My beans have been a bit of a mixed bag this year. The slugs devoured most of the Cobra and Blue Lake climbing French beans as soon as they were planted out, but left most of the St George runner beans and Purple Cascade climbing French beans alone. Exactly the same thing happened with my second sowing. Here, you can see which wigwams have done well, and which are rather sparcely populated.
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I'm not complaining though, the plants which did manage to grow have done really well, and I'm still picking lots from them.
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You lose some.
This is my entire crop of parsnips for this year, despite a few attempts at getting them to germinate.
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Here you can see the bed I'd set aside for them. It shows just how few I have.
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I'm just hoping that there's enough roots under the ground for Christmas dinner. Whatever I've got, they'll be savoured.
The autumn clear up has now started and I just thought I'd mention a bit of a bargain that Mick picked up in Asda. He'd been looking for a dustbin incinerator so that he could get some of the rubbish burnt and he came across this one at £15, cheaper than any he'd seen elsewhere.
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How typical that he's got a bit of time to make a start on burning the rubbish this weekend, yet it's raining. Oh well, I'm sure he'll jump in to action as soon as he's able.
Don't forget, if you haven't already entered my giveaway, you've got until twelve noon on Monday the 6th of October 2014 to do so. Just leave a comment on my Mini Munch Giveaway post.
lol, raining here as well and we had a day of catch up on the lottie planned......ah well I've popped to the Library instead ;)
ReplyDeleteAt least you didn't waste the day. It brightened up here but we were doing other things by the time the rain stopped.
DeleteIsn't it always the case. It's why growing a mixed variety of plants is the way to go.
ReplyDeleteThere's always something which does particularly well and something else which doesn't do well at all.
DeleteSame here for parsnips this year. I think I may have five! Made three sowings, one in toilet rolls and still a poor crop.
ReplyDeleteMy beans are only just coming into their own. I'm hoping the frost stays a way for a few weeks.
Both Eleanor and I love parsnips so it's disappointing that that we only have a few. I'm sure my beans will go on and on this year for as long as the frost stays away.
DeleteIt's been a similar story with my beans. Shame about the parsnips.
ReplyDeleteThat incinerator was certainly a bargain, and a useful item to have on the plot. Flighty xx
It will be good to be able to burn the rubbish. We've been trailing some of it home with us to put in the brown bin, it will save us having to do that.
DeleteThose incinerators are really handy, I left mine in Tydd, there is a communal bonfire area here and a large water and vermin proof bin to throw the rubbish in, once it is full it gets tipped into the fire pit and burned. This usually happens mid week when there is no washing out.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds very organised. You made a good point about considering the neighbours. We've never burnt any rubbish before so I'll have to check the rules regarding having fires on the site. I know we're allowed as I've seen other plot holders burning rubbish, but there may be some restrictions as there's houses backing on to the site.
DeleteShame about the Parsnips. You have a bit of a Love-Hate relationship with them, don't you!
ReplyDeleteFortunately mine are looking good. They certainly have some very luxuriant foliage, though I don't yet know what lies below. On the other hand, my Runner Beans were rubbish this year.
I absolutely love parsnips, but it can be a pain to get them to germinate, I always seem to struggle. I'm sure your parsnips will be doing well under ground, but it's a shame your runner beans didn't do so well this year.
DeleteYes we certainly do wind some and lose others1 At least you have some parsnips, not one single seed of mine germinated this year and like you the slugs took most of the beans. I cannot remember a year as bad as this for slugs, they are even eating my toms....or maybe that's mice!!!xxx
ReplyDeleteThe slugs have a go at something every year, but I must admit that I've had worse years than this. Such a shame that you didn't even get a few parsnips to germinate, I'm just hoping that the few I do have are delicious and have grown well beneath the soil.
DeleteI think I must have the record on the parsnip front. Only one has grown - there's a lot of leaf and who knows what underground. It's a good job we've been invited to DD's for Christmas dinner, I don't think the 'one' will go round everybody!
ReplyDeletexx
Enjoy that one parsnip, I'm sure the quality will far outweigh the quantity.
DeleteRunner beans have been my best crop this year, we're still picking them by the trug full. Less so the French climbing beans.
ReplyDeleteI managed some harvests from the green French beans, most of which had been eaten by slugs, but my best harvest has been from the runners. I've had enough to supply friends and family as well as eating them ourselves and there's plenty in the freezer too.
