Tom Tom Club

 

The first tomatoes are ready for harvesting.  Hooray!

You don't grow tomatoes in Scotland because it makes economic sense, although they have a flavour that money can't buy.  Surprisingly these are outdoor tomatoes, from our sheltered back garden:

The ones in the greenhouse are refusing to ripen, probably because it is shaded by a pyrocanthus and holly hedge. (The hedge is home to an extended family of house sparrows so is accepted as a fact of life.)

I still have high hopes of a good crop before summer is out, this year of all years.

New Year Cheer

 January flowers are such a rare thing. Thank goodness for the witch hazel

Winter Flowering Cherry

and Winter Jasmine

The bulbs are sprouting green leaves but not even the snowdrop will manage to put in an appearance before January is out.

And on the subject of bulbs I have this week planted 3 rows of garlic at the allotment (to add to the autumn sown ones).  Back indoors I have sown 32 broad beans into deep root trainers.  These will go into the greenhouse once they emerge and on to the allotment in due course.  Yes spring is just around the corner.  Next week will be busy now that I have looked out my seeds for early sowing! (Leeks, onions, shallots, tomatoes and chilli, as well as lobelia .

The Perils of "Peat Free"

The sickly crew

Much as I hate reporting failures, I feel obliged to record the abysmal failure of  my tomatoes and cucumbers this year.  Yellow, at best, to purple leaves,  lack of growth, prone to attack by pests or simply rotting: it has been an abject failure.  I tried several new tomato varieties, but also my failsafe Sungold, so I know it is not my growing methods.    The culprit has to be the peat free compost.  New Horizon Vegetable Compost by the normally reliable Westland.  I had noted that New Horizon "All Plant Compost" claims to have "No Green Waste" but on closer examination the Vegetable Compost misses this phrase out from the blurb.  It does claim to be suitable for growing tomatoes.  Both products have a real stink about them even before you break open the bag, reminiscent of pig slurry.  I now have a dilemma: Do I try to isolate and dispose of these products or let the contaminants dissipate/dilute on the allotment, once in contact with real soil?  It may be only by association but I went down with food poisoning for two weeks after working with this material intensively.  In the small print they do advise you to wear gloves when handling - advice I now take very seriously! 

Cucumber - giving up the ghost (There were 3)

Sungold - Single fruit on a spindly plant.

 

Here Come the Cucurbits

 

Another rainy day dissuades me from visiting the allotment.  Instead I am tending to the plants at home waiting for their invasion of the allotment.  OK these courgettes, squashes, pumpkins and cucumbers don't look quite so alien when they are in the greenhouse under natural light.

There are plenty seedlings awaiting improved weather.  You might spot the tomatoes which are having a temporary excursion out of the greenhouse, and there are runner beans and peas too.  I have plenty of spare alliums and a whole host of lobelia just needing to be found a final spot.

Also there are some later brassica seedlings.  More than enough to fill the garden, allotment and school garden!

It is a relief to get to the direct sowing.  Soon I will have to reconfigure the greenhouse for the tomatoes and cucumbers.

4 Seasons Square Foot Beds - Autumn

4 Seasons Bed today 9/9/20

Now that it is  Meteorological Autumn it is time to see how the crops in the Autumn bed are faring.  Under the 4 seasons scheme all crops should be ready for harvesting before the month is out.  There are some successes and some failures. Lets take a look:

AUTUMN

The autumn planting scheme was:

Beetroot			Tomato			Carrot
Fennel			Pepper (Cyklon)			Celeriac
Leeks (Jolant)			Dwarf French Beans			Kohlrabi

Here are pictures of each square in turn with notes:

Leeks

Although an early variety (Jolant) these leeks are lagging behind and will need to be left for another month or two before harvesting.  They could probably do with a bit of liquid feed.  Leeks feature in Autumn, Winter and Spring beds.  An earlier start is required for the Autumn ones.

Dwarf French Beans

Rammed full of greenery there has been a reasonable crop.  Not sure that this variety is the best.  A yellow or purple variety would help as the beans got "lost" behind the greenery.

Kohlrabi

 A good choice but early growth was pecked to death by pigeons.  Netting now in place and resowing has worked.  Next year protection will be in place from the start.

