Kitchen Garden Forum

Tie in my tomato plants earlier and keep them tidy. Stake the chillis earlier. Net the cabbages. Find a better way to support melons. Sow the aubergines earlier.

What are you going to do better?

Thin the grapes at the right time (instead of being greedy)

Prune the fruit trees properly (instead of being lazy)

Get Mr OWG to eat a new vegetable that we have grown ourselves

Try and only plant what we like, rather than loads of stuff we don't like and can't get rid of

well..
spend more time in the garden
grow less courgettes/marrows
grow more cucumber
have tomatoes that are red
get to my strawberries before the neighbours!!

Dear Tigger, i was only thinking about this earlier today, i must design a stronger structure to carry my runner beans, they have blown over two years on the trot due to the huge growth they have made.
I like your answers OWG, very funny indeed.

Kind regards Old Herbaceous.

We will always get some sort of weather.

- Not rush out in a fit of enthusiasm on the first sunny day in February and sow seed which then rots and fails to germinate because of frost.
- Pick all my courgettes when they are no longer than four inches long.
- Not be so greedy for volume that I plant all my veggies so close together in the vegetable patch that they smother each other.
- Not plant so many chilli plants that I could supply the whole of the curryy-loving community in the UK !
- Try to grow kohl rabi successfully.

old herbaceaous - saw your comment about your runner bean poles collapsing under the weight of growth and wonder if you use bamboo canes?
I had this problem with bamboos canes originally but for several years I've been using the plastic covered carbon fibre poles which you can buy from garden centres. I also grow my climbing beans in a single row now, rather than a having a double row of canes propped up against each other and tied at the top.
Although they're more expensive initially I find they're much stronger and despite the very heavy winds we had last week-end and the huge amount of foliage on them the poles are only listing to about 10 degrees. I found with the double row method that once a couple of poles in the structure get disloged by wind, they seem to concertina and the momentum brings the whole lot down.

Primrose, tell us more. Who sells carbon fibre rods. The only ones I have come across were plastic coated steel and bent too easily. I have been using the same bamboos for about 5 years. Before I used them I either trimmed the ends to a node in the wood or glued a suitable length of dowel in the end, result that none of the canes ever split at the bottom.
Also I put them away immediately the beans have finished being worth picking.
The strongest structure is the wigwam, not always the most convenient especially if your beans are in a trench.
Allan

Dear Primrose, thankyou so much for supplying an alternative method to using bamboo canes, i normally grow about one hundred plants so i will need quite a lot of these poles, but if they last a long time it will be money well spent.
I will find a suplier in my area and work out the cost.
Thanks again.
Who said you can't teach an old dog new tricks.

Kind regards Old Herbaceous.

Theres no fool like an old fool.

MY GOD HERBY,YOU GROW A LOT OF RUNNER BEANS,WHAT DO YOU DO WITH THEM?

I sell the odd bag for a bit of pocket money, and then there are the ladies of the village to keep happy.

Kind regards Old Herbaceous.

Theres no fool like an old fool.

MMMM,i bet that keeps you busy

i'm afraid OH runners wouldn't keep me happy!

If all it takes to the keep the ladies in your life happy is runner beans, then you're very lucky!
Next year, though, I need to do something about mine too! My canes (in a sort of wigwam) keep falling over. I, too, shall try to grow veg that we actually like. and I need to plan in advance and make sure I have stuff ready to go in at the appropriate time. and water it more. and weed more often. and grow fewer courgettes. and kill more slugs. and get a shed and greenhouse.
Most things really - I made lots of mistakes this year

the ladies in O/H 's village are easily pleased!

After many years of gardening I still make the mistake only too often of sowing seeds far too thickly. I am attempting to sow radishes in containers, I have been working at 1.5 inch spacing, it is still far too close. The ideal spacing would mean no thinning at all, saving time and seeds. At least I don't have to wait a whole year for another attempt as is the case in many crops.. I WILL get it right eventually.
Allan