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Morning Light: The Fetchland Gardening Wire

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Garfield Jul 2020 12:49pm, 3 Jul 2020 13,208 posts	Quote Pin Garfield D2, that sounds like some of my friends with gin. Hubby has issues with cherry brandy...after an overdose of it as a teenager I believe!
Big_G Jul 2020 12:58pm, 3 Jul 2020 80 posts	Quote Pin Big_G Afternoon all. I’m fairly new to Fetch and new to this thread, but have been really getting into gardening the last year or two. Since lockdown we’ve been levelling out our steep back garden and have a good number of large raised beds and planters now. Really enjoying it. Anyway, we picked some radish and made this pesto out of the tops last night. Radish tops, feta, oil and nuts all blitzed up.
Angus Clydesdale Jul 2020 1:30pm, 3 Jul 2020 18,756 posts	Quote Pin Angus Clydesdale Welcome to the thread. That looks good!
Eynsham Red Jul 2020 6:37pm, 3 Jul 2020 6,141 posts	Quote Pin Eynsham Red Welcome Big_G. Sugar snaps have been doing really well. We’ve got them trained up in a wigwam, but some have decided to climb up aa adjacent tomato plant. A bit of independent companion planting.
Hanneke Jul 2020 9:24pm, 3 Jul 2020 70,604 posts	Quote Pin Hanneke For that wall a while back, have a look at this: trevorwhiteroses.co.uk A vigorous, semi-evergreen climber that flowers prolifically from May into November. In fact, the ones I put in for a client on a North facing wall, so little to no sunlight, flowered all through the winter. It needs pruning and controlling, but hasn't got an awful lot of thorns.
Columba Jul 2020 9:42pm, 3 Jul 2020 19,962 posts	Quote Pin Columba Thank you Jacdaw: - spirea douglasii is definitely it (found a picture of it). The tartness of blackcurrants is what I particularly like about them. Need to cook them with a little sugar, though. And the birds don't seem to go for them, whereas they do for the redcurrants. Gooseberry bushes lost all their leaves last year, thanks to sawfly. This year I am going over them leaf by leaf every few days, removing the little nasties.
Columba Jul 2020 9:43pm, 3 Jul 2020 19,963 posts	Quote Pin Columba That pesto looks fantastic, Big_G.
Big_G Jul 2020 7:09am, 4 Jul 2020 82 posts	Quote Pin Big_G Thanks for the welcome We've got courgettes coming out of our ears so we made a courgette tea loaf yesterday, which is very nice. Also plenty of jars of chutney, although the other veg used for that (aubergine, tinned toms, peppers etc) didn't come from the garden. This is our second year of doing this and we've we had our first beans in a meal yesterday (runner beans and French beans). Our cauliflowers aren't doing much, but our kale, chard and other cabbage are doing well. Carrots are coming on, and we've had some beetroot already with more on its way. We did go overboard with the tomatoes - I think we've got 35 plants! But we do like tomatoes and whenever OH tried to give some away she seemed to be coming home with different varieties! Soon we'll be overwhelmed I think, so more chutney and probably pasta and/or pizza sauce is on its way; this was a success last year as we have a pizza oven, so we're looking forward to that. Our different lettuces have also done well and are continuing to do so. I mentioned courgettes, but also our squashes are doing well - a couple of them look ready to me but apparently they've got to stay on for a couple of months yet. We don't have a greenhouse but are thinking of getting one. We have some chilli plants but although they're doing fine it seems, I think they'd be better off in a greenhouse. Regarding fruit, we've only got strawberries and one blueberry plant. We will be planting an apple tree (cooking apple, probably) when that area of the garden is ready for one. Not everything has worked, but we're learning and really enjoying it.
Rosehip Jul 2020 7:16am, 4 Jul 2020 16,932 posts	Quote Pin Rosehip sounds like you are a week or two ahead of me Big_G , whereabouts are you? I was a little late getting some plants in the ground this year, becauase we had later than normal frosts for here for a while. I have a couple of courgettes that are almost big enough to pick, expect that by the time I get back from a week away in a fortnight we'll be over-run. First cucumbers from the greenhouse though
Big_G Jul 2020 7:24am, 4 Jul 2020 83 posts	Quote Pin Big_G Rosehip, I'm in South Devon, about a mile from the coast. We had warm weather here in April/May and then following a couple of downpours in June the courgettes sprung into life. We do have some "cucamelons" - I'd never heard of them but OH got a packet of seeds from a friend. Also, we have small, spikey cucumbers (I can't remember the variety off hand) but as we have no greenhouse these are no where near ready at the moment. They did very well last year though so hoping for more this year. Last year they are just in grow bags, but this year we've got a bed that they're in. I can see a greenhouse being installed before next year though!