Cropping "problems"

[Ricard with an H]

Fantastic, I love it Geoff.

It's what I thought about kitchen gardening and me though I don't have family not many friends close by to share with.

Gardening for me is therapeutic, this year I've learnt quite a lot by trial-and-error and though i'm still likely to get things dreadfully wrong I am more confident of success for future seasons.

My biggest problem is I don't have 'grey' in my life. Things have to be black or white and some of the reading material I have read encourages 'grey-ness'.

Take chives as an example, "Very easy to grow with few problems". The first chives I grew I stuck them into a shady spot that gets summer sun for four hours but the soil is very heavy. Those chives didn't grow and remained sulking until I moved them to an appropriate place with lighter soil. That area has foliage plants and other stuff proliferating.

I learned that onion and garlic also have specific needs that carrot don't have though how to explain two rows of nice fat garlic with the third row feeble is going to be difficult for anyone.

I also learnt that you do have to water lavender during hot dry spells.

The most beneficial thing I did since I started my 'Kitchen Garden' has been the comfrey bed of 20 plants which produce incredible amounts of rich liquid fertiliser that helps plants grow in the most unusual situations. I'm still way to novice to be offering advice though I can offer this advise with confidence, get yourself a comfrey patch going for massive rewards.

[vegpatchmum]

I'm still way to novice to be offering advice though I can offer this advise with confidence, get yourself a comfrey patch going for massive rewards.

Don't do yourself an injustice Richard, you have picked up and stored more knowledge through experience than you realise and this is clearly visible to the rest of us through your posts.

Nobody knows everything and everybody has differing experiences when it comes to growing (good grief you just have to read this thread to see that) and that makes everyones knowledge and advice, no matter how 'novice' they are, valuable.

You've done great, learned loads and have a lot of relevant things to contribute

runner bean chutney is particularly popular

Now that sounds good. Do you have the recipe to hand by any chance? Please

VPM
x

[oldherbaceous]

I agree with VPM, Richard, you have put some very valuable knowledge into your replies on the forum, and long may it last.

[Ricard with an H]

You are all far to kind and I can't think for a minute how I managed to help other than with just bouncing some ideas and sharing my 2-stroke problems.

Something I learnt though i'm not sure about the rules for different plants. With my five tomato plants I potted four into large clay pots, the fourth plant went into a plastic pot about half the size of the clay pots though I've seen many people growing tomato in that sized pot.

All the plants in the large clay pots are twice the size with four times as much fruit, all are potted in the same medium and have been treated exactly the same.

When I came to potting the £50 worth of lavender the advise everywhere is to use a small a pot as possibly because the roots like to be cramped.

Almost all my failures have been in small pots for too long, they flourished when I potted them on yet there are plants that hate being in pots altogether never mind small pots. In fact next season i'm going to try to work around the potting routine by waiting for the weather or buying-in.

Even though i'm retired I have a full time job here keeping this place ship-shape and sea-worthy, taking on the kitchen garden has meant I lost some time for other things.

Just picked my first bush beans, the yellow ones are bushier and have more beans on them than whatever beans they were I got from Moles-seeds via our garden centre so next season i'm going to take more advise on species so I don't have to eat naff tomatoes and struggled with half-hearted bush beans.

And finally for today, look what my lovely lady did.

[Geoff]

viewtopic.php?f=7&t=4397&hilit=runner+bean+chutney

I'll have to ask if she still makes it exactly that way.

[Motherwoman]

Onions look great. For a proclaimed novice Richard you have produced a remarkable amount of veg, it's just a matter of refining what varieties you want to grow. Perhaps some of the old fashioned thinner skinned tomato varieties would suit you better. Many modern varieties have a thicker skin for travel ability.

MW

[Monika]

Wow, those onions look good and well matured, Richard! And well pleated!

[Ricard with an H]

Wow, those onions look good and well matured, Richard! And well pleated!

It wasn't me that platted them, my partner did it on a sunny evening and quite a few onions were rejected by her though the rejects were fine for cooking with. Just didn't look good on the platt. I just formed a noose of string and hung them up, the red onion is hanging to dry and from what I learnt they need to dry well before you start trying to platt them.

I'm struggling with the garlic though from I read on KG forum I grew hard-neck. Those are also hanging to dry. I probably had 5% white rot on the white onion, then I had quite a few sulkers.

From my experience onions like lot's of cow-poo underneath them though I can't qualify that comment from just one season of growing.

The results of my three bed tests with nutrients suggest I may not have mixed the soil and composted material well enough. A cement mixer would help though now you're getting an idea i'm obsessive.

[Westi]

That onion plait looks professional - any training? You'll have seen my post on my dismal efforts that resulted in an exhibit that would put a two year olds 'temper tantrum' to shame!

However just dug up my last onion bed so might have another go thanks to that inspirational picture! BE WARNED!!!!

Westi

[Geoff]

Forgot to say what fine looking onions. I begin to wonder if I should grow some sets as well as from seed as they come ready when there is a better chance of drying them. Mine from seed are some way away from ripening.

On another subject, does anybody grow beefsteak tomatoes? Mine have set trusses that look too big for their own good and I'm not convinced they can develop without the stalk breaking. Has anybody tried supporting individual trusses?

[retropants]

fab looking onion plaits there Richard!

Geoff, I have never had a beefsteak stem break, even with mosters on them. they are extremely difficult to cut off when you want to harvest, much stiffer than other varieties. others you can just snap off at the 'knuckle' but the beefies require careful snipping, avoiding puncturing the skin while you're at it!