barbara dancer

Grape vine

rather expensive I think, maybe I will give them another try next year see how they do. Although they are in the best position in my garden for the sun, maybe I will put some more compost round them.

Grape vine

I have never had any flowers? Just loads of leaves and tendrils.

Tomato Ripening

hurray wrapped 6 green toms in newspaper put them into a clear plastic fruit container on the window sill, and low and behold took them out yesterday and they were all ripe. Just over a month but hey it worked 

Garlic

Hi I am thinking about growing garlic for the first time, can I plant 'shop' bought garlic? I have been to a few garden centres and can't find any garlic at all. Plus do I just plant them straight into the garden or should I start them off in the greenhouse? (northwest)

sparrows

I must admit to the fact that I think my 2 cats have not helped at all, it always seems to be sparrows that they catch, not that they have single handedly caused the downfall of the humble sparrow. It's just the one bird they catch most often. We have tits,pidgeons,magpies and a small bird with a long tail(wagtail?) but the poor little sparrow lucks out  I do feed my cats so it must just be their nature.

Grape vine

Thanks for the advice,I don't tend to cut them down, I just wait for them to die back on their own and they just come back around May time, I have them in with my other fruits (strawberries, blackberries, raspberries) all of which are doing very well. I will prune them back this year and see how they are next year. Good job I have plenty of patience. Should I 'feed' them?

I give up!

Same for me last year great crops of all I put in, this year total disaster, cabbage eaten by great fat caterpillers, tiny carrots, leeks that have grown only as big as spring onions. My potatoes did great and I had fantastic strawberries, blackberries and raspberries. next year I'm going to try peppers and garlic. So don't give up every year is different, I've only been growing my own veg for 3 years, so it's all trial and error, but I enjoy learning and theres nothing better than seeing a seed grow into something, even if it's tiny and hardley worth the effort

olives and strawbs

I have had great crops of strawberries over the last 3 years. I usually cut them right back in September/October and the just leave them be. They have been covered in snow and practically frozen solid (northwest england) and still they survive and go on to fruit very well. 

Sorry I don't know anything about olives 

Welcome to the fruit & veg forum

This is my 2nd year as a garden fruit and veg grower, last year I had good results with my caulies, and yet this year has been very poor, I've been lucky to even get them bigger than 1 florrette probably due to the weather I think? My carrots grew very stubby and had no length to them, and my onions and leeks just don't seem to be growing at all. last year I had a good crop of beetroots and this year I had really good success with potatoes.So it seems to be hit and miss with me. I'm going to try growing garlic next year, so hopefully I'll have luck with them. I've decided that maybe growing 'greens' is not my forte, as I just seem to feed the catrepillers.  (ended up with cabbages full of holes) I'm learning all the time so any ideas would be helpful on what best to grow.

Grape vine

I have 3 vines that are now 2 years old, so far I have had no fruit on any of them. They tend to die right down so that they look almost dead, and then start to grow again around April May time? I get a lot of leaves etc and yet not a sign of a grape anywhere. I have strawberries, blackberries and raspberries in the same plot and these fruit really well. Any ideas on what the problem could be?