If you have some permanent space for Jerusalem Artichokes, they stay in the ground over winter and are better after a frost. You'll never be able to dig them all up and every year the patch will be full again. You can use them as a hedging screen and, if the zombies come to raid your garden, they won't know where to find the JAs after they've been cut to the ground for winter. I chop up the stems and compost them. You can grow them in a raised bed. I have to pull up escaped JA sprouts in the early summer and replant them in better spots, otherwise they'd take over. They don't need molly-coddled and, if you're lucky, you'll get smallish sunflower like flowers. They're virtually indestructible, but not as thuggish as Japanese Anemones ...
Funnily enough, the first year I started the garden I got gifted some Jerusalem artichokes from a friend, and didn't do my research! I put them in the middle of a raised bed not realising they would get so big and would be a permanent feature 😂 So I ended up getting rid of them as I didn't think I had anywhere suitable for them at the time, oh how time and experience has changed my mind! They would be so good to have now to use as a screen! Oh the joys of the garden! and I had no idea they flowered! Thank you for all the info ❤
Most of the planning and sowing for winter has to be done by late summer, but you can also grow lots of things like pea shoots for salads or soups or just snacking as you go). For peas, I buy huge bags of Green Muttar peas, which you can a) cook and eat, b) sprout and c) sow to grow more peas and they're foolproof. I just fill a pot (say, 4-6" diameter) to about two inches below the rim with clean compost, lay a single layer of peas until you've filled the surface of the soil and top up with another half an inch of soil. Water. Give them some light on a window sill or under grow lights. When the peas sprout, they'll expand the soil, which is why you need a good head space in the pot or they'll spill over. You can snip the tops off in a few days and leave them to grow for about three harvests.
Loving all your suggestions! Thank you. I've been pretty lacks this year with other things going on, but looking forward to getting back to the garden and making the most of growing 😀
Ooh I love jet washing ! Great job 👍 thanks for reminding me to get some garlic planted. On a mission this week, to clear most of my beds & polytunnel. Cutting our grass has been a bloomin nightmare this year.....we have so many tiny frogs‼️🐸🐸🐸🐸🐸🐸🙈 Have a good week Deborah x
Oh the power washing is super satisfying 😄 Aw how cute, must be a good sign that they are sticking around. Although not good for you cutting the grass, great for all the insects. Enjoy your garden tidying 🥳
You always make me feel better. You have a great gift! Yes, I will grow some lettuces, onions, and radishes in my garage this winter. Later, I will start other seeds. I have an old industrial freezer rack with led lights. I wrap it up in bubble insulation to keep the heat in. My garage is usually colder than it is outside. When days are warm, I roll it over to the door for some heat and sunshine.
By all means compost those bolting carrots, but the carrot tops are a crop too. If you don't want to eat them, dehydrate them, with any other greens, veg (including those wee carrots) and crumble or powder them into homemade green/veg powder - useful for so many things, including home-made supplements for nutrition. You can buy your own empty capsules to make them. Just take them as often as possible with lots of water for free vitamin and mineral supplements and you don't need to worry about "additives", or just still the powder into soups and stews. I'm currently preparing nasturtium leaves like this (the flowers are even better, but I want the seeds this year ...) for year round lutein supplements. In the US, lutein is prescribed for people suffering from eye conditions like, I believe, macular degeneration. I see you have nasturtiums growing in your garden. Mine were sown late into a new sleeper bed filled in lasagne layers with garden waste, topped with garden compost and have gone absolutely mad.
oh Thanks for the suggestion! I hadn't thought of doing that. I had considered making stock cubes or something but hadn't looked too much into it. Will have to put it on the list of things to try! Thank you 😀
Great garden and greenhouse video Deborah and the garden is doing well 👍I am giving the ground a rest from onions, shallots and garlic this year so I can focus on growing other things. Love 🥰the video and love 💕Deborah & Andy.
Thank you so much 😄 yes, it's a good idea to rotate growing areas. I try my best to plant things in different areas every year. Hope your Allotment is doing well. 😊
Thank you so much!! oh that's a good question! I really like the iceberg varieties, so I think it depending on taste, but as long as it's winter variety it's worth giving it a go 😀
Thanks for the heads up. I'm on the West Coast, Central Belt of Scotland and it's getting very cold here too. I used a similar mesh (likely double the size of grid) for the first time to protect my Yacon in a very large pot from deer and for support. TBH, the deer eat almost everything except Yacon, but it worked really well as a vertical "tube" wrapped around the outside of the pot and fixed in place with cable ties because it's rigid. My Yacon foliage is dying back, so I'll put the mesh back in the garage over winter for next year. In fact, once I've checked to see if there's anything worth harvesting, I'll put the rest of it back in the pot and put the whole thing in the (unheated) garage, in the light from the window for winter protection. I don't want to have to buy the mesh every single year. I use voile instead of fleece, because fleece just rips and even the deer know now how to rip it to get to strawberries, etc. However, after about three years of exposure it will also start to disintegrate. I've found you can get away with all light colours of voile (so use anything you can get your hands on - I had a pile unused from "projects"), but white is probably best. It's light enough to drape over and hold down with cobbles, but I'm moving on to stapling the long edges to long batons to make it easier for one person to "open" and "close" beds during the day for air flow and, hopefully, I'll get some frames in by next year. Most of our garden damage comes from deer. They just wander right around our bungalow and back out, munching as they go. xx
If you have some permanent space for Jerusalem Artichokes, they stay in the ground over winter and are better after a frost. You'll never be able to dig them all up and every year the patch will be full again. You can use them as a hedging screen and, if the zombies come to raid your garden, they won't know where to find the JAs after they've been cut to the ground for winter. I chop up the stems and compost them. You can grow them in a raised bed. I have to pull up escaped JA sprouts in the early summer and replant them in better spots, otherwise they'd take over. They don't need molly-coddled and, if you're lucky, you'll get smallish sunflower like flowers. They're virtually indestructible, but not as thuggish as Japanese Anemones ...
