iGrowVeg.com

New Posts on iGrowVeg.com include:

• What’s in my Compost Bin This week?
• Carrots Steer the way with new vegetable based racing car,
• 8 Reasons to Start Growing Vegetables Now!

Moving Instructions

Email Subscriptions
If you are reading this post through an email subscription, just sit back and relax, you don’t need to do anything as you will automatically start receiving emails from tracey at igrowveg.com when I post something new on my blog.

RSS Feeds
If you have been currently viewing RSS Feed: http://feeds2.feedburner.com/TodayIWillMostlyBeGrowing or http://mostlyiwillbegrowing.wordpress.com/feed/ Both of these old feeds will stop and be re-directed to http://feeds2.feedburner.com/iGrowVeg – Please update your RSS Feed to my new address.

Fellow Bloggers
If you have linked my blog on your Blogroll or on a post in your blog, please can I kindly ask for you to update the link to http://igrowveg.com/

Bookmarks
Please update your bookmarks and favorites to iGrowVeg.com

Newsletter
My iGrowVeg.com Newsletter is up and running and bursting with news, featured articles, monthly roundup of blog posts, tips and more. To Sign-Up click here and enter your details into the ‘Sign up to my iGrowVeg Newsletter’ on the right hand side of the page.

See you all there!
Thanks
Tracey

Join me on my voyage of veg discovery at iGrowVeg.com

Bambino, Orla & Cara Potatoes

Apologies for not posting any news for sometime, I am in the progress of upgrading my blog and its taking a little longer than expected. So here’s a few catch up posts of what going on in my Vegetable Plot at the moment.

Potatoes

Four weeks ago I planted my Bambino and Orla Potato tubers in pots. This week the foliage has started to appear above the soil in the pots which were filled one third full of soil.

I have decided to grow the following varieties this year:

Bambino – Organic Salad Potato
It is a light and creamy but less waxy variety to other new potatoes. It has good resistance to tuber and foliage blight and scab.

Orla – Organic 1st Early
A reliable 1st early with good disease resistance to blight and scab. It is oval with white skin and creamy flesh.

Cara – Organic Late Maincrop
Cara is a soft, robust and waxy potato suitable for baking and roasting. It has a good resistance to eelworm, drought and blight. It is an oval variety with creamy flesh and pink eyes.

Cara will be planted out into pots this weekend.

Bambino and Orla in pots

————————————————————————————————-

This post has now moved to my new site iGrowVeg.com.
Please view the new post on the link below:

• Growing New Potatoes in Pots

Lettuce in wooden seed trays

One of my new year resolutions was to have Slug-Free Lettuce. For the past two years every time I try to grow lettuce in my plots, slugs from miles around arrive to munch on it. So I have given up with trying to grow it on my plots but definitely not given up on growing lettuce.

Here’s my solution – grow it in seed trays in the mini greenhouse and so far so good.

I decided to buy some wooden seed trays so they would look nice in the mini greenhouse. They do until they come into contact with water and heat and then the bottom slightly buckles a bit, but there are still holding the soil and seedlings so I’m not complaining and most importantly it has been a slug free zone.

Here’s the varieties of Loose Leaf Lettuce I am growing:-

Lettuce – Belize
A green oakleaf type with bright and slightly bubbled leaves. It is resistant to aphids, mildew and bolting.

Lettuce – Oakleaf
A dark green leaf tinged with red to bring a bit of brightness to my salad. Large lobbed leaves and is resistant to bolting.

Lettuce – Salad Bowl
A curly edged bright green leaf, a popular choice.

Other Posts on Topics – Slugs and Lettuce:

• Summer Lettuce (Balmoral) 2008 – 13 weeks then eaten by slugs!
• Summer Lettuce (Tin Tin) 2007.
• Pest Control – Slugs and Snails

————————————————————————————————-

This post has now moved to my new site iGrowVeg.com.
Please view the new post on the link below:

• Growing Slug-Free Lettuce

Cabbages Plot 15.04.09

Just when you think everything is going swimmingly and you’ve been waiting all winter for some tasty spring cabbage leaves, this happens!

Bolting
Bolting is where the plant puts on a sudden spurt of growth too quickly and uses up all its energy, then flowers and seeds. It will stop growing as it has completed its life cycle.

