[Jono]

Hey Jools.

How involved are they in the plot, if you don't mind me asking?

If they're helping you out planting etc, they might be more inclined to eat the produce.

There is a bloke on the plot near me, who has a house that backs on to his allotment. He only took it on because it was like an extension of his back garden, and he openly admits he hated virtually all veg before he started growing. He eats it all now, as do his family!

You could always try some strawberry plants too. Strawbs straight off the plants are to die for!

[TheSpartacat]

You could always try some strawberry plants too. Strawbs straight off the plants are to die for!

ohhh YESSS! Dont they taste so different all warm from the sun? Fridge stored ones just... lose something...

[Kristen]

Interesting thread Jools.

"On Christmas morning we dug up:-

Baby beetroot (baby cos they hadnt grown much) but werre planted in July
Baby carrots (baby cos they hadnt grown much) but were planted in July"

I reckon that Beetroot and Carrots (unless they are a variety for Autumn storage) harvested around this time are quite a long way out of season, and will not be at their best.

Sounds like you didn't get many carrots from your packet of seed (that happens, of course, but I wish you better luck in 2011)

If you have space I recommend you grow some sweetcorn.  Get one of the F1 "Supersweet" or "Tendersweet" varieties - such as "Swift" or "Lark".   They are bred to mature quickly (in the old days it was always a race between the corn maturing and the Winter arriving and killing them off!)

It is important that you get them in the pan immediately after harvesting (there is a saying that you should carry to pan of boiling water TO the veg patch!!" - but you don't need to go quite that far but as soon as you harvest sweetcorn the sugar starts turning into starch.

If the taste of those doesn't convince your brood that fresh veg are the way forward I'll eat my hat! My Summer visitors are amazed and ask what my secret is to get such sweet cobs ("Grow them yourself" always seems like such a lame answer, I think I'll have to come up with some ridiculous story next time I'm asked!)

[juliec]

Juliec,
It wont be too long before they say that shop bought one is rubbish. we are struggling with that sort of comment from our son..
1. We stopped buying strawberries at all (we just have 2 plants and we are satisfied with it)
2. our son likes scarlet globe radish in salad and munches sweetcorn on cob any time. after our summer produces, we bought a pack of scarlet globe last week and he ate just 3 and said "This taste like nothing. I dont like it". and he just had bite from the cob we bought from supermarket as well.

Prepare for the change. 

Thanks for that Prakash, I look forward to the change.

Jools

[JayG]

Agree 100% with Kristen about sweetcorn; it's obviously not difficult to produce fruit and vegetables which are fresher than those bought in a supermarket, but home-grown sweetcorn cooked straight from the plant is so superior to any shop version it is almost a different vegetable altogether (if the soundtrack of me and my friends eating hot, buttered, and lightly seasoned fresh sweetcorn were included in a film it would be rated "18"!) 

[juliec]

Hi All,
Many thanks for your comments and Ive taken them on board.

Jono, my eldest 2 grand children love pottering about with watering cans and planting seeds (they are 5 and 6) little ones are too young yet to get involved too much but I think the 18 month old can have a small watering can this  year!

My son made my raised beds and my daughter in law has promised to get involved this year, so that should help.

I planted strawberries last year so hope to get something from them this year.

I will source your other growing suggestions later today and get an order in, as for sweet corn, its a great idea as the kids do love it, I just thought it was hard to grow so hadnt consider it, but will get some in ASAP.


Again thanks to you all, how many folk would have given up with out the encouragement and help from every one on this site.

Brilliant xxx

[nipper31]

I've grown strawberries, sweetcorn, courgettes and broad beans on the plot and frozen them. Even if you picked stuff in the summer and froze it, it still tastes better than supermarket veg 

[Kristen]

I will source your other growing suggestions later today and get an order in, as for sweet corn, its a great idea as the kids do love it, I just thought it was hard to grow so hadnt consider it, but will get some in ASAP.

No rush! Sowing time is May (or possibly April) - sweetcorn plants are "tender", so would be killed by frost

Couple of things you need to be aware of.

I personally don't think they are difficult to grow, but they do need to be grown in a block, rather than a row (this is because the wind pollinates them, not insects)

They are greedy feeders - so some well rotted manure in the soil will help, or a decent application of fertilizer.

The modern "short season"varieties are not, IMO, heavy croppers. I get one cob per plant from Swift (but other people do better, so don't be discouraged). SO you may not get a good yield per area (sorry, forgotten how big / small your plot is)

And, finally, it can be important that varieties are NOT mixed. If you are on an allotment you plants could be effected by other people growing different sweetcorn varieties nearby (if that's the case the usual recommendation is that you club together to buy seed, or at least plant the same variety)

(Sweetcorn is unique? in that because you eat the seeds rather than the fruit or roots the genetic material of next-years-seed is important to the flavour, and thus if it cross pollinates there is a chance that some of the specific in-bred sweetness will be lost - there are many schools of thought on this point though, so I don't want to be too anal about it!)

[juliec]

I will source your other growing suggestions later today and get an order in, as for sweet corn, its a great idea as the kids do love it, I just thought it was hard to grow so hadnt consider it, but will get some in ASAP.

No rush! Sowing time is May (or possibly April) - sweetcorn plants are "tender", so would be killed by frost

Couple of things you need to be aware of.

I personally don't think they are difficult to grow, but they do need to be grown in a block, rather than a row (this is because the wind pollinates them, not insects)

They are greedy feeders - so some well rotted manure in the soil will help, or a decent application of fertilizer.

The modern "short season"varieties are not, IMO, heavy croppers. I get one cob per plant from Swift (but other people do better, so don't be discouraged). SO you may not get a good yield per area (sorry, forgotten how big / small your plot is)

And, finally, it can be important that varieties are NOT mixed. If you are on an allotment you plants could be effected by other people growing different sweetcorn varieties nearby (if that's the case the usual recommendation is that you club together to buy seed, or at least plant the same variety)

(Sweetcorn is unique? in that because you eat the seeds rather than the fruit or roots the genetic material of next-years-seed is important to the flavour, and thus if it cross pollinates there is a chance that some of the specific in-bred sweetness will be lost - there are many schools of thought on this point though, so I don't want to be too anal about it!)

Thanks Kirsten,


I dont think I will have  problem with cross pollination as Im not on a lotty just in a large back garden and no neighbours grow veg.

But I'll certainly give it a go and let you all know how i get on.

thanks

Jools

[JayG]

Agree 100% (again!) with Kristen's last post; the only thing I would add is that it might be worth growing your sweetcorn in 2 blocks, the second about 2-3 weeks behind the first and upwind of (but adjacent to) the first.

This is an unproven experiment for me based on the observation that for Swift at least it's a nail-biting watch waiting for the female flowers (silks) to appear before the male flowers (spikes) have shed all their pollen. Apart from two duff summers which obviously don't help I am hoping that the additional supply of pollen might help the 2nd and even the 3rd cobs to set (they always seem willing to produce 3 cobs but I always seem to finish up with an average 1 and a bit properly developed cobs per plant.)

[Kristen]

Good point Jay.  Sweetcorn crop harvest lasts, what, 2 weeks?

So a second-half sowing made 2 - 3 weeks later definitely lengthens the crop.

You probably want a minimum of 9 plants in a 3 x 3 block per-crop, 12 in a 4 x 3 would be better.

And then another 9, or 12, in the second-sowing batch.

More is fine if you have mouths to feed ... but I suspect a lot depends on how much space you have available

[Kristen]

P.S. Don't grow Mini Pop - assuming that your kids love the little immature cobs from the supermarket?  I've grown them for several years, and although they work the harvest is pretty tiny, and timing of picking is critical, and as my DW said "The kids love full sized cobs just as much, why not grow just those?"

[nipper31]

P.S. Don't grow Mini Pop - assuming that your kids love the little immature cobs from the supermarket?  I've grown them for several years, and although they work the harvest is pretty tiny, and timing of picking is critical, and as my DW said "The kids love full sized cobs just as much, why not grow just those?"

That's a blow 
I bought a packet of minipop last year and was gonna use them but if you don't think they're owrth the trouble, I may need to swap...

[Kristen]

Well don't let me put you off. Someone on here (or possibly another forum) said they got a huge crop and froze loads. Personally I think they are a bit tasteless, but the kids love them. But they do love fullsize corn as much / more.

If you have the space no reason not to try them - they are hideously expensive in the shops.

[juliec]

Well don't let me put you off. Someone on here (or possibly another forum) said they got a huge crop and froze loads. Personally I think they are a bit tasteless, but the kids love them. But they do love fullsize corn as much / more.

If you have the space no reason not to try them - they are hideously expensive in the shops.

Hi Kirsten,

Because they are smaller do they take less time to grow?