As I mentioned a couple of months ago, I made the decision to just buy cauliflower seedlings to avoid the debacle of last year and was kind of narked that I could only buy interesting colours in a quantity sufficient to cover 3m2 of nothing but cauliflowers. I have room for 5 cauliflowers in my vegetable plot according to my plan and I reckon I can probably squeeze in a sixth if I harvest a cabbage next week. This means that I now have I now have 12 cauliflower seedlings in various-sized pots, taking up the patio space in the pretty garden, with another 4 still in the packet because I didn't have enough spare pots of sufficient size.
I told you - strawberries were just a red herring the thin end of the wedge,
I'm telling myself that I'm keeping spares in case of the ones I planted out dying, but I can't see myself needing 15 spares, even with my cauliflower-growing skills. Don't suppose anyone wants some cauliflower seedlings? They're in funky colours? Anyone? Bueller?
Anyway, amidst all the shocking waste, those cauliflowers mean that I've just about finished planting for the year. The only things left to go are the climbing beans for the Three Sisters (atMFWTWKLitA) and the winter vegetables - kale, purple sprouting broccoli, over-winter cauliflower and perpetual spinach.
On the subject of over-winter vegetables, I've decided against planting more broad beans for next year. The ones for this year have been a phenomenal success, providing massive plants, loads of veg and doing exactly what I expected of them. The only downside is that I've realised that I don't really like broad beans. Only a minor drawback, I know, but probably enough that I won't try and grow them again next year.
Probably.
Finally, does anyone have any idea what purslane is meant to look like? It's one of my exciting new vegetables for this year and it's supposed to grow really well as ground-cover under broccoli, but I'm having a little trouble.
See the four big things in the corners? Those are definitely broccoli - I know this because I planted the seeds in deliberate locations and marked where I planted them. See the green bits in the middle? Yeah, they could be anything.
I may have improved a lot from my days of categorising every plant as "probably a nettle", because it stood as good a chance of being right as any other guess I made, but I apparently still can't tell the difference between a weed and something I want to grow. Usually, I rely on just murdering with a hoe everything that's not in the precise location where I know I planted something, but that doesn't really work when the sowing instructions for a vegetable are "chuck on ground and eat whatever comes up."
Hopefully none of the weeds in my garden are nightshade.
I think I might just plant some more broad beans.
PJW
If you planted lots of something and are getting lots of the same thing that sounds right to me?
ReplyDeleteFor broad beans (If you're eating them in the de-husked version) the grey 'seed case' is pretty chewy and not all that tasty, right? you can shell that bit off as well and only eat the sweet and tender green bit inside. That or go back in time and harvest them like runner beans should be harvested (I made that mistake last year, we ended up with some REALLY stringy beans).
Also, if you still have 'spare' cauliflower when I next visit Bath I'd happily take some off your hands. Or trade for some of this years bell pepper seedlings (which need to be over-wintered indoors and give the best crop in their second year)
DeleteI did actually go down the route of shelling the broad beans. Lots of work for a very small harvest! Although a very tasty one.
DeleteThe cauliflower has gone by the wayside now I'm afraid - it needs to be planted out quite quickly as it's very unhappy in pots. I didn't know that about the bell peppers - how does that work? I've always treated them as annuals like tomatoes or aubergines (and got naff all from them)
PJW