Advice for a hopeless gardener

Food, Nutrition and Agriculture
Frnc
Posts: 3182
Joined: Sat Mar 12, 2022 1:54 pm

Re: Advice for a hopeless gardener

Post by Frnc »

I think I'm about to harvest SOME ACTUAL FOOD!!
I only have peas and spuds still contending, no idea if there are any spuds down there. I can't eat much 'cos of kidney stone anyway. But my Golden Sweet mangetout peas have grown pods and as soon as peas start to show inside I can harvest, starting near the ground. Obviously you eat the whole pod, so I should be eating some in a few days. They are 7 ft tall and flowering.
SOMETHING WORKED!!
Must take some pics
jennyjj01
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Joined: Sun Jun 04, 2017 11:09 pm

Re: Advice for a hopeless gardener

Post by jennyjj01 »

Frnc wrote: Fri Jun 24, 2022 6:08 pm I think I'm about to harvest SOME ACTUAL FOOD!!
I only have peas and spuds still contending, no idea if there are any spuds down there. I can't eat much 'cos of kidney stone anyway. But my Golden Sweet mangetout peas have grown pods and as soon as peas start to show inside I can harvest, starting near the ground. Obviously you eat the whole pod, so I should be eating some in a few days. They are 7 ft tall and flowering.
SOMETHING WORKED!!
Must take some pics
7 Foot tall.... Crikey.
Mine in the bucket seem to have got a bit too thirsty and went yellow and sickly looking. The ones in my raised bed are ok with a few fully formed pods. I'm not sure mine are a mange tout variety. Have popped open a couple of pods and eaten about 10 raw peas, fully formed. But barely even 2 foot tall :(

Frnc, Rejoice in your successes.
May I ask what failed, and what do you think went wrong.
I'll start.....

My garlic rotted, probably drowned
My onions all bolted.
Some of my chard bolted and lots got nibbled by critters. Couldn't eat it quick enough..
The Ocra hasn't grown past 9 inches Too cold?
Aubergine looks to have stalled at about 10 inches. too cold?
Bell peppers, not prospering, Too cold?
Spring onions quite skinny.
Beans seem to be struggling to get any sun, crowded out.

I popped some lettuces in and I'm confused. They are supposed to be globe shaped but they are growing tall and skinny.
Graceful Degradation! Prepping's objective summed up in two words. Turning Disaster into Mild Inconvenience by the power of fore-thought

Not Feeling Optimistic. Let me be wrong
Frnc
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Re: Advice for a hopeless gardener

Post by Frnc »

jennyjj01 wrote: Fri Jun 24, 2022 7:05 pm
May I ask what failed, and what do you think went wrong.
Seedlings vanishing. Pretty sure it was slugs. Had my first mangetout just now, raw. Not bad. Might be better cooked. They'll definitely get eaten. Picking the pods stimulates new growth. They are trapped at 7ft, hope they don't want to go much higher. Image
jennyjj01
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Re: Advice for a hopeless gardener

Post by jennyjj01 »

Frnc wrote: Sat Jun 25, 2022 2:27 pm
jennyjj01 wrote: Fri Jun 24, 2022 7:05 pm
May I ask what failed, and what do you think went wrong.
Picking the pods stimulates new growth.
Hmmmm. if that's the case, maybe I should harvest some today

I hope the same is true of picking strawberries. Mine get picked ASAP.
Graceful Degradation! Prepping's objective summed up in two words. Turning Disaster into Mild Inconvenience by the power of fore-thought

Not Feeling Optimistic. Let me be wrong
Rusty74
Posts: 284
Joined: Sat Apr 07, 2018 9:35 pm
Location: hidden away in the welsh hills...

Re: Advice for a hopeless gardener

Post by Rusty74 »

radishes i have done well with this year,grown more than enough for us,surplus went to family and friends and still time for a couple more rows to go in
Remember the rule of the 7 P's, proper planning and prepperation prevents piss poor performance...
jennyjj01
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Joined: Sun Jun 04, 2017 11:09 pm

Re: Advice for a hopeless gardener

Post by jennyjj01 »

jennyjj01 wrote: Sat Jun 25, 2022 2:37 pm
Frnc wrote: Sat Jun 25, 2022 2:27 pm
jennyjj01 wrote: Fri Jun 24, 2022 7:05 pm
May I ask what failed, and what do you think went wrong.
Picking the pods stimulates new growth.
Hmmmm. if that's the case, maybe I should harvest some today

I hope the same is true of picking strawberries. Mine get picked ASAP.
Today's crop.
Two more darned courgettes.
First harvest of peas. Now shelled = one small portion.
IMG_20220625_163830.jpg
Graceful Degradation! Prepping's objective summed up in two words. Turning Disaster into Mild Inconvenience by the power of fore-thought

Not Feeling Optimistic. Let me be wrong
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rik_uk3
Posts: 707
Joined: Sat Jul 21, 2012 1:49 pm
Location: South Wales UK

Re: Advice for a hopeless gardener

Post by rik_uk3 »

Take a look at pickling your courgettes.
Richard
South Wales UK
Retired, spending the children's inheritance.
jennyjj01
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Joined: Sun Jun 04, 2017 11:09 pm

Re: Advice for a hopeless gardener

Post by jennyjj01 »

rik_uk3 wrote: Sun Jun 26, 2022 12:22 pm Take a look at pickling your courgettes.
That's in the plan. I'll be pickling beetroot soon, so will save some up and do them at the same time.

I did sort of an instant pickle on Friday. We were having beefburgers and it occurred to me that courgettes look a lot like gherkins :)

So here's what I did.... Rather silly.....

Sliced half a small courgette to 1/4 inch.
Dropped it in half a mug of malt vinegar and 6 cloves.
Microwaved it to the boil in about 40 seconds. Drained.

That softened the courgette slightly and drove the vinegar flavour in. Don't know if the cloves helped. Anyway, it gave something like pickled gherkin to go on my burgers, and got rid of half of a blessed fruit :)
Graceful Degradation! Prepping's objective summed up in two words. Turning Disaster into Mild Inconvenience by the power of fore-thought

Not Feeling Optimistic. Let me be wrong
jansman
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Re: Advice for a hopeless gardener

Post by jansman »

Harvested 2 litres of broad beans, 3 kg of spuds and loads of spinach. Lots of lettuce, and Egyptian onions. All the fruit trees are looking good, and we are freezing rhubarb for chutney later on.
In three words I can sum up everything I have learned about life: It goes on.

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Me.
Frnc
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Joined: Sat Mar 12, 2022 1:54 pm

Re: Advice for a hopeless gardener

Post by Frnc »

To be honest I can't say I'm mad keen on these mangetouts. Had some today, boiled for a minute, with other veg, Quorn pie and veggie gravy. I can eat them, but they're not the best thing I've tasted. At least they grew! My other peas are starting to produce pods, but they need to produce actual peas. I might investigate my spud sacks via the opening soon.