Kitchen Garden Forum

Hi Peter,
I find that Luctoians are in Nat league 2 North so have actually answered my own question.
JB.

Lucts are currently sat in 12th position in Nat2 north Johnboy

This week's Food Programme on Radio 4 was an interesting discussion about Potatoes.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08n20k3

Thank you Geoff. Just listened. interesting history that the growing of potatoes versus the growing of wheat because of their respective yields per acre led to growing prosperity in Europe and the eradication of regular famines was something that hadn,t necessarily occurred to me, although I guess if every peasant only had limited growing land from which to feed themselves, potatoes would,probably be top of the list.

I wonder what people would grow next in order of priority. I suppose if potatoes fulfilfilled your basic hunger pangs you would probably need some onions to make them more palatable and tasty. Or would one opt for something like the humble swede I wonder, which also stored well ?

I nearly re-opened the Late Winter thread!

Minus 3.8°C last night but luckily the tunnel just held out at plus 0.1°C. It wasn't very kind to my tulips but I don't know what else yet, Dicentra and Gunnera look very unhappy. Haven't got much planted out yet, Sweet Peas and Broad Beans are surrounded by fleece/netting but not fully covered so some has blown in. Mountains strange with only half having a sprinkling.

Hope you all got away with it.

PS : just seen the baby Blackbirds chasing their parents begging so they are OK.

Lovely scenery Geoff but sad about the tulips. You wait all winter to enjoy them but a cold spell can fell them very quickly. In my opinion they're not as hardy as daffodils in low temperatures.

We had a bit of snow late yesterday, but we now have rain, there's snow all around us, but on the coast we tend to miss the worst of it. Was plus 1 in my greenhouse last night and was 10 when I was checking things over a while ago.

I leave a couple of rat traps at the side of the chicken coup they are the humane type that trap but don't kill, this last week I have had three hedgehogs in one of the traps all released unharmed ,they are funny to watch I put them on one of the raised beds they spend ten minutes sniffing and uncurling then they are off ,each seems to know it's way around they have all gone in different directions the funny thing is there is no bait in the trap they just seem to like it

Hi,

Brrrrr ... it certainly is cold. We didn't have a frost last night but the tops of everyone's potatoes have been caught by the cold. Have covered mine with soil today - fingers crossed it won't have impacted the growth too much. It's happened before and usually recovered.

Started all sorts of seeds off at the weekend, beans, courgette, lettuce, fennel, celery .... the list goes on. My house is looking like a jungle! But, given the cold I'm really glad I waited. There's going to be a few unhappy people down the lotty today.....

But, I would like some rain. Part of the lotty I need to dig is solid - rain needed to ease the digging.

Pawty

We got up to snow here too Geoff, but it was slightly warmer at minus 2.3°. It has spoilt all the Pieris, azaleas and a rhodendron which until this morning were the best I've ever seen them. We've had hail showers on and off all day too. I felt so cold after tea that I've lit the log burner which I'd cleaned out for the summer.

Pawty and Westi get a mention in the June issue, along with Dan3008.

Luckily no frost [url]last[/url] night but the northerly wind still kept the day temperature around 6 degrees, not good for putting out slightly touchy plants. My pot grown potatoes are desperate to be outside the greenhouse, but I daren't!
At least it's likely to get slightly warmer the next few days but, as other people have said, we really do need the rain, the ground is like dust now.
The bird cherries around us are starting to flower and look brill including one in the garden which is also overgrown by a pink clematis montana.

We were late getting to the plot today due to a hospital appointment for my wife , we got there around 4-30 this afternoon caught a pheasant having a go at my early Pease I shouted our dog to chase it off but he is blind in one eye and not much better with the other by the time he spotted the pheasant it was airborne

I'm so very pleased I gave my tomatoes an extra layer of environmesh when I was down. Scrapped the car windscreen this morning all the while thinking I actually not only remembered the extra layer but actually made the effort to check the week's weather! (Yes I know - me that can't even stick to a planting plan or know how many beds I have)!

I covered my potatoes with fleece, but the frost has still burnt the leaves badly.....not amused...