Help MBE grow his dinner 2011

A question about : Help MBE grow his dinner 2011

Well, here we are again. Happy New Year to all.

As I got such helpful advice and assistance last year, I'm kindly going to allow you lot to help me out again. Plus the thread keeps me motivated. I'm more likely to get off my butt and do something if I think people are watching.

To top up my seed supplies, I have ordered the following from the Real Seed Catalogue:

Wenks Yellow Hot chilli
Lemon Drop chilli
Verdi Marchigiano green cauliflower
Tender & True parsnips
Galina tomato (early, yellow cherry variety)
Red Cluster Pear tomato (small, pear-shaped variety)
Jaune Obtuse de Daubs yellow carrot

This is just to supplement my existing stock of seeds, which I hope will still be good this year (with the exception of the parsnip, as these don't last more than a season, apparently).

Jobs I need to do are:

Get my Mantis tiller running again.
Dig another vegetable bed.
Build another compost bin.
Start forcing the rhubarb.

This year's competition is to grow the longest runner bean by Halloween. This year I have two opponents instead of one. Seeds from a variety known as Long As Your Arm (LAYA) have been kindly provided by djohn2002uk, and distributed evenly between the competitors.

Lessons I think I have learned from last year:

Don't try to put too many tomatoes in the greenhouse, as it will promote powdery mildew botrytis.
Tomatoes grown outside should be ok.
Don't sow the tomatoes or runner beans too early, as they will be affected by the last frost.
One tub of parsnips is not enough.

Here's to a good growing year.
MBE

Best answers:

• Congrats on keeping going!!
  Tell me; did you have a complete home grown dinner in 2010?
• It will get cheaper over the years, and I agree that you cannot beat the taste. Just wish I had more success with carrots as young carrots taken from the ground surpass your wildest thoughts of what home grown can taste like.
  What crops have you planned for 2011?
  PS. Re the meat - nothing to stop you swapping some home grown for local meat or eggs
• is it that time of the year again?
• 50 - 70 potato plants
  20 chilli plants
  12 cucumber plants
  100 sweetcorn
  4 french bean wigwams
  2 runner bean rows
  lots of mangetout plants
  60 parsnips
  100 leeks
  10 sprout plants
  50 broad bean plants
  12 courgettes
  24 tomato plants
  6 sweet pepper plants
  6 aubergine plants
  basil, tarragon, sage, dill, rosemary, parsley, dill, fennel, thyme.
  10 squash/pumpkins
  shallots/onions - about 100
  Also want to succeed with cauliflowers, cabbages, carrots, swedes.
  PS. Forgot the 180 garlic cloves planted Oct/Nov 2010
• Am also growing for next door too....have use of their garden and greenhouses since Mr Next Door passed away last year. Hope I can do his widow justice, will miss him greatly - for tips and also a bit of friendly competition.
• Chillis - Pretty in Purple (my favourite), Lemon Drop, Pequin, Indian -PC1, Jamaican Hot, Cherry Bomb, 7-Pot, Hungarian Hot Wax.
  Tomatoes - Gardeners Delight ( a stalwart), Beams Yellow Pear, Moneymaker, Hawaiian Currant, Purple Ukraine, Legend, Roma, Un-named Plum, Sweet Millions, Marmande.
  Leeks - I grow on clay soil so have no chance of a seed bed, leek seedlings planted mid to end Feb in a cat litter tray (approx 90 will fit), or shallow 10 daimeter inch pots will do too, as will the deeper peach punnets. Plant out into final garden space towards the end of June, normally I will shove these in where the early spuds have been dug out, but any unused area of about 2ft square should accomodate a dozen or so. Use a big dibber to make the hole - a broken spade handle that's been sharpened is ideal as a big dibber, pop the leek into the hole, water it in rather than fill with soil ( watering in will let it settle on it's own accord, if you earth up it will be gritty between the layers). I grow Musselbrugh because I had a free sample , there are other varieties recommended for baby leeks in August - but as veg is so plentiful around then, it's nice to have some frsh veg over the winter months.
• Can't wait to get going again this year! Last year was my first attempt and I loved it. Managed to grow spuds, turnips, carrots, radish, salad leaves, rocket, cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, chillies, sweetcorn, strawberries, courgettes, sweet peas and other stuff I've probably forgot I'm going to make 2 more raised beds this year and grow loads more carrots in containers as they were beautiful!!
• I think I need to investigate leeks then. I also need to get down the garden and find out what's left over from last year. I think there might be a bit of root veg that didn't do much, or never got dug up. I've still got those walking-stick kale taking up an inordinate amount of space, so I need to pull up two and leave the biggest one to continue growing.
  I should probably think about a few early spuds too, but in the ground rather than in the bags I used last year. I don't need too much space for them; I only want a few. What varieties should I be looking for?
  I also need to try and grow my brassicas somewhere different this year - not too sure if I'll actually be able to manage that.
• Evening all
  My grow list this year is:
  1. Tomatoes- Cherriettes of fire, gardeners delight, snow cherry, black krim, red robin, christmas grape, snow white, green zebra, black truffle, lemon tree roma, golden sunrise, tamina, yellow plum, yellow pear, orange cherry, lidi, black cherry
  2. Tomatillo's
  3. Chilli's & peppers- sweet banana pepper, chilli hot tepin, aneheim chilli, Jabenero chilli, skinny chilli, chapeau de fraude chilli, nardello pepper, hungarian hot wax, birds eye chilli, hot purple tiger chilli, padron chilli, dorset naga chilli, capiscum bright lights
  4. Aubergines (only one plant)
  5. cucumbers (2 types)
  6. Courgettes: (2 types)
  7. Summer squash- summer ball
  8. pumpkin Jack be little
  9. Various salad stuff (beetroots, salad leaves, rocket, herbs, spring onions, japanese bunching onions, spinach etc)
  10. Various fruit (of course) strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, green gages, plums, pears, apples, rhubarb, gooseberries, white currants, black currants, blackberries, red currants
  11. Onions and Garlic
  12. A couple of wigwams of beans- french and runner (st george)
  13. A few wigwams and living fences of sweet peas
  14. A good load of annuals for cutting
  15. Leeks
  16. Carrots (Atlas and chanteray)
  17. Parsnips
  18. Root parsley
  19. Mange tout and sugarsnaps
  20. Rocket potatoes (first earlies)
  21: Celery and celeriac
  ETA: Knew I would forget things!
  Er I think that's it but I'm sure there will be more, once it's all in the ground it's easy enough to keep watered, it's just the seed sowing bit that takes the time :P
• I did wonder if you were starting a thread this year MBE
  I am itching to start this year, as last year, I didn't grow anything
  This year I want to do potatoes, tomatoes, courgettes, butter nut squash, mange tout, peppers and chillis.... all in pots.
  The year before last, I tried onions, in pots but was unsuccessful... I may try them again this year too.
  This will be the first year I can pick the rhubarb
  Good luck to all