What have you learned this year ?

[veggiechicken]

I'M A MAN, in order to 'prove' my masculinity I have to grow the tallest, biggest, most humongous parsnips possible !!!

Seriously though, I have a few bottomless MFBs that worked well with the tomatoes this year - you've made me decide that I'll grow parsnips in some of them next year. 1 parsnip per pot.

Cheers VC !!

Here's my potato patch ready for next year These MFBs have bottoms.

[KevinM67]

Yep VC I like that - same concept but with bottomless pots.

We like parsnips - but don't go through a great amount a year.

I'll go for about 12ish next year, as space is a factor.

[TheCyclingProgrammer]

Ive learned that I really like the smell of Weedol fast acting weed killer. Yes, I’m strange.

[bramble]

I have learned there are only so many peppers you can pickle.
Totally cutting back on the ammount of chilli peppers I grow next season.
Going to go back to growing more flowers as I have more or less turned the garden over to veg in the last few years with the exception of sweetpeas and dahlias.
Going to try herbs and spices from seed.

[Baldy]

I've learned to be content with what I manage to do and grow on my plot and at home.
I need to try to apply that to the other aspects of my life too...

[Bex2012]

That Im not growing courgettes any more! We don't particularly like them, and I cant get up the plot until they turn marrow sized.
Oh, and that I dont need to buy any more pots, propagaters, or plant labels - 4 blue ikea bags full is more than enough!

[Jay-ell]

I've learned that the first meal of Jerusalem Artichokes of the year should NOT involve a kilo of JAs.

[Chris11]

Finally got some nice usable compost in one of the daleks, but it had been in there a long time, probably not with optimum conditions. So I learned a bit more about the mix and have put in more 'browns' in the form of shredded newspaper to the other dalek I'm still adding to.

Was always aware that worms don't like citrus, but also recently learned they don't like onions/garlic. I won't be adding these in future and see if I end up with more worm activity

[DannyK]

That tomatillos are easy to grow, look attractive, heavy croppers, bees like the flowers, they store better than tomatoes...........BUT I've no idea what to do with the fruit.

Chutney? All could find on net were endless salsa recipes!

[veggiechicken]

I'm too lazy to make chutney though I'm sure it would work - say half and half with tomatoes. Made a pasta sauce like that which was OK-ish.

[Penellype]

Bean sprouts (mung beans) seem to almost double in volume daily, so if you sprout enough for "a couple of meals" you have a seemingly infinite supply until they get too big to eat!

[KevinM67]

Bean sprouts (mung beans) seem to almost double in volume daily, so if you sprout enough for "a couple of meals" you have a seemingly infinite supply until they get too big to eat!

That sounds interesting - out of curiosity, how are you growing them ?

[Penellype]

I grow them the same way as I grow alfalfa sprouts. Put beans in a jar big enough to get your hand in and soak for 24hrs in cold water. Cover the jar with a piece of fine mesh (muslin, net curtain etc) secured with an elastic band. Tip the water out through the mesh - its much much easier if you tip it slowly so that half the mesh stays dry, otherwise the water can't easily get out.

Rinse the beans at least daily in cold water, tipping it out through the mesh until the sprouts are big enough to eat (5 days +). Take out what you need and keep rinsing the rest. Some people say cover the jar so that you exclude light - I don't bother as I don't mind slightly green sprouts and if I cover the jar I will probably forget to rinse them, which is important as it rinses away toxins. I keep my jar near the kettle and rinse them while making breakfast.

The beans will expand hugely in volume as they sprout, so start with a small amount unless you really like bean sprouts!

I eat my alfalfa raw, but I prefer to cook mung sprouts just to be on the safe side, as they can harbour quite nasty bacteria (true also of bean sprouts that you buy in the shops).

You can sprout all sorts of things like this - I've tried fenugreek (didn't like the taste) and you can use other small beans such as aduki beans, or lentils (obviously not the split sort). I wouldn't want to try bigger beans as they could be too hard, and some (eg kidney beans) need long cooking times as they contain a poison when raw, so you would stew the sprouts in the cooking.

[Bigmallly]

I've learned not to grow anything that does not have a "traditional" colour.................especially purple tatties...............

[KevinM67]

I think I maybe mentioned this on another thread, and without wanting to come across as a bit too 'schmaltzy' - I learned from here to keep the lifted turf that I had when making my growing beds last year.

Leaving it upturned in a compost bin until now has produced a wonderful crumbly material.

I would normally have just shoved the stuff in a council brown bin.