How can I find my old pictures?

[chickencam]

We have bought in tomato plants this year from a good local nursery which has lovely sturdy plants. I have planted them straight into their permanent bottomless pots in the greenhouse because they were quite big. The ones which we have had for a couple of weeks are also growing really well with all of the sun that we have had.

Potatoes, carrots and broad beans are now in and we have done loads in the garden at home too, planted loads of new perennials and it is really starting to come together. If anyone has a Morrisons locally they have got very cheap bedding plants at the moment and quite a lot of other cheap plants.

[Daphne]

Well, we arrived back in Portugal a fortnight ago to rampant rampantness gone mad

 

Apparently the winter/spring have been warm, with little rain but some humidity. So much for me having to turnover the veg beds, I can't even see the veg beds, or the main path down the garden, or various bushes I planted last year. It was beautiful, like a wild meadow/prairie, but really we can't leave 1/3 acre full of 3-4ft high flowers, they have choked everything, added to which if they all seed we won't be able to move for plant matter! Its taken OH hours of strimming (he had to buy a new one) and still we have only tackled half the space as we leaving some for the bees. I have dug a couple of beds, and will tackle 2 more after today's rain has made the soil more workable and loosened the roots of the flowers.

 

I can see the peach/citrus/cherries are bursting with fruit and flower. The olives are covered in blossom buds too. The fig has 1,000 figs on it (honest!), more fruit than leaf. Its just crazy. A peach and a nectarine I planted last year both have fruit on them. The only plant which has not thrived are the plums, they are all leaf and no fruit. Oh, and the apple tree which was poisoned last year has still got some deadwood, and the rest of the tree has leaf but no fruit. Its neighbour is healthy and full of blossom, so I will give it a couple more years to see if it recovers more. The only good thing is that it was the least good tree, so its perhaps not a disaster. I have also noticed that a pear, has also been cut back over the years, and not by us, but for the first time ever, it is also bearing a lot of fruit - I had thought it was on its way out.

 

I will buy some tomato, lettuce and pepper plugs as per usual, and I have sown some sweetcorn and artichokes, which I want for the decoration as much as the crop. Once I have cleared another bed I want to grow dwarf beans as well. The herbs are fantastic, the woody herbs are tender, and as we don't get frosts they won't suffer. The garlic has all come up and looks healthy (well it did before OH strimmed it!) so I hope to pull some quite soon.

 

I have one patch in the garden with extremely light soil. I plan to try to enrich it in the autumn, but in the meantime do you think I could try sowing carrots?

[sjp]

the apple will take a year or two to fruit properly again you need to check weather it's a tip or spur barer in terms of fruiting as it'll affect how you prune it spur is the easier to prune

plums will take 2 or 3 years to start to flower and the same again before you get a descent crop. plums also flower earlier and shorter than most other fruiting trees so can miss out been pollinated if the weather is not good for the bees to be out working

[Daphne]

Yesterday I planted out my tomato plugs, they are the Portuguese equivalent of Beefheart toms, and a Portuguese variety called Apple! Goodness knows what they are like.

 

However, whilst planting out my dozen lettuces, I dug up a skink, which looks like a snake

 

I am not frightened of snakes, but I was unpleasantly surprised

[Alis girls]

Pardon my ignorance but what's a skink? Or is it a misper?

[mullethunter]

I think it's a reptile? A fat lizardy type thing?

[sjp]

the 2nd sowing of sweetcorn is germinating 14 up so far not bad in just 6 or 7 days had a disaster with the onion through lost best part of 80% of the seedlings since I potted them on I think it's either got to hot in the greenhouse or the sun lights been a bit to much

[mullethunter]

Runner bean plants are now in the garden against their poles. Brussels and sprouting broccoli also planted out. Parsnips just poking their heads up.

[LAB]

My peas are growing daily. Spinach is taking off. Little kale and lettuce sprouts. Not sure if the carrots will come up. I might have planted too early! I have watermelon and cantaloupe plants transplanted into 4" pots now. I have some of my tomato plants in bigger pots and some in the 1" seeding trays. They are just putting on their second set of true leaves and it will be hopefully safe to plant out next week. I have them hardening off outside tonight for the second night. My bareroot strawberries and raspberry plants are starting to wake up and have new growth. I have a honeyberry that was delivered looking sad. Its not perking up like I'd like. The other looks great next to it. We'll see if it pulls through! We built new raised beds this year and its been fun trying to get them established. I just finished up the watering drip system. Now I need to figure out how to set the timer so I don't need to manually!

