Help MBE grow his dinner 2012

pink_poppy

mrbadexample wrote: »

Ah, north facing eh? That's a bit of a shame.

:rotfl: Tell it how it is!! We have really awful clay soil as well, so double whammy!! :rotfl:

mrbadexample wrote: »

You can use small pots - you just get less in them! For things like carrots you really need depth though (at least a foot - parsnips even more). Beetroot and turnips sit on top of the soil, so might do better in your more shallow containers, although they can still have quite deep roots. Radishes should be fine, as well as salad crops. Nice big pots and troughs would be better, of course. The main issue with containers is that the plants can only use what you put into it, so feeding and watering is all down to you.

It sounds like I'm going to be restricted then with the pots I already have I might do salad though if that's a possibility, or maybe herbs?? I wouldn't mind a rosemary, but my MIL has one in her garden & I think it's quite big & bushy so not sure if that would work ~ I suppose I could keep trimming it back (says she who hasn't even planted a seed yet ~ getting a bit ahead of myself there )

mrbadexample wrote: »

You're welcome. What's going to be first then? :rotfl:

Well... the side garden is looking like a building site atm, snow is forecast I hear, so... I dunno!! :huh:

Angelfeathers wrote: »

Pink Poppy, is your north-facing garden long enough to get sun at the far end? I mean, I have a town-house with a north-facing garden, but the very end of it has been getting loads of sun for at least a month now, and now about a third of it has sun. So you might be able to plant things in the ground at the far end of your garden?

Yes, it's a small garden but we get about 2 metres of sun at the back?? Big problem though ~ neighbour out the back has a russian vine right near our fence :eek: I keep hacking at the thing but it always finds a way back into our garden & has a nasty habit of twining itself around anything that grows near it

I think I need to stick with the side garden for the time being & pots is the way to go. I have bought myself a big terracotta pot from M0rris0ns today, 41cm size for a fiver ~ now I just need to know what to put in it ~ any ideas anyone??

pink_poppy

Ps. I have greenhouse & seedling envy

aliasojo

pink_poppy wrote: »

Ps. I have greenhouse [STRIKE]& seedling[/STRIKE] envy

So do I.

I considered staging a sit in, in one of the display greenhouses at the garden centre the other day in the hope they would just give it to me in order to get rid of me. :rotfl:

mrbadexample

I went out this morning to put the seedlings in the greenhouse before going to work, and got soaked by the cat-scarer again. I sense a recurring theme here! :rotfl:

mrbadexample

pink_poppy wrote: »

I think I need to stick with the side garden for the time being & pots is the way to go. I have bought myself a big terracotta pot from M0rris0ns today, 41cm size for a fiver ~ now I just need to know what to put in it ~ any ideas anyone??

Stop buying pots and start looking on your local Freecycle group. You could have bought 8 (or more) flower buckets from Morrisons for 99p and saved £4 (although they're not very pretty). You might have to ask for them, but they're normally tucked away somewhere round the plants. Your new pot would probably suit being filled with lettuce and mixed greens as a cut-and-come-again crop, if you like that sort of thing (it's expensive in the shops!).

Rosemary doesn't have to get too big - would suit one of your smaller pots. You don't want to be paying for that either, as you can take cuttings from an existing plant, if you know someone who has one. Probably not quite too late to do it now.

mrbadexample

mrbadexample wrote: »

Stop buying pots and start looking on your local Freecycle group.

Sorry, that does sound a bit blunt. What I meant was "Have you considered checking your local Freecycle group for pots and other equipment - you may find you don't need to buy any."

There, that sounds better.

mrbadexample

Found my first sawfly larvae today:



So I've sprayed the blighters with Provado Ultimate Bug Killer, diluted 50/50 with water to save expense and the amount of chemical going onto the plant. I'm not delighted about the use of chemicals, but it's well before the fruit forms and sawfly are a flippin' menace. :mad:

aliasojo

I was told our local Morrisons wont sell the pots.

However I got 12litre black buckets from Homebase for £1.49 each.

Not ridiculously cheap but still cheaper than buying similar sized pots I think.

mrbadexample

aliasojo wrote: »

I was told our local Morrisons wont sell the pots.

Ask the manager, not a minion. If (s)he says no then ask why other stores sell them. I must have about 50.

hazzie123

I have just put MY Winning Carrots in the greenhouse with a little bubble wrap jacket on for when the snow finally shows up?
Sown some tomato seeds yesterday 20 tumbling toms and 20 of summit else which are not tumbling:D