A few years ago you made a video on each of the family scale and I loved it! I was wondering if you could do an update on each of the gardens, and how you have changed them. Possible a different video for each garden?
"... most importantly, thank you for watching." I too want to thank the donors that help you make more and better videos. I feel guilty for not being able to join them but I'll keep watching for I am getting so much from this channel - thank you for understanding. best of health to all of you!
Thanks for watching and commenting. Most people can’t (or don’t want to) contribute anything financially, which is fine, so long as it is enough to keep going. It is more important to share widely than to restrict access I think.
Even with a simple trial like this one, I feel like the most important properties of these varieties showed. You were clearly able to make a decision of which ones to grow again and I think I'd pick the same. I do wonder, however, if there was a noticeable difference in taste/texture between the varieties and if any of the less productive ones stood out?
There is a difference, and I do like the texture/taste of some of the others, but would probably grow them outside. Unless I was really looking for something in particular in the kitchen, I am interested in general purpose varieties, thought the colour differences are nice. Taste is something I should really explore some more.
Solar panel fans for the poly tunnels. Watering early enough and having enough airflow circulation throughout the day. Having the strongest of the starts to begin with and compost or chicken feed for the rest. Been watering directly on the plants for years, however next year I'm upgrading to irrigation for time and efficiency. I've found drastically less molds, mildews and rotten fruits and flowers and leaves making it point to have everything mostly dry on the actual plants before it gets warm in the morning. Giving everything just enough space to grow beautifully both roots and foliage and balance productivity. Zukes, cukes, melons, maters and corn have been the best they've ever been so far. Hope for more growing seasons like it. Hope the very best for you and yours. I wish I could keep my ship half as organized as yours. What you are doing is solid gold. I'm grateful for you putting your content out there for us. Thank you.
Thanks for the comment! And thanks for sharing your experiences. It sounds like you are well in your way to seriously productive gardens! Getting away from mostly hand watering was a huge step for me.
Your documentation of your results is so impressive! I barely have time to do the essential care of my plants, harvest, store, and cook 3 healthy meals each day. Maybe, next year, I'll make record keeping a habit? You are an inspiration!
I grow Patti Pan/Scallop Squash, Yellow Courgettes, Green Courgettes and Butternut Squash outside here in the North East of England without any problems. I save my under glass area for Tomatoes, Chilli's, Turmeric, Ginger and Cucumber.
🇨🇦 I do enjoy your trials. I grew a short season variety of zucchini this year. It turned out to be compact in nature, and a good producer. Certainly worth planting again. Thanks for the perspective.
Great to see this video. i tried courgettes in my tunnels this year for the first time and tried a variety called Partenon, a parthenocarpic variety, which sounded promising, but it had the most unusual characteristic of putting out almost all female flowers for much of the season and having very poor pollination. I ended up having to hand pollinate but even with a dozen plants there were times I couldn't find a single male flower to use!
That is interesting. Strange that a variety would do that, and reduce pollination possibilities. I wonder if it was bred for producing very small courgettes, with the flowers still attached.
I like rampicante since it has no seeds in the neck, only in the bulbous bottom. It has a vining habit and works great for verticle support. It is vigorous and often has 25-foot vines...but responds to careful pruning.
thanks for the video! I grew striato d'italia this year outside and was super impressed. still harvesting from the plants now in october, despite powdery mildew started early this year in late August already. best regards from austria!
Always an amazing video! My summer squash seeds were stolen everytime I planted them by chipmunks. I only got 1 zucchini. I was thinking of trying a round variety this year.
Excellent video! It’s my first year in our new home, in a new country, we moved from Wales to Bulgaria, and the garden was my first priority. I tried several different courgettes, one type were young plants I bought in the local market and the rest from seed. I haven’t been keeping a track of the harvest but I know what I’ll do differently next year. It never occurred to me to remove side shoots, and the local variety ended up becoming triffids despite being planted with tomatoes, aubergines and cucumbers around, they were in slightly raised beds with compost added. The ones I grew from seed were in a different part of the garden, kind of interplanted with climbing beans and they didn’t do so well, no compost added there and planted a little after. I’ll be growing in a different part of the property next year hopefully, with polytunnel space too, to extend the season either end. I’m about to do one final harvest and remove all the summer plants now, it’s looking incredibly untidy, but happy to make space for winter and spring veggies.
