PLOT TOUR - AUGUST 2024

A whole growing season has passed since I last did a tour of the garden - and what a season it's been! Not only do we look at the highs and lows of my plot but we trot over to see how Mike is getting on with his shed, and take a peek at squash city to see just how well they're doing. Being organic can be very testing at times - living alongside the caterpillars and slugs is a challenge - but to be honest I wouldn't have it any other way. Whereas the beans might have failed miserably there's an abundance of beautiful apples and weird tomatoes!
Hopefully my recording equipment will be back up to scratch next week and we can enjoy a harvesting spree in my organic kitchen garden!
Come say hi over here:

Music Epidemic Sound

[lynetteharris]

Nothing like home grown blueberries....enjoy the fruits of your labour ❤

[karenshields]

Both plots are good and Mike's is coming a long way. You are both lucky you both have your own place but both are close to each for help and support

[Feelgoodgardens]

Really enjoyed your plot tour Jane. ❤
The highs and lows of Jane's allotment 😂 Seriously though you have some lovely crops there.

I'm loving how Mike's allotment has come on and his shed is looking good too. A nice load of tomatoes and the grapes look delicious 😋. Lovely big onions too.
Have a fab week ❤️ x

[christinebrooks]

Hi Jane, your plot is looking lovely ❤ what marigold variety is growing amongst your tomato plants? They are lovely ❤ wow! Mike's plot is looking good and the squash, too. Like what he has done to his shed, it's now usable. Thanks for sharing and take care 😊

[charissatroup]

Fantastic. I love the pumpkin plot. I laughed at Rocky making a nest in the asparagus, strawberry bed. My dog does the same thing in my Day Lilies and Siberian Iris.

[jane]

Fabulous tour Jane, Mike has done amazing job on the overgrown plot. It's been a funny year all over the place. Thanks for sharing. 🐞🌻🌱

[mygardenanddinosaurs]

Lovely update Jane. I’m having a good onion year too - not that I have many but what there is are looking great. Mikes plot is really taking shape. I’m growing Mashed Potato squash too. They’re a bush variety? Whoops. Now I know why they aren’t climbing the obelisk 😆😆😆. Have a great week. Mags

[deebrownsell]

It's a rainy Monday & I am revisiting this video Jane. Thanks to you and Mike for your enthusiasm. I am getting to that anxious time of year - how to cure and store butternut squashes. I have great success growing on a muck-heap, but for 3 years they have all started to rot off too quickly. Not enough freezer space . Folk tell me humidity may be the issue. Any thoughts from your supporters gratefully received! Dxx

[myrustygarden]

Shame about the beans but I’m glad all the squash did well, funny enough my zephyr are prolific but they are up off the ground too. It’s been an odd year and seems to have gone by so quickly. Have a super fall season is all we can hope for, Ali ☔️🇨🇦


glad the squash did great Mike and yes the partial eclipse are like a patty pan 👍👍 but they don’t look like that 😂😂 they are more stripy green so perhaps (say it isn’t so) mislabeled and it’s just a green patty pan

[TheGrowUpChannel]

What a lovely look around jane! One of my favourites is pink fir apples too jane. Mikes venture has come along hasn't it! Danny 🌱

[stevendowden]

i think youve done pretty good well done both

[amandar]

Lovely catch-up, Jane. Your plot looks really pretty.

Can you roast/bake mashed potato squash (pricked of course) whole then cut open like a baked potato?

[pennythompson]

Oh wow the allotments are looking great & i love the squash that looks like a ghost that made me laughxx

[RobinGardens]

Filming on the phone worked great, very clear.
Yay for blueberries. I did the same thing and got more than any other year.
Everything that came for you really looks good now. Boy you are going to be in the squash. U Kuri are my fav, but alas the squash vine borer does not let me have any here....but I can buy at the farmer's market.

[tennesseenana]

Jane, your garden looks wonderful, and so does Mike's. He's made nice progress in his new plot. I'm impressed! This has been a real learning season for me, so I'll be making more changes in my garden next year. I've only lived here a little over 3 years so I'm still learning the climate, etc. I found out why the kale seeds I planted haven't grown - my neighbor's chickens were helping themselves to them. I told them that if they were going to eat my tiny seedlings, the least they could do was to lay a few eggs for me. So far, no eggs. Oh well, there's always tomorrow.

[adysveggarden]

Hi Jane, lovely tour and thanks for the mention those Grushovka are a nice size and hopefully you will get a few more flush off them later in the season.

