Trowel and Error

[Mountain Goat]

Kiwi

Oh my god Baa. I was feeling overwhelmed by lettuce until I saw that. :)) I have to tackle my courgettes this evening, the leaves are suffocating everything else, it's got massive! I've read I can prune the leaves that come out from below where the courgettes grow from, is that right? My peas have been safe from my pigeons, but I do have very stupid pigeons, plus the peas are now camoflauged by courgette. We are having salad tonight. And every night. Forever.

I've got a zinnia and a dahlia opening. It begins. I can't wait to see what it's all going to look like.

[baargain]

Yes, I think you can, once the fruit has started setting. Apparently you can eat the leaves, but I don't know if I'd want to eat the older, big ones, but I have not tried!

Don't talk to me about lettuce. As usual, I have about 5000 :lol: they're slightly staggered, for once, but still! I think I will end up composting a bunch of them, I might take them to the allotment for the heap down there!

[absley]

My brassicas are trying to hold on in there but really struggling against being munched. The borlotti beans are shooting up though. And I have my first courgette flower. Plus raspberries and loganberries! Otherwise, I feel very behind you all!

I planted out tomatoes in my flowers beds earlier this evening,
as there are such large gaps due to the latest round of weeding. Let's see how that looks!

[Disco]

I picked a big bowl of strawberries today, rocket leaves and have baby courgettes, thriving swiss chard, broad bean.

[Mountain Goat]

We had chard and beetroot greens as our veg last night. Salad the previous night had courgette, radish, peas, beetroot, lettuce and chicory leaves (the latter of which are almost impossibly bitter and I have SO MUCH of it), all from the garden. Now reading this I want borlotti beans and broad beans next year, which I should be able to grow up the back of the garage, I think.

Very specific question: I have two (2) zinnias opening. I think I need to cut off the first bloom, which is on a big leading stalk (technical term ) to encourage them to grow bushily. Can I wait until they are properly open before I do this? If I don't, will they open in a vase or will I have I sacrificed them? It's very hard to chop off my first two proper flowers.

[baargain]

I would chop them off before they open, give them a go in a vase. I'd worry that if you were too late chopping them, you won't get as many flowers as if you did it now. Don't want the flower to move to seed making mode.

[Mountain Goat]

Thank you, this makes sense. I will go forth and murder my first born. They are already part open, I hope I'm not too late.

[baargain]

That might be hopeful for them continuing to open in a vase though! Hopefully it's still in flower making mode, I'm sure it will be since it wasn't quiiite out fully.

[Mountain Goat]

I have tonnes of them so can get the other plants sooner. One of the two I just pinched out already has a nice bushy formation starting and other buds present on side shoots, the other was pretty much a mono-stem with a flower on top (some side shoots just forming). Both of them were a bit aphid-y under the leaves which I hadn't spotted before cutting them so will check the others later.

Do I do this with pretty much anything that is tending towards putting all its energy into one big stem? I think most other things that are happening now are already bushy with multiple shoots/buds, but I'm guessing my snapdragons will do this too when they get round to it.

[absley]

I noticed the other week that my interloper potatoes (the bed I thought I'd cleared from potatoes are we moved in) are flowering which I think means they are ready for harvesting? I have a few courgette flowers too, which is exciting, hopefully we will get some to eat before long.

We have raspberries and loganberries atm - now I know what/ where they are I need to work out how to prune/care for them for next year, so we get more fruit. The gooseberries I left are doing really well too - the green ones are swelling and the red ones ripening. I'm going to pick and pickle some this weekend.

[Cosmopolitan]

My potato plants are full jungle. I hope we can harvest them next week. Well, my mum is coming to do it because it's ridiculously difficult gardening on crutches.

[Disco]

Why are you on crutches, Cos?

I wish I had potatoes. I love furtling around for them.

I've been harvesting a couple of handfuls of strawberries a day. Sounds like you've got lots of berries, Abs. I have a gooseberry bush but it was moved from a different county two years ago and hasn't fruited since.Yesterday I saw I have tiny green tomatoes and my courgettes are growing. I planted out my globe artichoke seedlings the other day but I haven't inspected hem to see how they're doing.

[absley]

I wish I had potatoes. I love furtling around for them.

Tell me your technique, Dics, I'm a bit intimidated!

I'm jealous of your strawberry action, the birds got most of mine! So far they seem to be leaving the berries though :fc:

How long are you on crutches, Cos?

[Cosmopolitan]

I broke a bunch of bones in my foot on a high ropes course in Canada. Moving a bit too fast and I hit it against a wooden platform. At least another 3 weeks and then another xray and then we know whether I need surgery or if its healing properly.

[Disco]

Oh bloody hell, that sounds awful! Must have been - probably still is - so painful. I hope it doesn't need surgery.

I haven't grown vegestables for years Abs, this is my first year back apart from herbs and the odd tomato plant. I used to paw away the soil to look first and if any were a decent size then I would harvest enough for the current need. I think I would dig up entire plants when the foliage is/ has died away. I can't actually remember!

[Cosmopolitan]

It's not particularly painful anymore, mainly stiff from being immobilised in the boot but it's been 4 weeks. I'm gonna rent a mobility scooter if its surgery, it's such a pain being a foot feeb.I'm so bored.

We had loads of radishes at the beginning of the summer. There's loads of carrots and onions as well and the yellow courgettes and butternuts are coming along nicely. And loads of pots of strawberries which are delicious.

I'm jealous of your berry action abs, I love mainlining rasps and straws in summer.

[Derek Nimmo]

I have contributed unconsciously to my garden habitat! I have an amazing, manic passion flower that's taken over a good three fence panels and is now covered in buds, flowers and fruit (it was already here when I moved in a year and a half ago but didn't really do anything last summer).

Anyway...I was just reading up on it and googling about whether flowers and fruits are often found on it at the same time, and apparently the way to get fruit in the UK is to increase the number of pollinators in the garden. Well, just because I love them I planted two raised beds, one full of lavender, the other with fuschias last year and they've both completely taken off and are not only beautiful but always teeming with bees and butterflies.

So I inadvertently helped to create passionflower fruit! I feel like an Earth Goddess :))

[Little My]

Wow! That’s awesome.

[Mountain Goat]

Oh that's brilliant! Nature has thanked you.

I am drowning in courgette and beetroot. :)) J has stopped asking what's for dinner as the answer is always "courgette". It's only one plant! It's bloody enormous, I've had about 8 or so from it so far (not counting ones that didn't form properly or went floppy at the end) and there are currently three more nearly ready once I've got through the marrow sized one I have at the moment, if I ever do.

My flowers are really pleasing me, the colours are as haphazard as I expected but it is all grounded by a theme of dark purple going all the way round the curve at intervals, so it's not as jarring as it could be. I need climbers though, there's no backdrop except an ugly fence (and a nice wall, but you mostly see the ugly fence).

[Derek Nimmo]

Painting my shoffice at the back of the garden a nice deep blue really helps all of my flowers "pop" with that as a backdrop (I have some red crocosmias I didn't really notice last year but you can't miss them now!). Would you think of touching up the fence and wall?

(Thank you both, who knew you could get such a kick out of some fruit - and I don't even like passionfruit that much :)))