Fennel

Peaked too early so the three remaining  stems have bolted.  Abundant feathery leaves.  One stunning bulb was harvested in July by an unknown agency.  5 plants in a square foot was too many so the perpetrator probably did us a favour by thinning the crop! 

Red Pepper Cyklon

 A bit ambitious growing this outdoors in Scotland.  Healthy green leaves, some flowers, but not any significant fruit.  Squeezed in the middle it was not a fair contest. Verdict  Not an appropriate choice for this location. Grow indoors in future.

Celeriac

 Celeriac has been a bugbear for me in the past but I was encouraged by the results in the school garden last year.  A single plant in this square. There is a picture of the root development below.  Could do with a liquid feed.  Also growing this in Winter with similar results.

Carrots - Missing!

 Carrot are a bad choice for the school garden.  Even with fleece the badger seeks them out and totally wipes them out.  The two carrot square feet (Autumn and Winter) hove both been deeply excavated!

Tomato Totem

With more time for ripening this is an ideal variety for square foot growing.  Some support helps:.  A totem pole(?) Otherwise they keep themselves to themselves.

Beetroot 

Old reliable beetroot has been happily growing overcrowded and uncared for it delivers without getting too big to crowd out its neighbours.  Recommended for square foot gardening.

Beetroot Roots

Tomato Fruit

Celeriac Root

Hope you enjoyed this review.

Just for the record here are the other three seasons beds

Winter - bursting with growth

Spring - Some longterm residents some fillers

Summer - Strawberry greenery and some hangers on.

Spot the Tomato

 They are there - honest.  Check the extremities

                                            Back Garden Tomatoes

There are two Tumbling Tom in growbags centre stage.  Lots of flowers but no ripening fruit yet.  To the left and right there are pots with Totem which are now offering the first fruit to harvest.

Here is a close up

On checking my tubs there are some here too. Totem again.

And some Sungold in the greenhouse

And another Totem closeup 

Don't ask me yet what they taste like - They haven't been picked yet. I may have gone a bit over the top with this post but I do feel a sense of achievement to have grown and ripened outdoor tomatoes in Scotland this year.  There could be a few more to come before the nights close in.

Back To School

The children return to school today and here is what will greet them in the school garden:

Now it is time for a spot the difference quiz:

A

B

Aside from the net to keep the pigeons off the kohlrabi, the difference is that a mature bulb of Florence fennel along with its feathery plumage has been removed by an agency unknown (middle left square foot) leaving a much weaker bulb.  I hope this remaining specimen will grow on now its competition has been removed.

These are in the "Autumn" square foot bed. The neighbouring "Winter" bed is already full to brimming.  It is the Swede that has been ravaged by the pigeons here (and now has a net over it)

You would have thought a tomato in a bucket in  a greenhouse would be safe?

 

Well you would be wrong.  Somebody selected a specimen from the back of this greenhouse .  Curious because - as you can see the fence is higher than the greenhouse (7 or 8ft high)

Now before the bell rings don't forget the neighbouring wildflower meadow.  I think it is high time for a haircut!

In the Summertime - 4 Seasons in One

The summer solstice has arrived and it is time to review the four seasons square foot beds: 

Summer

Swiss Chard			Garlic			Onions
Parsley			Pea Jaguar			Strawberry
Radish			Leaf Beet			Elephant Garlic

These items should be ready for harvesting in a week's time. All except the radish which seedlings the birds demolished!

Let's Go!

Beans awaiting release!

The weatherman advises that the risk of frost is past!  It's time to release those cramped plants from their night time confinement in the greenhouse. 20 cucurbits went off to the school garden today. More to the allotment over the weekend. Time to sow  the sweetcorn.  Time to reconfigure the greenhouse shelves for tomatoes and peppers and cucumber.  Also the last impediment to direct sowing has been removed. 

Cucurbits for the Allotment 

Dwarf French Beans and Italian Climbers (Barlotti)

Peas and leeks at the ready

Brassica seedlings 

A selection of flower seedlings itching to be released!

 The song should be "Happy Days Are Here Again" but I have gone for something more contemporary: