I´m getting down to some planning as with the flu I´m a bit limited and at last today my brain appears to be working again! I´m doing lots of onions and garlic, lettuce, chinese cabbage, I´m giving cauliflours a go again, never had success (although I think the chickens have eaten the 6 I planted ). I have 6 romanesco that can go in to replace if need be (and I´ll cover them!). Beetroot, radishes, spring onions (again weirdly never had success with these!), butternut, yellow and green courgettes, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, beans and maybe peas, chillies, corn, swiss chard, bok choy. Just trying to fit it all in on the plan (I have a subscription to the growveg planner).
Last year I tried chick peas and they were a disaster, I think it may have been the very wet spring and cold September, but shan´t bother again! What I´d really like to try this year is quinoa, it´s GF for hubby and lower in carbs than other things for me and is expensive in the shops. Has anyone tried growing it? If so any ideas where you can buy the seeds? I´ve been looking but can´t find any!
Oh and for my birthday yesterday I got a seedling starter heat mat so I´m looking forward to trying that! I need to look up the do´s and don´ts of using that and when I can get started! Any hints welcome if you use one.
I had great success with kallettes last year. They are a cross between Brussel Sprouts which I can’t seem to grow and Kale which I find tough. Superb nutty flavour.
We had great success with them the previous year but last year was a washout for them. No idea why except the weather was different I suppose. Normally we have a lovely crop of spinach beet, which we use a great deal throughout the winter and they all failed too. Lovely crops of Cavalo Nero and Russian kale though.
I had an appointment with an ophtalmologist this morning who specialises in the treatment to delay the onset of macular degeneration and he was encouraging me to carry on eating lots of dark leafy greens (and fish). I can, at least, produce the leaves at home
Happy birthday @toryroo - 21 this year? Hope you recover from the flu soon
We only grow tomatoes - we’ve given up with growing other veg. Previously we did try potatoes but the crop wasn’t worth all the effort we put into it, so we concentrate our growing plans for plants and flowers.
@Mik_Bennett - At the local farms around the area we lived in the UK, they grew kale for animal feed. But I think is has been refined for human consumption now. It is supposedly a superfood but not to our liking.
There are an awful lot of varieties of kale. The grey crinkly stuff we used to see in our local UK supermarket was absolutely disgusting. Definitely animal feed. Russian kale, for example, is lovely in salads when young and is really tender and delicious cooked when older. Dwarf green curly kale similarly. Cavalo Nero is definitely more robust and not to everyone’s taste but we like it in certain dishes.
PS Happy (belated) birthday @toryroo . We’re hoping to pass by and see you sometime soon - if the garden permits of course!)
Thank you, not my favourite birthday ever, I ended up in tears in the evening as I felt so rotten ! Made up for it last night with a nice dinner of duck, potatoes snd veg:smiling_face_with_three_hearts:
You know you are always welcome! When are you thinking?
Being ill has been great, I added everything to my growveg planner and printed off my planting list, surprised how much stuff I can get started from now!
not quite a potager but I’m planning on growing long-flowering herbs in my planters… to help the bees and other insects.
A sort of environmentally-friendly wall across the front of our house.
any suggestions (annuals and/or perennials) will be gratefully received.
). I have 6 romanesco that can go in to replace if need be (and I´ll cover them!). Beetroot, radishes, spring onions (again weirdly never had success with these!), butternut, yellow and green courgettes, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, beans and maybe peas, chillies, corn, swiss chard, bok choy. Just trying to fit it all in on the plan (I have a subscription to the growveg planner).
but I’m planning on growing long-flowering herbs in my planters… to help the bees and other insects.