Selfsufficientish.com

I think I may have excelled myself with stupidity as it appears that I am going to be growing 7 varieties of potato this year.
Or possibly 8 as I planted a short row in the tunnel last week of some saved chats that could be any of 3 varieties.
It all seemed perfectly logical before Christmas, Axona in case of a bad blight attack, Winston for really early in the tunnel, Home Guard to follow on outside, Duke of York for early chips, Maris Piper for maincrop chips, Desiree for roasties and Mayan Gold for baked and mash.
I've got enough room to grow them, but it's just that we don't eat that many spuds. Looks like next door will benefit anyway.

I have my spuds Nicola 2nd/maincrop salad, Cosmos, 2nd, good for bakers and drought resistant (haha not a problem where i am) Casablanca, really nice, Colleen first early, Golden Wonder, because the pig broke into the garden and at the lot so they must have been good, Anya, really tasty finger sized salad spuds, early and 2nd, King Edward because they remind me of being a child, Vivaldi, the butterless potato and slightly lower in calories than usual, Yetholm Gypsy, because they have three colours and taste great, Arran Victory, I love them roasted, Pink Fir Apple and Maya Gold (they don't seem to keep?) they have a great flavour for chips, Blue Danube blight resister, Lady Balfour fantastic blight resistance, great keeper and good all round spud, Red Duke of York, first early ............... ok that is 15 sorts, I have now overtaken you in the stupidity stakes, but I do sell quite a few spuds and I just love growing different one, all I have to do now is figure out where they are all going this year

Wow you certainly beat me by over 100%. I bet no-one will better that total

Lady Balfour sounds interesting, I've never grown it and didn't realise it resisted blight. If I remember I will try it next year as it's a lot better than spraying or digging before they're ready.

You are most definitely the most stupid (at the moment)

You are most definitely the most stupid (at the moment)

Yayyyyyyyyy

Well having two plots - quite a lot to grow.

Only three sorts of potatoes - King Edwards, Pink Fir Apple and Kerrs Pink

Then there will be salad: beetroot, spring onions, various sorts of lettuce, salad leaf

Then there will be peas of various sorts, broad beans, borlotti beans, runner beans, dwarf beans, yin yang beans

Leeks and brussels sprouts; red cabbage, curly red kale, khol rabi, carrots and swedes

Will be doing courgettes, marrows, pattypan squash and trials of butternut squash, Jack'o'lantern pumpkins and if space a hundredweight pumpkin

Already have beds of strawberries and raspberries, blueberries in tubs, apple and pear trees

Oh and the herb beds and mint in tubs

Then there will be tomatoes and peppers in the greenhouse

How well we feed depends on the soil in the new plot and the season

Gosh what a lot of potatoes! Strewth you need to find a pub to buy then all!

I am growing literally one of everything this year - my seed order has just topped £130

I am particularly looking forward to raspberries (autumn bliss) (if I can get out there in the bog to plant the bare root canes!) and rhubarb and asparagus and strawbs (also need to plant) but I guess it will be next year before I see the fruits of my labour there.

New this year is scarlett kale and some superhot (1m schobels) chillis for my husband who even has chilli sauce on Weetabix (I kid you not).

Other than that, sticking to the old favourites this year as I am getting back into the swing in a new garden. So loads of crown prince squash, little gems, purple dwarf French beans, cavollo nero and all those good things.

Can't wait! Now just to get through miserable February. Not sowing anything before the end of Feb apart from broad beans and perhaps seed onions.

Flo wrote:quite a lot to grow.

Yes, here too.
As usual whatever we want to eat this year, and early next year, I will be growing.

So all the normal stuff, climbing French beans, runner beans, Borlotto beans for drying and 2 varieties of broad beans.
4 different varieties of peas in succession, plus sugar snap mangetout and soup peas.
Beetroot, carrots in succession, radishes, parsnips and turnips
Onions from sets, onions from seed, shallots, 2 varieties of garlic, spring onions and leeks.
Spring, summer & winter cabbage, cauliflower and calabrese in succession, tender stem broccoli, lettuce, Brussels sprouts and PSB
Sweetcorn, Potimarron squash and courgettes (briefly)
14 varieties of tomatoes, peppers, paprika, pepino, cucumbers and 3 varieties of melons

Plus new for this year, globe artichokes as annuals in the tunnel, and another but more careful attempt at peanuts. I grew some several years ago and essentially just left them to fend for themselves.

