Living in the midlands and wondering what you're doing now!!

covlass

At a bit of a stand still at the moment so I'm off to pound land to buy some more canes. Have just ordered 2 compost bins for £25.25 inc delivery. These are them

http://www.evengreener.com/Shop/Composting_-_Garden/CV220BLH_Compost_Converter_220_litres_-_Black.html

got them cheaper via local council

katholicos

covlass wrote: »

At a bit of a stand still at the moment so I'm off to pound land to buy some more canes. Have just ordered 2 compost bins for £25.25 inc delivery. These are them

http://www.evengreener.com/Shop/Composting_-_Garden/CV220BLH_Compost_Converter_220_litres_-_Black.html

got them cheaper via local council

Gosh, i was just about to be well miffed! I paid £30 for 2 composters from that site last week, including delivery. But i've just re-checked my email and my compost bins are CV330BLH Blackwall Compost Converters holding 330 litres each. So thankfully, no need to be miffed.

They are all a really good offer when bought through the local government initiative. Couldn't find anything about it on my local council website though, i had a right trawl through Google search pages before i found it. For anyone in Staffs, try the link below if you are looking to buy composters/wormeries etc. Add stuff to your basket and then the wesite takes you to the Evengreener website to pay for your goods at heavily discounted prices.

LINK

oldskoolretro

Im not having much luck with peppers and chillies they are taking ages to do anything, not sure if this is right, also

dont know if anyone could help but how long after planting cherry belle radishes should they be ready, they look like they are doing really well on the surface but i checked underneath the other day and they are doing nothing.

Also dont spose if anyone can help i have done a raised bed planted my veg but read on another thread that you are meant to compact the compost and also use topsoil neither of which i have done, as you can tell im a newbie and not really sure if i am doing things right.

Thanks :O)

BUXTONRABBIT

I am in the Midlands too and planted a lot of stuff out in March when it was warm for 2 weeks and the only things actually growing well are the potatoes and radishes. No sign of carrots or runner beans or peas. It did go very wet and then very cold so I have started another load off in my little plastic greenhouse. I have it wrapped up well in plastic and bubble wrap as I have no room at all on the window sills. I am going to buy some tomato plants this year as the ones I grew from seed last year just never ripened outside. They did ripen in cardboard boxes eventually and we were still eating them till nearly Christmas, which was actually very good as that is when they start to get expensive to buy.

oldskoolretro

buxton rabbit, are your radishes actually coming up yet or is it just the leaves and top of the plant that is going well? as it is pretty much the same here, the radishes and potatoes doing well but so far just the leaves on the surface

katholicos

My radish are Radish French Breakfast 3 Seeds (Raphanus) and are going great guns above the surface but are doing nowt below the surface yet. My peppers are germinating extremely slowly, but then they are in the plastic growhouse in a propogator, wrapped in lots of bubble wrap...when the weather warms up a bit i hope they get a shift on.

Haven't done anything in the garden today, very dull and showery, but was busy doing other things anyway. Hopefully will get in the garden tomorrow.

Emma_whitnash

Hi, it's a while since I've been on!! Anyway updates:

Potatoes are all coming on (green leaves sprouting at the moment
Onions are all coming up, although I've planted these in stages. As are shallots
Beetroot coming up now
Carrots just starting, need to transplant those
Chillis not doing so well, I have 2 small plants so am hoping they'll have a growth spurt!
French beans are in and I'm keeping them covered cos they were being eaten!
Tomatoes coming on slowly, need to start feeding them to give them a kick start
Bought garlic plants yesterday to put in herb garden. Phew!

Didn't realise I had so much actually!! To be planted: sprouting, lettuce and herbs (chives, thyme, basil). I've got mint which has taken over the garden so will pull that up and put in a pot.

I also have weeds galore :-(. Need a week just to get rid of them!!

katholicos

I thought i would share an idea i had for growing potataoes. I currently have potatoes growing in 70 litre plant pots, but they are expensive and i wanted a more economical way of planting up tatties as i am soon to be putting more seed potatoes in.

Now, I don't happen to have an Ikea nearby, but i managed to get hold of some Ikea bags really cheaply and i thought they would make good 'planters'...



To ensure when filled, these bags don't retain excess water, I made quite a few holes all around the base area....



Using freely gained (from parcel packaging) polystyrene and packing peanuts, I placed a layer of drainage at the bottom of the bag...



I then added a good 10 inches of soil and also a bit of compost....



And there you have it, a row of growing bags all ready to received my next lot of seed potatoes...

soul619

im using ikea bags too for my potatoes

katholicos

soul619 wrote: »

im using ikea bags too for my potatoes

Have you successfully grown in them before? This is my first time, all being well they will turn out fine.