DeleteAmazing how the bugs select. We seem to be doing very well on the chilli stakes still flowering but we have warm weather. Fingers crossed for your christmas parsnips xcx
ReplyDeleteThe slugs chose exactly the same bean varieties the second time as they had the first, funny isn't it? I do hope there's a few parsnips under the foliage, I'd hate to be without them at Christmas.
DeleteMy beans weren't great this year either. As usual the slugs got quite a lot of things here. I've never tried growing parsnips, I've no idea why as I love them. I think maybe I heard they were tricky and assumed they were beyond me. I shall give them a go next year though. The incinerator is a great bargain, I've seen them up for quite a bit more as well. A very useful thing to have. CJ xx
ReplyDeleteMy beans came good in the end, I thought it was going to be a different story at the start of the year, it just shows, you never can tell. I shall keep trying with parsnips, it's so worth it as both Eleanor and I love them. I'm pleased with the incinerator bargain, we just need to put it to use now.
DeleteTouch wood our beans were fine this year although I did spot several snails at the top of the foliage. The incinerator was a good price, I think Mike paid £20 for ours but they are so useful aren't they!
ReplyDeleteThose pesky molluscs get everywhere. I'm happy with the price of the incinerator, I haven't seen one cheaper at all.
DeleteIt's been dry today in London, Jo - hopefully the same for you in Leeds, to give your hubs the chance to use his new toy! What a great bargain, good old Asda. Pity about your parsnips but otherwise I think it's been a good year. Fingers crossed for the remaining roots.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your kind comments about leaving my son at Uni - he seems to be having a great time in Leeds, not sure how much work he's doing though! I'll be grillling him when he next comes home ;) x
It's been lovely here today, just the sort of autumn day I like. We had some plans for today so Mick's still waiting to use his new toy, perhaps next weekend. Fingers crossed that the weather cooperates. Glad to hear that your son has settled in well. I always worried about how much work Daniel was doing but he got through the year fine and did very well in his exams, so they must buckle down to it, whatever we think.
DeleteI was just going to say maybe Mick had the opportunity to use the incinerator today Jo then I saw your reply to Caro's comment :) Another time. You certainly got it for a good price. Will keep my fingers crossed that you have enough parsnips for Christmas day. We're having parsnip mash tonight - shop bought I have to confess.
ReplyDeleteI couldn't imagine Christmas dinner without parsnips, besides, Eleanor wouldn't allow it. The incinerator hasn't been used yet, but give it time, Mick's itching to get all the rubbish burnt.
DeleteOur parsnips didn't germinate too well either but at least enough did to make our bed look full when it isn't really. We've lots of leaf but not too many roots.
ReplyDeleteAt least you did better than me. I had high hopes for my parsnips as there were so many left in the ground for us when we took the plot on last year, the previous plot owners obviously didn't have any problems getting them to germinate.
DeleteThose bin incinerators are really useful aren't they. I don't know what we would have done without ours when we first moved here, it certainly saw a lot of action! These days we have a green waste collection so most of our stuff can go in that, but if you have a lot to get rid of they are invaluable! xx
ReplyDeleteWe've been bringing lots of it home with us to put in the brown bin, but it's a lot of effort when we can just burn it. I'm hoping for some good weather next weekend so that we can get on with it.
DeleteIt was best year ever for beans but not one of my root veg seeds germinated! It seems we gardeners always win some and lose some!
ReplyDeleteIt's good to grow a variety of things otherwise there'd be some lean years. Some things always seem to do better than others and there's never a way to tell just what will do well that particular year.
DeleteI also had to sow parsnips three times and only few from the last batch germinated. Those few are looking good though. And interestingly, in the community garden we only sowed them once and got a really good crop: we've been already picking them for three weeks and there are plenty more.
ReplyDeleteAh, there's always next year :-)
It's funny how things differ, not only from one year to another, but also when grown in one place rather than another. I'm glad you've succeeded with them in the community garden even if you've only got a few yourself.
DeleteThat seems to be the way with gardening. Even in a good year like this some plants don't do well. My beans went over much too quickly and i had forgotten to sow another batch. To be honest though we had so many we'd got a bit fed up of them. ;)
ReplyDeleteI've frozen and squirrelled away lots of beans but I think we'll have a rest from them before using them as we've eaten so many this summer and they're still coming.
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