Scottish growing season

My dehydrator arrived!  Sadly I've not had time to play with it yet.  We've got a hectic week at work with a council inspection and reports due in.  But next weekend I'm hoping to give it a try.

It's not an expensive one but it is digital. I'd read you get better results as you've got more control over the temp and time.  We'll see.

So I'd better get a move on with growing things to dehydrate!

I planted 2 types of potatoes in my potato sacks (or tattie bags as I call them!)  King Edward and Miro Sarpo, both from Thomson and Morgan.

I've transplanted my plants into more grow bags.  The Teenager helped me carry them from the garden centre to car to polytunnel without too much fuss.  These are Autumn Crown squash, a hybrid so can't save their seeds for next year.

Some courgettes (Midnight F1 hybrid) suitable for containers 

My strawberries have got flowers :-) No idea what variety as they came from my lovely mum's allotment years ago.  Every year we peg down the runners so we get more plants.
 

My Rouge Vif d'Etampes pumpkins, planted with a wee flowerpot to the side so the roots get watered and the plant doesn't rot (I read that tip somewhere)

The replacement tomatoes are thriving (phew!!) so hopefully I'll have tomatoes this year.  They're already flowering so it looks promising.

Salad crops L to R: Rocket, Green Oak lettuce (notice how the half with Concorde hasn't grown, not a single seed sprouted which makes me think it was dud/out of date seed), spinach and radishes.

The view from the door.  Right at the back are my peppers, cucumbers and an artichoke.  Everything I've planted from seed has grown :-) :-) I've only lost a couple of things.  Normally I start things off in seed trays inside them put them outside.  Then the Scottish weather kills half of them and sometimes the other half grows.

I'm already impressed with my polytunnel and I'm definitely going to put raised beds on either side with a wee walkway down the middle. I just need OH to figure out how to build it ;-)

This morning I planted onion sets, peas, beetroot, white turnips and rocket in my raised beds at the front.  I sowed more spinach in the polytunnel and planted extra peas (love fresh peas from pod!) The weather has warmed up, there shouldn't be any frost overnight now so I think I can say the Scottish growing season has begun here :-)