[sjp]

carrots should be OK as long as you haven't had any really cold temps since you sowed them <0 deg C and as long as the soil isn't to wet or dry. mine were sowed 1st of May but I've not checked on them yet today but We're in the middle of the driest April and early May We've had in a while and I'm struggling to keep the pots watered

weather can't be to bad by You if your thinking of planting toms outside in Early May that's a good 6 weeks earlier than I'll plant out them outside the indoor ones might get potted into the 10 inch pots in a couple of weeks time if I've got some of the cabbages planted out

wish I could get melons to grow a fruit big enough to eat or set fruit most years

[LAB]

We had a last hurrah (I hope) snow storm two weekends ago. The carrots were a gamble and I think I lost. I'll go reseed. Our plant outside date is mid May for summer plants, but even that can be iffy. I just feel bad for my neighbors that planted their tomatoes and peppers before the snow storm hit. I planted double the plants that I need, so I'll plant them next week and give away the others the last of May. I did all heirloom tomatoes in a rainbow of colors, so it should be fun! We are doing a Victory Garden of heirloom plants only this year.

[sjp]

We had a last hurrah (I hope) snow storm two weekends ago. The carrots were a gamble and I think I lost. I'll go reseed. Our plant outside date is mid May for summer plants, but even that can be iffy. I just feel bad for my neighbors that planted their tomatoes and peppers before the snow storm hit. I planted double the plants that I need, so I'll plant them next week and give away the others the last of May. I did all heirloom tomatoes in a rainbow of colors, so it should be fun! We are doing a Victory Garden of heirloom plants only this year.

I'm hard hearted I never feel sorry for anyone that plants out early a gets hit by frost when they should know better

a lot on the allotments lost beans and squashes 2 weeks back after we got hit by a frost went down to -1 or 2

one or 2 lost the tops of the spuds but that happens most years We have to plant them out late March early April in case We get early blight

what heirloom tomatoes have you planted it'll be interesting to see how many that A I know - B how many I've grown and C how many I wish I could get in the UK

[LAB]

They didn't know better! They just moved to the area and thought since the stores were selling them that it was time. My 3 year old helpers wanted to plant the carrot seeds so I figured we'd try. I expect them to sprout by now, so we'll reseed.

 

I have Cherokee Purple, Black Krim, Green Zebra, Amish Paste, Rutgers, Sun Sugar Cherry, Yellow Pear, Amana Orange, Chadwick Cherry, Brandywine, Lemon Boy, Sungold, and Kelloggs Breakfast. I think that is all of them! We might have gotten a little excited seeing all the variety available at the farm supply store! I have never tasted many of these before! None are the regular types that we buy at the store except for the grape sized tomato varieties. My kids think they are candy tomatoes! We are experimenting to see what we like and what grows best, but all are varieties that are approved through our extension office for the area.

 

I just realized that I could have planted my bush beans last weekend. I'll plant them with more rainbow carrots!

[LAB]

The carrots must have sensed that I gave up on them. I just went out and where there was bare ground yesterday is now full of little carrot seedlings! They took over a month to germinate! It's been 5 weeks!

[sjp]

Black Krim, Green Zebra, Yellow Pear, Brandywine, Sungold, I've grown theses. Green Zebra is one I've not had much success with when it's germinated it's not produced fruit, I suspect it's a poor strain of seed in the UK

and Kelloggs Breakfast. Amish Paste,Cherokee Purple these I've heard of and have seen in the catalogues in the UK but when I've tried to buy them the seeds been out of stock

Rutgers, Sun Sugar Cherry, Amana Orange, Chadwick Cherry,Lemon Boy these I've not seen in the UK

[LAB]

The Amish paste looks like a Roma with a more pronounced pointed end. I hope that my Green Zebra fruits. I've never seen one before and want to taste it! Cherokee Purple are the almost common heirloom type grown here. I had a 100% germination rate on all of my tomato seeds. A local farm store does their own seed packages and they seem great! I was going to order from a catalog, but they had more variety then I have room for plants!!

[sjp]

I hope Amish paste tastes better than Roma I found it a bit bland when I grew it 30 odd years ago back then it was the only plum tomato We could get in the UK and I think it was still the main one used as tinned ( canned ) tomatoes here

Through I've not grown Cherokee Purple I have eaten it, a plot holder on the allotment I used to be on grew them one year they did well with them

I looked up the other varieties 3:- Rutgers Amana Orange Lemon Boy are now on my wish list. I really shouldn't look through American seed site through they just make Me depressed and first page I looked at had 2 Heinz varieties on it

[sjp]

My tomatoes for 2017

Big Daddy,Pantano Romanesco,Indigo Rose,Principe Borghese,Panderosa Orange,Honey Drop,Ildi,Harzfeur,San Pedro,Harbinger,Muchamiel Tardio,Costoluto Florentino,Costoluto Genovese,Aranyalma,Red Pear,Red Russian,Black Russian,Tigerella,Golden Queen.Licatese,Marmande,Ovi's Romainian Giant,Yellow Stuffer and Craigella

[Luvachicken]

That's a lot of tomatoes

How pretty they would look if you had one of each in a salad.

 

I only grow Sungold and Sweet Million - they are my 2 favourites, although your yellow stuffer sounds very tasty.

[sjp]

That's a lot of tomatoes

How pretty they would look if you had one of each in a salad.

 

I only grow Sungold and Sweet Million - they are my 2 favourites, although your yellow stuffer sounds very tasty.

it's only 21 4 failed to germinate some won't produce main fruit because of the double flower or just aren't that productive the Costoluto's are prone to black spot so I'll loose a few of them a few failed last year and 2 or 3 are old seed that I expected to fail

 

I've not eaten Yellow Stuffer yet 2015 it didn't set fruit worth bothering with, 2016 it never germinated

Sungold I don't like. Sweet Million I've never grown

[chickencam]

We have got most of our seeds in now. Tomato plants are doing well, some have flowers too and the plants are really sturdy this year.

Squashes are ready to pot on as are the brassicas.

I have also managed to germinate some hosta seedlings and the agapanthus plants which I grew from seed last year are still growing well

Potatoes at the allotment are just peeking through as are the carrots.

[Daphne]

Hi sorry about skink silence, I haven't had the Internet for a week. Skinks look like lizards, but this particular variety looks like a cross between a slow worm and a snake. I didn't realise they could burrow, hence my disquiet....in fact I haven't been back in that particular bed since

[Daphne]

What's going on then? It's going to be hot this week in the UK. What are you all cropping? My tomatoes are sitting there looking at me, no larger then when I planted them out, a fortnight ago. The lettuce is slowly on the move, and so are the sweet corn, but considering we have rain and heat, but not too much, I am a bit disappointed, which is probably impatience. We have had a lot of wind as well which has thinned the peach crop, and possibly affected the olives, we will see. Everybody's trees are groaning with blossom, but the wet and then the wind might have come at just the wrong time.

 

The cherries are in meltdown,they are everywhere and you can't give them away. They are ripening too fast to be eaten, even our one cherry tree,which is a late variety and usually ready in June, is ready now. I saw a cherry tree today with one half full of black ripe cherries and one half of yellow to clear red cherries on it. The owner has cleverly grated 2 varieties to get a succession of eating

[sjp]

I'm hoping to start planting out next weekend now we've had some rain I moved the netting frame to this year cabbage bed yesterday and more or less finished mulching the spuds before the ground dries out again was going to start potting on the tomatoes into the big pots yesterday but the allotment shop didn't open again so I couldn't get the perlite for the potting mix

talking of potting mix anyone know how much an American coffee can holds I found a potting mix that uses a 5 galleon bucket and a coffee can as the measures and I won't to work out the ratio so I can work it out for the measure I use

[Daphne]

Tricky one, I see on Wikipedia that a coffee cup is 4fl Oz, but I guess you want a measure by solids. Also, I only know the phrase coffee can to mean the straight sided cups people used to use for an elegant cup of coffee after dinner, a small black coffee, like in France. I think I might use whatever a US cup means in dry goods like flour. Which means another look on Wikipedia probably