Vegetable Growing 2021

The pumpkins are coming along nicely.



More pumpkins.



Yet more pumpkins.

 

I am also allergic to tomato plant leaves, courgette leaves and conifers - come up in massive rash if my skin touches but I love growing them so much (not the conifers!) That I put up with it and just make sure that I wash my arms once I've been near them! Lol

 

My garden has been decimated this year. I think every single snail in Hampshire has been to visit the garden followed by the cabbage whites. My kale disappeared overnight under the weight of caterpillars. I managed to save the tops of two so they are in pots indoors until the risk of being eaten has gone away and I can plant them back outside.... I've still got purple podded peas, french beans, runner beans and borlotti beans and finally the summer squash is producing a fruit so might get one before the end of summer. I have huge growth on the butternut squash but no fruit so probably getting nothing this year. In whole this year a bit disappointing but I'll still do it all over again next year

 

A few of my Marketmores that have been cropping for about a week. They were very slow to get going after planting out, but I can now see a regular supply coming. Outdoor cukes are SO much better than tasteless shop bought ones, and our hens eat the peelings.

The reason for saving runner bean roots is to preserve the genetics of selected plants, as by the time they've demonstrated their capability in producing superior prize winning pods, the seeds within them will be highly likely to be the result of pollination by all and sundry of the local runner bean population.

Saving seeds under controlled conditions from saved plants the following year is the most reliable method of getting exactly the same results from seed in future years.

 

Yes, but they're not the ones I grow.

 

Haven't seen a single honey bee at my plot all year, only bumble bees, but there's lots of them and now there's plenty of flowers, including on the adjacent marrows.

Gave up going there at 6:00 am to pollinate every morning when I started picking 3 to 4 courgettes every day and might start pollinating again if things start to tail off towards the end of season.

 

There are far less bees and insects in general.
I've planted lots of attractors around the allotment, lavender, marigolds, nasturgiums etc.
But here at home despite plenty of flowers the numbers are down alarmingly.
I hope they return. The bird population here has dropped dramatically too, i guess that's possibly a knock on effect.
Quite depressing really

 

My kohlrabi pickings from yesterday.



Here were some of them just moments ago.




The leaves will be eaten too as they are very similar to cabbage.

Minor damaged leaves are nothing to worry about as they will be cooked anyway.

 

I spotted the first Ladybird in my garden yesterday.

 

3 weeks ago

Marrow main stems cut at 15 feet last week, and now the secondary stems have now also reached 15 feet.

It's getting a bit crammy in there. Thinking about fixing a hosepipe on a pole to get in without soaking leaves.




P.S. With that amount of leaf I've got away with not bothering covering my marrows with pieces of old bedspread to keep the light off them and prevent them from ripening before fully grown.

 

What variety are the cucumbers mister Q ? I prefer the smaller cucumbers I think the ones I prefer are referred to as lunchbox varieties

 

@Tomhip

They were Marketmore. I think most people eat these peeled - I don't mind either way.


The community garden record, held by one of our members and verified by me, is 18 cucumbers in a single picking.