Skip to main content

GYO update - Summer 2018

I thought it was about time I gave you all an update on our little GYO adventure. This is our first time trying things out and we have had some real success and some total disasters.

Courgettes, at first were a massive success, I only had one plant producing and I ended up having to give some away. They are now not producing so well and seeming to go rotten at the tip which is very sad to see. Though the family were getting a little bored of courgette going into every meal.





I was convinced these sweetcorn had failed as we only had two, so the boys and I pulled it up. We had a look and were gutted because it had worked and we pulled it too early.



We have had many tomatoes from the two plants I got from the garden centre. These at first did not ripen and now we have had lots, not a glut but I have not had to buy them in around two months which is amazing.




The beetroot and carrots we have been pulling up and using in many dishes and have been brilliant, again not having to buy any for a couple of months.












Our peas and runner beans have not survived which was a shame, they got over run by the tomatoes and the courgette.

I will do a full post about lessons learnt, but I though a quick catch up would show that we are new to the GYO game and even with a crazy summer, we have produced quite a few veggies we have been able to eat and enjoy. If I can I am sure you could have a go?




Cup of Toast

Comments

  1. Oh you are so on top of it! I would adore not having to buy tomatoes again! I was able to do it about 10 years ago. Strawberries, tomatoes, artichoke & pumpkins. But I have such a black thumb and now with kids, I don't think I could be as on top of it!
    Congrats on your haul!
    #StayClassyMama

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, they have done very well with out a lot of attention to be honest not sure how we did it hahaha x

      Delete
  2. Well done! That sounds fantastic for a first go. Our tomatoes took a while to get going this year and we lost our peas, but it's still fun to grow some of our own veg. Our lettuces have kept us going for a while! Thank you for sharing your experiences with #Blogstravaganza :) xx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. peas did not seem happy did they. its just nice to grow a few bits not self sufficent but happy

      Delete
  3. We have so many tomatoes that we are sick of them! Shame about the sweetcorn but hopefully you will be more confident next year. Thanks for linking up with #stayclassymama

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Pleached Trees - Higher Privacy Solution

As you are aware we have had the new fence put in and are trying to find some ways to gain some privacy back, the new garden fence . Today I took the boys on a trip to one of my favourite places to look at trees and plants. English Woodlands located at Cross in Hand, East Sussex. We brought our laurel plants from them about 4 years ago, they were extremely good plants healthy, strong and have since flourished. As a nursery, they helped us choose what we needed and even told us to buy smaller ones as they would grow so fast, saving us money. I have been looking online and wondered if pleached trees maybe an answer to our height issue. What they should do is bring height to the fence but still allow light in. Now these are by no means a cheap and as always I am not sure if Mr MC&W is going to like them. So what is a pleached tree you ask?, to be honest, I only found out when frantically on google looking for  solutions for the new fence. A pleached tree is where som...

Feeding a Bee with sugar water

Have you ever been in the garden and seen a sad looking bee on the ground not really moving? You watch it for a while realising the poor little chap is really struggling. I have found several bees like this and tried to feed them sugar water. But my attempts to rescue them mainly ended with me trying to drown them, I was really not aiding them during their time of need. But I have finally developed a method that works so I thought I would share. Mix together white sugar with a little water so that it completely dissolves, RSPB suggests 2 tablespoons of sugar with one tablespoon of water. I used desert spoons but the same ratio. The advice is never to use honey or brown sugar.  This is what worked for me, move the bee to a paving stone, I used a strong leaf they tend to walk onto it, if not you can easily slide it under them, then drip a small amount of the sugar water in front of the bee. The bee will start to drink the sugar water and you will see it begin to get stronger. It...

Planting LolliPop Trees Elaeagnus ebbingei

I can not believe the day had finally arrived, the trees we had put so much thought into were going to be planted. We had the conifer and last shrubs removed and the whole area dug over and ready for the arrival of the LolliPop Trees Elaeagnus ebbingei. Finding Elaeagnus Ebbingei Area cleared and ready for the trees I was on the school run when they arrived. I walked round into the back garden to see five of the most beautiful trees in huge pots ready to be planted. Mr MC&W had chatted to the team that the trees need to be the same height despite there being a slight slope. Elaeagnus ebbingei all ready to be planted It was great to see the tape measure out checking the spacing between each one, as this was such a crucial part of the design. I can not believe how fast they got the first tree in and how polite they were when we suddenly realised it was overhanging the neighbours' boundary. They brought it forward no questions. First Elaeag...