Growing Your Own Food

[stonemaybe]

Anyone else do this? I started this year and it has grown (sorry...!) into a bit of an obsession!

I started by planting a load of Chilli seeds in early March. Kept them on a sunny windowsill inside until May then took the sturdiest-looking 3 plants and planted outside in May. The seedlings kept coming so I transferred another three late June. First crop is growing nicely



Planted two (why only 2? I'm kicking myself now!) courgette (zucchini) seeds in March and again kept them on a sunny windowsill inside until May before transferring outside. They got blackfly infestations in June. I tried a spray of 50/50 soapy water and vegetable oil on one. it was dead when I got back from 6 days away in late June . So I'm tweezering them off the other plant, which seems to be thriving. Third crop growing nicely.



I read online that a good way to attract ladybirds (to eat the blackfly) is by planting dill and fennel. So I bought 2 dill seedlings and one fennel late June - they were about 3 inches tall. Wow they've grown fast in three weeks! (They're up to my waist now but only found one ladybird on them so far which was transferred for a nice snack to the courgette plant)


(from the left, that's dill, chillis, fennel, courgette, dill)

[stonemaybe]

Inspired by Vader, I also planted 2 gooseberry bushes this year. Three months on and they're doing good.



(Vader if you're reading did you plant yours or inherit them? Did you tie up shoots when they were young, so they grow up rather than out? Do you prune them in winter?)

And finally, spent about a month digging out a load of shrubs and a small tree from the corner of front garden and planted a Victoria plum tree. Seems to be doing well a month later...

[aliantha]

<ali wishes she had a balcony again>

[Vader]

That's looking good, stoney. I'm particularely interested in the chilis. I haven't tried planting those yet.

The gooseberry bush was already there and full grown when we bought the house in 2007.

[stonemaybe]

The chillis were a £1 pack so who knows what they'll taste like but next year I intend hunting out some seeds for jalapenos and a few other varieties. I haven't put a pic on of the original 3 I planted out. The close-up pic of the crop is from the middle sized one. They grew really easily but I was getting worried they weren't fruiting...until this week The largest one is about 70cm tall now and quite wide too the fruit on it is just starting to peak out.

Have you anything other than the gooseberries Vader?

[Vader]

If it comes to fruit I have sweet cherry tree, a plum tree (damson), three apple trees, a red and a black current bush, strawberies and lately raspberries.

As far as vegetables go I just have tomatoes, carrots, haricots and bell pepper in my garden this year.

Herbs I have the following: rosemary, thyme (different kinds), a big bay tree, lavender, lovage, mint, peppermint, vietnamese mint, tarragon, basil, lemon balm, woodruff, chervill, parsley (both flat and curly), chives and cilantro (the latter obviously being the favorite dish of the local slugs). I prolly missed some.

[stonemaybe]

If it comes to fruit I have sweet cherry tree, a plum tree (damson), three apple trees, a red and a black current bush, strawberies and lately raspberries.

As far as vegetables go I just have tomatoes, carrots, haricots and bell pepper in my garden this year.

Herbs I have the following: rosemary, thyme (different kinds), a big bay tree, lavender, lovage, mint, peppermint, vietnamese mint, tarragon, basil, lemon balm, woodruff, chervill, parsley (both flat and curly), chives and cilantro (the latter obviously being the favorite dish of the local slugs). I prolly missed some.

Get the camera out then!

I caught all my slugs before putting the plants out - beer trap did the trick!

[Linna Heartbooger]

We've got a couple rather disappointing tomato and swiss chard plants this year. Had some broccolis, but I think they all died.

But a nice mint patch for tea, always.

My hubby and kid did all the gardening. Hmmm, I don't think this'll make it as far as pictures, though.

Beer trap for slugs... hah.

[DoctorGamgee]

You have a great start, Stonemaybe. My climate is different than yours and Vader's I imagine, so my plants will be different, but except for roses, I only plant things that I can eat.

Currently, I have limes and figs on the trees. We had a cold snap in February which burned my Avocado tree, so that won't give fruit for another year or so, but I have four Pomegranates in the back yard.

With the desert climate we have here, I have gotten several different species of Bananas in, so next year I should be good to go. I am especially hopeful for the ones called "Praying hands" as they have a slightly vanilla flavor when ripe, and grow differently than other bananas. And as citrus grows well here (if you water them) I have an orange and lemon tree started.

When I moved into my house a few years ago, I had nothing in the back yard except dirt and rocks. Now, with the sprinkler system in, I have all the above. I am somewhat jealous of your cool weather that allows Cherries...mine were planted one year, and by July, they were nothing but dead twigs. Last week we were at 111°, so we are too hot for many things that need cold (apples, cherries) and have a yearly cold snap that is too much for the heat lovers (Avocado, Citrus).

This year, my big experiment is kiwi. I have a male and female that are partly shaded by jasmine that has kept them alive all summer, where the exposed ones died last, so within a year or two, I will see what comes of them.

