Vegetable growing in a small garden: June Update

Well, it has been a little while since I've given an update on the vegetable growing, so I thought it was time to update the blog.We have had a couple of good results so far - mostly the salad leaves. The Mizuna has been a runaway success so far and is very easy to grow. We've been thinning out the plants for some time and the more mature ones are now providing leaves on a daily basis. The rocket seems to have been a little slower to reach a decent size for picking by comparison. I have failed to mention that we picked up a packed of mixed seeds which Nottcutts were handing out at the Chelsea Flower Show. We duly sowed the packet into two pots (about 10"-12" diameter) and they are now ready to pick. As a little freebee, we're absolutely delighted with the results. Sadly, the lamb's leaf lettuces are taking their time to get going and it may be a while before they're ready to pick.The runner beans have flowered already and are beginning to set pods; I do feel that we've cheated a little by buying the plants as seedlings and as aresult they are much further along than the ones which were grown from seed by a neighbour. The mangetout, again bought as seedlings, are continuing to flower and have a handful of pods on them. We have picked the first couple, just out of excitement at having grown our own veg, but we're going to need to let the rest grow on a little before we can really pick the rest. I have to say that buying these small trays of seedlings, although a little bit of a cheat, seems to be quite a convenient way of getting things going quite quickly and extending the growing season.After the success of the beans & mangetout, we bought some celery plants which are merrily growing away in another pot by the back door - in place of one of the cast iron planters that was stolen about a month or so ago. We're growing the celery to cut the leaves (rather than the stalks) to add to Cat's potato salad. I'm not sure that she'll give the recipe out, but if you ask her nicely...We have had a couple of disappointments, mainly with the radishes. They seemed to be growing quite healthily but when I picked a couple of them last week, it seems that some sort of weevil or grub has attacked the roots / tubors, making one or two of them rot. I've thrown the two pots of them out and decided to go with one pot of Chard and one pot of Pak Choi. I've only actually sown the pots this evening, covering them with a piece of perspex, so it will be some time before there's anything of note from them.On the subject of the Franchi seeds which I mentioned in an earlier blog, I would have to say that I'm quite happy with the results of the chikory so far. The leaves are still very young yet and are too small to pick for salads yet but having cheekily picked one or two while Cat wasn't looking, they're full of flavour - quite bitter but in a really good gin & tonic sort of way.Finally, we have the tomatoes. I noticed that we have a couple of trusses just beginning to form on the plants. I'm feeding them with liquid tomato feed every week or so, to keep the nutrient levels up in the compost. I've not pinched out the side shoots on the plants as I don't really want them to grow too tall, with them being in containers. I think the plants could probably do with a final potting on into larger containers before they start to flower properly. Last time I potted them on into a mix of multi-purpose compost and fish, blood & bone which seemed to have done them good. I'm really excited about the tomatoes and I figured out why I like growing them so much - the scent of their foliage remind me of a really good Sauvignon Blanc!

Andrew, sounds great although I'm surprised that you're having problems with radishes since they're usually pretty problem-free as long as they're not left too long.
As for tomatoes, you can leave the side trusses but should still pinch out the shoots that grow in the 'armpits' (in a sort of upside down way) - ie between the side truss and the main stem at about 45 degrees up. You'll soon see that these don't ever produce any fruit so getting rid of them allows the plant to concentrate on the tomato production. Great that you're giving them a liquid feed weekly - make sure it goes on the leaves not just the roots as it's better absorbed that way (see http://www.growveg.com/growblogpost.aspx?id=38). Good luck!

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Comments

Jeremy Dore July 1, 2008 at 9:53pm

Andrew, sounds great although I'm surprised that you're having problems with radishes since they're usually pretty problem-free as long as they're not left too long.
As for tomatoes, you can leave the side trusses but should still pinch out the shoots that grow in the 'armpits' (in a sort of upside down way) - ie between the side truss and the main stem at about 45 degrees up. You'll soon see that these don't ever produce any fruit so getting rid of them allows the plant to concentrate on the tomato production. Great that you're giving them a liquid feed weekly - make sure it goes on the leaves not just the roots as it's better absorbed that way (see http://www.growveg.com/growblogpost.aspx?id=38). Good luck!
Andrew Fereday July 1, 2008 at 10:01pm

Thanks for the advice Jeremy. I've just repotted the tomatoes into a bright red trug (Cat's choice!) and mixed in a little more fish blood & bone. I'll give the foliar feed trick a go - I'm used to just feeding directly into the soil so I'll see whether that works.

I'm not sure with the radishes, but I think they may have suffered from irregular watering. Even though they didn't get near wilting I think I should have paid more attention to them. Anyway, I've replanted the pots with Chard and Pak Choi which have just germinated.