Dee's Little Blog Space

The first year I grew peas was a total disaster!

I started the seeds off in loo roll inners and everything was going well – nice little healthy plants at home, then the time came to plant them out and it was down hill from there. They slowed down growth wise and the pods were far and few between [ all that effort for a very small meal] The following year I sowed direct [  roughly the same amount of two 5ft rows] and was sick of eating them. I put down the previous years failure to the cardboard loo roll inners and heavy clay soil, even though the bed had copious amounts of compost dug into the bed to break the soil up. I’m convinced the two didn’t give ideal growing conditions – I also had a problem with my squash started off the same way, though in little peat pots [the idea of just plant everything pot as well just doesn't work on my soil]

I grow two types of peas

# dwarf- A early pea, enabling me to cover them until the weather warms up – they don’t need any support..

Followed by a main crop climber ..

Remember to soak peas overnight before sowing!

Early March through to April..

I sow my dwarf peas three to four weeks apart. – I completely ignore the spacing advice on the packet and grow in blocks close together so they support themselves

April

I put up the support for my climbing peas and fork in some bone meal

End of April/May

Depending on the weather I direct sow my climbing peas – delaying if the ground is too wet..

April/ May..

I sow my beans direct around the end of April/May

[runners,  broad, etc. ]

Adding compost and bone meal to the bed in March..

leaving the more tender varieties

[French beans asparagus beans ]

until June…

Aubergines require warmer conditions than tomatoes. If you want to grow them outdoors you will need a sheltered position and protection to get them to fruit. Aubergines need higher temperatures and protection from wind. You will also need to limit the number of fruits on an aubergine by pinching out side shoots

I use John Innes.  No. 2 compost and sow into 3in pots –giving the pots a good soaking before sowing. I don’t water again until the seedlings are well through and only pot on before transfering to my plot when absolutely necessary.

I can get three largish, sometimes four fruits on one plant grown outside in central London and six smallish fruits..

This is basically how I grow my Aubergines

Jan/Feb

Sow seeds indoors into 3in pots in warmth (65 °F) I grow mine on my windowsill, placing the pot into a plastic bag [these in effect are mini greenhouses]

May

If plants get too large before the weather warms up I pot them on into 5 inch pots

June

I plant out onto plot staking and covering with Enviromesh making a frame with some piping – the mesh is usually put in place 2 weeks before to warm up the soil. On open ground like a allotment they need to be sheltered and this tightly woven mesh is ideal. I then start feeding using a high potash feed [comfrey] once first fruit has set

Aubergines can suffer from blossom end rot so I try to keep watering constant as I would my tomatoes. Though I’ve never had that problem so far..

I continue to tie in and pinch out the top when they get around 18in high and the side shoots when I have 4/6 fruits to encourage bushiness and feed approx every 2 weeks with a comfrey feed until the first fruits are ready – My first year this happened in late August (did well that year) or September, depending on our summers. Lol

Most peppers need a long growing season and Real seeds have some good choices for growing here in the UK.. I sow my peppers into 3in pots in January, placing them into a heated propagator.. They normally take two to three weeks to germinate then they are transferred onto my windowsill. This is where they stay until I plant them out on to my plot in June.. During this time I may pot them on into bigger pots if they are looking pot bound and stressed, though i have rarely found it necessary.. I grow my peppers and aubergines in the same bed at my plot. All the preparations for growing outdoors are the same, so.. to save me repeating myself they can be found > > >  Here