[Coltar223]

Happy New Year all. Seems like that happened ages ago now!!

I read on the British press on line that you all are putting extra woolies on and huddling around the fire places!! In Virginia today it is 32 F (0 C) and tonight it going to drop down to -10F or 14C, so we are not that much warmer.

As for the veggies, I have amazed my neighbours with my Parsnips. The Parsnips which can be bought in the local shops are the size of overgrown carrots and hardly have any taste. The neighbours could not believe the size of mine and I told them that we wait until there has been a really good hard frost on them to get the sugars released. My nearest neighbour, a farmer, tried roasting them for the first time along with their spuds and they just could not believe what they had been missing all these years!!  Yey!! One for The Brits!!!

As some of you may know I design/install and grow veggies in raised bed systems for clients. I just started this business in Feb of last year after losing my job as  Deputy Sheriff at the age of 54!!! Damn 'good ole boys', they are worse than you see in those 'B' rated movies!!  Anyhoo, I have a computer type person ( I am a complete moron when it comes to these compoooter thingies) working to update my website and get lots of pictures on it for those of you who may be interested. (See the link in my signature)

I am applying all the years of veggie growing knowledge I learned at home and the clients just love the fact they can say to their friends 'We have an English Gardener"!!!

Virginia has a similar climate to inland Norfolk/Suffolk/Cambridgeshire/Lincolnshire but the soil is a clay nightmare. That said if anyone has crop specific questions especially the likes of Sweet Potatoes etc I will be glad to try and help. I am not up on current crop trends in the UK, I would imagine over the 20 odd years since in moved here things may have changed somewhat especially with the change in climate I read so much about.

Well, I have prattled on long enough. Lets hope for an outstanding growing season to us all and thanks to the Moderators for an outstanding web site. It is just great to be a member here.

[mrs bouquet]

Happy New Year to you to, its interesting to hear about your life over there.  Hurrah for the parsnips.  Keep in touch with us all.  Regards, Mrs Bouquet

[Roll Roll]

Happy new year Colt . We have lots in common, especially clay :evil:  :evil:

[jannie]

happy new year to  

[robbodaveuk]

Happy new year to you Colt and I hope you keep visiting the forum.
If you don't mind, just one question I would like to ask you. How far appart do you plant your maize in the good old US of A. There is much conflicting advice on this subject and with the amount of maize (sweetcorn) you grow over there, your input would be appreciated.

  Robbo.

P.S. Been to America a few times and New York is my favourite city of all time.

[Coltar223]

Hey Robbo, Robbo here................err, Colt here !!

As for sweet corn I do not bother to grow it. There are at least five farms within five miles of me who do and at $2 for twelve husks it is a bargain. The stuff takes up way too much room, however when I did grow it I seeded in 'blocks' rather than one row. The corn needs to cross plant pollinate so I suggest one inch deep 4 inches apart with the rows 2-3 feet apart and when ready thin rows to 2 to 3 ft spacings depending on the variety, some only need to be thinned out to a foot or so.
Use drip/soaker hose if you can to try and keep the tassels and silks  of the plant as dry as possible to enhance the pollination. If you are growing only a few then you migh try gathering the pollen from the tassels into an envelope and then sprinkle onto the silks of neighbouring plants to ensure a good pollination rate.

Give them a liquid feed about every three weeks and make sure the soil is kept evenly moist.

As for New York been there, seen it multiple times and I don't want to see it again thanks. Had to go up there on a few occassions on Felon extraditions. The New York jails are hell holes populated with the scum of the earth and that's just the cops I'm talking about !!!.................kidding!! New York cops are a bunch of sweeties!!!

[Babstreefern]

Hi Colt, and a happy new year to you too.

I've grown sweetcorn for the past two years, in block formation.  I don't really think its worth the bother of growing this, there isn't much to harvest from them.  You're lucky to get 3 ears from each plant.  I'm just to coming to the end of my potatoes - not bad, I've not bought any from the shop since last June.  With my tomatoes, I've made tons of pasta sauce, again, I'm on my last lot.  Got lots of garlic left (this time last year, I'd used it all up).  Got loads of runner beans - I'll begin to look like one soon.

I've also been to the US.  Been to Chicago three times - up to now I've never visited the city - visited some friends in Wisconsin (Monroe); been to San Francisco (fantastic place, worth visiting again); Los Angeles (not impressed).  I'm hoping to visit another friend who I've written to for the last 12 years, she lives about 170 miles east of Phoenix.  When I googled the area, its brown, no green or anything - how anything can grow there beats me.

Look forward to speaking with you again - keep in touch.

[chimaera]

One thing you will find if you try to follow British planting times in the US is that we have rather different and less extreme weather. Here in London the extreme minimum is maybe -7C, similar to a long way south in the US, but the cool, wet and cloudy summers mean that we struggle to grow plants that will grow happily in central Canada, such as soy(a) beans and some corn and squash varieties. I am sure there are some commonly grown crops here that you rarely if ever see in the US that would do very well, but other traditional British crops may not like the hot, bright summers and far colder winters.

Charlie