Growing your own - is it worth it?

[gradus]

Can you grow olives successfully in the UK?

Here in South Suffolk I know several people who have olives on their trees so I imagine in the softer parts of the UK it may well be happening. My main reason for buying was that I like the look of the trees as they age and they add a Mediterranean touch to the dry gardens that do well in this part of the world, also of course I couldn't resist a bargain. They had a wonderful lemon tree trained around half a dozen canes and around 7 feet tall absolutely full of ripening lemons and I very nearly weakened but fortunately they wouldn't reduce the price still further. There were also some beautifully trained apples fully 9 feet tall in a candelabra espalier shape for £100 the like of which I've not seen for sale before other than in much smaller but almost as expensive forms. If you're a plantaholic it pays to look around.

[vinteuil]

Here in South Suffolk I know several people who have olives on their trees so I imagine in the softer parts of the UK it may well be happening. My main reason for buying was that I like the look of the trees as they age and they add a Mediterranean touch to the dry gardens that do well in this part of the world, also of course I couldn't resist a bargain.

... be careful - be very, very careful :

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xylella_fastidiosa

I'm just back from a trip to Apulia - heartrending the devastation, acres and acres of olive groves completely blighted. And nothing, as yet, that can be done. I hope you're not importing...

https://www.forestry.gov.uk/forestry/beeh-a3vemx

.

[oddoneout]

... be careful - be very, very careful :

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xylella_fastidiosa

I'm just back from a trip to Apulia - heartrending the devastation, acres and acres of olive groves completely blighted. And nothing, as yet, that can be done. I hope you're not importing...

https://www.forestry.gov.uk/forestry/beeh-a3vemx

.

My daughter gave me(through a gift company as she lives 200 miles away) a small olive tree for my birthday. Bit unfortunate as I'm not a fan anyway and also was all too aware of the disease problem. The plant has various references on it as to plant passport and origin. Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be any searchable database for me to check that info, and I have to take it on trust in any case that the info means something/is genuine/relates to the plant I've got.

[gradus]

... be careful - be very, very careful :

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xylella_fastidiosa

I'm just back from a trip to Apulia - heartrending the devastation, acres and acres of olive groves completely blighted. And nothing, as yet, that can be done. I hope you're not importing...

https://www.forestry.gov.uk/forestry/beeh-a3vemx

.

Imported no, as I explained in my posting above I bought from a nursery owned by one of the largest garden centre businesses, which is clearing stock for the new season.
Thanks for the link though which I think says that the problem as far as olives are concerned, seems presently and possibly permanently confined to olive trees in S Europe eg Apulia.

[doversoul1]

Imported no, as I explained in my posting above I bought from a nursery owned by one of the largest garden centre businesses, which is clearing stock for the new season.
Thanks for the link though which I think says that the problem as far as olives are concerned, seems presently and possibly permanently confined to olive trees in S Europe eg Apulia.

Does the nursery grow them from 0live stones? Or do they import the trees?

[gradus]

Does the nursery grow them from 0live stones? Or do they import the trees?

Imported I'd suppose but not by me.

[gurnemanz]

Strange year - I thought runners had ground to a halt then more flowers came and I got a few more beans. Digging spuds from rock-hard soil. Courgette leaves totally whitened with some sort of mildew but this didn't seem to set them back.

[ardcarp]

Strange year - I thought runners had ground to a halt then more flowers came and I got a few more beans.

Ditto.

[oddoneout]

Strange year - I thought runners had ground to a halt then more flowers came and I got a few more beans. Digging spuds from rock-hard soil. Courgette leaves totally whitened with some sort of mildew but this didn't seem to set them back.

I think it's one reason why runners are such a popular crop. They do suffer in hot dry conditions, but will perk up again once autumn is on the way, rather than giving up altogether. On the allotments worthwhile crops were often being taken well on into October, especially if there was a fine spell in September. The limiting factor tended to be wind because pollinators are fewer and less active as the days get shorter and cooler, and so the wind would reduce their activity even further. It was an exposed site and so storms would sometimes bring the fully laden canes down, but even then, provided the various bean eaters such as slugs and mice didn't get to them they would continue to crop in their new horizontal(ish) orientation.
Courgettes always seem to get mildewy leaves which gradually die off at the end of the season but as you say it doesn't stop them. It seems to be a feature of the cucurbit family - perhaps a response to the shortening days, as it isn't a reflection of the availability of food and water.

[ardcarp]

Mrs A picked a load of runner beans today...which we've just had for supper. Ridiculous! They looked all washed up at the end of August, and now, resurrection. Fresh and tender. Yum.

[gradus]

Cleared the polytunnel today and have the usual green tomato crop of all shapes and sizes that will probably end up in chutney.
Also an allotment field clear up day to prepare for rabbit netting, with most plot holders joining in the removal of ancient non-rotting carpet long-buried and endless broken glass, large poly sacks, wire netting and plastic of every description. Collaborative effort like this is very unusual on our site, unlike our much larger neighbours a couple of miles down the road who are slickly organised and whose allotment committee make sure that nobody steps out of line.

[doversoul1]

Cleared the polytunnel today and have the usual green tomato crop of all shapes and sizes that will probably end up in chutney.
Also an allotment field clear up day to prepare for rabbit netting, with most plot holders joining in the removal of ancient non-rotting carpet long-buried and endless broken glass, large poly sacks, wire netting and plastic of every description. Collaborative effort like this is very unusual on our site, unlike our much larger neighbours a couple of miles down the road who are slickly organised and whose allotment committee make sure that nobody steps out of line.

I’d very much prefer your allotment. I wouldn’t last a week in the other one you describe.

I put up poly tunnels over the endives a couple of days ago. I’ll have to think about how to tie them soon. Does anyone know how French growers managed to blanch them so perfectly?

There are still a few red tomatoes on the plants but with the drop of the temperature, not many more will ripen. The next job is to take down the runner beans. I have started harvesting the Brussels Sprouts. Winter has arrived.

[MrGongGong]

I put up poly tunnels over the endives a couple of days ago. I’ll have to think about how to tie them soon. Does anyone know how French growers managed to blanch them so perfectly?

They have special "caps" which look like this

[doversoul1]

They have special "caps" which look like this

Ah!! The mystery solved. Thank you.

[oddoneout]

My Dutch in-laws grew endive every year, but theirs was a more upright and less frilly variety so FIL would draw up the outer leaves slightly and tie a bit of yarn round. Bit of a fiddly job as the leaves are quite brittle and as his health worsened he couldn't manage the bending, but for a while growing them closer together did a reasonable job(whether that was by accident or design I don't know). I used to grow a red upright form which did a pretty good job of blanching itself, and some years I also dug the roots to provide lovely pale pink 'chicons' - very easy and satisfying(especially when I thought how much they would cost to buy, assuming I could even find them!), but I had to stop when the rat population got out of control and started destroying not only the shed but anything in it. The frilly forms I now use as baby leaf rather than growing to full size - better use of space and better suited to my requirements.