Growing to eat 2023

[Barcon]

Haha I was presuming that you’d be here in Blighty without thinking it through - doh!

However, on the topic of you both being in the USA. I must be cheeky and ask if it’s possible for you to get hold on any of the more hardy avocado varieties?
Where I live corresponds roughly to USDA zone 8 and I believe that the Mexican varieties , though not grown commercially due to being very thin skinned, are often grown in home gardens in the USA.
Iirc Del Rio / Pryor, Mexicola Grande, Opal / Lila, Wilma / Brazos Belle or the famous and probably most frost tolerant ‘Bacon‘ variety of avocado are all said to be good down to USDA zone 8.

The only varieties available in the uk are the West Indian and Guatemalan commercial varieties. Though these are often, as it happens, imported into the UK from Africa or the Middle East.
I’m on the lookout for someone who could hopefully post me a few seeds of the Bacon variety, or similar Mexican cultivars, if I stump up the postage.

To stick with the topic I must ask if I’m barking up the right tree here?

Sorry mate. Neither one of us live in the U.S.A and I don't think we grow avocados here.

 

[idahoblues]

 

[discopop]

Regarding spud growing do they need much light? I have a part of a garden that I am considering putting some raised beds in but it’s pretty shady.

 

[idahoblues]

I've been ising these potato boxes for quite a few years and they work well. Rule of thumb in this valley is mid June before planting anything, last year we had a pretty severe frost in July and we pretty much lost everything. We plant garlic and parsnips in autumn and they go dormant but are good in the spring. We've got a good asparagus patch, the moose and deer have decimated our once impressive raspberry patch, beets do pretty well

 

[Slipper One]

Haha I was presuming that you’d be here in Blighty without thinking it through - doh!

However, on the topic of you both being in the USA.

FUCK!!!

What did we say to deserve that???

 

[blue cigar]

Just levelled a decent patch of our garden today so we can put wooden planters in. We'll grow green beans, sprouts, lettuce and cabbage, tomatoes were the big success last year, bloody lovely. Can't beat wandering into the garden, picking the veg and eating it.

 

[OccupiedPalestineBlues]

I never buy seed potatoes, during the winter months I just put any store bought potatoes that I find sprouting in a paper bag or box in a dark cool place and then plant them in the spring in a trench with plenty of compost around them.

Then as the plants grow, I backfill over them and leave just leave the tips of the leaves showing and keep doing that.

If I ever get to growing a lot then I’ll certainly do that, but I’ve only ever grown spuds once in the past, and that wasn’t a great success.
I bought seed potatoes so that I could be such that I got the right spuds for purpose and so that it would be easy to find out how to correct any issues specific to the varieties.

Visa versa with garlic, where I’m in my comfort zone. I buy some garlic by variety, because I want specific development traits, such as scapes from the hard necks or garlics that are strong or sweet or stone well. But I also buy any store garlic that looks like good to me, so that I can try to produce similar from them.
It’s generally really good but sometimes a not so good. I think that’s because different varieties grow better in different regional weather conditions and soil types.

 

[Kirkstall Blue]

This might help with planting spuds I had a bright idea of growing our own until we read the instructions

I have to (chit) the potatoes first ? So just gone right off the idea My dad had no problem growing veg: he had rows with everything you can think of in a relative small garden.

 

[Kirkstall Blue]

I never buy seed potatoes, during the winter months I just put any store bought potatoes that I find sprouting in a paper bag or box in a dark cool place and then plant them in the spring in a trench with plenty of compost around them.

Then as the plants grow, I backfill over them and leave just leave the tips of the leaves showing and keep doing that.

Thanks it sounds easy wish I read this first

 

[city2]

I planted some new potatoes with shoots on in June just got a bucket I use to wash my car with as I was going on holiday and thought nothing to lose by trying. Filled it with compost chucked in some potatoes and lo and behold 12 weeks later really tasty new potatoes all I did was water them. So easy