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Post by wilbarra on Jul 18, 2016 17:14:32 GMT
just finished bagging up another batch of french beans for the freezer.
i grew a variety called ryders blue
i have grown them since the fifties and a although i have tried other varieties through the years,
i have never grown one as good for quanity and taste.
it also freezes well.
it was put on the banned list by our european partners when they made their first attempt to ruin
our seed industry.
no this is not a anti european broadcast but the fact remains, europe was never kind to our seed
firms.
you can no longer get this variety in the normal way .
it is not sold commercialy .
i have kept my own seed for many years now,ever since ,in fact,ryders went out of business in the
sixties.
other things i have done well with have been broad beans and peas and they too are all safely
stored on the shelves in the freezer.
the broad bean i use is one called hangdown green,another old allotment variety and that has never
let me down.
the pea was champion of england,a pea that will grow as high seven to eight foot and will start to
pod from about a foot high.
things that were a disaster this year were carrots,turnips,beetroot,in fact all the root crops,apart
from the potatoes and parsnips,were best forgotten about.
as for the cauliflowers one needed a high powered telescope to glimpse the flowers.
but one musnt moan .
after all everything will grow perfect next year:
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Post by jane on Jul 19, 2016 8:21:54 GMT
Great to hear of your successes, John, peas are always a disaster with me!! Have to pick your brains at the BQQ on Sunday to see what the hot tips are. Strangely beetroot is doing well with me this year - giving potatoes a rest this year as have got so disheartened with blight the last few years... but as you say... maybe next year!!
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bridgey
Clearing the weeds
Posts: 60 
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Post by bridgey on Jul 21, 2016 16:53:36 GMT
The way to grow good peas is to
Sow em and tread em
As they say in the foreign tongue
Of sussex.
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Post by murrayc on Jul 22, 2016 12:28:41 GMT
just finished bagging up another batch of french beans for the freezer. i grew a variety called ryders blue i have grown them since the fifties and a although i have tried other varieties through the years, i have never grown one as good for quanity and taste. it also freezes well. it was put on the banned list by our european partners when they made their first attempt to ruin our seed industry. no this is not a anti european broadcast but the fact remains, europe was never kind to our seed firms. you can no longer get this variety in the normal way . it is not sold commercialy . i have kept my own seed for many years now,ever since ,in fact,ryders went out of business in the sixties. I've just made my first picking from a few of John's Ryder's Blue seedlings and I'm very much looking forward to eating them. This is what they look like:  Update on Edit: And they taste delicious! Tip: pick them when they are no more than 6 inches long and theyv are lovely and tender. Anything bigger and the beans start to swell and the pod coarsens.
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Post by Stuart@AmericaLane on Jul 22, 2016 21:13:54 GMT
So I had a few Ryders Blue and Hangdown Green off Wilbarra and they are thriving. About the only decent crops I have had this year. Wilbarra I need a lesson in the art of saving seed from these. I'm sold on both. Both being far better than anything I have ever tried to grow out of a packet. I need the low down on how best to save the seed so I can grow these year after year. Next time I see you, in one of my increasingly sporadic visits I'll be after the knowledge.
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Post by wilbarra on Jul 29, 2016 12:20:26 GMT
saving french bean seed is relatively easy
all i do is leave the plants at the end of
my row to just grow on in there own sweet way
throughout the season.
then leave them to dry completely at the end
of the season before picking them and shucking
them.
inspect them periodicly throughout the winter
discard any with mould on them.
simple.
hangdown broad bean i do the same way.
the thing to look for over the winter period
in a broad bean is to see if any of them have
a tiny hole in them
if they have, discard.
its been attacked by the bean weevil and wont
germinate the following year.
TAMAR ORGANICS still sell hangdown green.
they are the only ones that do.
other firms offer a white bean version of this
and call it green hangdown.
not a patch on its green brother.
As for peas i always sow them,cover with a small
amount of soil and then gently tread them in.
then cover with the rest of the soil.
finally cover with glass to stop the mice eating
the pea.
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Post by wilbarra on Sept 14, 2016 12:30:49 GMT
Just inspected all the Ryders Blue pods that are laid out in the greenhouse
and all have dried out well.
So all that remains is to shuck them and store them away for next year.
Same with the Hangdown green broad bean.
I have also harvested my sweet corn and although it was a really good
crop, when we came to prepare them for the freezer,we found that they had not
ripened or, in some cases,even grown right to the end of the cob.
The part of the cob that has ripened still taste wonderful but it has meant a
reduction in the crop overall but more than enough for us in the coming months.
The onions are now hanging, on hooks,in the shad at home and i am well pleased
with them.
I have had the best crop of onions that i have had for many a year after going
back to Marshalls for my onion seed.
So will stick with them for all things in the onion and leek line.
Tomatoes and peppers are another two vegetables that i have had wonderful successes
with and the blight resistance tomato seed that Stuart gave me showed no sign of blight
in a bad year for this disease.
Cabbages and the Brassicas have all come good although they came a lot later than normal.
I also had a lot of failures this year
I had a complete failure in:
Carrots
Beetroot
Celeriac
Celery
Swede
But to compensate for the failures i had a compliment for my dahlias from a certain gentleman
from Oatall which more than made up for all the failures.
