropped and first chillies growing. It doesn't get much more satisfying really - ain't nature great!

Herb pots looking mighty fine too, plus first pea flowers on the allotment alongside plenty of other growth. Couldn't have expected more at this time of year.

FWIW chillies usually adjust to the size of pot they're in to be fair, although certain varieties are blatantly better suited or specifically bred for windowsill growing. There's a certain balance between encouraging big plants and early flower growth to consider, although it shouldn't be a real issue if you've got good size plants at this time of yeat. Don't know much about Pyramid chillies, but a quickly google suggests they're well suited to container growing. You should be safe with 2 or 3 litre pots for both the Jalapenos or Pyramids fwiw, although you could get away with smaller. Jalapenos wouldn't mind being in larger pots (5 or 10 litre), but less productive, smaller plants in smaller pots wouldn't exactly be a hardship. You've got 4 of the things after all. You got a sunny spot outside that you can test a couple in ground in?

 

[sheothebudworths]

I am laughing at YOU tarannau - finally understanding maybe the lengths I have gone to to make my garden cat free! I was honestly waking up in the middle of the night and thinking about it but it really is fucking INFURIATING when they're damaging your precious plants, eh! Since introducing SPIKEY TWIGS to the bits of string/stake fence tops that were failing, I'm having much, much better success now. No shit for ages and nothing digging up my plants (the strawberries in particular) - hooray!

Anyway - I've been doing loads - some of it flower wise (have new beds too, Boatie - lovely innit!) but also....put one of the courgettes into the bed - got another one waiting to go in and some french beans/beetroot/spinach to sow too but I can't yet because the bloody psb is STILL GOING haha! Put out a winter squash into a huge pot with some vermiculite and normal soil from the bed mixed in as it got very dried out last year when I did them in pure compost (DUR!).

Tied my peas onto canes and put the last two sweetcorn seedlings in.

Strawbs have lots of green fruit on and MY PEACH AND PEAR APPEAR TO BE MAKING FRUIT...WOOHOOOO!!! Noticed the BLOODY ANTS were up to their old aphid antics on the peach...but this time round I know what I'm doing re that (it's great that isn't it? The little moments of 'Oh I know what to do about that *already*!' ) so gave it a soapy soak and rubbed all the aphids off and then stuck some duct tape, inside out, around the base of the tree. I'll be keeping an eye on the squash and courgettes too cos that's where they got em BAD last year.

Best thing this week has been that I ummed and ahhed and then decided to risk leaving all my tomatoes out while we were away Mon-Fri just in case it rained. Of course it didn't AND the night time temps were not as high as tomatoes like either but came back....rushed straight out into the garden....and they were all FINE, along with the pots of herbs, aubergines and peppers that have been out there a while anyway, so good to know I can just leave them out now really.

So now I'm really at a bit of a standstill till I can pull out the PSB and then it'll be action stations again!

Actually I could also do with repotting the toms/aubergines/peppers too......


Nice to see you btw, freespirit! Where's Melinda? And gentlegreen? WHERE ARE YOU?!

 

[tarannau]

Heh Sheo. Believe me, I already sympathise with your plight. In the old garden we were plagued by cat shit and excavations, plus had squirrels/foxes with the habit of burying everything from nuts to foot long salami, generally in the pots of your most precious pots. As pets go, neighbour's cats can be right fuckers to gardens. Can't help but feel that they're more than a bit of a selfish and inconsiderate pet choice in busy urban areas in particular, as much as like the animals generally. Easy pet to look after though, in the loosest and laziest sense unfortunately

Chillies are going great guns. Repotted more to larger containers today, plus ferried more to the greenhouse at the allotment yesterday. Looks like I may have some chillies forming on the Thai Hot and Super Chiles as well as the Purrira now too. Strawberries, peas, courgettes and potatoes all flowering down the allotment, plus the first few pods and strawberries to boot. Liking this weather.

PS. Some ridiculously hot chilli powder sprinkled liberally around has seemed to put off Mr Cat the digger, for the moment at least

 

[BoatieBird]

Heh Sheo. Believe me, I already sympathise with your plight. In the old garden we were plagued by cat shit and excavations, plus had squirrels/foxes with the habit of burying everything from nuts to foot long salami, generally in the pots of your most precious pots. As pets go, neighbour's cats can be right fuckers to gardens. Can't help but feel that they're more than a bit of a selfish and inconsiderate pet choice in busy urban areas in particular, as much as like the animals generally. Easy pet to look after though, in the loosest and laziest sense unfortunately

Thanks for the chilli advice tarannau, I might have been overwatering so I'll ease off on that a bit. They may also have been a bit overcrowded, but I've planted out loads of stuff over the weekend so I can give them more space in the greenhouse.

Runner beans and french beans planted out and courgettes ready to go in, hopefully when I get in from work.
I've braved it with tomatoes too sheo, my tumbling toms are in their hanging baskets and are looking good - I noticed the first flower on one of them this morning.

 

[tarannau]

NP BB. I'm growing most of my chillies at home in pots that vary from 1 to 3 litres, but they're mainly windowsill plants really. The plants in the greenhouse(s) are generally in 5 or 10 litre pots, dependent on variety - big things like Nagas, Rocotos and 7-Pots in the large ground pots, the smaller types in 5l plastics on the shelves. If you can be arsed, add vermiculite and/or Perlite to the soil - they add drainage and help moisture retention, so it makes watering less of a random chore really. And I'm currently loving my new Greenhouse Sensation Octogrows and Chilligrows for lazy lack of maintenance. Pretty good value all told.

 

[bingiman]

Growing the Naga Jolokia chilli. One of the hottest you can get. My mum eats the stuff like sweets. They are a lot smaller than the other variety I am growing Hot Stuff which has got off to a great start. Will report back on my progress.

My garden is more a herb garden now tbh. Kitchen herbs but also feverfew, yarrow, hyssop, borage and other things I try to force my family to ingest (after internet research and usually via tea it should be pointed out)

This year am growing lovage for the first time. It seeds pretty easily and a small plant is a nice touch if you want to show some lovage.

Apart from that, sweet peas is my thing, although I am usually on holiday when they are really doing their thing. There is nothing better than cutting flowers for the house and the smell is wonderful.

Haven't been around for a bit but wasn't there are seperate gardening forum?

 

[invisibleplanet]

This is so cool I've been stood at the kitchen window, watching the behaviour of two blackbirds, and it looks as though they are nesting in the ivy-wall by the garage (one of two places where ivy is allowed to grow). I was going to trim it back today, and I still will trim the upwards shoots, but will leave the bushiness where the nest entrance is.