Why does bolting occur?
Flowering plants like cabbage, lettuce or spinach have a photoreceptor protein which is sensitive to seasonal changes or hours of darkness. These long day plants require fewer number of hours darkness within a day to set flower. A cold spell of weather can also assist with bolting.

Bolted Cabbage 18.04.09

I have picked off the leaves of the cabbage plants for the kitchen and thrown the rest of the plant in the compost bin.

One of my plots will be empty for a while until the next lot of cabbages (Minicole F1) grow, so I will be sowing a ‘catch crop’ (a fast growing crop grown in between other slower growing crops) of radishes, small chanteny carrots and leaf beat, so the area doesn’t go to waste.

————————————————————————————————-

This post has now moved to my new site iGrowVeg.com.
Please view the new post on the link below:

• Spring Cabbages have Bolted!

After 2 years of vegetable growing I have only ever added compost to my plots and I’m sure I need to add some organic fertilizer to replenish the nutrients in the soil.

So its down the Garden Centre, sidestepping new plants for the garden and straight onto the fertilizer section. The huge stack of orange boxes of Organic Chicken Manure Pellets is glowing, its a bargain alert – buy 1 box get one free, excellent just what I wanted. Now what do I do with it?

Organic Chicken Manure Pellets
These are compressed composted chicken manure rich in nutrients and organic matter. This type of fertilizer can be applied to vegetable plots and borders from February to October by scattering the pellets onto moist soil and forking them in.

It can boost areas where greedy crops have previously removed trace nutrients. It improves the soil by making it moisture retentive and by adding organic matter to the soils structure. Apply to the soil 1-2 weeks before planting out seedlings as it may burn them or add to the soil around winter cabbages, broccoli etc for an added nitrogen boost. Please check your box or tub for recommended applications.

Next Week I Will Mostly Be:
- Buying and using Nemotodes (before this years slugs hatch – hopefully),
- Sowing seeds in the mini greenhouse,
- Checking on my chitting Potatoes.
- Updating My Compost Bin contents list and photos.

————————————————————————————————-

This post has now moved to my new site iGrowVeg.com.
Please view the new post on the link below:

• Spring Chicken Fertilizer Pellets

I have succeeded in achieving one of my new years resolutions in buying a cheap compost bin so I have setup a separate page on my blog dedicated to my quest for the finest and richest of all the mucks!

If you cannot contain your excitement, please head on over to the ‘Compost Bin‘ to find out how to setup your own compost bin, what to add and more about my project.

For the past two years on my vegetable plot, I have never quite got around to sorting out a compost bin. This is why I urge you to setup your own compost bin as think how much compost I could have made in 2 years! Go for it this year, setup your own compost bin and you could be saving money and recycling your kitchen and garden waste which is good for the environment and your wallet!

Kitchen and Garden waste = Free compost, that sounds like a great credit crunch idea to me.

Where do we start?

1. Introduction to my Compost Bin
2. How to build your own wooden compost bin.
3. Buying your own compost bin.
4. What can I put into my Compost Bin?
5. My Compost Watch Project – updated every week with photos and contents.

————————————————————————————————-

This post has now moved to my new site iGrowVeg.com.
Please view the new post on the link below:

• Compost Watch 2009

So here goes (click on the pictures to enlarge them):-

Plot 1 Broad Beans and Peas

Plot 2 – Carrots and Onions

Plot 3 – Cabbages

Everything seems to be growing strongly thanks to my homemade fleece cloches – click here if you would like to know how to make your own small fleece cloche.

All my vegetables have survived the winter frosts unlike my poor frost bitten mallow (lavatera) shrub in the plant border.

New Blog Pages for 2009

I have had a bit of a spring clean with my blog and added some new information to the pages. I have setup 3 individual pages for each plot this year to record my sowing and harvest dates with slideshows:

• Plot 1 – Beans and Peas,
• Plot 2 – Roots and Onions,
• Plot 3 – Brassicas.

My About Me page now has details about my vegetable plot and a picture of all three plots.

————————————————————————————————-

This post has now moved to my new site iGrowVeg.com.
Please view the new post on the link below:

• Veggy Plot Pictures and Pages Updated 17.01.09

I like the festive period off work because I always have enough time to sit down and plan what vegetables I’m going to grow in the next year and actually purchase the seeds online. I also can plough through the seed company catalogues and try and choose the best varieties for my vegetable plot.

