Vegetable Growing 2019

Cantonese Mao Gua.


aka Hairy gourd.



Whilst the Indian dudhi (bottle gourd) can be very prolific under London conditions, I find that the mao guas are less resilient and so quite difficult to grow.

 

The cucamelon...


The female flower is roughly the diameter of a 5p coin.

 

Your wish is my command @CarolineL

My experimental runners have done very well despite the wind and rain throughout this summer. Mr S and I ate the first of the crop yesterday.

 

Looking at Sheal's beans, especially against that white wall. I have so often thought how vegetables can be inter planted wit other garden plants. For instance the runner beans provide height that can be used as a backdrop. The flowers are very decorative and then the thrill an fascination of the beans themselves.

Then with mixed bedding. Beetroot with those glorious coloured leaves. I am sure each of us could instantly bring a freshness to our gardens. Just a little thought, plus the added benefit of being able to eat the plant's produce.

 

@Mike Allen the only reason the beans are there is because it's the only bed in the garden. I dug it out after moving here two years ago but it's not an ideal spot, so it's days are numbered.

 

We have "vegetables"!


A few moments before.



And, yes, they were crunchy and tasted exactly like cucumbers with a hint of lime sourness.

 

The beetroot turned out nice again.

 

Dwarf French Beans - a very worthwhile crop.





Originally, this patch was allocated for my giant marrow growing attempt but slugs and snails wounded two transplants and decimated three backups I had growing in plastic cups elsewhere.

So, I pulled them up in late June and directly sowed these beans instead.

This is already the second picking, and there will be a third.

There is no stringyness at all despite the pods being swollen with seeds - the only real difference is that they taste a bit more starchier than normal once cooked.

 

One of my two pumpkins.





Planted at the beginning of July which is quite late for this area.

The seeds for them were donated, variety unknown but they are supposed to be great eaters, apparently.

 

The first of the experimental aubergines.


A few moments earlier.

 

The Beetroot Detroit twelve days ago.







And, no, the tops were not discarded. They were cooked and eaten, and delicious they were too.

 

Chopsuey Greens (aka chrysanthemum leaves) harvested yesterday.


Here it was a few moments ago.



I managed to get three harvests using the cut-and-come-again method.

Yield per harvest was about 1.5kg for just under 1sqm.

The seeds were sown in April. At the first harvest, the main stalks were cut just above the first or second set of leaves. This forced the plants to produce side branches for the next harvest.

The flower buds were nipped off just before they opened to encourage leaf production.

 

Repurposing the salvaged ironing board.



The runner bean plants were so prolific that it got top heavy and broke the bamboo supports after the gusty winds and downpour two days ago.

 

Mao Gua harvested earlier today.


The biggest one.

 

Yesterday, we concluded the Great British Weigh-off for the Spud In A Bucket competition.

Most of the contenders.



After much tipping out and hosing down the top three weights were:

1) 2.88kg
2) 2.55kg
3) 0.730kg

And, the proof:







Yep, you've guessed it, yours truly is once again the Spud King!

Now, all kowtow and marvel at our greatness. Muhahaha...