Penellype's 2015 Edible Garden Challenge

[Penellype]

Another variety of lettuce today, from a pack of mixed seeds (counts as one variety) . Today's lettuce was Catalogna, which I haven't grown on its own.

Total varieties so far = 38.

[Penellype]

The first fresh sprigs of oregano to go with my homemade pizza tonight

Total vareties so far = 39.

[Penellype]

Finally managed to get to 40 with a small sprig of lemon thyme, which has finally produced enough fresh leaves for me to dare to pick some.

HALF WAY!!!

The 40 so far:
Alfalfa
American Land Cress
Basil
Broccoli Early Purple
Cabbage Duncan
Carrot Eskimo
Carrot Nantes Frubund Fastcrop
Celeriac Monarch
Chard
Chervil
Kohlrabi Mix
Leek Albana
Leek Oarsman
Lettuce Lollo Rossa
Lettuce Mixed Salad Leaves
Lettuce Salad Bowl Mix
Lettuce Winter Gem
Mizuna Red Knight
Mustard Green Frills
Namenia
Oregano
Pak Choi Tri-colour Mix
Parsley (French)
Pea Half Pint
Pea Hurst Greenshaft
Pepper California Wonder
Pepper Snackbite Orange
Potato Desiree
Provencale salad mix
Radish Sangria
Red Cabbage Kalibos
Rhubarb Red Champagne
Spinach Beet (Perpetual spinach)
Spinach Bloomsdale
Spinach Reddy
Spinach Red Vein
Spinach Tirza
Spring Onion Furio
Thyme (lemon)
Tomato Shirley

[Penellype]

Currently muching away at a huge bowlful of mixed lettuces and other salad greens (plus some tuna mayonnaise). I've gone a bit berserk with the lettuces this year and currently have 22 plants on various windowsills and some more outside! A few Nasturtium Firebird leaves in the mix today.

Total varieties so far = 41

[Penellype]

Nothing much different at home at the moment, but picked a couple of self seeded Nasturtium Tom Thumb leaves to go in my salad at lunchtime.

Total varieties so far = 42

[Penellype]

Having one of those dinners designed to eat up various bits of stuff tonight - some cold ham and cold potatoes (from my friend's greenhouse so they don't count here), plus the compulsory PSB and leeks, a decent handful of spinach and 2 newcomers for this year. 2 small pods of french bean Purple Teepee from the plants on my windowsill, and a golf ball sized turnip Atlantic.

Total varieties so far = 44.

[Bigmallly]

I admire your persistence Pene.

[Penellype]

A nice sunny afternoon, so I thought I would take some photos from roughly the same angles as the ones taken in January:
http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...ml#post1310615

Here is the hotbin corner:

This gets the morning sun, so is shaded in the photo. Strawberries have taken over the seat, and peas are planted along the length of the netting. The cloche greenhouse in front houses a bucket of late planted Sarpo Axona potatoes which have not yet appeared above ground, and the dish in the other half is for tomatoes that are being carefully hardened off when it is sunny. Various self seeded nasturtiums are growing in amongst, and the cloche will eventually house and give way to 2 courgettes.

Alongside the apple tree:

Left to right, a bucket of Rocket potatoes, white currants, apple James Grieve, early peas - Meteor in flower and Hurst Greenshaft. Eventually there will be lobelia in front of these to brighten it up a bit. The pots on the fence contain nasturtium Firebird.

The veggie garden:

This is alreay starting to look very crowded, with the cold frame full of bedding plants, another 3 buckets of potatoes, early catch crops of lettuce, turnip, pak choi, mizuna and kohlrabi under the net, onions, spinach and strawberries on the path and my experimental pole garden near the fence - currently garlic chives, ordinary chives, mizuna, nasturtium tom thumb and chervil. I have a pot of parsley nearly ready to go on, and hopefully 2 pots of french beans once the frost has finished.

Somewhere in this area I am hoping to plant 2 cucumbers, a melon, several tomato plants, 3 courgettes and 6 runner beans...

The front of the patio:

The growhouse currently houses a bucket of Sarpo Mira potatoes (in need of a home!), 2 Sungold tomatoes which are the first to be hardened off, and various seedlings in the process of hardening off. Eventually I plan to grow melons and the odd bush tomato in the growhouse. Spinach to the side is starting to bolt, the one near the wormery is in a self watering pot and is better. Veggie cage now contains 4 tubs of carrots and 2 troughs of cabbage - Hispi and Kalibos (red). In front of this is another smaller cage containing yet more carrots. Strawberries and blueberries inside the greenhouse frame which will become the fruit cage.

