Anyone growing food

Pretzill

Jawgap can you ask your lady where she got the Lumpers? I'd love to try some of our old potato varieties -

Forgot I have apple trees, plum, cherry and pear but none have been overly productive in recent years - and seeing as this is moved to food & drink - sage and cashews with a little garlic and olive oil make a lovely pesto!

Shenshen

gramar wrote: »

I forgot about the plum trees...4 or 5 of them out there from when I bought the site and with the exception of one year the branches can barely cope with the weight of them.

Plenty of blossoms on them at the moment and they'll be in full flower in a few days so it looks like another good harvest unless there is a late frost.

I eat a few, give away more and the rest go to waste. I always say I'll make jam and never do but I don't really eat jam anyway so not much incentive.

I've actually started eating more jam because the homemade one turned out so well. I made it with a little bit of cinnamon - plums and cinnamon, match made in heaven

Shenshen

Oh, forgot the herbs.

I've got rosemary, parsley, sage, thyme, bay, oregano, majoram and chives in the garden at the moment, with coriander and basil sitting on the window sill.

Pwurple, how did you get the wild garlic started? I collect some every year, but haven't managed to grow some myself yet.

Jawgap

Pretzill wrote: »

Jawgap can you ask your lady where she got the Lumpers? I'd love to try some of our old potato varieties -

Forgot I have apple trees, plum, cherry and pear but none have been overly productive in recent years - and seeing as this is moved to food & drink - sage and cashews with a little garlic and olive oil make a lovely pesto!

She got a stock from a stall on the quays (I think it was there as part of the Maritime Festival) about 2 years ago, then grew them and kept a few back as seed for this year.

I have to be honest, from a gardening / cultivation point of view I can see the attraction of bringing back into wider use some neglected varieties of spuds and veggies - but from a cooking point of view, the lumpers are a pain in the h**e to prepare, and no matter how I cooked the few we had the end result was visually unappealing - they seem to cook to a grey colour!

Give me the George Hamiltons any day.......


You know George Hamiltons?????








.................the common taters!!! :D:D


I'll get me coat.........

pwurple

Shenshen wrote: »

Pwurple, how did you get the wild garlic started? I collect some every year, but haven't managed to grow some myself yet.

I think it got dropped in by a bird! It just started itself in a crappy corner of the garden, and I have been pulling everything else away from it.

I'd say relocating a clump would be the best way really... rather than seeds. I do love it though, delicious in an omelette or clear soups, flowers and all.

Pretzill

pwurple wrote: »

I think it got dropped in by a bird! It just started itself in a crappy corner of the garden, and I have been pulling everything else away from it.

I'd say relocating a clump would be the best way really... rather than seeds. I do love it though, delicious in an omelette or clear soups, flowers and all.

We got some from a friends garden in the Southeast and it's now happily growing here in the Northwest - wild garlic and cheese soda bread is delicious!

katydid

mariaalice wrote: »

The gooseberry wine was interesting the beer and the liquors were very good. I also make sloe gin and was told it tasted like jagermister, to me it had a sight whiff of cough bottle but was nice to drink

Do you have a recipe for gooseberry wine? I've made rhubarb wine, which was also...interesting, and I've tons of gooseberries in the freezer from last year. I need to use them before the next crop comes along.

I did make gooseberry liqueur by steeping 300g of gooseberries, 250g of sugar and some lemon zest in a litre of vodka and leaving it for four or five months. Nice stuff with a few ice cubes.

Minder

In the garden at the moment are strawberries, gooseberries, blueberries, a couple of apple trees and a plum tree. Also have a herb bed with rosemary, chives, thyme, sorrel and bay. I lifted a couple of sage bushes but they didn't like the move and promptly expired.

Starting seeds for chioggia and golden beetroots; white scallop and crown prince squashes. Also starting a variety of tomatoes. Adding perilla and borage to the herbs and starting a few salad leaves and some chard.

Gloomtastic!

Mostly herbs because I go through so many - thyme, rosemary, sage out in one of the raised beds and I have coriander seedlings on the windowsill.

The other raised bed has strawberries, brocolli and spring onions, all doing well for now.

Also got chilli seedlings on the windowsill. Learnt how to take care of them properly last year so looking forward to a bumper crop this year - we live in eternal hope!

spaceylou

First year doing it so it is all a bit of an experiment. Also trying to only grow stuff that will be okay in pots (can be large) as we are renting and might move in the next year or there abouts.