I have also been looking at my plot and areas to improve on. I have reviewed the on/off haphazard cloche system of enviromesh held up with bamboo canes and then last year I tried to upgrade it to build-a-ball to make a cube cloche over the beds but that was a disaster as well. So this year I’m hoping for third time lucky and decided to do a ‘Geoff Hamilton’ special cloche and build it myself from 2 x 2 timber, water pipe and enviromesh covering, so watch this space for news of that project coming soon. To wet your appetite for this project, here’s a garden blogger who has already had ago at this method.

My New Years Resolutions for my vegetable plot are:

1. Buy a cheap compost bin.

I have been growing veg for 2 years now and in that time I keep thinking I could have a good supply of lovely homemade compost out of my garden and kitchen waste, so this year I’m actually going to do something useful with this waste!

2. Buy a water tank/butt.

Again for the last couple of years, I have seen hundreds of litres of rainwater pour off our workshop roof and make muddy puddles on our pathway for me to try and avoid them when maintaining my plot. This year we are going to put up guttering and a downpipe to fill up the water tank so I can water the garden and vegetable plots and not waste our money from using tap water from the water meter.

3. Remember to add Nemotodes to the plot in March before the new ground slugs hatch for the season and they eat my veg.
4. Come to terms with the fact that I cannot grow lettuce in my plots (because of the slugs) and grow it in planters instead.
5. Grow a new vegetable that I have never tasted before – this year it will be Kohl Rabi and Sweet Fennel.

Here’s my Seed List of what I’m going to grow this year:-
Plot 1

• French Climbing Bean – Cobra. Sow April – June, Harvest June to Aug,
• Runner Beans – Scarlet Emperor. Sow April / May, Harvest July – Sept,
• Runner Beans – White Embargo. Sow April / May, Harvest July – Sept,
• Pea – Cavalier. Sow Apr – July, Harvest June – Sept,

Plot 2

• Carrot – Nantes 2. Sow Feb – June, Harvest June – Oct,
• Carrot – Napoli F1. Sow Feb – June, Harvest June – Oct,
• Carrot – Chantenay. Sow March – June, Sow June – Oct,
• Carrot – Flakkee. Sow April – July, Harvest May – Oct,
• Carrot – Eskimo. Sow April – June, Harvest Nov – Jan,
• Swede – Helenor. Sow April – June, Harvest Oct to Feb,
• Fennel – Romanesco. Sow May – July, Harvest June – Nov,
• Kohl Rabi – Olivia. Sow April – June, Harvest June – Sept,

Plot 3

• Perpetutal Spinach – Leaf Beat. Sow April – July, Harvest July – Dec,
• Broccoli – Veronica F1. Sow April / May, Harvest July – Sept,
• Kale – Cavolo Nero. Sow April – May, Harvest Sept – Jan,
• Kale – Dwarf Green Curled. Sow April – May, Harvest Nov to April,
• Cabbage – Minicole F1. Sow March – April, Harvest Aug – Oct,
• Cabbage – Christmas Drumhead. Sow May – June, Harvest Oct – Dec,
• Cabbage – Vertus Savoy. Sow May – June, Harvest Dec – Feb,
• Spring Greens – Greensleeves. Sow July – Aug, Harvest Oct – April,
• Pak Choi – Canton Dwarf. Sow June – August, Harvest Oct – Nov,

Seeds to be sown in Planters/Pots

• Salad Leaves – Baby Leaf Salad Mix, Sow March – Sept, Harvest May – Nov,
• Salad Leaves – Finest Salad Mix. Sow March – Sept, Harvest May – Nov,
• Salad Leaves – Salad Bowl. Sow March – Sept, Harvest May – Nov,
• Leek – Siegfried (Giant). Sow March – April, Harvest Oct – March,
• Leek – Pandora. Sow March – April, Harvest Sept – Jan,
• Radish – Scarlet Globe. Sow March- June, Harvest June- Aug,
• Mange Tout – Ezethas Krombek Blauwschok, Sow March – April, H. June – Aug,
• Dwarf Beans – Tendergreen. Sow April / May, Harvest June – Oct,
• Dwarf Beans – Major yellow. Sow April / May, Harvest June – Oct.
• Potato – 2 Types – To Be Decided.

