If you read my garden vegetable patch overhaul post back in June then you’ll already be familiar with my green fingered project in which I attempt for the first time to grow my own vegetables.
It’s been a mixed bag; we’ve had some wonderful successes and some disappointments too. Oh where on earth did I go wrong with the sweet peas – I’ve never ever had a problem with them before. I can honestly say though that the taste of your own hard-won courgettes and salad leaves is far better than anything you could buy in the shops. Hand on heart pinkie promise.
Trust me on that one.
Successes
The vegetables, apart from the carrots (more on this on a moment) have all been a resounding success. The courgettes keep on giving and my late addition of both salad leaves and rocket have been tasty and nutritious. That’s not to say that I haven’t had to ask for advice and google the odd thing here or there when it came to looking after the plants.
For example, not so long back I noticed that some of the leaves on the courgette plants were turning yellow (apparently windburn?!) so took the advice of a friend of mine and cut them off which has in turn promoted new growth. Equally I’ve added a small amount of tomato feed to the soil around the base of the plants as apparently courgettes thrive on this type of nutrient. They blinking loved it!
Aside from that I haven’t had to use any type of pest control/repellent which is a bonus as I wanted to pursue the ‘organic’ path as much as was feasibly possible to do so and I’ve turned a blind eye to the odd hole or two that’s appeared on the leaves from something taking a nibble or two. Initially I was going to call this part of the post ‘Lolly is a tw*t’ because essentially any failures made with the vegetable patch either came down to my own pigheadedness or stupidity.
Turns out there’s an actual reason why there are ‘sowing periods’ on the back of seed packets and it’s something that you’d probably best pay attention to. Not so for Little Miss Fly By The Seat Of Her Pants here. I figured that it would be absolutely fine for me to sow some of my seeds later than the specified period and continued to uphold that belief until about a couple of weeks ago. You see it’s all about the sweet peas; they’ve succumbed to bud drop. For those of you not familiar with ‘bud drop’ it essentially means that the buds turn yellow and drop off simply by softly touching them. I’ve not had a single flower, not one. Bud drop is caused by high temperature fluctuations and apparently watering in the evening with cold water can exacerbate this.
I reckon I probably would have got away with it if I’d actually sown the seed in the specified time period (I was out by a couple of weeks) and if our August weather hadn’t been so monumentally sh*t. Apologies for the profanities – can you tell I’m a little bit upset about the lack of sweetly smelling blooms this year…
Anyway since the plants themselves are luscious, green and otherwise healthy it’s salt in the wound about the lack of flowering. Lesson learnt – seed packet instructions are there for a reason! Oh and if the British weather could sort itself out then that would help matters too.
We also had carrot crop failure.
I’m still a bit confused as to why this is. Perhaps the packet of seeds was dodgy or perhaps the soil wasn’t tilled as finely as it should have been (although I’m pretty sure that it was). Either way we didn’t get any shoots and thus no roots either. I’m not dissuaded however and I’ll definitely be trying my hand again next year.
New Additions
Having watched an episode of Gardener’s world and having paid a trip to Homebase earlier the same week, I’ve decided to add purple sprouting broccoli to the patch and to sow some chard seed (which I purchased from Sarah Raven). Both of these I’m told will be ready to harvest in the Spring of next year but that’s ok as I’m keen to see the patch evolve as the seasons change.
I’ll update you on these additions in due course naturally. I’m also thinking that I’ll try my hand at some potatoes and some tomatoes next year. Do any of you have any tips for me that you can share?
So there we have it. Lessons learnt and successes to be proud of.
How have you got on with your own respective vegetable plots this year. Is there anything else that you would recommend I should try growing next year? And have you experienced any disappointments of your own? I’d love to hear all about them; why not share in the comments box below…
Oh I feel your pain!
This year has been a nightmare for veggie growing full stop! Its was too cold for germination and then too wet! The fact your had aNY success is brilliant! So many of my usuals have failed spectacularly!
You have to check out https://www.quickcrop.co.uk if you havent already. It’ll save your sanity, for advice, seeds, even soil!
Look forward to hearing more!
