This week in your Kitchen Garden.

[BoatieBird]

I lurked on this thread last year, feeling insanely jealous, whilst living in a 4th floor flat but I've just moved and I've got a little garden so YAAAAAAAAAAY. I can't wait to grown some herbs and veggies

I'm not too sure about my garden and how easy it is going to grow stuff. Although it's south facing there's a few trees around and having started on it this weekend I can see the soil is pretty damp and there's quite a bit of moss. It was also completely overgrown and didn't look like it's been touched for a few years.

Anyway I'm very excited to join this thread

How exciting hmmph
I spent most of the 12 years I lived on a boat longing for a garden and it's everything I expected and more.

I was also going to suggest using pots/growbags so you can move them round to maximise the sun that you get.
Moss isn't a good sign
Are you able to cut back stuff to get more light in?

 

[tendril]

So needless to say there'll probably be a few spares looking for good homes in the next few weeks.

Ooo, Ooo, Mr Peevly. Yes please

Just had my new greenhouse delivered and some timber to make a base so next weekend will be a fun filled day of peering at instructions and swearing, most likely, as I try to assemble it

 

[tendril]

I lurked on this thread last year, feeling insanely jealous, whilst living in a 4th floor flat but I've just moved and I've got a little garden so YAAAAAAAAAAY. I can't wait to grown some herbs and veggies

I'm not too sure about my garden and how easy it is going to grow stuff. Although it's south facing there's a few trees around and having started on it this weekend I can see the soil is pretty damp and there's quite a bit of moss. It was also completely overgrown and didn't look like it's been touched for a few years.

Anyway I'm very excited to join this thread

You will need to observe how much sun your garden gets if it is partially shaded by trees. It will get more in the summer as the sun rises higher in the sky. Choose vegetables that are appropriate to how much sun you get (for instance, tomatoes need a lot of sun to ripen, especially the bigger varieties). Consider climbing plants that can get up the fence to get the sun (beans, peas, climbing cucumbers). Hard herbs (thyme, rosemary, sage etc) are Mediterranean plants and need very good drainage. Maybe consider planting these in pots with a sandy compost.

 

[tarannau]

Ooo, Ooo, Mr Peevly. Yes please

No probs chap. Give me a couple of weeks to repot a few and I'll drop you a line when they're ready for collection from the usual pub. It's mainly the hot chillies and big growing habanero types that are nearly ready fwiw - the quicker growing ornamentals and other annuums (serranos, cayennes, jalapeños etc) only are only mere sprouts, having only gone in last week. Anything particularly take your fancy from the stupidly sized list above?

 

[tendril]

I'll leave it up to your discretion. I'm gonna grow them in the greenhouse, which isn't very big (6'x4').

 

[tarannau]

Well, if you can take a couple of plants, I'd recommend a scotch bonnet type called Trinity, which was an unbelievably quick growing and productive bush for me last year. Really heavy cropping - you'll need to stake those bending branches ime - and milder than the average bonnet down the market, but superbly fruity and flavoursome. Loved in the pepper sauces last year. And probably a (long thin) cayenne - a nice, long spice type chilli in the classic shape, similarly high yielding. Wouldn't be without either in the greenhouse myself

 

[IC3D]

My scotch bonnets are re-vegging after spending a few months looking like a dead stick, nice to see.

 

[tendril]

Well, if you can take a couple of plants, I'd recommend a scotch bonnet type called Trinity, which was an unbelievably quick growing and productive bush for me last year. Really heavy cropping - you'll need to stake those bending branches ime - and milder than the average bonnet down the market, but superbly fruity and flavoursome. Loved in the pepper sauces last year. And probably a (long thin) cayenne - a nice, long spice type chilli in the classic shape, similarly high yielding. Wouldn't be without either in the greenhouse myself

wikid!

 

[tendril]

Got a load of early bird seeds in yesterday... Lupin, two types of nasturtium, Swan river daisy, Antirrhinum, Convolvulus, Schizanthus and Lychnis, and have marigolds Coleus and Cleome to sow in a week or two along with some other bits and pieces, and a bit after that we'll make a start on the Tomatoes and other veg. Hope we have a good sunny and warm summer

 

[Me76]

Erm, I feel like I should be doing stuff. I haven't even cleaned up my garden after the winter yet. I do have my 3 year old niece staying at the weekend so might be able to get her pulling up some bits.

 

[invisibleplanet]

Re. Moss. Do a soil PH test. You probably need to add a small amount of lime to increase alkalinity. If you add lime, you must not plant anything new for at least a month (do read up on the internet about this), so best do it now while soil is warming up.

 

[invisibleplanet]

The kids saved and dried these runner bean seeds from last year. We lost about a third during the drying process. We'll plant along the fence again, after digging out last years soil to one-spit depth and replacing it with John Innes compost. They grew very well along the fence with netting to climb up last year, and there's no-where else to put them.

 

[invisibleplanet]

I've just sent off for seeds to turn the front garden area into a cottage garden. Colour theme is whites, purples and blues with splashes of pink and red.
120-180cm -

90-150cm -

120-150cm -


90-120 cm -

70-100cm -


70cm -

60cm -



45cm -

38cm -

30cm -


22-30cm -

25cm -

25cm -

15-30cm -

 

[Bassism]

wow those flower pics are inspiring i'm gonna do some digging and plant some massive batches of poppies now that the sun is out

 

[sheothebudworths]

Making a start this week...I've done FUCK ALL so far and the garden's a mess Gotta fair bit of work to do before I can even start putting seeds in etc.

 

[BoatieBird]

I've planted a load more seeds this weekend.
Leeks and brussel sprout seeds are in the greenhouse.
Cucumber, 2 types of tomato, nicotiana and gailardia are inside the house on sunny windowsills.
Early peas have gone into the veg patch.

