Hi Gang – whilst we cannot do too much currently, to prepare for our veg growing -hope to start some stuff end Feb/early March  – We can think about how we are going to prepare our veg to be eaten.

Here are some fab SALAD DRESSINGS to enhance your produce this Summer:

5 Favorite Raw Vegan Salad Dressings

Note on ingredients: Nama shoyu is raw, unpasteurized soy sauce and can be substituted with regular soy sauce if it is unavailable near you.Spicy Almond Dressing
2 cups almonds butter
4 roma tomatoes
1/2 cup nama shoyu
3 tablespoons lime juice
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1 teaspoon miso
3-inch piece ginger
1-inch piece lemongrass
6-8 Thai chiles
1 teaspoon sea saltBlend all ingredients in a Vita-Mix, food processor or blender until completely smooth. Thin with water as needed. Makes one quart.Ginger Miso Dressing
1/2 cup white miso
1/3 cup agave nectar
1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
1/3 cup sesame oil
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 1/4 cup chopped gingerBlend all ingredients in a Vita-Mix, food processor or blender until completely smooth. Makes one quart.Creamy Sesame Dressing
1/2 cup nama shoyu
1/2 cup tahini
1/4 cup sesame oil
2 tablespoons agave syrup
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon sea salt
1-inch piece ginger
1/4 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon lime juiceBlend all ingredients in a Vita-Mix, food processor or blender until smooth. Makes two cups.

Creamy Thai Dressing
3/4 cup sesame oil
1/2 cup nama shoyu
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup lime juice
1 tablespoon maple syrup
4 Thai bird chilis or 3 tablespoons red chili flakes
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 cup chopped raw cashews

Blend all ingredients in a blender until smooth. Makes 2 1/2 cups.

Potato Salad Dressing
(Use this with diced raw jicama and other raw vegetables for a raw “potato” salad)
2 tablespoons tahini
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons fresh parsley
1/4 teaspoon nama shoyu
1/4 teaspoon agave syrup
Pinch sea salt
Pinch chili powder

Blend all ingredients in a Vita-Mix, food processor or blender until smooth. Dressing will be thick and will thin out when added to jicama. Makes two cups.

Read more: http://www.care2.com/greenliving/5-favorite-raw-vegan-salad-dressings.html#ixzz1l7s6WXFt

Hi All

I planted some colourful lettuce fairly late in the Season in 2011 and left some out in the garden and some in the greenhouse.  All survived December but in January, mysteriously, the greenhouse batch seems to have developed greenfly.  Cannot understand it but hey, I guess these things happen.  So I put the tray of lettuce outside and shall hope the for the best.  Anyway, the warmer weather meant that the outside lettuce has still survived even with the frosty mornings!  I am amazed.  Has anyone else got any similar stories about veg surviving against all odds?  ALSO DOES ANYONE RECOGNISE WHICH VARIETY THIS LETTUCE IS, AS, SINCE IT IS SO HARDY, I THINK I WILL GROW IT AGAIN.  PLEASE LET ME KNOW.  THANKS.

http://www.care2.com/greenliving/10-easiest-to-grow-veggies.html

Looking to grow your own hyperlocal veggies to improve your foods’ nutrition and save some money this year? Although large, complex gardens do require a fairly hefty time investment, many veggies are so easy to grow that they practically care for themselves. If you’re hoping for a highly productive but low-maintenance veggie garden, try these 10 easy-growing veggies, perfect for beginner gardeners.

You can learn about different varieties by studying seed catalogs, which most companies send for free. One of my favorites, with a bounty of advice and beautiful color photos, is Johnny’s Selected Seeds. Visit the website or order a catalog, and start planning!

1. Salad Greens (arugula, lettuce, spinach and corn salad). Pick your favorite, or try a mix—many seed companies sell mixed packets for summer and winter gardening. Plant seeds in spring and fall, and you can pick salads almost year-round. Read more about all sorts of greens in our Field Guide to Salad Greens.

Read more: http://www.care2.com/greenliving/10-easiest-to-grow-veggies.html#ixzz1l7cLOcLF

Start with small plants. If they do well, you can harvest bulb onions. If not, you can eat the greens. Read a guide to growing onions.

5. Onions.

6. Strawberries. Perfectly ripe strawberries are luscious, and the plants are surprisingly hardy. Buy bare-root plants from your local garden center in early spring. Put this perennial in a sunny spot and weed often. Strawberries grow wonderfully in an old-fashioned strawberry barrel. Learn how to make one.

Read more: http://www.care2.com/greenliving/10-easiest-to-grow-veggies.html#ixzz1l7cQ0xBv

Hi there Everyone

Well the growing year has been challenging for us all and for me in particular as not only has the weather caused havoc with tomatoes and other salad crops, but with my foot fracture in June, I lost 2 months of garden work and tending to things, although my kind Husband, Dave, did water everything for me.

Anyway, water under the bridge, things are what they are and we have to take the rough with the smooth.

I did what is the penulatimate bit of harvesting for this year at the weekend.  Picked some lovely spinach, rhubarb and the last of my courgettes andd garlic.  Expect to get some more spinach and to harvest the last of my spuds this weekend.  I attach some photos of  my haul – delicious spinach and I cooked the rhubarb with some lovely apples my neighbour gave me from her tree!

