When you’re so involved in what you’re doing on your plot, you don’t add up how many of various plants you’ve sown, until the end. This afternoon in amongst the windy weather and lovely sunshine I turned over another bed and planted some onion. I can’t tell you the exact varieties I planted as I didn’t label them, but I ordered “Centurion”, “Sturton” and “Stuttgarter”. I took as many as I could fit in the car and thought I’d never get through them all, but it seems I did. So far, (and bearing in mind I still have about the same, if not more, to plant again) I have put it 99! I’ve also got shallots to go in. Well it looks like we’ll have enough onions to last us all year.
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You been busy, i watched your vid on planting onion from seed i got some Ailsa Craig which are about 4 inches high so not ready yet i dont think, spring onion is also slow, but in the greenhouse i have some dwarf beans purple queen which are growing well.
Not quite ready to go outside. Wait for them to be a bit taller, but start now to acclimatise them to the outside temperature.
Claire – There is no such thing as too many onions!! Keep on plantin’. Almost all recipes start with “Dice 1 onion,” and with that in mind, I can’t help but bung them in all over the plot.
Paul – Purple Queen are a particular favourite of mine (I grow the dwarf var. as well – I wrote a bit about them here: http://plot10b.wordpress.com/category/beans/). Have you grown them before? Or dwarf french beans in another variety? I have given up on runners in favour of Purple Queen.
We do go through a lots of onions at home. I’ve got more in the boot of the car to take tomorrow, but there are still more waiting by the side of the greenhouse to go in. Yes I’ve grown Purple Queen before, they did very well. When you cook them they turn the water purple. Make sure you only just cook them, otherwise they’ll loose their colour, and beans should be al dente anyway. Runner beans are temperamental, they got past it very quickly.
I love runners but agree, they get too stringy and tough too quickly. Even nearly-finished french beans are still great, which suits my toddler to a ‘T.’
French beans are great for toddlers, as they can pick them up easily with their fingers.
lovely post you could make onion and cheese loaf ?
Oh, that sounds nice.
Like the title to this post, I was thinking the same today about the amount of Garlic I have planted. If the crop does well I will have enough Garlic to supply a small Italian restaurant.
Well at least no vampires will come to your plot. Garlic is good for you, it reduces the blood pressure, and clears up a cold.
Hi Claire, another question for you. I’ve grown mix salad leaves as you suggested in a big pot but I’m not sure when or how to cut the leaves. I’m sure I’ve read somewhere that u shudn’t cut the whole leaf or was it the whole of the stem? – if u want to cut and cum again? Am confused. Cud u tell me how big the leaves shud b before I pick them. Thank you so much. I’m sure my questions will dwindle as the season comes to a close. You are my gardening bible lol 🙂
You can start to pick the leaves when they’re about 3 inches long. When you pick them, you don’t need scissors or a knife, just use your fingers and nip them off with your finger nails as far down the leaf (towards the soil) as you can. Don’t pull the leaf off the plant otherwise you may pull up the entire plant. When my salad leaves are big enough I’ll do a video about it. Hope this helps.
Thanku. A video would be wonderful.
Iwill do that claire thanks. Yes i too prefer french beans i grew dwarf safari last year and had a very good crop still some in the freezer and also sultana climbing french beans which where also a good cropper
Anyone tried growing white beetroot albina vereduna so far no sign of anything been 7 weeks
I’ve been wanting to sow my beetroot all week, but the wind has been too strong. Hopefully tomorrow will be better. I’m sowing the normal and orange beetroot this year. They may not pop through till the soil has warmed up a bit. I’ve got seeds in the soil that have been in for a while, and the only ones that have come through are the radish. I’m sure they’ll appear, they won’t want to disappoint you.
Hey Claire, I find that it helps to soak beetroot seeds for 12 hours before planting them. Mind you I am in Adelaide, South Australia – so perhaps it has something to do with our hotter and drier climate.
Sounds like something you need to do in your climate. When we sow our beetroot seeds, it’s usually wet anyway.