Funnily enough, the first year I started the garden I got gifted some Jerusalem artichokes from a friend, and didn't do my research! I put them in the middle of a raised bed not realising they would get so big and would be a permanent feature 😂 So I ended up getting rid of them as I didn't think I had anywhere suitable for them at the time, oh how time and experience has changed my mind! They would be so good to have now to use as a screen! Oh the joys of the garden! and I had no idea they flowered! Thank you for all the info ❤
Most of the planning and sowing for winter has to be done by late summer, but you can also grow lots of things like pea shoots for salads or soups or just snacking as you go). For peas, I buy huge bags of Green Muttar peas, which you can a) cook and eat, b) sprout and c) sow to grow more peas and they're foolproof. I just fill a pot (say, 4-6" diameter) to about two inches below the rim with clean compost, lay a single layer of peas until you've filled the surface of the soil and top up with another half an inch of soil. Water. Give them some light on a window sill or under grow lights. When the peas sprout, they'll expand the soil, which is why you need a good head space in the pot or they'll spill over. You can snip the tops off in a few days and leave them to grow for about three harvests.
Loving all your suggestions! Thank you. I've been pretty lacks this year with other things going on, but looking forward to getting back to the garden and making the most of growing 😀
The green mesh is a genius idea!
Thank you! Works a treat 😄
Really enjoyed that. Going to join you and try and use my wee tatties for winter pots:)
Thank you so much! So lovely to hear you enjoyed the video! Growing tatties in buckets works a treat 😀
Videos are a great help.
Thank you
Thank you so much! So glad you for enjoying the videos 😀
Ooh I love jet washing ! Great job 👍 thanks for reminding me to get some garlic planted.
On a mission this week, to clear most of my beds & polytunnel. Cutting our grass has been a bloomin nightmare this year.....we have so many tiny frogs‼️🐸🐸🐸🐸🐸🐸🙈
Have a good week Deborah x
Oh the power washing is super satisfying 😄
Aw how cute, must be a good sign that they are sticking around. Although not good for you cutting the grass, great for all the insects.
Enjoy your garden tidying 🥳
You always make me feel better. You have a great gift! Yes, I will grow some lettuces, onions, and radishes in my garage this winter. Later, I will start other seeds. I have an old industrial freezer rack with led lights. I wrap it up in bubble insulation to keep the heat in. My garage is usually colder than it is outside. When days are warm, I roll it over to the door for some heat and sunshine.
Aw, thank you 🥰 so lovely to hear you enjoyed the video 😊 good idea with the old freezer. 😄
By all means compost those bolting carrots, but the carrot tops are a crop too. If you don't want to eat them, dehydrate them, with any other greens, veg (including those wee carrots) and crumble or powder them into homemade green/veg powder - useful for so many things, including home-made supplements for nutrition. You can buy your own empty capsules to make them. Just take them as often as possible with lots of water for free vitamin and mineral supplements and you don't need to worry about "additives", or just still the powder into soups and stews. I'm currently preparing nasturtium leaves like this (the flowers are even better, but I want the seeds this year ...) for year round lutein supplements. In the US, lutein is prescribed for people suffering from eye conditions like, I believe, macular degeneration. I see you have nasturtiums growing in your garden. Mine were sown late into a new sleeper bed filled in lasagne layers with garden waste, topped with garden compost and have gone absolutely mad.
oh Thanks for the suggestion! I hadn't thought of doing that. I had considered making stock cubes or something but hadn't looked too much into it. Will have to put it on the list of things to try! Thank you 😀
Great garden and greenhouse video Deborah and the garden is doing well 👍I am giving the ground a rest from onions, shallots and garlic this year so I can focus on growing other things. Love 🥰the video and love 💕Deborah & Andy.
Thank you so much 😄 yes, it's a good idea to rotate growing areas. I try my best to plant things in different areas every year. Hope your Allotment is doing well. 😊
Really enjoyed your vlog. What variety of lettuce would you recommend to grow over winter
Thank you so much!! oh that's a good question! I really like the iceberg varieties, so I think it depending on taste, but as long as it's winter variety it's worth giving it a go 😀
With that plastic mesh be careful.... I've got it and it's gone brittle and is breaking into little pieces over my bed and path!
Oh thanks for the heads up, I hadn't thought about the mesh getting brittle, will have to keep an eye on it. 😊
Thanks for the heads up. I'm on the West Coast, Central Belt of Scotland and it's getting very cold here too. I used a similar mesh (likely double the size of grid) for the first time to protect my Yacon in a very large pot from deer and for support. TBH, the deer eat almost everything except Yacon, but it worked really well as a vertical "tube" wrapped around the outside of the pot and fixed in place with cable ties because it's rigid. My Yacon foliage is dying back, so I'll put the mesh back in the garage over winter for next year. In fact, once I've checked to see if there's anything worth harvesting, I'll put the rest of it back in the pot and put the whole thing in the (unheated) garage, in the light from the window for winter protection. I don't want to have to buy the mesh every single year. I use voile instead of fleece, because fleece just rips and even the deer know now how to rip it to get to strawberries, etc. However, after about three years of exposure it will also start to disintegrate. I've found you can get away with all light colours of voile (so use anything you can get your hands on - I had a pile unused from "projects"), but white is probably best. It's light enough to drape over and hold down with cobbles, but I'm moving on to stapling the long edges to long batons to make it easier for one person to "open" and "close" beds during the day for air flow and, hopefully, I'll get some frames in by next year. Most of our garden damage comes from deer. They just wander right around our bungalow and back out, munching as they go. xx