Back of the patio:

Namenia (bolting), spring cabbage and calabrese (under net) alongside the fruit cage. Potatoes in the wooden compost bin (out of shot, right). Leeks in the black trough in front of the raised bed, rhubarb and potatoes behind. The last of the PSB is doing battle with 2 buckets of Desiree potatoes which are resting on the PSB roots (!). Raspberries and gooseberries in the corner, and 4 more buckets of potatoes near the fence. The mesh is an attempt to contain the potato and rhubarb foliage so that I can actually get past once they start to really grow.
The plants on the shelving are currently homeless - leeks, some young turnips and one surviving spring onion (I can't grow the damn things here to save my life, although they grow fine at my friend's).
This area is pretty much finished now, although I will probably find something to replace the spring cabbage and namenia with shortly.

[Penellype]

Things might seem a little slow at the moment, but that's mainly because I have been gorging myself on PSB (now finished), salads and spinach. I'm happy that I am well on target, providing that I don't have a disaster with the strawberries or early blight on the tomatoes...

Finally got around to harvesting my spring cabbage (Spring Hero). I grew 3 plants in a trough and was waiting for them to produce some nice spring greens as usual, but all they did was go a sort of purplish colour and stay much the same size. I tried feeding them but it made little difference. Decided today that I would make the best of a bad job, so I cut all 3 of them and used the middles, which made a nice helping of cabbage.

Total varieties so far = 45.

[Penellype]

1 Rocket potato, exactly 8 weeks from when the first shoots appeared above the compost (teaspoon for size comparison):


Total varieties so far = 46

[Penellype]

Couldn't resist the first pod of Meteor peas - still a little small but wonderfully sweet. Plenty more will be ready soon

Total varieties so far = 47

[Penellype]

2 new varieties with my lunch today - tomato Balconi Red and spinach Amazon.

Total varieties so far = 49

Expect the big 50 in the next day or 2!

[Penellype]

Here it is - the big 50 reached with a nice head of cabbage Hispi.

The 50 so far:
Alfalfa
American Land Cress
Basil
Bean Purple Teepee
Broccoli Early Purple
Cabbage Duncan, Hispi, Spring Hero
Carrot Eskimo, Nantes Frubund Fastcrop
Celeriac Monarch
Chard
Chervil
Kohlrabi Mix
Leek Albana, Oarsman
Lettuce Lollo Rossa, Mixed Salad Leaves, Salad Bowl Mix, Winter Gem
Mizuna Red Knight
Mustard Green Frills
Namenia
Nasturtium Firebird, Tom Thumb
Oregano
Pak Choi Tri-colour Mix
Parsley (French)
Pea Half Pint, Hurst Greenshaft, Meteor
Pepper California Wonder, Snackbite Orange
Potato Desiree, Rocket
Provencale salad mix
Radish Sangria
Red Cabbage Kalibos
Rhubarb Red Champagne
Spinach Beet (Perpetual spinach)
Spinach Amazon, Bloomsdale, Reddy, Red Vein, Tirza
Spring Onion Furio
Thyme (lemon)
Tomato Balconi Red, Shirley
Turnip Atlantic

[Penellype]

1 strawberry Buddy today - these are perpetuals, but they have beaten even the early variety Vibrant to the first ripe fruit.

Total varieties so far = 51

[Penellype]

The fruit cage has been a massive challenge this year. Last year I tried the standard black fruit cage netting, which the birds got tangled in at least twice. Then the wasps started to eat my strawberries so I decided to cover the frame with veggiemesh. This lasted about a week, before the wind broke the joints of the cage. I ended up with a low version of the cage which meant I had to bend double while picking blueberries, which isn't a great idea.



So this year, having bought a new frame, I am reluctant to make the same mistake again. This is my solution, which took most of yesterday to put up:



And here is the inside:



The upper part of the netting is attached to the frame using these Harrod Frame Saver Netting Clips - Harrod Horticultural (which is why it looks saggy) so hopefully if it gets windy the net will pull away from the frame and not break the joints this time. That's the theory...

Anyone offering odds on how long it will last?