 

[pennimania]

I planted lots of toms - Latah, Tigerella, SUb Arctic Plenty, Gardeners Delight and Moneymaker -all doing well -should be transplanting them in about a week I reckon
I've also started nicotiana which is sprouing aleady and sunflowers - i always start everything indoors here.

But this year I'm going big on dahlias - I love them and they flourish in all my rain

More and more i find growing flowers to be more satisfying than veggies - which either do nothing or comein such a glut that I can't give them away. I will be starting courgettes and beans tho.

And a pumpkin - you have to have a pumpkin

My nasturtiums are still flowering since last winter!

 

[BoatieBird]

oh yes, I'd forgotten about sunflowers - we've got 6 Russian Giants on the go on the sunny windowsill.
I think it's against the law to not grow sunflowers if you've got kids (or if you're a big kid yourself)

 

[BoatieBird]

Melons!

Has anyone grown them?
Was it worth the effort?
The pack says to 'support growing fruit in nets', what sort of net?

The boy asked if we could buy some melon seeds and I said yes before I'd thought about it properly.

I do know that they'll need to be grown in the greenhouse.

 

[pennimania]

Melons!

Has anyone grown them?
Was it worth the effort?
The pack says to 'support growing fruit in nets', what sort of net?

The boy asked if we could buy some melon seeds and I said yes before I'd thought about it properly.

I do know that they'll need to be grown in the greenhouse.

Fanny Cradock always used hairnets

 

[mr steev]

The pack says to 'support growing fruit in nets', what sort of net?

Old bras and tights

 

[tarannau]

Melons!

Not grown them, but I reckon they might be heavy on the greenhouse space for the reward. Sounds an interesting hobby project anyhow, at least for the boy.

Spent the pleasant warm afternoon yesterday repotting the first propagator's worth of plugs into 7" pots, plus finally got around to transferring the overwintered plants into new compost. Carrying about 50 of the first seedlings ahead, with the next batch a few weeks away from the same stage. And planted a few more (chilli) seeds for the rest of the season. After this it's the herbs and the corn for sure.

Also thoroughly cleaned down the balconies and readied the big pots for the herbs. I'm going to give the strawberry pots one last chance - the stupidly undersized 'pockets' and lack of lip to hold the soil in mean they're far too prone too drying out and letting the plants strangle each other before they're properly established. Succeeded to a limited degree with thymes and parsleys last year, but I've allowed both to perish again. Frustratingly hard work, even if they look good when in full bloom.

So all in all it's going surprisingly to plan. Not had the under watering mishap of last year (yet) and it's looking good early so far. The superhots in particular are doing well - pleased with the bushy Butch T Scorpions, but the Naga Vipers and (Golden) Jonahs are also success stories so far. Should be a hot summer, especially if the Morugas accelerate.

 

[invisibleplanet]

Strawberry pots are one of the most annoying plant pots in the world. I've got the remains of my autumn-winter parsley carpet (we ate it!) that needs to be transplanted before I dig some leafmold/compost in in readiness for this years bean varieties to go in. Might pop some parsley in the strawb pot as the roots are very long and so it might feasibly survive, although nothing has so far - not herbs, strawbs, or pansies. grrr

 

[tarannau]

Parsley did work the best it has to be said. Grew some little plugs and popped them in there - had them going all year more of less, with a healthy mop of green on top.Thyme wasn't too bad either, if a little patchy.

I only let them dry out to a fatal degree after they became straggly and disappointing, somehow neglecting to water them for months as it grew cold. Quite sad now, particularly knowing how sodding tricky they are to get going. Failed miserably trying to grow a range of herbs in them for a couple of years before too. Useless things really. I'd avoid them like the plague if I hadn't already bought the things.

I've got one set of Stak-A-Pots that I'd highly recommend for space-starved gardeners though - basically these, albeit they're available occasionally in Britain for lower cost. Much bigger that the average strawberry pot, with generous root space and some capillary matting discs in the middle to make watering even easier. Everything survived in one of those.

 

[invisibleplanet]

Parsley it is, then!

Still with my mind very much on the future cottage garden flower beds (I have huge 2m x 6m & 2m x 10m beds plus three long, narrow lawn borders to fill) - will have to keep some space for some giant delphiniums, hollyhocks and alliums. I've been browsing this photography site as it has some amazing borders which are inspiring me in advance of sowing seed/planting: http://www.gapphotos.com/imageresul...lrelease=no&showcaptions=no&imagesperpage=100

 

[BoatieBird]

Fanny Cradock always used hairnets

Old bras and tights

hairnets, tights and old bras - none of which I have
I think I'll email some of the older ladies at work to see if they can save me their old tights.

 

[invisibleplanet]

Onion nets (which your onions are packaged in from the supermarket) are quite useful to save for the garden

 

[Biddlybee]

I've got three chillies on the windowsill which I tried to winter... one seems to be sprouting again, but nothing from the other two.

Aside from that I've got parsley and rosemary growing successfully on outside sills... tiny garden space

 

[tarannau]

Overwintering seems to be a bit of a gamble. One rococo is now going great guns, but the habanero types are barely growing. They're alive, but I'm waiting for them to perk up and do something really.

There may well be some chilli spares going pretty much now if anyone is interested. Collection from the Hootahob or West Dulwich /Kingswood Estate preferred. Mainly hot and superhots needing a fair amount of growing space tbf, although the smaller plants, ornamentals and slightly less insane varieties are but a couple of weeks away. Have a Butch T going if you're interested Foggers. Never did get around to giving you that Scorpion last year.

 

[_angel_]

Why do herb pots repeatedly die in my kitchen? Pot plants seem unaffected. My mum manages to grow them *sobs*.