Kitchen Garden Forum

Pulled 1 of each of my 3 varieties of carrots this afternoon to thin them and see how they're all getting on. Chantennay are still tiny, Early Nantes are still tiny, but the Flyaway are plenty big enough to begin eating as baby carrots. After chopping off it's stringy root and the leaves, I was left with 3 inches of yummy carroty goodness Think the Early Nantes were my favourite for flavour - much sweeter.

Putting a salad together tomorrow with some left-over sausages. There will be new potatoes (dug this afternoon), baby carrots, baby spring onions, lettuce, spinach - ALL from the Piglet Patch (aka my garden!).

Also noticed there are a couple of teeny weeny tomatoes starting, and a couple of little blobs that will hopefully turn into chillies.

It's great, isn't it, piglet, when you eat the first produce of the year?!

We have eaten our first own potatoes this week (Swift and Rocket), a kohlrabi, lots of lettuce, spring onions and radishes. Like yours, the tomatoes and chilli peppers are just forming. I tried a pea pod and a broad bean pod, but the peas and beans inside were just tiny, so we'll just have to be patient and do lots more watering!

Oh well done Piglet! So good to eat stuff straight out of the garden....the taste is amazing.
Due to most of our winter brassicas being mummified under the snow, for the first time in four years, I had to resort to buying green vegetables from the shop. Dreadful stuff...not to mention the prices!!!
Cheers!

I'm so pleased for you, Piglet.

I've been growing veg for quite a while now, but I still get excited when the first of each veg are ready to eat.
In the last few days I have harvested my first peas and my first tomatoes (sungold) of the year, so I'm very happy.

I couldn't believe my eyes earlier when I went to water the lottie after a weekend away - I have baby courgettes!!!
Both the tomatoes and the courgettes are over a month earlier than I have ever had them before. I'd like to think that it was because of all my care and attention (carting them inside every night because of the frosts), but I think that the present heatwave might have more to do with it!
Whatever the reason, I'm over the moon, and I'm sure you are too - you are doing really well, and I hope that your 'hobby' continues to grow on hubby!

today we had the first potatoes I have ever grown - some first earlies can't remember which variety grown in bags only got enough from 1 bag for 1 meal but most were a good size and there are 6 of us!!! also picked ny first courgette today about 4 or 5 inches long my dh and I had 3 slices each fried in some butter!!! my tomatoes are flowering so hoping will get some fruit soon and today I spotted the beginnings of cauliflowers!!

I have picked about eleven courgettes of different sizes. But we are dreadfully short of water, I dont think we have had any rain (bar one day). Since we went on holiday on the 8th May and we have had one day rain since then. We have tonight rain falling but how long that will last. Just looking at the weather forecast the rain is not going to last.

We have picked broad beans, courgettes, and the broccoli is fantastic, the first time we have managed to ever grow these plants. I have grown carrots in tubs in the polytunnel.

I have picked some cucumbers but the leaves are going a bit funny, I cant decide if I have the mosaic virus or have a magnesium problem. Tomorrow I am going to spray with epsom salts. Hopefully it will work.

Our lettuces are looking like going to seed, but I have planted loads of others which are coming on.

Our onions have started going to seed (one or two)_ so I am trying to keep things regularly watered, but next week we are going to be on a hosepipe bans.

Dear Catherine, not trying to confuse things but, i was wondering if your Cucumber could be suffering from Red spider mite!

Good morning OH, I have looked at the plant but cannot see anything on the plant. I will have a better look tonight.

Hi Catherine. OH said what I was thinking.....it certainly set my alarm bells ringing! I didn't have any Red Spider Mite last year but the two previous years, I had bad infestations on my cucumbers. It started off looking like a deficiency of some sort, with yellowing of the leaves, then papery patches. I couldn't see any pests on the leaves, or new growth either, so I assumed the plants were lacking something. By the time I discovered the mites, it was all over bar the shouting...they were everywhere, strings of the damn things festooned all over the plants.
This hot weather has made ideal conditions for the little horrors....I am now examining my cucumber plants with a magnifying glass....I'm paranoid about Red Spider Mites now!
I hope you haven't got them!
Cheers.

Still cant see anything, checked tonight. But the cucumbers are looking discoloured, sort of pale discolour on the end and part way up the cucumbers. The lower cucumbers are now not forming and going yellow. I am truly sick of cucumbers and tomatoes, next year I am not growing toms, they just dont like me at all.

Just looked up red spider mite and the symptoms of mine I dont think are red spider mite. I will take my magnifying glass up in the morning to see if I can see anything.

Piglet, you are doing really well, enjoy your produce, sounds like you have got the bug.
We have had some early potatoes,spring greens, peas, cucumbers,spring onions, radish, lettuce, cherries and ruby chard, courgettes just coming to fruit,we had the first strawberries last week and raspberries and loganberries are turning red this week,the grapes in the greenhouse are huge, looks like they should ripen soon and I noticed the red and black currants are ripe today, giant sugar snap peas and the runner beans are flowering well,and I notice lots of fruitlets on the self fertile kiwi, the tomatoes are a good size in the unheated greenhouse but not ripe yet the outdoor ones have smaller fruits on but are not far behind due to the hot weather.
Some odd things too, the pear tree has fruits the size of a large plum, and is blossoming again on the tips of the branches, so am wondering if we will get an early and a later crop from the same tree ! Onions and shallots have seeded early this year. I should have watered them more, but a few garlic that I planted under a mulch have done very well.

Early spuds: crap. Charlotte: OK. The mid-May frosts got the earlies and then the dry weather stopped them producing much.

Garlic: OK. Solent Wight disappointing but others OK. About 40% looked mouldy but are still usable. Elephant garlic great.

Carrots: Like you, Piglet, my Flyaway has done well. The earlier-sown Early nantes has struggled.

Mange-tout peas: Best yet, but that's not saying much. Short season.

Courgettes: I'va already picked my first little ones.
Tomatoes: ditto

Blackcurrants: great.
Gooseberries: disaster.