Vegetable Growing 2021

Discussion in 'Edible Gardening' started by JWK, Jan 5, 2021.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. JWK

    JWK Gardener Staff Member

    Joined:
    Jun 3, 2008
    Messages:
    30,695
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Surrey
    Ratings:
    +45,653
  2. rustyroots

    rustyroots Total Gardener

    Joined:
    Oct 18, 2011
    Messages:
    2,264
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Solihull, West Midlands
    Ratings:
    +2,946
    I am growing Auberines, Kohlrabi for the first time and may also try some fennel and Pak Choi.

    Rusty
     
    • Like Like x 2
    • JWK

      JWK Gardener Staff Member

      Joined:
      Jun 3, 2008
      Messages:
      30,695
      Gender:
      Male
      Location:
      Surrey
      Ratings:
      +45,653
      I've been trying to grow Florence Fennel these last three years without success. I've sown too early (April) and they bolted, I tried sowing much later (mid-May) last year and they still bolted. One last try this year and I'll wait till mid-June.
       
    • NigelJ

      NigelJ Total Gardener

      Joined:
      Jan 31, 2012
      Messages:
      6,042
      Gender:
      Male
      Occupation:
      Mad Scientist
      Location:
      Paignton Devon
      Ratings:
      +20,953
      I have basil, kale, leek, brussel and purple sprouting broccoli seedlings in the greenhouse.
      Need to sow fennel seed soon trying Romanesco this year. I've had mixed results over the years some years nothing has bulbed up, other years I've had too many.
       
      • Like Like x 1
      • JWK

        JWK Gardener Staff Member

        Joined:
        Jun 3, 2008
        Messages:
        30,695
        Gender:
        Male
        Location:
        Surrey
        Ratings:
        +45,653
        I have never done well with Fennell either, I gave up sowing early into pots as they hate root disturbance and bolt. I wait till late May to sow direct but they never make a decent size. Trying another variety this year.
         
      • joolz68

        joolz68 Total Gardener

        Joined:
        May 16, 2011
        Messages:
        4,427
        Gender:
        Female
        Location:
        alfreton uk
        Ratings:
        +5,385
        Ive sown bronze fennel for the colour ,also Artichokes,kale nero ,cut & come again salads ,cucumbers and ive put my Tomato plants out in the sunshine as you suggested @JWK :)
        My new back garden isnt that big and im still excavating it as it was completely covered pebbles and everywhere i gain ground is like land fill when i dig :sad: x
         
        • Like Like x 2
        • SamW

          SamW Gardener

          Joined:
          Mar 24, 2021
          Messages:
          17
          Ratings:
          +73
          I have bronze fennel in the garden and it self seeds all over the place every year! Great as an ornamental and great to flavour stews and use like dill for fish. I never have success with dill - it always bolts before I get to use it so fennel works great as a substitute for me.
           
          • Like Like x 2
          • JWK

            JWK Gardener Staff Member

            Joined:
            Jun 3, 2008
            Messages:
            30,695
            Gender:
            Male
            Location:
            Surrey
            Ratings:
            +45,653
            Picked the first early potatoes today, planted on 28 March in containers in unheated greenhouse, looks like I should have started picking them a week ago as getting big already:
            20210521_173834.jpg

            20210521_173843.jpg
             
            • Like Like x 6
            • JWK

              JWK Gardener Staff Member

              Joined:
              Jun 3, 2008
              Messages:
              30,695
              Gender:
              Male
              Location:
              Surrey
              Ratings:
              +45,653
              Ooops meant to post above in the Potato thread - leave it here as relevant.
               
            • misterQ

              misterQ Super Gardener

              Joined:
              Aug 25, 2015
              Messages:
              749
              Gender:
              Male
              Location:
              Stamford Hill, London N16 6RU
              Ratings:
              +1,770
              I had a fair number of pencil-thick leeks left over from last year's bucket challenge.

              So I just dropped them into holes made by a broom handle dibber back in early November.

              Here is the resulting harvest.
              [​IMG]

              And, of course, a few moments before.
              [​IMG]


              Most were about an inch thick and had expanded to fill the full broom handle diameter.

              I wonder if I would get fatter leeks if I had used a thicker dibber.
               
