My veg Patch

[Stacey]

Pretty much everything is coming up now.not the beans though, which is a shame.Also the Leek, brussel sprouts and carrots arent doing all that well. I have a few seedlings and that is all! Im pleased with everything else though!
I have a question about garlic. I have planted some cloves but I am confused about what actually happens. does the bulb get bigger and split into the cloves?I hope i dont sound too dumb!

[Alice]

Hello Stacey, yes I plant some marigolds and nasturtiums with the vegetables to encourage pollinators and attract the pests away from my plants. And I eat the nasturium leaves and flowers with my salad.

[Stacey]

My marigolds arent even coming up! I think they're ugly anyway but i was doing it for the good of the veg! I suppose I'll haveto buy some.
Well the latest news for my veg patch is that I have starting thinning my turnips,its such a shame because they are all growing so beautifully,and I have so many!but they wont grow much more if i dont thin them. My peas are growing beautifully as are my tomatoes.Dont have many parsnips or brussel sprouts,dont mind so much about the brussels but I love parsnip and carrot steamed then mashed together,at least i have the carrots,they are also growing well but will really need thinning out also lol.
Now for the sad news,out of around 40 beans planted,I have only 1. Why????
Also anyone had any success growing aubergine in a vegbed?it is in the sunniest bed.
Oh yeah my big query for the day is what do you "feed" your veg? See I thought veg was supposed to feed us not the otherway round so im quite confused. Also I am gardening organically so advice about organic feed is most welcome.

[Stacey]

And thankyou Lesley for clearing that up for me.

[TPeers]

Hi Stacey, did you sow the beans in place in the veg bed? If so then most of them are likely to have been eaten by mice, squirrels or slugs!

Don't worry, there is still time to get a new crop! If you have run out of seed I still have some for both runner beans and climbing french beans. Both collected from last year. PM me if you need them.

I suggest that you sow whatever seed you have individually into 3" pots, they will be up in no time and you can give them a couple of weeks of TLC before planting them out. Remember that slugs and snails love beans almost as much as we do and protect them - if you are against slug pellets (I am - too many pets and kids!) then you could try the old trick of getting as many egg shells as possible, bake them in the oven on a low to moderate heat for about an hour then when cool crush them. Put a layer of shell about 2"-3" wide around the stem of each plant. The theory is that the shells become very porous once baked and that this combined with the sharp fragments is a deterent.

[moggssue]

I also planted my french bean seeds in the plot about a month ago. Got nothing, then one a few days ago, now all of a sudden I have six (out of 8 seeds sowed) plants romping away - they just came from nothing overnight and seem soo big already! Maybe you'll have the same Stacy, fingers crossed.

[Stacey]

Well I have already bought another pack of runner beans,but thanks for the offer TPeers. My one bean is reaching 4inches now,I dont think anymore will grow now,but I am definately going to sow my new pack indoors tonight! Its such a shame what happened,cos I love my greens! Justed planted a second lot of onions (bulbs) and put in a row of radish and also some cauliflower.dont know if the timings right or wrong just thought id have a go,plenty of seed left over this time cos when it said plant thinly i left spaces this time lol,about 2in /3in does that sound about right?
ANd please someone tell me how do you FEED your veg?? I am baffled.

[TPeers]

To 'feed' your plants.

Dig in manure or well rotted compost before planting/sowing. (usually done in winter)

Top dress (scatter by hand) a powderd general fertaliser from the shop.

Mulch (spread a 2"-3" layer) of compost or bark chippings or what have you aroung the plants. (keeps moisture in the soil by reducing evaporation)

There are other methods as well, such as liquid feeds you water on, slow release pellets, green manures..... anything which adds nutrient to the soil or otherwise makes them available to the plants is 'feeding'.

The purpose is to generate the best crop possible.

Terry

[Stacey]

Well the day before I started planting the beds (slightly raised were filled with soil and then organic compost was spread over the top. Since then ive done nothing but water them and squirt washing up liquid (ecover) and water on the plants with the aphids. I take it i really need to do more? Can you get powdered fertilisers? I dont want chemicals cos i have a toddler,pets and am a bit of an eco warrior (or worrier!). Am I doomed? My veg beds are still like giant ants nests too, and theyre full of spiders and when im not looking,cats.

[noidea]

We had to stick netting over the whole thing as the cats are convinced this strange new contraption is a litter tray. It was driving me crazy! They were only using the very very middle of it as I had lemons down around the rest and they although they hate that, were still finding a way through!

Our entire garden is covered in ants. You might find a difference in a few weeks. Often they just disapear. We are probably about the have the 2 days a year though that they all hatch, fly around then die in their millions. It's horrible!

C

[Stacey]

My ants are going to fly???????????/

[noidea]

LOL!

Sorry I didn't mean to say your's would! We have 2 days every year (I am in Edinburgh and my Mum gets it in Fife too) where all the ants go crazy. It's something to do with them hatching or mating or something. They all fly around in their millions (the wee ones find it quite scary actally) and then suddenly disapear again. All the ones that have been crawling around the garden before this all disapear too.

It was like something from a wildlife programme last year, though the year before wasn't as bad.

Don't worry... they are probably a particular kind of ant.

C

[Stacey]

i remember when i lived in Germany they had flying ants,and i was 6. in fact now you mention it I think i may have seen them in Edinburgh when i lived there too. Maybe they eat the non flying ants? That would be good wouldnt it? I just remember the swarms and even now at 20 it scares me lol.

[Stacey]

Any space saving ideas for things like sweetcorn squash and pumpkin? I bought the seeds (couldnt resist 1/2 price at wilkos! lol) and read the backs when I got home. They need so much space! is there anything I cant plant b4etween them or what? If I cant then hopefully I'll be heearing about an allotment soon so they wont go to waste!

[Mrs Dobby]

Sweetcorn, squash and pumpkins can all be planted into the same bed, the sweetcorn grows tall, so gets light, the pumpkin grows low and covers the ground, stopping weeds from getting a look in and getting plenty of light too! You can even add some climbing beans to grow up the sweetcorn plants, ala the 3 sisters bed of the Native Americans! There's lots of threads discussing it already, just do a search on 3 sisters!