Growing your own - is it worth it?

[doversoul1]

jean
I hope you’ll be able to save your damson tree. I noticed one of my Victoria plum trees is badly affected by, I assume, the same problem.

I have two damson trees; the fruit of ne is as small as olives, and the other as large as plums. Not my idea of damsons.

We had the first potatoes and the first broad beans a couple of days ago. I could have dug the potatoes sooner, as they were more like mature than new potatoes. The broad beans have set well and if the badgers don’t get them first, we’ll be eating them (the beans, not the badgers) everyday and there will be enough to freeze, too.

The badgers found the strawberries. In the hope of saving the rest, I am now covering them with a plastic sheet in the evening with a wire fence around them. It looks rather like something that the police found in someone’s back garden…. I take the sheet off in the morning before the neighbours are up and about.

[umslopogaas]

It seems to me that the mammals are much more trouble than the insects. I have a deer fence that keeps out the deer and a rabbit fence that keeps out the rabbits, and I dont have any problem with badgers, so I guess the fences keep them out as well. Of course, rabbits and badgers are quite capable of burrowing under the fences, but they dont. However, squirrels and mice are another matter. I put wire netting over the strawberries, but the squirrels found a gap, and by the time I had made everything secure they had eaten most of them. I was hoping at least to harvest the rest, but something else has had them all. Must be mice.

Now the mice have moved on to the peas. I have set traps, but they seem to be able to take off the bait without triggering them, last night I caught none. Looks like I'll have to buy a different type of trap, I think the old fashioned ones might do the trick and they are cheaper than the fancy ones I've been using. It'll be a good crop if the little b******s leave me any.

[vinteuil]

Not my idea of damsons.
.

... at the bottom of the garden when I was growing up was a bit of a wilderness ending in an impenetrable hedge blocking off a little stream. The hedge was fifty per cent damsons. My elder brothers encouraged me to sample the fruit. They didn't tell me that the hedge of damson trees alternated with sloe trees...

O their malicious joy!

I have been wary of damsons ever since (unless they are safely in tiptree jars)....

[Cockney Sparrow]

Looks like I'll have to buy a different type of trap, I think the old fashioned ones might do the trick ..............

Interested to read this thread (so, for me, the forum does not need to be exclusively about about Radio 3 ) as I have started on an allotment this year. There is another pest on ours -a Globe Artichoke thief, been doing it for years apparently......a very neat slanted cut, so of the human variety. No problem for me - dug mine up, waste of space in my opinion.

If the trad. mouse traps aren't effective, I can recommend these (made in North America, I think). (Our mice like peanut butter)

http://www.mcneilldiy.co.uk/intruder-quotthe-better-mouse-trapquot-pack-reusable-mousetraps-p-830.html

[umslopogaas]

Thanks CS, I'll look into it, at £4.50 for two they seem very good value. My mice like peanut butter too, they just seem very adept at taking it without springing the trap!

[doversoul1]

The badgers have found my broad beans!! The damage is not too extensive so far but I shall pick as many as I can and freeze them tomorrow. Eating frozen broad beans in summer isn’t my idea but there you are. Co-existing with the ‘original residents’ can be troublesome.

A very young rabbit has been caught twice in the net over the Kale and had to be cut (the net) free. I’ve just bought this net but it already has two large holes. And mice. I think they are eating my strawberries. There should be more ripe berries but there aren’t. Ah well….

[umslopogaas]

doversoul, you and I can sing a duet of lamentation over lost strawberries. It will be very modern in its harmony (that's my way of saying that I cant sing a note in tune, unless by accident), but it will none the less be heartfelt.

I have high hopes for the peas, though.

[gurnemanz]

Despite netting, a family of blackbirds have eaten most of my redcurrants. Luckily they don't seem to like blackcurrants.

[jean]

My pigeons, OTOH, like blackcurrants but ignore the red ones. Nobody eats the gooseberries, or the raspberries, or even the strawberries, much - though there are a few slug holes on those, followed by the woodlice.

The damson tree is the big disappointment this year (and I haven't found a source of copper sulphate yet) but the plum tree has largely escaped.

[doversoul1]

doversoul, you and I can sing a duet of lamentation over lost strawberries. It will be very modern in its harmony (that's my way of saying that I cant sing a note in tune, unless by accident), but it will none the less be heartfelt.

I have high hopes for the peas, though.

That suits me (re: notes). Heartfelt indeed. The badgers have now found and dug up a patch of carrots.

Peas seem to be pest free here too once the plants are fully grown. However, most of the peas have turned out to be mange tout. I must mark the seeds more carefully next year.

When I think about it, I have only seen my red currents red once or twice in the past

[umslopogaas]

Jean, the chemistry departments of local high schools, colleges and universities will have copper sulphate, or if they havent they can certainly get it for you.

One problem may be that they only have small quantities of very pure analytical grade, which will be expensive. Probably better to try and persuade them to order you a kilo or two of cheaper grade.

The local pharmacy could also get it for you, but there may be restrictions these days on selling such stuff to the general public. Worth asking though.

[Cockney Sparrow]

Ebay, or failing that Google ( especially if you specify "!0kg" in the search will turn up this sort of material.

[jean]

Nobody eats the gooseberries...

I spoke too soon. This year, for the first time ever, some bird has discovered them.

Thank you for the sdvice about copper sulphate. I have done nothing about it yet, hoping a similarly-afflicted plotholder would turn up something first. But they haven't, yet. My tree looks awful.

[doversoul1]

Bother…. I’ve just found out that the blight preventative spray has been banned and there is no alternative that amateur gardeners can use. Ah well, that’s it. No tomatoes for us anymore.

A friend gave me a couple of tomato plants that were supposed to a special blight resistant variety but I’m not holding my breath.

[MrGongGong]

Bother…. I’ve just found out that the blight preventative spray has been banned and there is no alternative that amateur gardeners can use. .

There are lots

http://www.vegetable-gardening-with-lorraine.com/bordeaux-mixture.html

You can make your own (the ingredients aren't illegal)

http://msucares.com/newsletters/pests/infobytes/19961119.htm