I think you need a "for science!" Garden where you can do your large scale experiments. It could just be me, but I've always found it less stressful having a dedicated section or area for running tests. If something fails in the science garden the mentality I get is "well it was in the test garden anyway and I learned something at least" meanwhile when something fails in the main garden I beat my self up over my garden failing, or me failing my garden. It may seem trivial, but having that disconnect really helps with motivation and state of mind in general I find.
That is a good plan, having a separate experimentation garden. For me, al of the gardens and growing spaces are “for science”! I set it up that way, I don’t have a garden where I am just growing vegetables, so I really can’t get that disconnect. But because I have so many different spaces and trying different things, if something fails it is ok.
I planted my Courgettes (Ambassador) outdoors at normal density this year through Mypex into small pits of home made compost mixed with MPC, but tried something new - a 1m high polythene windbreak all around the patch of 13 plants which grew more vigorously in the semi- protected environment and initially I was pleased with higher cropping. But I neglected to prune the more vigorous than normal plants, and they got congested and were really badly hit by powdery mildew, totally ceasing cropping for several weeks at what should have been height of the season. P.S.Your runner beans look fantastic compared to mine that were devastated by the up to 40 Deg C heatwaves, all the flowers fell off and the leaves were frazzled. There's hardly any leaves or beans left on them to be hit by the central England temperature of 2 Deg C forecast for tonight. (And just as my Courgettes were starting to make a comeback!)
That is really interesting about the plants struggling after getting congested with the windbreak. There is definitely a difference with shelter, but also we seem to need to manage them differently.
I’ve relied on Gold Rush for years for my yellow squash, even with its poor performance here in Zone 3 Alberta. I’ll look into the other yellow types you grew to try out.
Some people plan to grow very intense like that in a tunnel. Then they let in chickens to tear it all down. Actually works too. Then pigs added after it's cleared, over winter half with pigs and half with chickens. Whole thing is so fertile from that that everything is just super duper vigourous. So it's a jungle. Even the tomatoes. LOL
romanesco is my favorite zucchini, I find it more flavorful and tender than other varieties. the plants do tend to sprawl and take over an area though :P
I grew spaghetti squash this summer, the 3 plants literal grew to cover an area of 10x10 ft, I had to cut it down so it didn't kill everything else. It was so big, bugs and animals used it to hide and propagate. I sprayed but that didn't stop anything, it just kept getting bigger. Became good compost tho.
I have one large garden that I just raise a 3' by 3' square in the middle. I grow the chosen squash from there and then train them around everything but let them go a little crazy. You can remove the really old leaves to let light in and keep them from being in the way. About 4 weeks before frost I go around and cut the tips off(back to the a few feet ahead of the last squash you want to mature) so the plants will focus on the larger squash and they will mature in time. Works every time.
There was a nice diversity of tastes and textures, though I don't know if there was nay that I really preferred. I think it depends on what I am cooking. The patty pan ones were nice, more of a squash, and I am interested in growing them outside next year.
Another great video! You are a busy man ! 1 idea i just had watching this is that i think i would drive in 8' garden stakes pre plant every 3' and plant the crop right up against the stakes and tie with twine. Easy access may increase the quantity ??
a lot of UK seed companies are selling internationally on ebay,. as ebay collects any additional customs / taxes on their behalf . (premier seeds direct being one of many companies to do so ) also some Irish growers are selling to UK via ebay for the same reason
Do you have trouble with squash bugs? They are relentless here in my area of west Tennesse USA. If I don’t get my squash family plants in really early in the season the squash bugs move in and destroy everything
Seeing these massive plants made me wonder if their size leads to a significant reduction in soil fertility. Could that be an argument against such overly vigurous plants being grown in the poly tunnel where space and soil are quite limited? Are they a harmful competition to other plants when it comes to accessing the limited soil nutrients?