Now all i need is another gentleman from Oatall to give the seal of approval to my chrysanths
next year then i know i have truly arrived on the allotment scene.
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Post by murrayc on Sept 14, 2016 15:33:44 GMT
I am sure that in another 40 or 50 years you'll get the hang of it wilbarra!  Good advice on the tomatoes and peppers and interesting to hear of your successes and very rare failures. For me it has been a a summer of two halves. Winter-sown and early spring-sown crops were all very disappointing; onions, garlic, potatoes all very badly slug-affected and rotten, and carrots tiny and solid inside, with dark rings. The best of the garlic and some later sown shallots have been hung from the rafters in our conservatory at home, but its a poor show compared with previous years, when we used to regard the red and gold of the onions and the silvery white of the garlic as Christmas decorations in that room. Broad beans were ok, not a huge yield but good-tasting and free from disease. Then in the second half of the summer our beans and root crops have all been magnificent, very good yields and reasonable sizes. Full praise to the Ryder's Blue and I will be drying out and saving my pods, and we have also done well with Blue Lake french climbing beans, some borlottis, and another Italian variety from Franchi's - Bobis a Grano Nero (black seeds) Fennel has been superb, though a tendency to bolt quickly with the heat from July onwards, and we have made two complete sowings. Celeriac, too, has bolted and I'm not sure whether I will be able to get much from the bulbs as so much of the plant's energy has gone into flowering. However beetroot has been fine - and I'm sure I can spare you a few if you would like - and I planted late in July a row apiece of turnip, swede and purple kohl rabi, having seen Monty Don recommending them on Gardener's World. They all have come on very well (being situated well away from Mr Fox's territory) and I hope to start picking turnips soon and the others will take me through autumn. By great irony, in this year when I finally have a greenhouse with glass (or polycarbonate) in all frames, the only blight I have had on any tomatoes at home or at the plot was those brought on in the greenhouse on the allotment. I stripped off the leaves about a week ago, as soon as I noticed it, and the fruits are ripening nicely now on the vine with no sign of being affected. I have a lot of them at home too. Two varieties: a San Marzano plum tomato, great for cooking, called Scatolone di Bolsena, and a smaller cherry plum Piccolo Dattoro. |
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Post by wilbarra on Sept 14, 2016 18:59:03 GMT
it does seem that the vegetables that went in early,in general,
were the vegetables that didnt make it to the table as well as the ones that
were sown or planted later in the year.
the vageries of our our summer.
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bridgey
Clearing the weeds
Posts: 60
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Post by bridgey on Sept 15, 2016 16:36:35 GMT
While it all came a bit late I have to go back many years
Before I can remember a better year for fruit.
Especially raspberries.
Don't remember them ever being so big.
Nor so numerouse
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Post by murrayc on Sept 15, 2016 20:44:31 GMT
While it all came a bit late I have to go back many years Before I can remember a better year for fruit. Especially raspberries. Don't remember them ever being so big. Nor so numerouse I think that must reflect the weather: plenty of rain to bring on the budding of the fruits, then much warmer as they were setting, with occasional rain spells, then the real heat of August into September to ripen them off. It would be interesting to hear from anyone who grows grapes, because this seems as if it should be a really good vintage year for wine, providing the picking goes well. |
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Post by wilbarra on Sept 16, 2016 9:06:29 GMT
While what Murray says contributed to a good year for fruit, the main reason, in my view, was
the fact that the temperatures were high in the months that we normally have frosts, thus the
small fruiting buds were not set back.
Raspberries, this year,were the biggest i have ever seen and i wasnt the only one as the local
Haywards Heath show proved.
As for grapes,which i dont know too much about, i was once told that you needed different
weather conditions for perfect wine grapes than you do from growing perfect eating grapes.
This was from a head gardener who, to my eyes, grew everything to perfection anyway.
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Post by jane on Sept 16, 2016 11:36:53 GMT
We have done well with squash, runner and French beans (blue lake) and Autumn raspberries. Celeriac coming along nicely and the sweet corn is ok - wish I'd planted more really. Spring planted onions were not so successful this year - winter ones were OK.
Swede are looking ok but a weird shape and the trombocino squash will be an interesting harvest! Mainly grown for fun cos not sure there will be much goodness in them!!!
had a great crop of beetroot which is still continuing to produce and the flowers on the plot looking good well into autumn too.
The strawberries in June were a disappointment - perhaps better next year. Still to come - leeks, cabbages and some Brussels and the Kale and chard doing pretty well too.
Quite pleased with this year - despite the challenges of the weather and the weeds!!
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Post by Chris Plot 16 on Sept 16, 2016 13:29:32 GMT
WOW! well done guys , really great seeing the climate changes and having good crops all within the year. Cant wait for my new adventure to start crowing crops  |
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bridgey
Clearing the weeds
Posts: 60
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Post by bridgey on Sept 17, 2016 8:39:23 GMT
No climate change weather this year.
Just a normal unpredictable English summer
Just remember to take a Mac along with your
Shorts, when you start your plot,then you
Will be fully equipped.
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