We’d like to remind Forumites to please avoid political debate on the Forum.

This is to keep it a safe and useful space for MoneySaving discussions. Threads that are – or become – political in nature may be removed in line with the Forum’s rules. Thank you for your understanding.

📨 Have you signed up to the Forum's new Email Digest yet? Get a selection of trending threads sent straight to your inbox daily, weekly or monthly!

Is it worth it?

11112131416

Comments

  • Kantankrus_Mare
    Kantankrus_Mare Posts: 6,142 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Megansmum wrote: »
    Thanks Mare,



    How are your sweetcorn coming on? They are the things i am MOST excited about growing....I can't wait until they are ready to pick!! :D

    Next year i want to do parsnips and peppers too! It is great - even though i don't eat much veg myself at least dd1 & dd2 are getting healthy fresh organic stuff and that makes me even more proud!! :j:D:j:D

    Sweetcorn are doing well. Did them for the first time last year and were very easy to do. Only thing I find a problem is knowing when the right time to pick them is. I know its when the tassle things have gone brown but when we picked some last year they still werent quite ready. Not sure if they can then be left somewhere to ripen? Maybe somebody knows? :confused:

    Peppers are easy to do and save you quite a bit of money if you use lots. I slice any excess and freeze them. No good for salads but ok in casseroles and chillis etc.
    Make £10 a Day Feb .....£75.... March... £65......April...£90.....May £20.....June £35.......July £60
  • Lotus-eater
    Lotus-eater Posts: 10,789 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    You don't pick sweetcorn until you know it's ready. Peel back the outer leaves and pr1ck a kernal with a nail, if it's creamy, it's ready, if it's watery, it's not.
    Freedom is not worth having if it does not include the freedom to make mistakes.
  • melanie 22 on rotovating: don't bother - I got my allotment in Feb with waist high weeds, cleared what I could and had rotovated - the weed roots are just churned underground and they come up from great depths with great speed. Better to weed and cover with plastic to keep them down. That is what I will be doing for next year.
    [FONT=Verdana,Arial,Times New I2]Life itself is the most wonderful fairy tale - Hans Christian Andersen[/FONT]
    2012 savings:remortgage £156.15pcm £5 pcm insurance reduced; 2012 Running totals: £10 goodwill requests/Grocery Coupons £12:T
  • on the subject of ants under slabs - ants are your friends - they will climb up trees and anything else and eat all the nasty greenfly and other crawlies that will spoil your tomatos and stuff.
    [FONT=Verdana,Arial,Times New I2]Life itself is the most wonderful fairy tale - Hans Christian Andersen[/FONT]
    2012 savings:remortgage £156.15pcm £5 pcm insurance reduced; 2012 Running totals: £10 goodwill requests/Grocery Coupons £12:T
  • Lotus-eater
    Lotus-eater Posts: 10,789 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    on the subject of ants under slabs - ants are your friends - they will climb up trees and anything else and eat all the nasty greenfly and other crawlies that will spoil your tomatos and stuff.
    No they don't
    Some species of ants "farm" aphids, protecting them on the plants they eat, eating the honeydew that the aphids release from the terminations of their alimentary canals. This is a "mutualistic relationship".
    These "dairying ants" "milk" the aphids by stroking them with their antennae.[12][13] Therefore, sometimes aphids are called "ant cows".
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aphid
    Freedom is not worth having if it does not include the freedom to make mistakes.
  • yuk - I no longer consider ants my friends! they will probably take over the planet eventually as they are so clever.
    [FONT=Verdana,Arial,Times New I2]Life itself is the most wonderful fairy tale - Hans Christian Andersen[/FONT]
    2012 savings:remortgage £156.15pcm £5 pcm insurance reduced; 2012 Running totals: £10 goodwill requests/Grocery Coupons £12:T
  • Megansmum
    Megansmum Posts: 327 Forumite
    100 Posts
    yuk - I no longer consider ants my friends! they will probably take over the planet eventually as they are so clever.

    now funnily enoguh - i was thinking that the other day! :eek: There are billions of them round our streets - the sand inbetweern slabs has all come up from where they have forced there way through. Streams of them march around in lines like well organised little armys! If humans become extinct, ants and weeds will rule the earth! :rotfl:
    2009 - Attempting to grow my own Kitchen garden..... :o did it!!!
    2010 - Attempting to make my garden a beautiful place for dd2 to enjoy!
  • Megansmum
    Megansmum Posts: 327 Forumite
    100 Posts
    oh dear..... went to the lottie yesterday to water and i have a jungle! :eek:

    I don't know how the weeds grew SOOO tall so quick! I could barely see my 3 little plots i had sown in! I have white flowers, purple ones, nettles, yellow ones..... Not fair!! :mad:

    Yes, yes, before you all yell - i DID realise they came back - it's just the speed that amazes me - i wish my veg would grow so quick! :o

    My sweetcorn are all growing but look like they have mini flowers growing - is this normal? Is this what turns into the sweetcorn? I can't find any photos of sweetcorn in mid growth!

    Oh well, back breaking stuff again this weekend clearing the weeds AGAIN! I have just read my August edition of Kitchen garden and found an article on how to clear and cover and hopefully be weed free for next season..... yeah right! :rotfl:

    Happy growing, sowing, hoeing and mowing all! (and for me...perhaps flamethrowing?? ) ;)
    2009 - Attempting to grow my own Kitchen garden..... :o did it!!!
    2010 - Attempting to make my garden a beautiful place for dd2 to enjoy!
  • ixwood
    ixwood Posts: 2,550 Forumite
    Mulch, mulch, mulch. Nature doesn't do bare soil. it gets washed or blown away, The weeds are natures way of healing and protecting the bare earth.

    Either that, or use ground cover.

    Mulching also improves the soil and pretty much eliminates the need to water. I've no idea why all the old boy allotmenteerers do the bare, baked solid earth thing. I think they just like to make things hard work as a test of commitment.
  • Lotus-eater
    Lotus-eater Posts: 10,789 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    ixwood wrote: »
    I've no idea why all the old boy allotmenteerers do the bare, baked solid earth thing. I think they just like to make things hard work as a test of commitment.
    Because it's tidy.

    I don't do tidy, I do practical and useful*


    *that's my story and I'm sticking to it, together with "wildlife areas" if asked about untidy lawns.
    Freedom is not worth having if it does not include the freedom to make mistakes.
This discussion has been closed.
Meet your Ambassadors

🚀 Getting Started

Hi new member!

Our Getting Started Guide will help you get the most out of the Forum

Categories

  • All Categories
  • 352K Banking & Borrowing
  • 253.5K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
  • 454.2K Spending & Discounts
  • 245K Work, Benefits & Business
  • 600.6K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
  • 177.4K Life & Family
  • 258.8K Travel & Transport
  • 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
  • 16.2K Discuss & Feedback
  • 37.6K Read-Only Boards

Is this how you want to be seen?

We see you are using a default avatar. It takes only a few seconds to pick a picture.