That is a very important factor to consider. One thing that I didn't mention is that the melon plants that were in the adjacent beds to these vigorous plants really struggled for a while. I think that is related.
Genovese is the only one I grow, probably because I live only 50km from Genova and so this is the most common here. The flavor is great both cooked and raw. Although sometimes I get a plant that grows bitter fruits. Do you ever have this problem?
Will you do a video on pests this year especially on slugs and rodents (my biggest struggle)? As home gardener, I want to find real good reasons to continue vegetables and fruits growing given the challenge of growing under stress so close to the house (especially on rodents). Thanks.
A few years ago you made a video on each of the family scale and I loved it! I was wondering if you could do an update on each of the gardens, and how you have changed them. Possible a different video for each garden?
Yeah, I should do that again.
@@REDGardens
+1 I would really appreciate it as well
"... most importantly, thank you for watching." I too want to thank the donors that help you make more and better videos. I feel guilty for not being able to join them but I'll keep watching for I am getting so much from this channel - thank you for understanding. best of health to all of you!
Thanks for watching and commenting. Most people can’t (or don’t want to) contribute anything financially, which is fine, so long as it is enough to keep going. It is more important to share widely than to restrict access I think.
You are a star, Bruce. I have missed your videos this year.
😁
Thanks so much Bruce! This is some incredible information!
I was writing a long comment on your last video when my phone battery ran out.
Thanks!
Interesting production on the various strains. Thanks Bruce
🙂
Even with a simple trial like this one, I feel like the most important properties of these varieties showed. You were clearly able to make a decision of which ones to grow again and I think I'd pick the same. I do wonder, however, if there was a noticeable difference in taste/texture between the varieties and if any of the less productive ones stood out?
There is a difference, and I do like the texture/taste of some of the others, but would probably grow them outside. Unless I was really looking for something in particular in the kitchen, I am interested in general purpose varieties, thought the colour differences are nice. Taste is something I should really explore some more.
Solar panel fans for the poly tunnels. Watering early enough and having enough airflow circulation throughout the day. Having the strongest of the starts to begin with and compost or chicken feed for the rest. Been watering directly on the plants for years, however next year I'm upgrading to irrigation for time and efficiency. I've found drastically less molds, mildews and rotten fruits and flowers and leaves making it point to have everything mostly dry on the actual plants before it gets warm in the morning. Giving everything just enough space to grow beautifully both roots and foliage and balance productivity. Zukes, cukes, melons, maters and corn have been the best they've ever been so far. Hope for more growing seasons like it. Hope the very best for you and yours. I wish I could keep my ship half as organized as yours. What you are doing is solid gold. I'm grateful for you putting your content out there for us. Thank you.
Thanks for the comment! And thanks for sharing your experiences. It sounds like you are well in your way to seriously productive gardens! Getting away from mostly hand watering was a huge step for me.
Your documentation of your results is so impressive! I barely have time to do the essential care of my plants, harvest, store, and cook 3 healthy meals each day. Maybe, next year, I'll make record keeping a habit? You are an inspiration!
Thanks. It is a big job keeping track of everything!
It is great to support something so important. I look forward to the videos. Happy autumn.
Thank you!
I grow Patti Pan/Scallop Squash, Yellow Courgettes, Green Courgettes and Butternut Squash outside here in the North East of England without any problems. I save my under glass area for Tomatoes, Chilli's, Turmeric, Ginger and Cucumber.
That makes sense. I want to grow a lot more outside.
@@REDGardens I've taken a different approach which is to increase the amount of glass I have :)
I love your data! Thanks for sharing
🙂
nice experiment
Thanks!
Wonderful episodes as usual, very detailed 👌 🤗🤗🤗💚🌱💚
Many thanks
I've never seen your polytunnel so crowded!
It was pretty insane for a while!
Thank you 👌
🙂
🇨🇦 I do enjoy your trials.
