Talkback: Grow Yourself Healthy: July - Talkback

04/07/2011 at 16:25

And don't they all look lovely too. especially tomatoes. I'm hoping to put red stripy tomatoes in pots in my front garden display for the Bristol in bloom competition -and I can make out the stripes already. Lots of lovely spring onions and potatoes ready to harvest before the blight. I too have noticed a massive yield of blackberries to go with the gigantic yield of apples. I made a huge pot of soup all from produce from the garden today - quite yummy. Sugar peas are great, not just for soup but raw in salads.

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05/07/2011 at 16:37

Me too! The first tomato of the season is the best summer treat their is. Mine however was from the greenhouse as the outdoor tomatoes (a bush type the same as in the green house) are sickly little thing with only 5 leaves and 2 very small green tomatoes. I blame the warm April weather that tricked them into fruiting far too early then the shock of the normal spring weather that followed. Did everyone have this trouble was their something that I could have doen to save them?

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05/07/2011 at 16:55

A good tip to save your tomato plants from adverse weather conditions is to watch the colour of the leaves, kpat. They will become a bluey green colour if it is too cold, instead of the fresh ,bright green of a good plant. So, if turning blue, give more heat. Tomatoes like a temperature about 70 in old money so the hot early summer did not suit them and seeds started off late are giving better plants.

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06/07/2011 at 08:36

My greenhouse tomato's are growing really well. This morning Ive just potted on a side shoot that I have rooted in a jar of water, got really strong roots on it. We have had some lovely rain here in Bournemouth and it has freshened everything up in the garden.

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06/07/2011 at 15:25

My tomatoes are also doing well and I have some side shoots in a pot of water hopefully, they will root. I am just a few days away from picking the first runner beans, I cannot wait!

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06/07/2011 at 18:37

Thanks All, an interesting blog for me as despite gardening for over twenty years this is the first year we have grown fruit & vegetables! My tomatoes are outside and despite them being good big plants they aren't fruiting yet. The leaves I would say are a little bluey grey so I think I will need to move them into our 'new' greenhouse this weekend! We have however had a nice crop of peas, carrots and spring onions which are just full of flavour! Now that we have the greenhouse I will attempt a few other things next year which is an exciting prospect (and mouth watering! LOL) http://higgysgardenproject.blogspot.com/ Higgy

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07/07/2011 at 12:48

Hi Higgy, Ive got tomato's outside as well and mine aren't fruiting yet either so don't worry. They are growing really well and are really strong plants. Good luck with yours.

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07/07/2011 at 18:11

Just picked my first ten tomatoes - Perle Garten outside in hanging baskets - the five varieties in the greenhouse aren't even blushing yet!.

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07/07/2011 at 20:23

Hi I'm not sure if anyone can help.. last year I planted an apple tree that is trained as an espalier - it currently has 2 tiers and the first proper crop of apples is looking great but.... only the left side of the espalier is bearing fruit and growing well. The right nad side of the espalier has had no fruit and although it has had leaves growing etc there has been very little growth can anyone help me get this sorted?

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08/07/2011 at 10:41

I'm a big fan of growing and eating your own produce, but I have lost count of the number of times I have proudly served up home-grown produce only to find a caterpillar slowly making its way across the plate. It has become a bit of a family joke. No matter how thoroughly I wash and check the produce they just seem to slip through. More trials and tribulations from my allotment antics are at http://lottienews.blogspot.com/

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11/07/2011 at 19:05

can someone help me iv a m28 apple tree do you need 2 of them to pollinate

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12/07/2011 at 09:53

Most apple trees need companion pollinators that bloom at the same time. Why not try a different variety that does, or, if you do not have room, put a tub of crab apple blossom near your tree when it is flowering. Having a neighbour who keeps bees also helps a great deal or one with an apple tree that flowers when yours does. I am sure there is a lot you can do to get a good crop of apples, charlesmire. But isn't the blossom lovely in the spring? Good luck.

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18/07/2011 at 21:49

i have put tin foil behind my hanging basket of cherry tomatoes to reflect the sun around the plants and I already have a number of ripening tomatoes despite the lack of sunny days.

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21/07/2011 at 19:18

Please help. My husband and I both contracted 'Giardia Lamblia'. We water our vegetable with water from the cistern and our doctor suspects that this may be the cause. However, she says that we can continue eating our vegetables so long as we wash them properly. Is this the case even with cucumbers and gourgettes for example? We live in Italy and nobody seems to know for certain. Many thanks in advance

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23/07/2011 at 19:46

Everything is starting to grow at last! But I've come home this evening and something has eaten most of the red flowers on my runner beans:( just tiny green stalks left where the flowers used to be...french beans untouched and growing nicely.....any ideas what I'm dealing with? Not birds I don't think as have moggy that patrols the garden:) Hubby getting impatient for the beans to be on his dinnerplate too so hopefully some of you out there can solve this problem for me:)))

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28/07/2011 at 15:31

Does anybody know if i could chop up potato leaves and stems and dig them in the garden like a green manure or just stick them in the compost bin.

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05/08/2011 at 07:44

Is it safe to eat watercress growing in a garden pond? There is no runthrough of water but the plants have gone rampant and it seems such a waste to pull them out of the water and discard them. We have the usual things in the pond, fish, frogs other plants and natural creatures but no snails.Everything looks healthy.

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05/08/2011 at 07:52

susieblue; I think you will find it is the birds,sparrows in particular. We have the same problem with red flowered varieties. The flowers are often left strewn around on the floor so like crocuses it must be a particular bit of the flower that they are after. We have grown white flowered beans and they do not seem to be attacked so much.

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16/09/2011 at 00:18

When growing tomatoes outside plant a French Marigold at the base of each plant. This will keep at bay most of he known infections during the growing season. "Works for me."

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28/11/2011 at 18:43

That sounds a real success and I'm hungry just reading about it. I've had terrible trouble with tomatoes (cherry ones) this year as we haven't had the sun but I'll keep my fingers crossed all the same and hope that in a little while it will all be worth it. If all else fails (ie sweet corn, onions and carrots) I hope to get a good potato crop to satisfy my hunger.

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