The vegetable garden 2023

T’was only the skin that was purple Jan, just white inside… :slightly_smiling_face:

Ah I see. Never cooked one.

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I thought I would take a photo of the bunches of Grapes before the storm hits today , Ive had to thin a lot of the green rambling stems away as the support kept falling over in each storm we had because of the weight …


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Surprised to see them growing outside @Eliza , I always thought they were greenhouse plants… :thinking:

this is an outside , there was a greenhouse one which was the black grape , but that too was a prolific grower and so I had to out it , to give me room for my annuals ,
Hubby saw one growing up the road from us a Green one and that set him off , the fruit was left on so not sure if they are Sweet .Its taken 4 year to produce fruit , Ive 6 bunches on , lost 3 more when I had to lighten the load .

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Yes I’ve heard that they can be tempremental and a lot of work to maintain so I’ve never bothered with them, but here’s hoping your remaining grapes are finally worth the effort… :crossed_fingers:

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Just back from an hour’s work on my plot. Took my strimmer as I met Graham from the other half and he told me my weeds were growing strong. Heh heh. So I went prepared. Also did a bit of hand weeding inside the pallet collars and found…something to harvest! A couple of bean pods, and a fair sized beetroot. However, I seem to have lost a couple of the pods, unless they fell out when leaving the site or are in the car. Will upload a photo shortly from the phone.

But the good news is, the jungle next door now has tenants. A young couple with two children. The lady stood looking around in disbelief, only her husband having seen it before. She was right when she said they had their work cut out.

I am looking forward to all those weeds going, and hopefully some of the vine choking the back parts. He reckons he could get his hands on a petrol strimmer but did comment when seeing mine that is what he needs.

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My babies. (And Graham gave me a large courgette, so will cook some for lunch).

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Bon appetit … :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes:

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I picked all of the French beans yesterday and popped them in the freezer. I’ve never had much luck with freezing veg but I thought that I’d give it another go.

Picked some runner beans earlier for today’s lunch but there will soon be too many to cope with ourselves, so as usual our family and neighbours look like being beneficiaries, which is always another pleasure that comes from gardening… :slightly_smiling_face:

As I said a few days ago, the runner beans are really going for it now that they have been well watered by all the rain, in fact enough to feed half of the street… :grinning:

The onions have swelled nicely too thanks to the rain, so I will pull them in a few day’s time and get them dried out ready to store.

The Aisla Craig tomatoes are finally starting to take on some colour, although the cherry plum tomatoes have been turning for the last couple of weeks and are delicious.

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Looking wonderful, Barry. If it stops raining here I might get back to mine, see what’s going on.

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Managed a good stint there this morning, but was interrupted by the kindly but a bit over bearing neighbour! She replanted my tomatoes, using pots she’d got, sluiced some manure tea in, brought some flowers to add to the bed, to aid pollination. She then got my fork and dug up several deep rooted weeds. I pottered about beside her but had already done a lot of digging and weeding before her arrival.

She also pulled up weeds surrounding my fruit canes. I know it needed doing but heavens above, I can’t do it all at once! I was grateful for her help though and said so. Also commented that it is nice to have someone to talk to occasionally.

I understand that soon she will have, to pass on to me, more raspberry canes, and strawberry runners. :+1::+1:

I tried pulling up one deep weed but have left the hole covered up. I had run out of battery by then!

She did give good advice, about planting anything where there is free space, to prevent the need for constant weeding, and try to establish proper beds next year. Told her I am waiting for more pallet collars (out of stock, apparently).

Again I have made room for my plastic greenhouse but I will assemble that another day, and will try to make room beside that for a shed.

Phew, I’m worn out just reading that Jan, sounds like you’ve had a good day and found a useful friend!

I’ve been harvesting today, kohlrabi and beetroot which I will store in the garage until needed, and loads of runner beans, some of which I am going to try freezing. I tried before but wasn’t too successful, but it seems a shame not to try to save a few for the winter as there are so many just now.

Oh, and I weeded the fruit garden first thing, and I’ve also pulled the onions up and left them on the soil to dry a little in the sun before storing those in the garage too. :slightly_smiling_face:

I’m still sitting here, catching my breath, waiting to have a shower. Best do it soon, otherwise I won’t want to do it. Feeling so tired, as I did work hard.

Seems you have done well, too.

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Blueberries from the allotment. This the third picking with more to come…

Nice berries Mart, my two bushes were replaced over the winter and have fruited OK, but have nearly finished now with just a few stragglers left to pick when they ripen. :slightly_smiling_face:

Here are my tomatoes again and also the window boxes installed in May/June full of blooming begonias, petunias and gerbera


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Also have some promising courgette and potato plants in pots at the side of the house.

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Tomatoes are looking good Annie but there seems to be a lot of foliage, do you take out the side shoots on the plants or just let them bush? :thinking: