Are there any backyard veggie gardeners here?

[K Atie]

Picking purple sprouting broccoli, it’s thin and small heads but quiet nice .

[achookwoman]

Garden finally taking off. Seedlings looking good even though we have had a couple of light frosts. The gardener helped me weed a massive garden bed. I have covered it with the cardboard from the oven boxes to discourage weeds until I’m ready to plant up.

[K Atie]

Picked the first green runner beans at the beach . Mum grew these every year with my DB . Cleaning out the kitchen cupboards here we found three new packets of bean shredders ! Each year DM would replace her bean shredder and when giving away masses of surplus beans give them a bean shredder ! Figs just ripening here too so we netted them . I have a few fig trees at home but no one will have watered them or the birds will have got them ! Also we witnessed a crow eating the cherry tomatoes and the just ripe Roma tomatoes. DB tried to chase it away with water! But I watched as it devoured six in a row ! Tied tin foil on to the tomatoes to see if that will stop it ! A little eggplant is growing too and some green peppers!

[achookwoman]

K ATIE, that sounds very productive. Birds ate all our plums. Friends gave us plenty. First time I haven’t grown plenty of Zucchini. Again friends gave us several very large ones. We are picking French beans but the tomatoes are very slow to ripen.
Picked enough Mulberries to make jam and waiting for the Medlars to fully ripen. 4 pumpkins growing nicely and potatoes growing in compost bin.
Anything we can grow or swap is great as fresh fruit and veggies are very expensive.

[cookie1]

It all sounds lovely. We have parsley and sweet potatoes growing. We have some roses out the front and grass but most of the rest is paved, with cars or parts on it. All behind locked gates. 

[achookwoman]

Cookie, I can’t live without Parsley. Would love to grow Sweet Potatoes but not the right climate.
No homegrown Apples this year. Hope someone brings some so I can bottle them.

[K Atie]

What happened to the Apples Chookie . All the vegetables are in the beach garden , home is another story neglected oh well hopefully DS will help revamp it and we will benefit later. Looks like the tomatoes were been eaten by mouse or rat !! Honestly I saw my DB dog staring into the tomatoes, now I know why ,

[achookwoman]

Birds ate  the Apples. Tree too big to cover. We only managed to cover the Peach tree and Mulberry bushes.  The birds don’t touch the Medlars.
The pumpkins are looking good. 4 nice ones. They take a lot of water.
Picked the last of the beans. Parsley growing well , as are all the herbs.

[cookie1]

ENORMOUS EXCITEMENT. I hadn't been out to this part of the garden for a couple of days and this morning DH called me and I have 3 flowers on my Dragon Fruit. I'm very excited about it. We were told that they only liked one upright and I was going to prune them back for next year. I'm amazed as with the dreadful heat they have produced flowers. Now I hope they produce fruit. Perhaps the heat etc stressed them and they thought they needed to reproduce.

Another ready to come out.

[judydawn]

It’s obviously got something to do with the heat cookie, it’s beautiful and I can understand your excitement.

[K Atie]

That flower is amazing and just lifted my spirits. The colour too .

[Cuilidh]

Hope you get some fruit of it.  The flower is quite spectacular.

[achookwoman]

Wow Cookie.  That is amazing.
Yesterday we covered most of our front flower bed with cardboard boxes. Will finish today and cover with sugarcane mulch. Hope we will get to Spring without too much weeding. We had saved the large box that the freezer came in as well as the fruit and veggie boxes.
Today I’m sowing seeds in trays. Lettuce, spinach , Chinese veggies.

[achookwoman]

Cleaning out one raised garden bed. Digging in mulch and covering bed with brown paper. Poking holes in paper and in holes planting a spinach seedlings.

[Cuilidh]

Chookie we can probably drop a good load of large cardboard boxes off to you over Easter if you are still looking for some (we will come up to the house to off-load it, but, ever wary of the on-going COVID situation, it would be best if you two stayed indoors and we won't come in). 

I have a devious reason for this as well because taking the run over to your place will give DH something to keep him occupied because he has to have an operation on his hand a couple of days before Easter and he will get severe cabin fever because he cannot get back to his tools and workbench for a week or two so I am looking for things to combat his frustration and keep him occupied.

However, if you have plenty of cardboard, please let me know as we can easily drop it all off at the recycling depot.