2019 - New year, New veg.

[tigerburnie]

I grow something new every year along side my favourites, not grown this before, not a fan of pot noodles.

[Westi]

I try to grow something new each year too. This year it was soya beans (edamame), they did OK actually but hard to judge when they are ready as I like them fresh not dried, so missed the right time loads. When I succeeded with the timing I found they were really hard to get the peas out of the pods. Searched on line and found that the way to eat them is cook them in the pods then pull them through your teeth. That didn't appeal to me so I will continue buy them frozen & already podded.

I haven't decided what I will try next year as yet but maybe peanuts or watermelon - now I say that we will probably be back to a mediocre summer!

[Westi]

I've got a pile of them in a bag that were given to my hubby from a gardener at an estate he put an alarm in when he mentioned that I had an allotment. They were saved seed & they grow it every year. Unfortunately that was the same year some toe rag broke in the shed & nicked all my seeds. I was pretty gutted as I had lots of different packets friends had brought me back from their travels, especially from Australia & NZ. You can't even post over branded seeds in their sealed packets anymore from there.

[Primrose]

Y experiment with a new plant this year was growing cape gooseberries. u fortunately onky o e p,ant from the tray made it to maturity. But it did well although the berries were very small. I fact I licked the last fruits today. Will try again next year with hopefully better results.

[Diane]

Primrose - I hope you washed them first

[Diane]

I'm going to try idkwidg's rapini next year.

[Westi]

I've just looked rapini up & the site says 'it has a perky, unusual flavour that you just plain won't get from any other vegetable - the leaves taste a bit like turnip greens, while the flavour of the flower resembles that of mustard greens'. It is related to mustard & turnip & only has broccoli as a cousin, but don't wait until the heads are as big as sprouting broccoli as they will go to flower more quickly'.

Now that is sounding intriguing so thinking I might give it a go too.

[Diane]

I grew vegetable spaghetti a few years ago and it was really nice.

[PLUMPUDDING]

It tastes a bit watery with not much flavour but ok if you're doing a spag.bol. type sauce with it and plenty of parmesan.
It's a while ago so they might have ones with more flavour now.

[Stephen]

Most of the experiments have yielded something which is ok but no better. Popular fruit and vege is popular for a reason and whenever i read the words "a long neglected classic" I think, probably neglected for a reason. (Cynic)
Hamburg parsley worked for me, to an extent. Lovely parsley leaves which were eaten like green vege but the roots were miserable little things which were hardly worth the time it took to peel, parsnips were more rewarding. I'll give it another go but water it more thoroughly to see if that fattens the roots a bit more.

[robo]

I've always found the vegetables that are not very popular are normally tasteless ,2019 I will try to get better at growing the things I like ,Leeks this year have been hard to germinate as have parsnips and celery also with my wife struggling with health issues I have to look after the flowers as well as everything else so next year I'm going to concentrate on the ones I like, what has been amazing this year is a packet of seeds I found in our kitchen aldi's wild flower mix I think it cost a £1 I was sitting down the plot I had just pulled it out of my pocket thinking what can I do with this ,we have a path down the side of our plot there is a gap of between 6 and 8 inches from an 8 feet high perimeter fence to the paving flags so I opened the packet and sprinkled the seeds along the gap I did not bother to cover them as I thought they were doomed ,what a display they have made from poppies to three different colours of sunflowers as well as princes feathers I think they are called as well as about ten other types ,next year it will be three packets of aldi's mix

[PLUMPUDDING]

They sound lovely Robo, I'll look out for them next year. I'm concentrating on growing fewer vegetables so will just grow my favourites and will have more space for flowers.

[Monika]

Having now greatly downsized from a full-size allotment four years ago to a half-size one and, since this autumn, no allotment at all, just a vegetable patch in the garden, I find it really difficult to decide what to grow next year. However much we like them fresh, we have decided against growing peas because they need so much protection against our hoardes of house sparrows, but they don't touch the broad beans, so that will be one long bed (10' x 3'). The second long bed will be tender stem broccoli because It's really only nice when bracingly fresh, the third long bed will have garlic, shallots and a few leeks, and the fourth, smaller patch (about 3'x1') probably beetroot. Salad stuff, annual herbs, potatoes, carrots and runner beans will be in pots.

The following year I am not intending to grow garlic or shallots because they are easy enough to buy.

[sally wright]

Spaghetti squash are easy to grow and are eaten fresh or if stored are best eaten before Christmas as when kept for longer they can get rather chewy.
I found that the best way to cook them was to cut them in half (remove seeds), smear some butter/salt/pepper onto the cut surface and roast in the oven. Cover with foil for the first 3/4 of an hour and then without until they are soft and the "spaghetti" can be scraped up with a fork. Once out of the oven use a metal spoon to remove the "spaghetti" (you get more that way). I find that it is a great accompaniment to ham, bacon and sausage dishes as it's juiciness offsets the saltiness of the meats.

The usual variety sold is called spaghetti squash or Tivoli. There are others; most are smaller fruits, not quite so spaghettified and sweeter than Tivoli.
Regards Sally Wright.