Gardeners World

betty.butterfly

Having only decided this year to give growing veg a go, I think the Gardener's world series is briliant, I've watched the past two weeks and am learning along with it. I've bought Carol Klien's veg books and have just started reading them, and they are brilliant as well. I think a prime time Friday night slot is maybe a bit strange, but I think having the top gear cool wall rip off helps to appeal to younger people.

With levels of obisity in this country any programme which shows growing fruit and veg in a fun way is to be appluded. I have only started growing my own due to being on a healthy eating plan and the cost of things in a supermarket.

A._Badger

choille wrote: »

Selina Scott was recently sacked for being 57 and is not chuffed.

I am letting all the raised bed slagging off wash over me as we need them here coz of the wet.

To be fair, I don't think anyone has been really slagging-off raised beds. Someone did post a critical comment but that's fair enough - they aren't suitable for every crop in every situation and they are being peddled as a universal panacea in some quarters (and yes, I do use them myself).

fedupandskint

I'm not too keen on the new format. The what's hot and not made me think they had nicked this from Top Gear :rolleyes:

I grew up watching GW with my dad when Mr Smith and Geoff Hamilton both presented, I remember both of them very kindly of this time and how much it engraved gardening into my head when I was young (only just restarting gardening now tho').

Also quite liked Monty. Toby seems nice but saying it costs £110 for both planters made me exclaim in horror. The 30min challenges are only 30mins if you have bought all of the stuff and paid big bucks for it which seems to miss the point a bit for me. Parts of the programme remind me of CCBC programmes.

The raised bed were huge - nice if you have the room. The leanto greenhouse conservatory is nice also. the shed rennovation made me laugh at sawing a brand new shed into pieces, if only we were all that lucky to fit victorian windows into it. Mind you it inspired me to clear out my old shed and give it a paint and a reroof so something about that feature worked! It's a bit fantasy gardens for me.

Anyway hoping to get some tips from the show and that the show might settle down in a couple of months.

TismE_3

I enjoyed reading through this thread more than the new series.
Im lucky to get my fix from the gardening channel, lots of decent programmes on.

mouseymousey99

Me too and someone (maybe one of us dont like it people) has written to Radio Times saying almost identical things.

supernanny62_2

Back to the raised beds for veggies. can anyone please tell me is it best to plant in blocks or rows and should I practice crop rotation or is my proposed raised bed of 8'x4' too small for it to matter? Don't really like the format of Gardener's World but it has inspired me to get the raised bed so they must be doing something right!

choille

I plant in rows. You are better rotating crops because of disease & stuff. I always plant spuds in a new bed, coz someone told me it 'cleans' the ground, but I use earth, homemade compost & sheep dung - not bought compost.

The only drawback with growing tatties in raised beds is the hoeing up & digging them up - get a lot of spillage onto the paths, so I put plastic sacks down.
Last year in a new raised bed, I didn't fill it right to the top & when I needed to hoe up the tatties I just put bucketfulls of earth from elsewhere on them.

SEE

Lotus-eater wrote: »

SEE they were brilliant clips. I don't think I've seen that program before. Had a quick search and it's available cheaper on Amazon than ebay....

I know what present I am asking for my birthday.

You'll be hooked:T

SEE

Lotus-eater wrote: »

He really, really likes his allotment doesn't he. :rotfl: I don't think I have ever seen such a tidy one. He's certainly read the book on setting one up from scratch.

Could you imagine him as a next door allotment owner to yourself. I would be throttling him after a while.

Seen the big dig, it was very good. I don't get the sky gardening channels anymore which is a shame, but I did enjoy it when it was on.

I've got nothing against raised beds, I have four, but I was stunned at the amount he has. I'd get confused with my crop rotation if I had that amount. I'd have to have big labels on sticks to remember what I'd sown:D:rotfl:

SEE

supernanny62 wrote: »

Back to the raised beds for veggies. can anyone please tell me is it best to plant in blocks or rows and should I practice crop rotation or is my proposed raised bed of 8'x4' too small for it to matter? Don't really like the format of Gardener's World but it has inspired me to get the raised bed so they must be doing something right!

I grow in rows and put the spuds in tubs. The soil from the spuds is kept in the tubs to sow carrots the year after, and then I chuck the soil on the flower bed. I grow lettuce and radish in hanging baskets.

Here's my little plot
http://i281.photobucket.com/albums/kk232/SEEMEE123/4months.jpg