[AnyKeyLady]

Great tour Jane! Loved the intro!

We are growing a Veranda Red Dwarf tomato for the first time to have on the windowsill over winter. Please tell me that they are slow growing?! I sowed them on the 15th July and they are about 10cm/4 inches tall atm.

We normally take cuttings/ top the tomatoes to root and over winter in Sept but have taken some early this year. We also take in one of the smaller pots we have indoors, when the weather turns. This year it will be honeycomb, another first for us.

We really want to grow blueberries here. Did you add anything to make the soil more acidic?

Our first lot of sweet bell peppers growing outside, are doing ok so far. We had to bag them as something was getting in them but ok size. Starting to ripen now too. We have a lot of shield bugs this year? Mainly on the runner beans this year.

Love those blackberries too! Going to get a cutting off the ones growing over our fence but usually go to this playing fields and the have about 300 yards of blackberry bushes growing at the back of these houses going 10 deep if not more in some spots! We got 2.1kg and had a kick about, whilst we were there. Also having a second flush of thorn-less raspberries a bird gave us a year or so ago! Bless you bird for pooping in our pot! And to believe i nearly got rid of it! (plant not bird! lol). It is just in a 25cm pot of raggy old clay soil but enough for puddings for our child!

I'm sure that Robbie(?) was just making a comfy bed there in the sun! lol

Our runner beans and kale aren't doing as great as last year but still keeping in there. First time dwarf beans did ok. second sowing coming up but clearly an issue, compared to last year. I am wondering if it was the seeding kale from last year that sapped the nitrogen? I did ask hubby to fertilise them more. It has been so cloudy though, up and down temps, etc. 2nd sowings are coming up ok. Our star of the show this year with beans was Yellow Kentucky wonder wax beans! These are in the new 3 sister sandpit bed.

Those onions are very much to be proud of Jane! I am not deterred by trying again next year! lol

Yes the Honeycomb F1 are prolific! They are producing like grapes! We have found though that growing outside, as we do in our London garden, that they do tend to split easy. Have you found that with yours in the poly? We have 3 of those and often have a mushroom tub or two in the fridge. I ended up chucking a load in the oven to dry out to store in olive oil. We are going to do a tally at the end of the year to see if it is worth it over Gardener's delight. Do we do less and get another type, etc. I also find navigating the tomato forest, they are so easy to knock off?

Mike Squash patch is epic dreams! I have one Kuri plant that has a squashed sized tennis ball and the other is the size of a football for children but not toddlers. ie not full size adult football! lol

Wow, the duck pen plot has had a massive flip! Well done Mike, et el! Totally unrecognisable now! I thought that shed was a goner seeing it burn out like that but its a fantastic salvage project!

Anyway, been rambling again. Need to resow my spring cabbages. Sowed them on the 1st Aug and up-potted them to 9cm in a tray. I should have moved them over in the utility area as i didn't expect so much foot traffic in high winds and rain to the garden by the door! There's still a red catch ping pong ball in the mini conifer trees!

Been OoA this month with whooping cough i think 90%. Not a cold, flu, covid, sinuses, hayfever, etc. Affected my asthma at the time. It has been a set back but tomatoes and the rest of the garden hasn't exactly got me into full canning mode panic! We are debating on whether to put the camping mini freezer on though. I need the space to process and hubby is reluctant. We just had to replace a lot of our canning stuff this year. Pressure cooker maybe next year?? I mean it's for the beans right?! lol Still trying pickled stuff with the kiddo.

That waffle being said, it is looking fabulous Jane and Mike! Alway swings and roundabouts as they do say!

Take care and have a wonderful last week of "Summer" All the best! x

[ericandrachallotmenteers]

Lovely tour Jane, such a beautiful day too!

🙌🏽💚🌼

[Beaguins]

I enjoyed this video a lot! I love the little shed in Mike's garden; it will be very useful! I have a question: how quickly has that Guatemalan blue banana squash grown? I'm thinking of trying that variety, but I've never known anyone who's grown it. My summers are probably much like yours with cloudy weather and few very hot days, but my growing season is very short (only three months a year without frost). Do you think I could grow a Guatemalan squash in 90 days of cloudy and cool(ish) weather?

[cherainharris]

Hi Jane. It was me. Cherain Harris. Not an easy name to remember but I always say think of Cher the singer and the rain. 🤔❤️