I grew a short season variety of zucchini this year. It turned out to be compact in nature, and a good producer. Certainly worth planting again. Thanks for the perspective.
That sounds interesting, do you remember the variety?
Was is black beauty or green machine? I like cocozelle myself. All three are about 50 to 60 days.
Thankyou for your always informative videos. 👍
🙂
Great video
Thanks!
Very informative video! Thank you.
🙂
Yeahh more videos!!
🙂
Thank you.
🙂
Great to see this video. i tried courgettes in my tunnels this year for the first time and tried a variety called Partenon, a parthenocarpic variety, which sounded promising, but it had the most unusual characteristic of putting out almost all female flowers for much of the season and having very poor pollination. I ended up having to hand pollinate but even with a dozen plants there were times I couldn't find a single male flower to use!
That is interesting. Strange that a variety would do that, and reduce pollination possibilities. I wonder if it was bred for producing very small courgettes, with the flowers still attached.
Yes Atena goes mad...i have grown them for years for this reason. I only grow yellow ones myself, so I don't miss any.
The yellow ones are a lot easier to spot!
Very helpful video. I am growing 3 different varieties at the moment and for the first time. Will see how they go..
🙂
I like rampicante since it has no seeds in the neck, only in the bulbous bottom. It has a vining habit and works great for verticle support. It is vigorous and often has 25-foot vines...but responds to careful pruning.
Sounds interesting.
thanks for the video! I grew striato d'italia this year outside and was super impressed. still harvesting from the plants now in october, despite powdery mildew started early this year in late August already. best regards from austria!
That sounds promising, thanks.
this is very good, i want to farm like you....
🙂
Always an amazing video! My summer squash seeds were stolen everytime I planted them by chipmunks. I only got 1 zucchini. I was thinking of trying a round variety this year.
Thanks! I am glad I don't have to deal with chipmunks!
Wow that's great 👍👍👍👍
Thanks!
Excellent video! It’s my first year in our new home, in a new country, we moved from Wales to Bulgaria, and the garden was my first priority. I tried several different courgettes, one type were young plants I bought in the local market and the rest from seed. I haven’t been keeping a track of the harvest but I know what I’ll do differently next year. It never occurred to me to remove side shoots, and the local variety ended up becoming triffids despite being planted with tomatoes, aubergines and cucumbers around, they were in slightly raised beds with compost added. The ones I grew from seed were in a different part of the garden, kind of interplanted with climbing beans and they didn’t do so well, no compost added there and planted a little after. I’ll be growing in a different part of the property next year hopefully, with polytunnel space too, to extend the season either end. I’m about to do one final harvest and remove all the summer plants now, it’s looking incredibly untidy, but happy to make space for winter and spring veggies.
It is amazing how differently they grow in different places, and how big some of them can get with the right fertility.
I think you need a "for science!" Garden where you can do your large scale experiments. It could just be me, but I've always found it less stressful having a dedicated section or area for running tests. If something fails in the science garden the mentality I get is "well it was in the test garden anyway and I learned something at least" meanwhile when something fails in the main garden I beat my self up over my garden failing, or me failing my garden.
It may seem trivial, but having that disconnect really helps with motivation and state of mind in general I find.
That is a good plan, having a separate experimentation garden. For me, al of the gardens and growing spaces are “for science”! I set it up that way, I don’t have a garden where I am just growing vegetables, so I really can’t get that disconnect. But because I have so many different spaces and trying different things, if something fails it is ok.
I planted my Courgettes (Ambassador) outdoors at normal density this year through Mypex into small pits of home made compost mixed with MPC, but tried something new - a 1m high polythene windbreak all around the patch of 13 plants which grew more vigorously in the semi- protected environment and initially I was pleased with higher cropping.
But I neglected to prune the more vigorous than normal plants, and they got congested and were really badly hit by powdery mildew, totally ceasing cropping for several weeks at what should have been height of the season.
P.S.Your runner beans look fantastic compared to mine that were devastated by the up to 40 Deg C heatwaves, all the flowers fell off and the leaves were frazzled. There's hardly any leaves or beans left on them to be hit by the central England temperature of 2 Deg C forecast for tonight. (And just as my Courgettes were starting to make a comeback!)
