Growing protein
Mark_Riga Offline
Member from Cheshire
#11
I'm growing quinoa this year in among some squash plants. Might be a mistake if they grow too big and bushy. I grew about 12 plants a few years ago and got about 2kg of grain off them. I didn't find it too hard to clean the grain as could listen to music or the radio. Creatures are not supposed to like them but something had started nibbling them before I harvested them.
I also grow french beans for drying, a climbing one Soisson, 2kg from a 13' row last year but hoping to do better this year. I grow a dwarf one as well but no idea of variety, it was a packet of beans I brought back from France about 10years ago now. Laast year it was decimated by slugs but this year is doing well so far. I also grow peas generally for freezing but this year I've had a bumper crop and stopped picking after I had 9kg in the freezer. So it looks like I'll have a few kg of dried peas as well.
Last year I got a lot of hazel nuts but it is a hit and miss crop with the squirrels - mind you most crops can be affected by some pest/disease.
I couldn't grow sunflowers for their seed here as birds start eating them before they are fully ripe. I've grown Lady Godiva pumpkins in the past for their seeds but we didn't eat them all and the flesh is not really edible.
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Veggie Online
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#12
Nobody's mentioned sweetcorn yet............so I will.Smile
The Moneyless Chicken says:- 
Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.
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Mark_Riga Offline
Member from Cheshire
#13
This is my legume patch, a short row of dfb for eating fresh with a longer row behind for drying then 2 rows of peas now waiting for the pods to dry with cfb Soisson behind those for drying. The peas have slumped a bit now and the cfb are getting more of a look in. The end of the row is a bit thinner as on clay soil.

   

And the squash

   

The quinoa are like big fathen. You may just be able to see a few leaves of sweetcorn at the back.
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Veggie Online
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#14
Thanks Mark. Smile
I didn't expect the quinoa to be that tall.
Your legume bed looks amazing. Which peas did you grow for the bumper crop please?
The Moneyless Chicken says:- 
Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.
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Mark_Riga Offline
Member from Cheshire
#15
The quinoa may need staking soon. The peas are hurst greenshaft. supposed to grow 30" but the spot they are in they grep to 5', it is exceedingly fertile. Not sure how long it will last. It was the entrance to a field where over the years a variety of animals have been fed, cattle, sheep and horses (your old hen run could compete may be if you ut down the oak?). It was growing a crop of nettles and docks till about 4 years ago when I thought I would try and reclaim it. There must have been a building there in the past as I dug up lots of bricks and sandstone. It is very stony so root crops are out. 2 years ago, I grew a good crop of potatoes there and last year, from 300 sets, I got 70kg of onions and this year it will be peas and beans, as long as they can be harvested before any frosts. The peas and dwarf beans will be OK.
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