Kitchen Garden Forum

Been out today so no "Sunday dinner" until tomorrow, it's fish and chips with some fresh minted peas from the garden, I'd like to say I caught the fish and grew the tatties, but it's a bit early yet.

What is really obvious is 2022 is a great year for soft fruit here in Dorset to the extent it is overwhelming. I'm pretty sure the neighbours & friends will be hiding when they see me soon! The courgettes have only just started so I don't want them practicing their hiding just yet!

Home grown veg today was, new potatoes, cabbage, french beans and broad beans….I was meant to pull some new carrots but forgot, so caught Cooks, wrath…

Being up in NE Scotland, I'm a few weeks behind you guys, I might get some potatoes in the next week along with Broad Beans, carrots are a long way off yet.

Been enjoying Calabres/Broccoli, Broadbeans, spring onions, lettuce, beetroot, Strawberries, Chilies & Basil.

Have pulled onions & garlic for drying and maybe pull up spuds latter this week.

Had first red tomato so gave it to Er indoors to sample.

Strawberries yes, all broad beans picked and the ground cleared, salad of all sorts but the French beans are only just in flower, let alone pod up.

In the volunteer garden, we lifted one bed of potatoes because I saw some brown spots which I thought was early blight. Reasonable crop.

2 rows of pease not one showed, mangetout has been good I’ve been pulling them for over a month lettuce about two weeks off garlic has been pulled not all but most of it loads of strawberries lots of fruit on the bushes I have not got into full swing yet still missing my better half I’m only growing for myself so not put much effort into it

I have over recent years been experimenting with different varieties, not wanting to stand still, well after umpteen types of lettuce, I've gone back to good old Iceberg, what a nice and tasty one it is, the cut and come again, multi coloured plants are now banished, never was a "dedicated follower of fashion" I'll stick with what I like. Lunch was most pleasant and the Spring Onions were nice too.

Any tips Tigerburnie on successful Iceberg growing.

Er indoors prefers Iceberg lettuce but unfortunately I fail to grow it.

I have grown them in the greenhouse and in the raised beds, just seem to like my garden lol. Started seed quite late in a seed tray and then scattered them in different locations, the ones in partial shade seem to do better than those in direct light all day.

We harvested our last pot-grown potatoes (Kestrel) this morning, and quite a decent crop they were, too. And sooo clean!

My Kestrel are dying off really early this year, Monika, so I don’t suppose it will be a very big crop…and they will probably be dirty too..

That's been the main difference in the potato growing between the allotment (in the ground) and at home (in pots), OH. The allotment yield was always greater, but so often some of the potatoes were completely slug eaten or at least partially so (in spite of using nematodes), or half rotten or green, whereas the pot grown ones are completely slug free, just one or two iffy ones - less yield but more edible. When we empty the pot, we put all the potatoes on a large circular sieve, hose them down over a bucket and the leave them out to dry on the sieve for a day.
Unfortunately, my eating days are over, but the rest of the family are benefiting!

I dug up the garlic yesterday, it's really small, worst ever crop. I kept it fed and watered. Oh well, onwards and upwards!

Potatoes are coming up well.