Vegetable Growing 2025

@pete RHS tests have shown that any nitrogen consumed by rotting chipped wood is barely measurable so it's a myth.

@Peaceful Gardener Chipped bark or wood does make a great mulch to reduce weeds and retain moisture but composted chipped wood or bark is better for the soil as it's easier for soil microbes to ingest and thus raise soil fertility and improve texture. It's also a pain when re-planting if you have large chunks of wood chip in the soil.

 

I don't believe the nitrogen robbing is a complete myth but more that it is not as people think it is. The rotting wood would be a problem if you dug it into the soil but layed on the top it has a negligible effect unless the plants are rooted into it. So laying the material on top is fine.

Rose stems and brambles aren't really wood but for a veg bed I wouldn't really want woodchip because it isn't a great mulch for annuals (much harder to get them to grow and less chance of sowing seed). You would be better adding shredded leaves to the area or even burying kitchen scraps which the worms will encorporate into the soil for you. If you mulch the paths with woody stuff, you can mix it into your begs when it's had the chance to breakdown.

 

Yes @Thevictorian no good for fine stuff like salads or for sowing but OK for bigger veg like broccoli, cabbage or permanent stuff like globe artichokes and fruit.

 

Yes the no dig gardener that reccomends 3-5 cms of mulch on everything, raises all his plants in modules first. My father used to direct sown everything. Even things like brassicas, he would sow in a protected spot (sometimes within a cold frame) and then dig up and transplant, to final positions .

 

The final tromboncino of the year.

 

Do they taste good or are they just good entertainment?

 

They are kind of like a cross between a courgette and a butternut. Less watery than a courgette and they work very well in ratatouille. The seeds are only in the bulbous bit so you get all that long neck with no seeds.
I'm planning to use this one in stir fries over the next week.

 

Thanks @Escarpment

 

I planted some kale earlier in the year, Cavalero de Nero. Just as it was big enough to start cropping, it was decimated by caterpillars. I left it to its own devices, skeletal ribs on top of naked stalks. To my surprise, it has begun sprouting new leaves, so I live in hope I may get a crop from it, even if a bit late in the season, although I have seen quite a few Cabbage White butterflies around. I am hoping it is too cold for them to lay eggs.

 

Picked the last of my squash, the autumn crowns are small and only two look properly ripened. Last two courgettes too. Planted my greenhouses with garlic and sowed mustards between them, hopefully for a few salad leaves this winter or early next spring. Also planted my outside pots that had tomatoes with a few garlic too and started the outside bed garlic with 32 that I got from lidl. It was labeled Spanish spring garlic and is a hardneck, I don't expect it to do well outside and may be too late a variety for inside. My other outside garlic I'll plant next weekend I think if I have time

 

Ive also put garlic out, though less this year. I didnt clean the garlic before drying it so theyre all slightly muddy and this has made me drastically reduce my garlic consumption this year as it makes my chopping board muddy silly me!

I have also bought and sownseeds for more coriander, and two new ones: Perrenial wall rocket and lovage. The coriander seems cold hardy enough here like parsley to survive the winter and go crazy in spring. My parsley is huge and flowering but shows no signs of dying back yet, I wonder if it will survive another year? Perhaps if I cut all the flower heads off.

I will keep them protected for next year but hopefully it makes for some low effort veggies in the future. I want to try the "wall rocket" in a brick and see if it survives

If anyone wants seeds of any of these other than the parsley I have plenty.

Another perrenial I want to try is the wild hogweed, foraging websites claim the young shoots are great and the seeds taste like cardamom which we use a lot.
I cant identify it now in the wild without the leaves which are dead now, too risky with the other dangerous carrot family members.

I might try digging up a wood avens root and processing that for a clove syrup or powder, by this recipe
Wood Avens – Edibility, Identification, Distribution, Ecology, Recipes – Galloway Wild Foods

I will also try with an honesty root if my current seedlings get large enough. I remember the wood avens being thin which looks difficult to process though. I guess the best time to harvest that is late spring just before it flowers. Its supposed to be edible and one I dig up in summer was enormous, but ive found 0 references to anyone actually eating it.

 

@Goldenlily26 we always net our cabbages and last night we had our first harvest of cavolo nero which has been slow to grow this year cos of the heat and drought but is now looking very bonny and tasting good.

I grew garlic last year but the early spring heat and drought made it a poor crop with small bulbs so I doubt I'll bother this year. I didn't even bother harvesting the shallots as they were so feeble and am going to leave them in and see what happens this coming spring.

I sowed some chard, parsley, dill and coriander in trays in the polytunnel last week so will go and check for babies.

 

Just finished sowing the last of my winter hardy seeds. Many are old seeds found in my seed box, but if any germinate l'll give them a chance for my experiment growing in greenhouse over Winter. Realised l'll have to buy some slug pellets after all for any of greens that grow in the greenhouse. Very happy as found a small pot of 8 healthy seedlings of 'winter density' lettuce, sown last month and l forgot about them. All iv got left to do is direct sow a few seeds of winter greens for my 'stir fry' experiemt in large containers by kitchen back door. We have planted them up with transplants, but will infill with a few hardy seeds of spinach, mizuna etc. Quite chilly here now in Nottinghamshire. Some old timer allotment gardener , on youtube, is convinced we are in for a very bad winter. :(.he said the acorns this year have been prolific ., Said it's an old country sign. l think i'm going to take his word for it and get all my garden sorted as soon as l can.

 

The last two winters I've grown winter salad in the greenhouse very successfully. I have seedlings of mizuna, mustard greens and winter lettuce. The old seed of winter density, and chicory did not germinate.

 

@Peaceful Gardener bumper fruiting and seed production can also mean that we've had a good growing summer or that the plant has been stressed into thinking it might die so makes a last ditch attempt to reproduce itself.

Lots of ways to interpret a bumper crop of anything. You need to watch the jet stream to see what kind of inter it'll be but it's always wise to take precautions such as cuttings, mulchings, netting, shelter from heavy rainfall, strong winds and/or frosts.