Kitchen Garden Forum

Looks a positive jungle of positivity! And not a square inch of unused growing space. Amazing what you can grow in a small area where you try to squash everything in. My garden's like this when the growing season is in full swing. Are you pulling some of the lower leaves off your smaller varieties of tomatoes ?

Primrose wrote:Looks a positive jungle of positivity! And not a square inch of unused growing space. Amazing what you can grow in a small area where you try to squash everything in. My garden's like this when the growing season is in full swing. Are you pulling some of the lower leaves off your smaller varieties of tomatoes ?

I remove foliage off all of them except the hanging baskets, where I just remove the ones that go a bit yellow, seems to be working. I am thinking that next year I won't have the hanging baskets over the other plants as they stop the light getting in and ripening the fruit. I have that much growing in there I'm struggling to move, but luckily everything seems ok. No sweet peas inside next year and less sweetcorn( if you remember I bought plants and sowed seed and everything grew, which left me with more than I planned for lol).

tigerburnie wrote: ?[ No sweet peas inside next year and less sweetcorn( if you remember I bought plants and sowed seed and everything grew, which left me with more than I planned for lol).

Why is it, I wonder that none of us ever seem to cast our surplus plants onto the compost heap if we can't find alternative homes to ale them off our hands ? We always feel morally duty bound to find a tiny corner for them to grow somewhere, even it' an unsuitable spot, rather than consign them to an early death. Over the years I can think of all sort of vegetable,plants which have temporary found themselves bedding down amongst azaleas or keeping geraniums company in patio pots because there simply wasn,t another spare inch of growing space to accommodate them anywhere else. I like to think it confuses the visiting bugs, if nothing else !

Ha Primrose!

Too true & it is also us that buy the sad reduced tray of something at the garden centre or elsewhere as just want to give it a chance! Must be in the growers in us! I've even watered plants from my bottle of water I have in my bag & even chastised a staff member at Lidl's for not watering their plants. They now have a portable sprayer & a new member of staff doing just that but think I may have been one of many complaining about that!

I don't think there is a plot on our allotment that is not growing surplus plants donated by another plot holder I know I've got Leeks and broccoli donated while I've given away marrows ,cabbage ,broccoli, and other varieties of Leeks than I received

Everything is really doing well this year

I confess to throwing two surplus seedlings in the green bin last week - and actually saying a quiet 'sorry' to them as I did it!!! What is it about seedlings? In all other respects, I consider myself a very down-to-earth (no pun intended), pragmatic gardener, and will ruthlessly uproot mature plants that aren't wanted or needed, and i take much the same approach to garden pests, but when it comes to seedlings, that I have raised from seed, I feel guilty. It's ridiculous!

I'm the same Mouse, probably because they're our babies, I notice most of the men aren't as sensitive about chucking plants out. I must admit that a lot of my spares are the afternoon snack for the hens so are nicely recycled in rich yellow yolks.

These are the first to ripen

I've put this window box on the ground, there's still a few strawberries, but I am keen to get the runners taking root.

Outside I'm trying using loo roll cardboard centres to aid blanching these leeks

Had to pick some leeks today as they are showing signs of bolting(the seed heads seemed to have grown over night!!)

Green house is looking good



There's chillies and peppers in pots and Tumbling Tom reds in the hanging baskets

Just noticed there's Money Makers in the last picture above too.

Outside the greenhouse we are ok, lost my Pink Fir Apples to a bit of blight, but others are ok.

There's 3 different Beets and 2 different carrots under the mini tunnel.


Not a huge crop of broad beans but ok.

Pleased with these red onions from seed.

Liking the pics tiger

However one point about using loo rolls tubes with leeks. Be careful
Based upon experience over a few seasons if the leeks have grown to a point where they are the same diameter of the tubes remove the cardboard carefully if they get really wet and the weather doesn't dry them out for days.
Long term damp wrapping can cause the leeks stems to soften & rot

Tiger that look fab! I'd be well excited - well I am excited about yours for a start.

I find loo rolls just perish away at first bit of rain & unwind off the leek. I'd like to try cut up pipe but think the slugs & snails would like that hiding spot as well & I'm already battling leek moth each year without any extra attention needed. But the leeks are enjoying this year and much larger than previous years at this time. None as big of yours though!

really fabulous looking tommies there tiger! what on earth are you feeding them?