This is the journal of my endeavours to grow a range of fruit, veg and flowers from seed, grow organically, and my attempts to create a personal paradise with 1/2 acre of maintained gardens and 1/2 acre wild meadows. Northern Ireland's average daily high temperatures are 18 °C (64 °F) in July and 6 °C (43 °F) in January. Soil type: Clay

Thursday 18 August 2011

Veg Update (Hot Pepper, Apple, Tomato, Broccoli, etc )

Very happy with my hot chili peppers and will do a few things different next year (bigger pots)! Have had several good pickings similar to photo shown. I've frozen a good lot of them to use in coming months.

VarietyChillis (hot) - Pepper (Hot) Cayenne, Mr Fothergill's, 60 seeds, £1.89. Sown 20 Feb 2011 indoor. Grown in 3 to 4 inch pots. Kept inside and grown on windowsill.

Self fertilising apple tree. About 11 apples this year - a lifetime record for me! I'm noticing some damage to the skin (pictured) - not sure what this is.
My first time growing tomatoes - has gone well after initial confusion about pinching out shoots. I'll definitely grow again next year. The tomatoes are 'bite size' - suppose that's why they're called 'red cherry'.

VarietyTomato (Red Cherry), Mr Fothergill's, 50 seeds, £1.89. Sown 3 April 2011 indoor. Kept in sun room/glass house throughout.
My broccoli has started to flower - I think that's bad. First time growing broccoli, thought it was doing well. Saw a small broccoli head forming in the middle of the plant but I didn't pick it as thought it should grow bigger; however, a few days later it began flowering.

VarietyBroccoli '(Autumn) 'Green Calabrese', Mr Fothergill's, 250 seeds, £1.49  Sown 8 April 2011 indoor. (Planted outside mid-June; netted).
I've had alot of blossom rot this year - on green and yellow courgette / zucchini. Never experience this before. Getting more growing healthy now - better late than never!

Variety (pictured): Courgette (yellow zucchini) 'Soleil F1', Mr Fothergill's, 10 seeds, £2.39. Sown 3 April 2011 indoor. Planted outside in pots in June 2011.


Photo of veg bed showing celeriac, two types of kale, cabbage.
Harvest - doesn't look like much - I seem to forget to take photos of what I take in from the garden. The supervisor inspects my goods.

Spring onions are growing great!

Hope your veg is growing strong (and not bolting)!

12 comments:

  1. Your broccoli is calabrese same as sprouting broccoli? If you cut the middle head now, although it is blooming you might get some edible side shoots. I have some sprouting broccoli plants that flower last summer because I was too lazy to cut the side shoot. But the side shoots that did not flower was edible and tasted ok. Maybe its not too late to get more side shoots to harvest if you cut the flowering part now.All your other edible plants look amazing.

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  2. From the photo it could be that the marks are where a bird has had a little peck or it could be a little bit of scab. The fruit should be fine - just remove the blemished skin when you eat it.

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  3. How big are your Celeriac bulbs Kelli? Not many people grow this, so I am keen to compare notes.Mine are "getting there". I think this will be the first year I get a viable harvest of them.
    Love the chilli photo, by the way!

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  4. Your peppers will be hot. Hope you have the taste for them. I am picking anaheim peppers which are only mildly hot and jalapenos that will probably be way too hot. Yes, your broccoli is past picking. Here we grew 3 really nice head and if not picked at the right time, the bolt--shoot up blossoms. Good job on the tomatoes. Your garden and out is quite amazing.

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  5. Love your supervisor! Although he looks a bit bored. (must not like vegetables!) :) Your hot chili peppers look scrumptious! I hope you have enough to put up some fabulous sauce.

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  6. Oh, such a nice harvest of peppers! I learned my lesson this year with the bell peppers I have been growing...I need to plant them in pots so I can put them in the best sun spot! Hey..11 apples is more than I'll be getting..none as I have no apple tree!! :) Glad you are finally getting some courgettes to mature..makes one feel like they are getting some production in the garden after all! :)

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  7. Nice pepper harvest! My summer squash has not done well at all this year. I harvested 1 Lebanese squash and that's all. I lost a few to rot. Buggers!!

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  8. My sprouting broccoli did the same thing so I picked the others before they went the same way.Very tender but hardly worth the effort. Put it down to the weather Kelli.I found the celariac to difficult to grow on sandy soil - it needs so much water! The tops of yours are looking good. And so are the peppers....

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  9. Kelli, your peppers are beautiful and what a nice lot of cherry tomatoes! They are so good in salads or just pop in your mouth like a piece of candy! I think you have done very well with everything. My broccoli bloomed, but I cut them all off and behold! I soon got another crop of small shoots and heads, and they were very edible so I picked them before they had a chance to bloom. Try it!

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  10. Everything's growing great, Kelli. One of my calabrese plants has flowered, but I've cut the flower off and I'm watching to see if anything else grows for me. You look to have done well with the chilis.

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  11. Your harvest looks so wonderful, who sayd you can't grow amazing vegies in ireland! (my relatives, that's who, making excuses :) LOL) My sprouting broccoli flower all the time ah well I just lop it off and add it to a stirfry and it just keeps growing.

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  12. Your harvest look good! And your inspector is just so cute!
    I gorw broccoli too but just to eat the leaves...the weather here makes the bolt....

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