Fruit and veg plans 2023

[CelticRambler]

Right lads, off we go!

As I was weeding/clearing the last of my veg beds in preparation for a new season, I spotted two self-seeded batavia lettuces already at the four-leaf stage. Well, who am I to argue with Mother Nature? So I'm going to chance sowing a metre of seed in the next day or two and see how it fares. It'll go up against a bank, protected from any north wind, and maybe benefit from some retained heat if the sun shines enough on the face of the bank.

[Del.Monte]

I miss having my own land now that I live in the centre of town and toyed with the idea of getting involved with the recently established Community Allotment Scheme. However, I didn't get involved from Day.1. and would now feel like a Johnny-come-lately if I applied - I'm already a blow-in in Enniscorthy despite the family being in the area since the 1640's.

Anyway, vegetable growing is a solitary/family occupation as far as I'm concerned although the security offered by the allotments is tempting. Less chance of one's crops being harvested by roving ne'er-do-wells. I'm also getting too old for that sort of larking about so I guess it's back to the farmer's market.

[knownunknown]

I miss having my own land now that I live in the centre of town and toyed with the idea of getting involved with the recently established Community Allotment Scheme. However, I didn't get involved from Day.1. and would now feel like a Johnny-come-lately if I applied - I'm already a blow-in in Enniscorthy despite the family being in the area since the 1640's.

Don’t let stupid shit interfere with what you want to do.

[CelticRambler]

I'm also getting too old for that sort of larking about

Tell that to my neighbours! It's an uplifting sight to see eighty- and ninety-year-olds still working in their veg patches around these parts. Going by their immaculately weed-free drills, and the fact that much of the time they're holding a hoe, it sometimes seems like the only thing they do!

[Setanta]

Gonna try grow cucumber and pumpkins (complete failure last year,dunno if we have the weather here for it),on top of the usual stuff


Also,bit off topic,but after getting a bruised turkey,for Xmas,going to keep a few of my own again....hoping on going back at few chickens aswell,skipped out after birdflu last year seemed bad enough around here

[KHD]

Gonna try grow cucumber and pumpkins (complete failure last year,dunno if we have the weather here for it),on top of the usual stuff

Pumpkins are easy to grow and well suited to Irish weather. There are a few key things though when growing them

1. Frost. Make sure ya transplant them outside after the frost risk has subsided. A hard frost will burn the leaves and kill them.

2. Pollination, the male and female flowers open up during the summer early in the morning, when the sun starts to rise. And close again around 10am. That's the time window pumpkins have for pollination. Most of the bees are still asleep at this stage. Worth getting up round 7am and hand pollinating them, get a fresh male flower, remove the large petal around it and look for the female flowers and rub the male flower against the stigma of the female flower. One male flower will pollinate 3 or 4 female flowers which develop the pumpkins.

Only pests they have is slugs, at the early stages of growth and later in the year they get mildew on the leaves, but is not a problem as the fruit will be at an advanced stage of development.

I put in two acres of them but the stupid lockdowns came in that year which meant all the customers I had for them couldn't open their pumpkin picking patches. So was a bit of a disaster but I was sorry I didn't do them the year gone as the rain fell at the correct times during the year for them and I had suppliers ringing me looking to see if I had them on the year just gone.

Cucumbers have been grown under glass in Ireland for decades. They don't do well in our climate outdoors and are prone to viruses but wouldn't stop me trying them again if you really want your own cucumbers.

[Memento Mori]

In the complex where I live I have access to a paved courtyard. I could probably get permission to put in some raised beds (or certainly containers). Its not a massive space - can anyone recommend anything that would be suitable for me to grow? (zero experience).

[isha]

Herbs are a good idea as they add a lot to food without taking up too much space, they are pretty, you can squeeze a good variety of different herbs into a small raised bed, many are perennial..

You could look into keyhole beds - they are better for coping with no watering, in some types you can feed them with compost ( although your neighbours might not like that idea).

Just look at the heights the herbs grow when you plant to so that you get a good aesthetic - eg fennel in the middle and the creeping herbs at the sides. Don't plant mint in the bed as unfortunately it takes over, so do a separate mint pot.

You could do a few potato barrels.

[Setanta]

Pumpkins are easy to grow and well suited to Irish weather. There are a few key things though when growing them

1. Frost. Make sure ya transplant them outside after the frost risk has subsided. A hard frost will burn the leaves and kill them.

2. Pollination, the male and female flowers open up during the summer early in the morning, when the sun starts to rise. And close again around 10am. That's the time window pumpkins have for pollination. Most of the bees are still asleep at this stage. Worth getting up round 7am and hand pollinating them, get a fresh male flower, remove the large petal around it and look for the female flowers and rub the male flower against the stigma of the female flower. One male flower will pollinate 3 or 4 female flowers which develop the pumpkins.

Only pests they have is slugs, at the early stages of growth and later in the year they get mildew on the leaves, but is not a problem as the fruit will be at an advanced stage of development.

I put in two acres of them but the stupid lockdowns came in that year which meant all the customers I had for them couldn't open their pumpkin picking patches. So was a bit of a disaster but I was sorry I didn't do them the year gone as the rain fell at the correct times during the year for them and I had suppliers ringing me looking to see if I had them on the year just gone.

Cucumbers have been grown under glass in Ireland for decades. They don't do well in our climate outdoors and are prone to viruses but wouldn't stop me trying them again if you really want your own cucumbers.

Cheers.....gonna aim to grow just 5 is all.......the cucumbers are mainly for benefit of 2 nieces,who are borderline addicted to em

[CelticRambler]

I would second Isha's suggestion: herbs give a great and instant return on investment, and you can pack a load of different plants into a relatively small space. Some can be put in as perennial "feature" plants (thyme, rosemary, bay, sage, chives, oregano, lavender) and others sown/re-sown as annuals (parsely, basil, coriander, tarragon, dill) As it's the leaves of these plants that you'll (mostly) want to use, you can go a bit crazy with the design of the planter and make a feature of that too.

If you'd really like to grow "real" veg, then prioritise those that keep producing all season long - tomatoes, gherkins, potatoes, cut-and-come-again salads, green beans ... While it's satisfying to grow other things, like carrots, onions and peas, chances are you'll only get one dinner of them and that's it for the year. That said, it can be helpful to put a few of these less productive veg in for their beneficial effect on the othe plants.

[Memento Mori]

Thanks v much for advice. They are quite accommodating here (trying to be green) and I have permission to actually dig up the paving if I want (its basically bricks/cobbles) to get at the bare earth. Would it be better to do this, or to put a raised bed directly on top?

I'm thinking some spuds and perennial herbs might be a good start.

[isha]

Thanks v much for advice. They are quite accommodating here (trying to be green) and I have permission to actually dig up the paving if I want (its basically bricks/cobbles) to get at the bare earth. Would it be better to do this, or to put a raised bed directly on top?

I'm thinking some spuds and perennial herbs might be a good start.

Just linking this site for the ideas. Shapes, heights etc.

https://quickcrop.ie/premier-raised-beds/

My view is that lifting cobbles depends on how low the bed is. I would go higher because one of the advantages of a raised bed is ...height.

And since roots only go down a certain amount anyway why lift the cobbles? Plus the kind of soil in the middle of an apartment complex post construction is not likely to be much more than rubbly subsoil. BUT...I could be wrong and the lads will advise ya different. You can lift them if you want, I suppose it connects the bed to the earth and worms and etc. Some raised beds are on legs, so it's not necessary.

If using wood don't use wood that has been impregnated with stuff.

[CelticRambler]

I have permission to actually dig up the paving if I want (its basically bricks/cobbles) to get at the bare earth. Would it be better to do this, or to put a raised bed directly on top?

Don't dig up the paving. One of the first things you have to do with a proper raised bed is ... create a weed-proof floor! Besides, a huge number of herbs don't just tolerate poor soil, but really thrive in it. Simplifying enormously, herbs can be divided into two broad families - those that like hot-n-dry conditions (just about everything that you might think of as a "Mediterranean") and those that like cool-n-damp. To get something akin to that hot-n-dry environment in Ireland, you'll need as much stone as possible, so a bricks/cobbles base is a great start.

What'll be more important will be internal separation, because you'll want at least two zones (and a third impregnable one if you want to grow mint). In the short-term, you can achieve this quite simply by placing your chosen herbs in individual pots/buckets of the appropriate soil, next arrange these pots inside a plain planter, then fill all the empty space with soil/compost and finally put a layer of stone/gravel over the top. Again, the stone is more than decorative: for the Mediterranean herbs (especially thyme, rosemary and oregano) the stone mimics their natural environment and acts as a type of temperature regulator.

[CelticRambler]

Well, I never did get to plant that metre of lettuce, mainly on account of the high winds - didn't want to chance losing all of my stock of seed to one wayward gust. But I've thinned and transplanted four metres of spinach instead (making it now six linear metres of spinach) and the self-seeded lamb's lettuce is coming thick and fast, so I'm good for "leafy greens" for a couple of months at least.

By way of advance planning, I've sown first batches of peppers, aubergines (new for this year), basil, celery and three varieties of lettuce. I've also taken a chance on a couple of varieties of tomatoes well ahead of time, just in case we skip over winter this year and go straight to an early summer. I'm not counting those particular chickens, but the forecast for the rest of the month is "remaining mild" and there are flower-buds on my autumn-sown peas. And daisies in the lawn.

[KHD]

The chickweed is coming along nicely.

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[CelticRambler]

By way of advance planning, I've sown first batches of peppers, aubergines (new for this year), basil, celery and three varieties of lettuce. I've also taken a chance on a couple of varieties of tomatoes well ahead of time, just in case we skip over winter this year and go straight to an early summer. I'm not counting those particular chickens, but the forecast for the rest of the month is "remaining mild" and there are flower-buds on my autumn-sown peas. And daisies in the lawn.

No great success with those early sowings, alas. I have some weedy looking lettuce and tomato seedlings, but none of the aubergines or peppers that I really wanted to see up and running. It's the recurrent problem I face at this time of year, every year: a conflict of interest, because these wintery months are the best time of the year for me to sell my body (and soul) in exchange for a summer of freedom. The seeds/seedlings were in a heated propagator, but I think it struggled to keep the temperature high enough in a house that was otherwise unheated during my absence.

But I'll sow a second batch of everything this week (maybe tomorrow, if I get through some other jobs quickly enough) and let them incubate in the camper while it's enjoying another ten days of downtime, and where the interior temps are hitting 20°C every day now (the house is still at 15°C ) In the meantime, I bought and planted a dozen asparagus crowns today, in a bed that was set aside for them almost two years ago. Also planted a first few lines of peas and mange-tout, a little bit early, but I read recently that we can get away with that here where I live if the seeds are sown twice as deep as recommended. I'll know in a month if it's worked ...

And, once again, blessed be the Lidlites: have topped up my stock with loads of their 29ct and 65ct packs of seed.

[CelticRambler]

Here we go gathering strawbs in May ...



Exceptionally early to have what is now a bowl a day for three days in a row, and this is just the "soft start" to the harvest.

This years tree-fruit crop has got off to a good start too, with cherries, plums, pears, nectarines and even two apricots already swelling on their respective branches. From here on, though, it'll be a constant struggle against drought and miscellaneous critters if there are to be delicious jams and desserts to be had out of all that.

[CelticRambler]

The strawberry harvest last year was pretty good, at least for the first flush (then hopeless for the "everlasting" varieties).

This year, it's been (and continues to be) a

W

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experience.

I've given up trying to keep track of the overall quantity, but even now as the drought takes hold, I'm still collecting about 5kg every day, and I've never had so many huge berries - 20-25g apiece. I reckon the total for the month must be at least 100kg, for no input whatsoever other than weeding the bed a couple of times during the wet spring weather.

[95438756]

No Plan whatsoever by me, but since there's oodles and oodles of bramble bushes in the back garden, awaiting a bumper crop of blackberries soon. The flowers are now out which are precursor to the berries
Should have the first crop by later this month.
Season goes on until end of October.

[95438756]

Picking them now. Yummy.
Lots of annoying spiders webs are prominent around the berries this year.