Plus of course all the aforementioned potatoes, 2 varieties of which were planted today.

Then in the greenhouse I have a 20 foot hydro pipe full of newly planted strawberries, plus all the established fruit trees and shrubs that are just about the same as last year.

... and anything else that I've forgotten about, or takes my fancy when visiting the garden centre.

I keep reminding myself:

I WILL NOT PLANT MORE COURGETTES THAN I NEED
I WILL NOT PLANT MORE COURGETTES THAN I NEED
I WILL NOT PLANT MORE COURGETTES THAN I NEED
I WILL NOT PLANT MOER COURGETTES THAN I NEED

Or perhaps I should say I will not SOW more courgettes than I need, since it is killing off the unwanted seedlings that I am particularly crap at!

bonniethomas06 wrote:I WILL NOT PLANT MORE COURGETTES THAN I NEED

I think I have my courgette "problem" sussed now.
I used to plant several as early in the season it takes ages to get male and female flowers to coincide on one plant.
Now I only grow the self fertile varieties and sow just the one plant for the polytunnel, and what's more I get very hard hearted in early June and grub that out to make space.
I'm not the worlds greatest lover of courgettes, but the first few are nice fried and then possibly ratatouille, but by June I'm totally fed up with them.

I'm chitting Kestrel and Swift, potatoes that haven't been mentioned - I hope i haven't made a bad choice just 'cause they were cheap at Wilko's...

Peas, climbing beans, runner beans, parsnips, potatoes, various tomatoes, strawberries, courgettes, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, radish, lettuce, rocket, various herbs, peppers, chillis and possibly beets :)

I forgot the fennel and the nasturtiums ..

Odsox wrote:

bonniethomas06 wrote:I WILL NOT PLANT MORE COURGETTES THAN I NEED

I think I have my courgette "problem" sussed now.
I used to plant several as early in the season it takes ages to get male and female flowers to coincide on one plant.
Now I only grow the self fertile varieties and sow just the one plant for the polytunnel, and what's more I get very hard hearted in early June and grub that out to make space.
I'm not the worlds greatest lover of courgettes, but the first few are nice fried and then possibly ratatouille, but by June I'm totally fed up with them.

You only sow ONE? I salute your bravery. What if some fate befalls it - like it gets munched by slugs? You drop the pot and step on it? A freak aphid outbreak occurs? It is a genetic mutant that doesn't fruit?

Perhaps this is how I get myself into trouble.

bonniethomas06 wrote:

Odsox wrote:

bonniethomas06 wrote:I WILL NOT PLANT MORE COURGETTES THAN I NEED

I think I have my courgette "problem" sussed now.
I used to plant several as early in the season it takes ages to get male and female flowers to coincide on one plant.
Now I only grow the self fertile varieties and sow just the one plant for the polytunnel, and what's more I get very hard hearted in early June and grub that out to make space.
I'm not the worlds greatest lover of courgettes, but the first few are nice fried and then possibly ratatouille, but by June I'm totally fed up with them.

You only sow ONE? I salute your bravery. What if some fate befalls it - like it gets munched by slugs? You drop the pot and step on it? A freak aphid outbreak occurs? It is a genetic mutant that doesn't fruit?

Perhaps this is how I get myself into trouble.

Easy, if anything happens (which it hasn't so far) i would just sow another one. I treat courgettes like quite a few other large seeded plants by chitting first, so it would only take a couple of weeks to have a new replacement plant.

diggernotdreamer wrote:Maya Gold (they don't seem to keep?)

I'm glad you said that, it was something I suspected but hadn't found any written evidence for.
What I did notice before I bought some last year was that the commercial crop of Mayan Gold was only available in Tesc0 during August, which at the time I thought was because crops were limited.
I dug mine in early August and within a month they had started to go withery and by October were very soft and sprouting like mad.
I'm experimenting this year by growing small amounts in succession, starting a couple of weeks ago in the tunnel. They are well worth growing (they are wonderful baked) so worth persevering with.