That is really interesting about the plants struggling after getting congested with the windbreak. There is definitely a difference with shelter, but also we seem to need to manage them differently.
I’ve relied on Gold Rush for years for my yellow squash, even with its poor performance here in Zone 3 Alberta. I’ll look into the other yellow types you grew to try out.
I think that variety could do a lot better with less competition.
Some people plan to grow very intense like that in a tunnel. Then they let in chickens to tear it all down. Actually works too. Then pigs added after it's cleared, over winter half with pigs and half with chickens. Whole thing is so fertile from that that everything is just super duper vigourous. So it's a jungle. Even the tomatoes. LOL
Letting the animals deal with the abundance is a great option. I want to get chickens again!
romanesco is my favorite zucchini, I find it more flavorful and tender than other varieties.
the plants do tend to sprawl and take over an area though :P
Yeah, I do like them, just not in the polytunnel!
@@REDGardens right, I guess I missed the context a bit :P
I grew spaghetti squash this summer, the 3 plants literal grew to cover an area of 10x10 ft, I had to cut it down so it didn't kill everything else. It was so big, bugs and animals used it to hide and propagate. I sprayed but that didn't stop anything, it just kept getting bigger. Became good compost tho.
I have one large garden that I just raise a 3' by 3' square in the middle. I grow the chosen squash from there and then train them around everything but let them go a little crazy. You can remove the really old leaves to let light in and keep them from being in the way. About 4 weeks before frost I go around and cut the tips off(back to the a few feet ahead of the last squash you want to mature) so the plants will focus on the larger squash and they will mature in time. Works every time.
@@angelad.8944 Learned this the hard way, but it was definitely a fun first time, thanks for the tips
They can get really big if given the space!
as far as eating what var did you prefer? I seem to like the patti pan on my plate.
There was a nice diversity of tastes and textures, though I don't know if there was nay that I really preferred. I think it depends on what I am cooking. The patty pan ones were nice, more of a squash, and I am interested in growing them outside next year.
@@REDGardens They taste just normal when large but very small they are awesome, and almost squeeky when you bite them.
Another great video! You are a busy man ! 1 idea i just had watching this is that i think i would drive in 8' garden stakes pre plant every 3' and plant the crop right up against the stakes and tie with twine. Easy access may increase the quantity ??
Thanks. I think that might work.
a lot of UK seed companies are selling internationally on ebay,. as ebay collects any additional customs / taxes on their behalf . (premier seeds direct being one of many companies to do so ) also some Irish growers are selling to UK via ebay for the same reason
That is interesting.
Do you have trouble with squash bugs? They are relentless here in my area of west Tennesse USA. If I don’t get my squash family plants in really early in the season the squash bugs move in and destroy everything
No, we don’t have them over here, thankfully!
Seeing these massive plants made me wonder if their size leads to a significant reduction in soil fertility. Could that be an argument against such overly vigurous plants being grown in the poly tunnel where space and soil are quite limited? Are they a harmful competition to other plants when it comes to accessing the limited soil nutrients?
That is a very important factor to consider. One thing that I didn't mention is that the melon plants that were in the adjacent beds to these vigorous plants really struggled for a while. I think that is related.
Genovese is the only one I grow, probably because I live only 50km from Genova and so this is the most common here. The flavor is great both cooked and raw. Although sometimes I get a plant that grows bitter fruits. Do you ever have this problem?
I have had a few bitter fruit, but haven't figured out a connection to anything.
Will you do a video on pests this year especially on slugs and rodents (my biggest struggle)? As home gardener, I want to find real good reasons to continue vegetables and fruits growing given the challenge of growing under stress so close to the house (especially on rodents). Thanks.
I was just thinking about that today.
@@REDGardens thanks!
1 word cats 🐈
Did you have any problems with pollination?
A bit, especially at the beginning of the season, but then there were enough bumblebees in the polytunnl for most of the flowers.
First :)
Yay!