A x
Oh thanks so much for the tip Alice! I’ll check it out and report back. I think one of the reasons for veggie success has got to be that the patch is in a pretty sheltered spot so it’s been warmer for the germination side of things. What do you usually grow that’s failed then?
I’ve failed to grow beans…replanted 3 times! They eventually grew but only a couple flowered and never produced beans! My red onions have failed and my beetroot, rhubarb, currants, raspberries! So depressing. Usually we have a table outside our house giving away all the extra veggies for free! Ive noticed lots of our village ‘stalls in the walls’ have been sparse this year.
On the plus side my Courgettes were successful, along with salads, peas, strawberries, blackberries and apples (so ive had lots of crumble!!)
Theres always next year I guess!!!
Are you growing fruit?
Thanks, Lolly! We exchanged on our house yesterday. Eek!! For the first time we will have a decent size garden and I am keen to have a little veg patch. This is very inspiring. Alice, thanks for the link to Quickcrop. Thanks for the inspiration!
Congratulations Kate!!! SO exciting! Will you be taking on a refurb project or is the house good to go? You’ll have to tell us all the details!
Thanks, Lolly. It’s a refurb. We can move in straight away. The house is in good condition but stuck in the 90s with built in furniture in the bedroom etc. My husband loves a project and can’t wait to get started but we will have to save first. There are definitely some walls that will be coming down. I have been closely following all things on interiors. I left my flat behind in London and am currently living in my husband’s magnolia house so can’t wait to create a home together.
Kate that sounds amazing! We have some fantastic interiors competitions coming up soon so stayed tuned for them!
Oh carrots…mine were a complete failure too so after nothing appearing for over a month I’ve dug the patch over and re-allocated to lettuce only to recently discover a few left over carrots poking out in between. How long can it take for them to germinate??? We could be veg patch sisters as I too sowed my sweet pea in May expecting a luscious display in July and so far I’ve had two flowers. I appreciate them all that more.
On a more positive note we have 9 huge pumpkins slowly turning yellow and not a bad crop of potatoes, cucumbers and tomatoes – definitely give them a go as if I can grow it anyone can. I want to plant some asparagus in October but it needs a lot of patience as you can’t pick them for the first 2 years.
Perhaps I should have just left the carrots in for longer then Kat? Damn. And at least you got two sweet peas. I have to say that there are a couple of buds that are still green so I’m keeping my fingers crossed that we might get a couple of flowers (I’ll keep you updated!)
The pumpkins sound impressive though and you can’t go wrong with potatoes and tomatoes – I hate cucumber 🙁
The asparagus is a labour of love – I remember watching one programme where they said it could take 5 years before your first harvest!
Lolly the veg patch is looking great! Do let us know how you get on with the purple sprouting broccoli.
I too am growing some pumpkins which I’m very excited about. I have a mixture of eating, carving and little mini white ones called ‘baby boo’. Who knew that there were so many different types?! I plan to dot the mini white ones around the house in autumn to look pretty. I would definitely recommend growing pumpkins (if you have the room) next year, they are so much fun.
Oh Lucy, I have such a thing about white pumpkins! I wish I had room to grow them. Please let me know how you get on with your baby boo! x
Thank you so much Lucy! It’s definitely very green! And of course I’ll let you know all about the broccoli!
The baby boo pumpkins sound amazing! And yes I think they’ll be added to the list for next years growth – I’m thinking by then Hector might have grasped the concept of Halloween a little bit. That’s what I’ll tell Ste anyway!
Lolly I am loving allotment watch! Well done on the raging courgette success, and well at least you’ve learned from the carrots and sweet peas.
Make Monty proud girl! x
Karen you always know how to make this girl feel better 😉
I loved your garden update Lolly! This has also been my first year growing veg, and I’ve had mixed success! My carrots and runner beans have been amazing, I’ve had loads of them and they’re still doing well now. The Onions would have been great if I’d pulled them up a few weeks ago before they started going mouldy…yes I should have read the instructions on the packet! And my Beetroot got eaten by the birds. But…my sweet peas did amazingly well, our house has been full of vases of sweet peas all summer (sorry to remind you of what you’ve missed out on!)
I love a bit of Monty on a Friday evening, but I’ve never admitted that to anyone before!!