What are you experimenting with this year?

[demi]

As noted in a previous post, I dug the first potatoes for dinner tonight.
They would have benefited from being left for another week, but still very nice and a first for me to have new potatoes for dinner on Easter Sunday.
So, it's all working out well at the moment.

Also a photo of some of my "this year's" tomatoes, although we have been picking them for a couple of weeks now.
They are the follow on plants from the over-wintered ones, which I pensioned off yesterday.

Tony, as always i am eager to see what your up to. you are an inspiration.
now we just need to build a heated conservatory so we too can fill it with over winter veg well done and keep on posting

[the.fee.fairy]

I'm experimenting with whatever pips i find in what I eat!

I did grow two orange plants last year, but they got lost when I moved.

I tried to grow another couple this year, but the're both dead. I've planted a longan seed in it's place.

Oh...and trying to find a garden shop somewhere...I found one for farmers, but my balcony's not that big...

[gregorach]

I've got a new experiment in the works... I'm going to try growing my sweetcorn in a pre-established sward of white clover, to try and help with the nitrogen requirements. The clover got sown yesterday. The sweetcorn (Kelvedon Glory) will get started off in root-trainer modules sometime in the next couple of weeks, for planting out late May - early June. I probably should have been all scientific-like about it and only sown clover in half the bed, but it's done now... If I get a crop, I'll call it a success, as the bed hasn't been fed that much and my sweetcorn always struggles.

[grahamhobbs]

I grow french beans (non climbing) between mine.

is white clover easier to get rid of than red ?

[gregorach]

I don't know, I've never grown red... It's not too bad to get rid of anyway.

I might grow beans as well, but I like the idea of being able to get the nitrogen fixer established in advance, and I know a clover sward is often used for commercial corn growing.

[grahamhobbs]

Gregorach, yes it is basically a sound idea and I don't want to put you off, but just on a garden scale I found certain practical difficulties - digging out the clover, which has surprisingly large roots, afterwards was a bit of hard work and the clover plants seem to provide a haven for slugs. It will be interesting to see how your experiment goes.

[gregorach]

I have undersown with white clover before, just not pre-established and not on its own - last time, I applied a healthy dose of cow muck first, and didn't sow the clover until the corn was in. I didn't find it all that difficult to get rid of (although perhaps not as easy as I would have liked), and I usually control slugs with Nemaslug... It should be somewhat easier to get rid of now that I've got a scythe - repeatedly cutting it very short (once the corn's done) should help.

I seem to recall that the long handled 3 tine cultivator did a cracking job on removing the clover the last time. Fortunately my soil is pretty light and un-compacted.