Next year I think I shall be going for more potatoes, rhubarb, spinach, lettuce, tomatoes, basil, courgettes, spring onions, beans, peas, mangetout and french beans as they were my biggest successes this year.  I have learned a lot and because of 2 poor tomato growing seasons in a row, I think I may confine the majority of next year’s tomatoes to the greenhouse as I lost most of my tomatoes this year owing to the deluge of rain and the lack of consistent sunshine.  Who lives may learn eh!

My chicory did nothing, nor did my celery, nor my aubergine plant – might have been my inability to keep an eye on things for two months but hey, that’s the way the cookie crumbles!  Only had 3 cucumbers from two plants …. 

How did all of you do with tomatoes, celery and chicory this year?

By the way, my alpine strawberries have been ace and I have had a very good crop!  My spinach has been divine, just love perpetual spinach, you can’t beat the taste!

Best wishes to all and thanks to vegatbleseeds.net for this fab blog site!

August has been a wet month but despite that and the fact that my tomatoes remain green   Actually, after two wet Augusts on the trot, I am considering growing the lion’s share of my tomatoes in the greenhouse next year and then maybe at least I will get a few more red ones!!!

I kept my cucumber plants in the greenhouse and have so far harvested one large cucumber and there is another on the vine and small ones starting!

I managed to harvest some more potatoes, and whilst the haul was about 50% less than previously, they were still very nice potatoes!

My rhubarb is still going strong and I have had several harvests!  Still getting a few alpine strawberries too!  Very small but sweet and lovely.  Also plenty of basil in the greenhouse – lovely with tomatoes!

My perpetual spinach is still cropping well and I am very pleased with it, the taste is soooo much better than shop bought or frozen.

My courgettes continue to thrive, although 3 plants have done tremendously well and two not so well – CAN ANYONE TELL ME IF THIS HAS TO DO WITH POSITION?  Also one has been plagued with a kind of weird white dusty cancour on the leaves – ANYONE KNOW WHAT IT IS?  I do not use any pesticides in my garden and will not do so, but just wondered what this is?   I do not use slug pellets either as they are dangerous to other wildlife, particularly birds.

I have a few pics taken at the weekend and will upload as soon as I can.

Hope all your gardens have done well this year!

CONGRATULATION TO ALL FOR YOUR HARD WORK IN YOUR LOVELY GARDENS AND ALSO TO OUR LOVELY VEGGIE WEBSITE FOLK FOR MAKING OUR BLOGS POSSIBLE!

Most of my marrows seem to start off as courgettes that are too small to harvest, so I leave them a few days and clearly that is too long as they end up as marrows.  Anyway, here are some pics of the courgettes and those that have reached marrowhood!

Today, I had a nice bIt of fresh harvest, 2 x marrows and some fresh perpetual spinach (actually the plants last 2-3 years before they need to be replaced so perpetual is pushing the limits a bit naming-wise) and some alpine strawberries (not pictured).  YUM!

Hi there Everyone.  Was just tieing up my tomato plants to canes as some were a bit top heavy.  A good way, I find of keeping lengths of garden string ready for tying is to loop them round the top of my garden shirt buttons so I have easy access to them – picture attached.

Best wishes

Hi Everyone

I wanted to share with you the way Dave sorted out my greenhouse shading – he came up with a great idea.  He put lengths of 1 inch x 1 inch timber along both ends of a quantity of shading material, sewed it into the ends and then attached it by garden twine on to the gutters of the greenhouse tops.  This keeps the shading from blowing away in the wind and also keeps the heat off the roof of the greenhouse, ensuring it does not get too hot at any time during the season – it has worked magically and kept everything in tip top order – So pleased he came up with that one and wanted to share it with you all!

Hi Everyone

Wanted to say that this year is the first time I have attempted to grow aubergine plants.  The snails and slugs loved my seedlings so I was only left with one that romped away and it was large enough today to go outside, Dave planted it out for me (below is a pic of the potted plant in my hand before Dave planted it).

Courgettes have done well for a second year – and with Dave’s help, have had 3 from my harvest so far and there are 8 more forming!  Hurrah!  Actually the 3rd one harvested had become a mini marrow!  As for the mini french beans, peas,mangetout and broad beans from my mixed bean and pea bed, I have had another good harvest and when  do next year’s crop rotation, I will definitely have a similar bed elsewhere in the garden, IT HAS BEEN A HUGE SUCCESS!!!  (Pic below).

Cucumber plants x 3 are doing well in the greenhouse with little cucumbers starting to form – Hurrah again!

I am well pleased that despite my forced respite and therefore my inability to do my normal work in the garden and greenhouse, my early work has paid off really well!

By the way, second pic – behind me on the left, is a huge bronze fennel plant, apart from the fact that you can eat the seeds – adding them to mushrooms and other foods for extra flavour, you can also use the fronds in salads and if you want to did the whole plant up once it has seriously matured, you can eat the bulb in salads.  Another good thing is that the flowers attract a mass of hover flies and bees!

HAPPY GARDENING ALL!