veg growing Newbies- Feb 2010! lets learn together!

Megansmum

I bought 25 strawberry plants at the end of last year and planted them in a lovely raised bed i made just for fruit! I had seen from the window that only 8 had started growing green leaves..... today i found out why!!

The local cats have been using my lovely compost filled bed as their own litter tray! :mad: I chucked no end of c**p away and the plants that haven't come up have been uprooted by the little blighters!!

I have replanted them but now i am worried, as the poo has been in there, will any strawberries that grow be no good to eat??:(

I read on here to put plastic bottles of water around, so i have done that and put the shiny wrappers around the area in strips to blow in the wind and hopefully deter them! Any others tips or advice please???

gazza975526570

Megansmum wrote: »

I have replanted them but now i am worried, as the poo has been in there, will any strawberries that grow be no good to eat??:(

They will be fine - it hasnt been on the fruits just the plant so when they fruit they will be perfectly ok to eat them.

TBH im not sure if im going to bother with straws this year down the allotment

gazza975526570

Well update from me - glorious day today so have been busy busy:

16 tomatoes sown - 3 varieties
6 pepper sown - hope im not too late
150 leeks sown (ditto the peppers!!!)
30 Savoy Cabbage
26 Cauliflowers
Sown all my bedding plants too inc lobelia, busy lizzies (these never germinate for me - can 2010 be the year!!!!!), petunias and a whole raft of other bedding plants

Tommorow the plan is to sow:
Sweetcorn
Brusel sproutes
Early Nantes carrots
3 x varieties of raddish (i love raddish!)
Parsnips

Also need to get some more leek seed and sow some mixed salad leaves

Megansmum

From another thread i found this today:

http://www.gardenaction.co.uk/fruit_veg_diary/veg_planner.asp

You can set it to your town and it tells you when the frosts are over and when they start again and when to plant/sow/harvest etc your veg. There is another bit that does the same for fruits and herbs!

I love it! I hope it helps some of you guys and gals too! I shall be out tomorrow sowing more potatoes and carrots!!

Happy sowing everyone!

Megansmum

gazza975526570 wrote: »

They will be fine - it hasnt been on the fruits just the plant so when they fruit they will be perfectly ok to eat them.

TBH im not sure if im going to bother with straws this year down the allotment

Thanks for that gazza, i read about chemicals in the poo being really bad and would have been so so gutted if i'd had to chuck the lot!

My 2 yr old loves fruit - hence why i ordered so many plants!! She also loves helping pull up carrots and potatoes.....

The fun part is stopping her doing it before they are ready to be picked! :rotfl:

gazza975526570

Megansmum wrote: »

Thanks for that gazza, i read about chemicals in the poo being really bad and would have been so so gutted if i'd had to chuck the lot!

My 2 yr old loves fruit - hence why i ordered so many plants!! She also loves helping pull up carrots and potatoes.....

The fun part is stopping her doing it before they are ready to be picked! :rotfl:

LOLZ!!!

Its certainly not ideal but cats get everywhere i guess - ie gardens/allotments/famers fields.

Ive cleared muck up before and still eaten the produce and am here to tell the tale!!

What annoys me is down at my lottie you arent supposed to have dogs there but people do - had piles of muck on my plot today - it really isnt fair people doing that!:mad:

alliwantistosave

I was talking to a gardener today at work and she grew purple carrots last year and apparently they grow very well and taste lovely

So now I cannot wait to get them planted and growing.

Is this lovely weather due to last long ??

gazza975526570

alliwantistosave wrote: »

I was talking to a gardener today at work and she grew purple carrots last year and apparently they grow very well and taste lovely

So now I cannot wait to get them planted and growing.

Is this lovely weather due to last long ??

Got snow forecast here on Fri & sat.........

Got some purple carrots here - they where a freebie somewhere or other - apparently after boiling.steaming they lose their colour. Gonna give em a go though

Plasticman

alliwantistosave wrote: »

So now I cannot wait to get them planted and growing.

Is this lovely weather due to last long ??

The cold weather is with us for a little while longer. Not sure how long I will be able to resist from planting my carrots and potatoes!

Megansmum

well i don't seem to have much choice over planting my potatoes.... they were kept in a dark box but when i looked today they have sprouted loads!! I have already put 4 in a flexi-tub and will do more when home from work tomorrow! I have so many seed tatties i need to pot them cos i don't have the space to store them now they're growing and i need to keep them apart!!

I just hope they don't all want harvesting at the same time! :rotfl: