My new Veg growing diary website.

[vegmandan]

Just to prove that you can grow veg in amongst a cottage garden,heres my 100% maintainance free "chuck seeds in and see what comes up"flower garden with a row of peas growing happily in the middle of it last year.
Can you spot 'em ?
I think anything that grows tall is worth a bash if you can make a bit of room,especially as you say beans.
By the way the peas are in the top right corner,and they did fine.

[Admin]

That is beautifull i think its called potaging have prob spelt that wrong but its a type of gardening i am keen on.I will be having lots of herbs and wildflowers amongst mine especially the tall ones like mullein which is my fabourite plant.
I am over run with angelica here i havnt got the heart to remove it not sure if i will be taking it with me ..allthough i love taking photo of it .. :oI need toget keys to new house and take another look before i decide what is possible to take with me..not sure i like getting a postage stamp garden but i have countryside a few yards away so its not the end of the world..

[char]

I want to start growing more Veg and i want to have a go at Onions, i grew some last year and they did ok, but no where as good as yours!!! i love Onions , and i hope to get some good ones this year!
Any tips all welcome.

[vegmandan]

Hi,
As far as growing really big onions you will obviously need to grow a big exhibition variety .
Last year I grew Kelsae,not the biggest - average about 2-3 lb but a great shape.
I bought seedlings from Mr Fothergills about £6 for 40 so quite cheap.
This year I'm going all out with the world record holding variety Ailsae at £30 for 50 seedlings...seems alot but I'll probably get around 200 lbs of onions out of them.

Anyhow to grow the biggest, the more protection you can give them the better-Ideally growing in a greenhouse or a polytunnel.

If you're growing onions from sets outside then I would always get heat treated sets so they won't bolt to seed.This is because they are kept at a certain temperature for a few weeks by the supplier which kills off the embryonic flower stem in the set so it will hardly ever go to seed.
This is especially important with red onions as these are a real pest and tend to shoot a big flower stem up from the onion prematurely if we get a long hot dry spell.

Apart from that the only other thing is to make sure your soil isn't too acidic--onions prefer about ph6.5-7.

Also after June 21st the longest day onions cease growing any more leaves and then start to bulb up so if you get any dry spells then make sure you water well.
Thats about it really,
Good luck.




I'll be showing my Big Onion attempt this year on my own site so please have a look..

[windy]

Will do Danny Boy !!! Can't wait in fact!!
It looks a lovely spot where you are ( although being a Lancashire Lass, I can hear me Grandad spinning in his grave as I say it !! )
Great to have you on Mother Earth, expect to be pumped for info on a regular basis

[Admin]

Looks brilliant where you are and your veg is great i hope you do well this year .

[Admin]

your feb diary looks great you have worked hard and the broccoli looks healthy..Their is no doubt about it gardening can be hard work especially on your scale.Still you have plenty to look forward to..love the horses..

[windy]

Well I'm hoping to sow my veg seed today...so expect lots osf stoopid questions Dan

[Admin]

Hope you do well with your peppers your web site is brilliant i look in to catch up with what you are up to.

[windy]

Great website Dan...I lost all my King Edwards to blight last year so was going to try growing them in sacks this year (bit late getting em though, will have to get a move on ). Afterwards I read that King Eddies are bad for blight, any recommendations for spuds that aren't ?

[kedigato]

I thought that King Edwards were not grown in England any more, stopped growing them due to some virus many years ago. Or is this a new variety of them?

[windy]

Well I won't be growing em again

[vegmandan]

I have grown King Edwards in the past but if they dont grow big enough then they're too small for chips and roasting and because they're floury they're no good for using boiled either.
So after my rubbish crop I didn't grow any more.

I now just grow Nicola,its amazingly waxy in texture.

Here are some Blight resistant varieties to try.

Earlies: Colleen, Karlena, Orla.
Second earlies: Cosmos, Milva, Spunta
Early maincrop: Remarka, Robinta, Stirling
Late main crop: Cara, Valor, Verity, Arran Victory, Sarpo Mira

They won't be totally resistant but they'll be the best you can get.

[windy]

I grew some Nicola last year, pre-blight. They were lovely and did really well. Will grow them again methinks. Thanks for the list, better get a move on and order some now!!!

[Admin]

Your March diary in your web site is coming along its nice to see things growing.I think their is something magical about seeds and its fascinating how they grow,,At least your pepper is on its way..