Please click on the below PDF documents to view my Plot Plans for 2009 (they can also be found on my Master Plan Page):

Plot 1 – Beans & Peas,
Plot 2 – Roots and Onions,
Plot 3 – Brassicas.

————————————————————————————————-

This post has now moved to my new site iGrowVeg.com.
Please view the new post on the link below:

• Happy New Year and Master Plot Plan for 2009

Plot 1
Last year this plot had roots and salads in it, this year I have rotated my crops so that legumes are going to be grown here instead.

1. Broad Bean ‘Super Aquadulce’ (2 rows and 3 rows spare to sow in Nov) Sow Oct – Feb, Harvest June to July. Bought from Garden Organic.
2. Pea ‘Meteor’ (2 rows) Sow Oct to Nov, Harvest June to July. Bought from Garden Organic.
3. Parsnip ‘Countess F1′ (1 row) ready for harvest now to Nov from a sowing in February.

Tip for covering peas and beans:
I cover my peas and broad beans over-winter to protect them from the frost with enviromesh and horticultural fleece if snow is forecasted. I remove all covers in spring when flowers are forming so they can be pollinated by flying insects.

Plot 2
Last year this plot had brassicas in it, this year I have rotated my crops so that roots and onions are going to be grown here instead.

1. Carrot ‘Nantes Frubund’ (1 row and 3 spare to sow in succession) – Sow Feb to October, Harvest April to November. Bought from Gardens4less.
2. Onion Set ‘Red Cross’ (3 rows) – Plant Oct to Nov, Harvest June to July. Bought from Marshalls Seed.
3. Spring Onion ‘Hardy White Lisbon’ (2 rows) – Sow June to Oct, Harvest July – Dec. Bought from Garden Organic.

Onion Set Planting Tip:
I planted my Onion sets out in a mound with just the tips showing, spaced about a hand width apart in the row. This was recommended by an allotmenteer at Joe’s Allotment on Gardener’s World. He said this was better for drainage and sun exposure. Pea sticks or canes have been placed over the bed to protect from birds and cats.

Click here to see Friday 10th Oct Episode of Gardeners World on BBC iPlayer.

Plot 3
Last year this plot had beans and peas in it, this year I have rotated my crops so that brassicas are going to be grown here instead.

1. Cabbage ‘Greyhound’ plants – Plant Oct, Harvest April to May. Bought from Ebay.
2. Chinese Cabbage ‘Tatsoi’ ( 2 small rows) – Sow July to October, Harvest Sept to Dec. Bought from Garden Organic.

Tip on planting out cabbages:
Dig a small hole with a trowel, water the hole well, firm in plants with fingers and then firm in with heel of your foot. Cabbages require firm ground to grow in to support their stems and leaves.

And finally I harvested the last of the french beans and some parsnips for tea.

————————————————————————————————-

This post has now moved to my new site iGrowVeg.com.
Please view the new post on the link below:

• Sowing Now – Broad Beans, Peas, Carrots, Onion Sets and Spring Cabbages

Unfortunately since my last post, my cabbages finally succumbed to the caterpillars so my brassica bed is now bare and I left all my plots to their own devises whilst going away on my hols to Canada.

So whilst I have been away my veggy plot has fended for itself very well with my runner, climbing and borlotto beans sown on 18th July 2008 now ready for harvesting in their droves which is fantastic.

My carrots (amsterdam forcing, james scarlet and autumn king) sown on 1st June 2008 are also now ready for harvesting.

Parsnips
I couldn’t help myself and had to pull up a parsnip to see how big they were, not a bad size either, can’t wait until October when I can dig up the rest.

Potatoes
I still have 2 big pots of Picasso Potatoes left to dig up as and when I need them.

Seeds and Sets to be purchased now to be sown/planted between October and December are:

1. Broad Bean seeds – Over-wintering varieties include: Super Aquadulce (organic) (from The Organic Garden catalogue), The Sutton (dwarf plant) and Aquadulce Claudia.
2. Pea seeds – Over-wintering varieties include: Meteor (from The Organic Garden catalogue), Douce Provence (organic), Feltham First and Pilot.
3. Onion ‘Red Cross’ and ‘Radar’ sets (from Marshalls Seeds)
4. Note to self – Look into buying crop fleece for the frosty season soon.

————————————————————————————————-

This post has now moved to my new site iGrowVeg.com.
Please view the new post on the link below:

• Bumper September Harvest