I also have a Rosemary bush that is eating my yard, and two types of mint (regular and pineapple) that are staying alive.

Best of luck to you with the Chilis. We eat a LOT of those here. I'll bet they will be enjoyed!

Dr.G

[stonemaybe]

Linna Heartlistener wrote:

Beer trap for slugs... hah.

Honestly! Beer is irresistible to slugs - so if you make it so that they have to fall into it (unlike pic below) to get a drink, they drown. I would recommend using cheap beer that you don't like, it's less...wrenching ...that way!



Thanks for your words of support, DoctorGamgee. I suspect however, that it's not warm enough here for my chilis to develop enough to get spicy, though they are growing good. Pics will follow once my camera batteries have recharged enough to connect to PC.

[Vraith]

I've been living 2 places last bit over a year, so don't grow any now.
I have raspberry and stawberry...but would have to give up a lot of yard to get much from them.
Used to have an amazingly prolific peach tree, but it got a fungus that would have killed all my other trees, so down it came.
I grew, when living only one place, 3 kinds of sage, lemon balm, dill, catnip for the pets, garlic, tomatoes, scallions...some other herbs sometimes.
I have a pear tree, but all the lower branches were cut off, so the squirrels get most of the pears before they're ripe [they eat from the stem end, so most of the fruit falls and rots]
I have 2 quince...but haven't made anything with them cuz it's a pain in the butt to deal with them...do have lovely blooms, though.

[stonemaybe]

I have 2 quince...but haven't made anything with them cuz it's a pain in the butt to deal with them...do have lovely blooms, though.

Oh wow! A month ago that would've meant nothing to me. But my sister gave us some quince jam and chutney she'd made from the fruits of her tree (she lives in France). It is delicious! A really unusual taste - the jam tastes like it has a spicy honey stirred through it. mmmmmmmm

Still don't know what a quince looks like *off to google*

edit - i think what we call jam, most of you call 'jelly'

[DoctorGamgee]

If you want them to be spicier, leave them on the vine until they start to turn from Green to red.

[stonemaybe]

'start' being the main word I think! Yes I intend to do this. Luckily my missus is Korean so she's got no problem munching on a raw, unknown chili to gauge it's Scoville level! (I'll never forget watching her young nieces - 11yo?- dipping raw HOT chilis into chili paste and eating them like sweeties)

Five days after initial post, the chilis have tripled in length and two of the other plants have started to fruit


The courgettes are fattening up lovely too (previous harvests have been thumb-skinny)

[Vraith]

edit - i think what we call jam, most of you call 'jelly'

Generally [though I don't know if this is "technically" accurate] jelly has no fruit bits/pieces in it, and jam does, in American usage.

The quince has the sweetness...it could well be honey in the batch you had...because it is almost inedible without cooking, and for most peeps even cooking isn't enough without something sweet in the brew.

The seeds also have to be removed before doing anything...potentially toxic, though my understanding is it would have to be quite a large dose.

[stonemaybe]

Vraith wrote:

The quince has the sweetness...it could well be honey in the batch you had...because it is almost inedible without cooking, and for most peeps even cooking isn't enough without something sweet in the brew.

Big sis makes it with brown sugar, but the taste is pure honey!

As for seeds...from what I remember, they just crush the whole quinces. I might get clarification on that though....

[drew]

This year, I planted Potatoes, Corn, green beans, Lettuce, Carrots, onions, peas and zuccinni.

The potatoes are growing great!! About fifteen plants; all looking to be full of the little guys under ground.
The corn, didn't really like my soil, its growing but not well.
The beans, I used an old native american trick, and planted with the corn...the idea is that they grow up the corn stalk...only too well...the local bunnies really liked them

The carrots are coming in like nobodies business...and the zuccini even better!!
Strangely, the peas haven't done a damn thing. Neither did the onions, but I planted them late on a whim.

[stonemaybe]

A courgette/zuccini question:

After growing about 2inches long, they started getting a bit soft at the (growing) end so I harvested them. There was a grey mould growing on the growing end which I assume caused the softness and stopped them growing longer. Anything I can do? (Other than chop off the affected bit and eat them, which I did)

Herbs making pretty pictures.....

Fennel


Dill


And the chillis

[stonemaybe]

Today I have been pretending to be a bee

Looking online, I've narrowed my courgette problem down to two possible causes - mosaic virus (most likely) or a lack of pollination.

[Ananda]

We (should say I) grow peppers every year. This year, we have six jalapeno plants ans six serranos. Well, the weather is not even pretending to be warm anymore, so I've picked all the peppers already. It was a terrible summer this year, too. We had temps in the teens pretty often with some in the lower 20s. Like you, I started ours from seed in march and moved them outside in may. Even in southern sweden, wehave a very short window for this type of hot weather plant.

Still, we got about 80 peppers. They are really mild due to the low temps and all the rain, though. I dry about half and freeze the rest whole and use them throughout the year.