              • Like Like x 6
              • FrancescaH

                FrancescaH Gardener

                Joined:
                Dec 13, 2020
                Messages:
                156
                Gender:
                Female
                Location:
                Canterbury
                Ratings:
                +549
                Growing list this year:

                Onions
                - Red Cross
                - Snowball

                Garlic
                - Extra Early Wight
                - Provence Wight
                - Elephant

                Tomatoes
                - Costoluto Fiorentino (Heirloom)
                - Purple Ukraine (Heirloom)
                - Amish Paste (Heirloom)
                - San Marzano Redorta
                - Ailsa Craig
                - Dattero
                - Mucha Miel (Heirloom)
                - Unknown hanging cherry

                Fruit Bushes
                - Raspberry
                - Ben Alder Blackcurrant
                - Blackberry

                Cucumbers
                - Parisian Pickling
                - Diva
                - Goblin

                Squash
                - Courgette Dwarf (di Milano)
                - Courgette Rond (de Nice)
                - Kabocha Pumpkin
                - Unknown french courgette

                Leaves & salad
                - Gustav Butterhead Lettuce
                - Lettuce Moonred
                - Securo Summer Spinach
                - Rocket
                - Rainbow Radish
                - Salad Onion 'Lisbon'

                Chillis
                - JalapeƱo
                - Thai Dragon
                - Cyclone (?)
                - Carolina Reaper
                - Serrano

                Strawberries
                - Cambridge Favourite
                - Elsanta
                - Pegasus

                Other stuff
                - Tomatillo 'Salsa Verde'
                - Potatoes 'Blue Danube'
                - Borage
                - Chocolate mint


                An awful lot going on! So far have harvested two lettuces from my early crop and a few onions as spring onion. Raspberry bush is dying and probably won't make it. Blackberries first year and am awaiting flowers. Blackcurrant first flowered however the old wood was a very small amount of the plant (purchased last year) so don't expect a useful harvest.
                 
                • Like Like x 1
                • JWK

                  JWK Gardener Staff Member

                  Joined:
                  Jun 3, 2008
                  Messages:
                  30,695
                  Gender:
                  Male
                  Location:
                  Surrey
                  Ratings:
                  +45,653
                  @FrancescaH That is a lot, never tried other kinds of mint like your 'Chocolate Mint' - I'm tempted to give it a try, please let us know how you get on with it.
                   
                • FrancescaH

                  FrancescaH Gardener

                  Joined:
                  Dec 13, 2020
                  Messages:
                  156
                  Gender:
                  Female
                  Location:
                  Canterbury
                  Ratings:
                  +549
                  It really does taste like chocolate! If you like mint chocolate ice cream it's that exact flavour.

                  Most herbs I grow like that are just for enjoyment and the occasional cocktail. Usually I just rub my hands over the plant in the morning when I wander round the garden with my coffee and enjoy the smell!

                  Two onions eaten for dinner tonight, as spring onions (chopped up and had raw with mango chutney and poppadoms).
                   

                  Attached Files:

                  • Like Like x 1
                  • FrancescaH

                    FrancescaH Gardener

                    Joined:
                    Dec 13, 2020
                    Messages:
                    156
                    Gender:
                    Female
                    Location:
                    Canterbury
                    Ratings:
                    +549
                    Most of my replacement cucumber plants are up! So far out of 11, 7 have germinated.

                    Wondering where on earth I'm going to put them, seeing as 4 to a pot is about the max. Might have to go and buy another pot, oh no.

                    Or maybe I could grow them at the front of the house and give them twine to climb up?
                     
                    • Like Like x 1
                    • FrancescaH

                      FrancescaH Gardener

                      Joined:
                      Dec 13, 2020
                      Messages:
                      156
                      Gender:
                      Female
                      Location:
                      Canterbury
                      Ratings:
                      +549
                      Harvested my first garlic... bit of a test. This one had properly gone brown and flopped over. The others maybe only have one or two browning leaves, but still plenty of green. I pulled up another one but I don't think it'd formed cloves (though it didn't look too far off). I stuck it back in the ground and have left all the others be.

                      What do we think? Does this look like I should've harvested sooner?

                      [​IMG]

                      Left it out in the sun to dry off before I rub off the dirt.
                       
                      • Like Like x 3
                      Loading...
                      Thread Status:
                      Not open for further replies.

                      Share This Page

                      1. This site uses cookies to help personalise content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register.
                        By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our use of cookies.
                        Dismiss Notice