Thankyou for recipes

[nelliegemini]

I googled for Jerusalem Artichoke recipes and found you all!

I'm just starting my second year of gyo. Last year we had runner and broad beans, ps broccoli, lettuces, rocket, carrots, beetroot garlic and the aforesaid JA that all did well, bad crop of sweetcorn (yes, planted in a block), leeks, bn squash. My blueberry fruited well in the same year it was planted, the tayberry had a few, I found a wild strawberry plant in a wild part of my small garden, I bought two apples a pear and a plum and this year planted a cherry. I am also going to take just one small picking of asparagus.

Is it legal to hunt slugs with cats - I can't find any other way of getting rid of them. The snails climbed up my bean tower and eyeballed me! I spent the whole winter bribing birds to stay in the garden in the hope they will help but saw a blackbird eating a worm yeterday - some help!

Anyway, hello and all that, and thanks for the recipes. Trying new leaves this year and taller broad beans, not bothering with sweetcorn and leeks (how can I not be able to grow leeks I ask you!).

Off to deal with the JA glut now, soup. gratin and bake and freeze - not brave enough to try the bean and JA soup though - asking for trouble!

[shirlthegirl43]

Hi and welcome to the vine. Don't give up on the leeks and sweetcorn - give them another try. I failed totally with sweetcorn last year too despite having plants some 8 foot tall! My leeks are still not much thicker than a pencil. Going to try again though as with practise I am bound to get better results - we can also hope to get a better growing year.

[nelliegemini]

I think I'll have to sort out my mollusc problem with the sweetcorn as well, in the few cobs that made it I found a slug had eaten itself a neat little den at the top, and with no stringy bits to go brown (the slugs must have eaten the hairs like spaghetti), I had problems telling when they were ready.

The leeks just didn't grow, finally harvested them last month but still only half inch across - I didn't want monster veg but they did seem a bit miserly.

Runner beans though, thank heavens I only grew 4 plants, with only two of us to eat them (our neighbours also grow veg), I had to resort to Delia's Runner Bean Chutney!.

Anyway, my afternoon of Artichoke processing is disappearing whilst I meander through the threads - love the wildlife section - just a few more bits to read then I really will get started .....

[yoanbob]

hi and welcome, have you tried nemaslug? its expensive but it really helps to keep the population at a level you can deal with

[nelliegemini]

Nemaslug - no I haven't. Probably I have an ideal situation for it since the plot is small and all raised beds. I tried copper ribbon last year that worked for a time until the cats managed to lift it all. I am tempted to try copper pipe this year.

Because last year was my first and the early spring was so dry I was spoilt early on, then it rained and suddenly they were everywhere.

I had heard that nemaslug only works for a short time and then they come back, have you tried it?

[Flummery]

Welcome to our world! Slugs are the enemy. Hope you enjoy the vine - it's addictive.

[nelliegemini]

I know, I'm still sat here reading threads and not cooking .....

[moggssue]

Hello and welcome - join the addicted ones! Hows the JA mountain coming along?>?

[nelliegemini]

I am going out now to buy other ingredients (I don't grow potatoes and it's too early for tomatoes), then I will have a bake fest. So no more posting for an hour or so....

really ...

I'm going out now ....

just one more thread to check ....

[SarzWix]

Welcome to the 'Vine NellieGemini
Don't judge last year's failures too harshly - it was a flummin rotten year! My leeks didn't get to a very big size either, I'm going to try sowing them a bit earlier this year. My courgettes, squash & tomatoes were all rubbish too, but the weather might be completely different this year, so fingers crossed they'll all do fine this time

[Nicos]

Hi there Nellie!!
Did you google JA's or wind????? I think that we've discussed more about bubbly tummies than the actual act of cultivating the vegetable !!!!!

Welcome to the Vine!

[nelliegemini]

JAs - tonight cooked a JA/Red Onion bake (delish), and a JA in cheese sauce (yum). Will do individual thanks for recipes tomorrow.

Next door neighbour is 18 and doing catering, she sent round leek and potato soup tonight in return for JA recipes tomorrow, so will be a bit of a taste fest.

Wierd JAs, so easy to grow and so lovely raw - just nutty like water chestnuts. But so many to deal with I had to cook them because I don't think they would freeze raw .... however may try that just to see.

I dug them up on Monday, by today they were sprouting! Last year I had to cut them down to 4' tall because they were blowing over, the books said that would reduce yield!!

Still, can't complain. Must see if they will ferment?!

[yoanbob]

and wind! lol.
yes have tried nemaslug, we took over our plot from an old couple who hadnt been able to tend to it for years, the slugs were in slug heaven, tasty veg self seeding everywhere and lots of weeds, thanks to some help from other grapes on the vine (our wedding present) the weeds are under control, the nema slug really helped with the slugs we tried the organic wildlife safe granuels which worked till it rained then they just came back and ate everything, we tried beer traps but that seemed to increase the slugs (they can smell beer for a few hundred meters so they came from all around.)you have to do the whole patch a few times a year but if you have raised beds and use copper tape it will help, it works on the babies and the keel slugs underground too and has really reduced the population.
also we could still feed them to our chooks after we'd used it. I dont think we will ever be free from them but they are much less in number and more manageble now, we dont even mind them that much anymore. If you slug population was as bad as ours I'd say nema slug every time.

[T-lady]

I had heard that nemaslug only works for a short time and then they come back, have you tried it?

I've tried nemaslug in the past and it worked REALLY well. You're right though, you do need to do repeat applications but, as you're in raised beds, you'll find it not too expensive to keep up with.

Welcome to Grapevine, happy gardening!

[ericajones80]

welcome Nellie