What are we planning to grow this year?

[Brambles]

I had a good season all in all. I grew Yacon a couple of years ago, unfortunately it is loaded with inulin, like Jerusalem artichokes which I cannot digest, so it was put on the compost heap. Oca is really nice and makes a good addition raw to a winter salad and stews. The tops on mine are still green, so I won't be digging them anytime soon.

[MissPrep]

Had a fantastic first proper year growing wise.
Did a LOT of work in my small garden putting in a greenhouse, setting up raised beds to grow stuff in & it's my first year in a long time actually trying to grow to eat, rather than just growing a couple of things (strawberries, blueberries & peppers) that are easy & low maintenance so I planted loads of different stuff to see how it did.

I made a lot of mistakes but I learned a lot too.
Most of them were about not knowing how much space things took up, not giving plants enough support & how much food you'd get off a plant so planting too many of a thing.
I was so eager to plant stuff in the greenhouse I didn't plan it out, just rushed in & started growing anything I could without thinking about where it would go, so I ended up with a jungle in the middle of it as the plant supports were too tall to sit at the sides of the greenhouse & too heavy to move easily before I realised (which I am remedying for next year by digging down to lower the pots. They are quadgrows with water reservoirs beneath them I can drop them a foot so they'll fit & have twice as much room to grow in the greenhouse compared to this year!)
I have an 8x6 which is the largest I could fit in my garden.

I grew far too much of most things, so now I have a much better idea how much we need (there's only me & a 5 year old so we don't need a lot)
I bought quadgrows from Greenhouse sensations & am really pleased with them.
I plan on getting a salad grow next year.
Grew tomatoes, cucumbers, watermelons, peppers & aubergines in the greenhouse.
Peppers were overshadowed by the other plants so didn't do so well, next year they will be back on the kitchen windowsill where I always get a good crop (Been doing peppers that way for years even when I had no garden.
Was surprised the watermelons actually grew but they did just fine. Only tried them because the seeds cost 29p in Wilko & I couldn't resist. Will grow them again next year.
Aubergines decided to not even flower until the end of September so no idea what's going on there. They never did fruit in the end, just died back, although the flowers were pretty.
Got 4 watermelons, more tomatoes than any sane person would want from 2 plants, so only going to have one next year.
Same for cucumbers, planted 2 & couldn't keep up with them.

Outside of the greenhouse my strawberries have been insane this year.
Only just stopped producing fruit.
I have jars of jam, jars of strawberry sauce for ice cream etc... topping, canned strawberries, a carrier bag full in the freezer & we've eaten as many as we wanted (a lot) up until last week fresh from the garden from a space about 40 cm wide x 1.2 m long
Blueberries were a success too, had a great harvest from them & my 2 raspberry canes produced far more than I'd expected so happy with those. I plan to get another 2 canes as I now have a space prepared for them.

Gooseberry bush didn't do too well, it was fine, then we had a really bad storm & all the branches with fruit on snapped off.
Will give it support next year & see how it goes.

Added a new fruit, baby kiwis.
Only planted this year, seems to have established well, now hoping for fruit next year.

Lemon tree didn't do anything, but to be honest I was so busy with all the rest it was ignored.
I'm hoping next year when I can give it some attention I'll get Lemons again.
I need to concentrate on this as I really want a Satsuma tree, my absolute favourite fruit & they should grow well in the same conditions. If I can get the Lemon tree fruiting again, I should be able to get Satsumas too.

I also successfully sprouted a couple of pineapples from ones I'd got from the shop, but we don't have the room to actually grow them until they fruit (was more in the way of an experiment with my son as we homeschool)

Next year I hope to get at least one patio fruit tree, meant to do it this year but it didn't fit my budget with all the setting up I had to do.
I think it will be a Victoria plum tree or a conference pear tree as they can both be found on patio tree rootstock.

I tend to focus on fruit because it's so expensive in the shops, but I'm working on adding a decent amount of salad & veg too.

Someone stole my Olive tree (in a pot), so no olives this year, but I don't particularly like them so I'm not too fussed about that.
Not impressed with the theft though, especially of the pot as I really liked that pot.

Courgettes grew far too well, we were glad to see the back of them when they finally died off. I had planted 3 plants, threw one away as I needed the space & we still were swamped just from the 2 plants so next year I'm only growing one.
They don't seem to store well, can't can them & they turn to mush if frozen so I'm leaving them as a seasonal fresh only veg.

Brocolli & Brussels got off to a fantastic start & had a few florets of broccoli harvested before the cabbage whites descended & ate the plants down to nubs.
I hadn't got round to clearing them out but am now glad as they've started growing again. The strong winds aren't helping, but may get some more broccoli if I'm lucky.
Will net them from day 1 next year & give them more support.

Only tried one bean plant, had no room as I'd planted too much of everything else. It did okay but I planted it late & sort of forgot about it. We only got a few handfuls of beans this time but will try again next year.

Grew first early potatoes this year, which did very well & also Autumn planted ones which were supposed to be ready to harvest at Christmas.
They are ready to pull now, but I'm waiting for a day when it isn't tipping down to see how they have done.

We grew carrots in a bucket, did about 3 small crops as neither of us are keen but they go well in stews. Still have a bucket of them growing in the unheated greenhouse right now.

Tried spinach, it came up well & seemed fine until it got to about 15cm high, then just died.

Have first & second earlies (my all time favourite potato, Wilja) ordered for next year
Am waiting for a white button mushroom kit to arrive to try my hand at mushrooms, I'll see how they go & then experiment with getting my own spore to grow more if they work.

Plan to try onions next year.
I was intending to try planting them in September for an early crop but was too busy so now waiting to sow next year.

I also grow a small selection of herbs as we don't use many, but I've been doing that for years so no surprises there.

Everything seemed to grow late this year though, perhaps because of the weather. May plant earlier in case it's the same for next year as I now have a greenhouse to start things off in.
I am now getting the garden ready for next year, so sorting out the greenhouse, the beds & making a shopping list for 2016. Really looking forward to it!
Then I can work on extending my season, as I'd like to make sure there is something edible in the garden all year round.

[Decaff]

Wow! Miss P that is impressive! Well done to you. Can you dehydrate courgettes? I know you can add them into muffins and they taste fine.

[Deeps]

Wow! Miss P that is impressive! Well done to you. Can you dehydrate courgettes? I know you can add them into muffins and they taste fine.

I'm curious myself, I bought some the other week and I've still got a couple, it made me think about dehydrating them, I would guess you can but I'm curious to find out.

[Brambles]

I grate and dehydrate summer squash for cooking with, and you can do the same with courgette. You can also slice and dice in the usual way to dehydrate, but I've never done that.

[Deeps]

I grate and dehydrate summer squash for cooking with, and you can do the same with courgette. You can also slice and dice in the usual way to dehydrate, but I've never done that.

Thanks Brambles, I've probably got a trays worth so I'll maybe throw them in with the carrots. Mrs Deeps will be pleased, another trip to Dunelm I think for more Kilner jars, it means she can look at......all the stuff that turns her head in there.

[MissPrep]

I don't seem to do too well with dehydrating so I didn't try dehydrating courgettes.
Maybe next year I will as most of the garden will hopefully be easier to manage now I have half an idea what I'm doing.
Honestly don't know if they'd work.
They do go in pickles if you like that sort of thing.

I want to try & grow skirret next year if I can find any as it sounds interesting.
Did try a couple of times this year but it was always out of stock.
Has anyone else grown it?
http://oca-testbed.blogspot.co.uk/2014/ ... ating.html

[Deeps]

Code: Select all

[b]I don't seem to do too well with dehydrating[/b]

so I didn't try dehydrating courgettes.
Maybe next year I will as most of the garden will hopefully be easier to manage now I have half an idea what I'm doing.
Honestly don't know if they'd work.
They do go in pickles if you like that sort of thing.

I want to try & grow skirret next year if I can find any as it sounds interesting.
Did try a couple of times this year but it was always out of stock.
Has anyone else grown it?
http://oca-testbed.blogspot.co.uk/2014/ ... ating.html

I was a bit over cautious with the dehydrating to start with, have a look on youtube, there's load of stuff, just type in "dehydrating onions" or whatever it is you fancy. when I first tried carrots they were a bit black and manky but blanching them first sorts it out. For me its like anything, the more you practice the better you get but youtube was a massive help. I haven't done mushrooms yet, I've got a fair bit of stuff to do, more onion and I reckon I'll have some capsicum too after that and whenever we go to the supermarkets I have a look at the reduced veg for inspiration.

I'm no expert but there are a few on here who 'ken their onions' when it comes to the dehydrating too if you've got any questions, ask away.

[munchh]

Anyone done purple sprouting brocholli?

i have 5 huge plants in my garden at the minute but still no edible brocholli?

have i done something wrong, i thought it came in in autumn?

[Brambles]

Anyone done purple sprouting brocholli?

i have 5 huge plants in my garden at the minute but still no edible brocholli?

have i done something wrong, i thought it came in in autumn?

No you've done nothing wrong, they don't crop til late winter/early spring Munchh.