On the kitchen window sill - gets loads of sun:
Chilli's; radishes (although wondering if it is a little hot for them); mint; coriander; sage and thyme. The mint and thyme both came from my gran's garden - the mint is thriving but the thyme is a bit slow to take off - does anyone have any tips for it - how much water, how much heat etc?

Hope to have some rosemary soon (cutting from mum's garden next weekend) and might try grow some mustard seed and watercress for salads.

In large pots in the garden:
Gooseberry Bush
Rocket
Radishes
Beetroot

This year as I say is a bit of an experiment, seeing what works and what doesn't and hopefully supplementing the stuff we eat a lot of with homegrown rather than supermarket.

Muahahaha

can I ask about growing blueberries and blackberries? I've only a balcony, what size do the plants grow to? Also is there much of a yield ? I've grown strawberries before but not really sure if it was worth the effort given the yield, are blueberries and blackberries similar?

OldMrBrennan83

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Alun

I have two small raised beds but haven't planted them yet .. can't decide what to put in to be honest. It'll probably be some dwarf french beans and some spinach.

Also have the usual herb garden staples ... chives, parsley, rosemary, sage, mint and thyme, and lemon balm.

I planted a lovage plant last year which survived the winter frosts and has popped up again this year, thank goodness.

Dizzyblonde

Muahahaha wrote: »

can I ask about growing blueberries and blackberries? I've only a balcony, what size do the plants grow to? Also is there much of a yield ? I've grown strawberries before but not really sure if it was worth the effort given the yield, are blueberries and blackberries similar?

As far as I know blackberry bushes grow huge so they're probably not suited to a balcony. I have a blueberry bush in a pot on my patio for about 5 years and I get lots of fruit off it, once I remember to put a net on it so the birds don't eat them all. It's really easy to maintain, I just feed it with a liquid tomato food once the fruit appear. They say that if you have two side by side, even in different pots, that you get a lot more than twice the amount of fruit.

Gloomtastic!

Patww79 wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

Not really. I know Rosemary, Sage, Thyme and Parsley grow fine without cover. Buy the pots of herb in the fruit & veg section of your supermarket - they're a fraction of the price of garden centres. Plant them outside and leave them for a bit to grow before you start picking them.

Harvest the stalks (Prune them) in the autumn and freeze them.

Muahahaha

Dizzyblonde wrote: »

As far as I know blackberry bushes grow huge so they're probably not suited to a balcony. I have a blueberry bush in a pot on my patio for about 5 years and I get lots of fruit off it, once I remember to put a net on it so the birds don't eat them all. It's really easy to maintain, I just feed it with a liquid tomato food once the fruit appear. They say that if you have two side by side, even in different pots, that you get a lot more than twice the amount of fruit.

Thanks for that, sounds like its blueberries for me How big is the pot you used, also what month do they tend to yield? And do you have to bring the pot indoors for winter?

Alun

Yes, pretty much anything will grow outside as long as it's not too exposed. The only things that may not fare too well are more delicate herbs like basil or coriander.

Rosemary is pretty much a perennial as is thyme. Sage dies back a bit depending on how bad a winter it was but grows back no problem. Chives die away completely but sprout up every spring again like clockwork. Parsley is a biennial, but is usually a bit of a mess in the second year and goes to seed quickly so it's better to treat it as an annual and root it up and replant afresh each year.

Dizzyblonde

Muahahaha wrote: »

Thanks for that, sounds like its blueberries for me How big is the pot you used, also what month do they tend to yield? And do you have to bring the pot indoors for winter?

I've got it in a cheapo plastic pot, roughly 14 ins/36 cm in diameter. It doesn't need to be taken in for the winter and it yields fruit from July. When you're buying the compost, make sure it's ericaceous compost because that's what blueberries do best in.
I'm pretty sure I bought the plant itself in Aldi for a few euro.

vicwatson

Chives, Parsley, Basil, Tomatoes and Peas, hope to do spuds/carrots next year when I get raised beds going.

Elmpark

Got an allottment last year, so this is the first season with it all set up. Put in raised beds and have bits and pieces planted - cabbage, turnips, broccoli, artichokes (for next year), strawbs, beets, broad beans. a few spuds in pots.

unkel

A few bits and bobs. Several herbs, some veg. I use a lot of basil, coriander and the chili plants do very well in my hot conservatory. My main joy has been my single black grape plant, producing well over 3kg of grapes both last year and the year before. Bring on another good and hot summer!