Vegetable Growing 2021

First harvest of cucumber "Piccolo di Parigi"

I started them accidentally way too early but they have coped well and the first fruit have now been enjoyed and photographed from all angles. The fruit were wonky and bumpy skinned but very fine tasting, not at all bitter. I'm pleased as a pup and The Teenager was suitably complimentary and encouraging

 

Looking great! Looks like they'd make lovely pickles too.

My plants are still seedlings after having to restart. Except one! Which has grown massively and is starting to cling to things now. It's littermates will be far behind!

 

Grew 4 giant marrow plants intending to use the best 2 and have 2 backups. Then decided to plant 3 but when choosing the best of the spares discovered one has 'ribbon stem' so 3 planted and no suitable spares.

 

Growing 'Duncan F1' cabbage only because it's the name of my late father...don't know how well it will fair as my tiny veg patch soil is 'too soft' IMHO so don't know how well they will stand up to it.Worth a go though.

 

I was supposed to be planting out the last of my squashes and some outdoor cucumbers today, but as it's forecast to go down to 5 deg C I've brought the cukes back indoors for the night.

 

Been keeping my garlic moist so the cloves don't burst through the bulb wrappers after heavy rain, but the first bulb I scratched around this afternoon had that happening, so I pulled it as my first bulb to use this year. Hope there's not many others like that.

 

If you dont plant them soon it will be a case of waiting until next year.

 

We had out second meal of new Potatoes today, these were planted on Good Friday.

Come on England & Scotland, ha Pete

 

I thought better if they wait another day (or 2). The squashes were Winter Squash, so inn hurry to harvest them.

Somebody planted out dozens of tomatoes about 36 hours before we got around 4 or 5 deg C outside the edge of village this morning. Reckon they'd had been better off waiting until today.

 

My first harvest of chopsuey greens of the year.


Here they were growing among the weeds just moments ago.

 

As I've only taken on overgrown, weedy plots with the soil full of weed seeds, only once did I sow Spring Onions direct in drills because the tiny seedlings were lost in the flush of new weed growth and it took forever to weed them.

So I mutiple sow in modules indoors, bring on a bit in a polytunnel and plant out when a few inches high (can be sown through holes in Mypex to eliminate weeding between them).

The clumps are harvested whole and lift easily being rooted in MPC rather than heavy clay. A bunch pulled this morning, size 10 boot for scale, longest onion 2 foot/600mm long.

 

Pulled some of my garlic this afternoon (size 10 boots for scale). Mainly Germidour, with a few Thermidrome that got mixed in by accident.

 

Included in dinner yesterday. Some very very strong rocket, a singular radish, and the Teepee Purple dwarf beans. Got loads more beans coming and they were definitely the best.



Today I've finished weeding out the beds, snipping seedlings and sowing lots of leftover seeds. Moving house is progressing so I want to start afresh next year and so I've gone through and just planted up loads of seeds I've had knocking around. We'll see what we get. So far lettuce is doing well, spinach is getting there, kale got decimated by slugs but I've replanted!

 

Lifted some more garlic this morning, only a couple of dozen left in the ground.