[gardener247]

i'm going on holidays for all of july so obviously i'l' miss a big cropping period i grow my veg in by back garden so my grandad will be up looking after it but he won't harvest stuff. so should i snip the flowers off of my autum fruiting raspberries and take off tomato flowers and bean flowers, or would i be better off to let them grow away? they are all only opening their flowers now so how long will it be untill they are ready to harvest

[zazen999]

i'm going on holidays for all of july so obviously i'l' miss a big cropping period i grow my veg in by back garden so my grandad will be up looking after it but he won't harvest stuff. so should i snip the flowers off of my autum fruiting raspberries and take off tomato flowers and bean flowers, or would i be better off to let them grow away? they are all only opening their flowers now so how long will it be untill they are ready to harvest

surely, if they are autumn fruiting then they will fruit nearer the autumn?

Why won't he harvest stuff? Is it because he doesn't know how or when?

[JayG]

Is there really no-one you know who likes any of the stuff which will be ready?

How long are you actually away for (it's already the 2nd of July and you're still here!)

I would say leave the raspberries (I'm surprised autumn raspberries are flowering now; the summer flush?) and the tomatoes, which take quite a long time to mature and ripen.

If your beans are french or runners (i.e. not being grown for their seeds) I might think about cutting off the flowers which are already open or nearly open as they will stop producing if the pods get too large. It would break my heart though! 

[gardener247]

i'm gone from the 7th to the 1st of august he doesn't know how to harvest and said he'd feel bad picking the stuff i grew i'l leave the toms so because he knows how to manage them, the raspberries are going very strong and will keep producing all through the autum so i think i'll snip them and the beans, it'll be better for the plant in the long run won't it

[DD.]

I'm with JayG.

Don't snip the raspberries. The worst that can happen is the fruit ripens & falls off, or the birds eat it.

If you start snipping, you'll probably also cut off the flowers buds that should be producing after you come back.

[goose]

where do you live?  im sure there would be a forumite locally that would be only too happy to come and harvest your crops whilst you are away

[JayG]

where do you live?  im sure there would be a forumite locally that would be only too happy to come and harvest your crops whilst you are away

If it's Oz perhaps you might be able to find a vegemite! 

[Salmo]

The tomatoes will not be ripe until you get back, probably the same for raspberies. I would also risk the beans and compost any too far gone when you get back.

[gardener247]

i live out in the country in ireland not much nearby but sheep :happy:  so i'l only cut the runner beans

[DavidT]

Gardener, leave them all alone, if the runners are only just flowering I don`t see a problem. Any beans that do go over can be podded for use in stews and the like. Or saved as next years seed.