Daydream thread continues.....

rhiwfield

CTC, what a b****r! Hang on in there. Hope to see you next week if thats ok.

Rummer, I think Rozee is spot on, particularly as it is the approach we have taken . Maximising production from a smallish area is fairly easy if its just a case of stepping out of your back door, with all tools, water etc at hand.

Half an hour a day is all thats needed, and you get into a routine of walking round the garden a couple of times a day doing the odd jobs of weeding, watering, tieing in, sowing etc so it never gets on top of you. When you reach that stage it becomes a pleasure rather than a chore and you look forward to seeing how things are doing.

If I'd taken on an allotment I know it would be too much and I'd be fretting over weeding and what other holders were thinking of a badly tended plot.

Alf, DW says I'm too kernackered to get married again but if I could summon the energy, I'd soon prove her wrong

Two trips to the auction house and we still managed to leave three boxes behind which kind lady had put to one side . Imagine a large lounge with every square inch jammed with china and bric a brac, thats us as we do first sort into Ebay, Charity Shop and Rubbish Tip piles

Davesnave

alfie_1 wrote: »

the baddens have muddied the water and ruins it for the genuine.....

Bad backs generally get a bad press, because there's nothing to see. The opportunists have been there too for many more years than dodgy insurance claims have existed.

I also agree that rozee is right about the allotment. When we started out, we had an allotment 5 minutes or so away, but it's amazing how that wee distance seems to grow at the end of a long day at work! Different matter, just popping out the back door.

COOLTRIKERCHICK

rhiwie, no problem just let me know what dat/time and i will make sure i am not having a sneaky day off;)

Davesnave can i gleen off your expert knowledge of plants please:p

there is wholesale nursery in cardiff,
http://www.rosebanknurseries.co.uk/table.html

which i was thinking of ordering from.

Years ago I used to take cuttings etc one year, and put them to one side ( forget about them:o:D)and the following year, once they had matured into nice full pot plants etc sell them on in bootsales farm auctions etc. I want to get back into doing it again... I have been thinking about doing this again for a year or so now, and I think I need to do something that i can just 'lose' myself in, rather than look at figures and mountains of you know what all day.

I was thinking hardy stuff, sedums shrubs etc.

so in your opinion which ones would be good to basic stock to have..

basically pot into bigger pots and leave outside to get bigger

rhiwfield

To any of you thinking, even remotely, of doing what we're doing here is some aversion therapy

Add another 8 packed/repacked boxes, 3 more coming later today, one from CTC next week :eek:

Davesnave

COOLTRIKERCHICK wrote: »

Davesnave can i gleen off your expert knowledge of plants please:p
so in your opinion which ones would be good to basic stock to have..

basically pot into bigger pots and leave outside to get bigger

I will need to get back to you on that, as it will take a little while to make a list.

Basically, you want to have stuff that flowers in the period May to July because interest dips once the school holidays hit, and maybe you don't want to do it all summer.

You also want to avoid fussy plants and anything that makes a great slug breakfast or needs lots of staking.

With space to hand, I'd be looking to make nursery beds rather than keep everything in pots. Once you have stock beds, you don't need to keep buying in. Pot-kept plants also fall prey to vine weevil in winter much more than those in the ground. They can wipe you out with certain species like primulas, geums, geraniums, heucheras etc unless you get them first in the autumn!

Shrubs are longer term but easier. For example, now is the time to have shrub cuttings in a cold frame. They may root by next spring, but they won't be saleable until 2014. OTOH, they will need minimal maintenance if lined out in a deep bed until closer to the time of sale.

I can do a basic stock list, but it might help to know what time of year you want to do most of the selling.

COOLTRIKERCHICK

thanks Davesnave.

well going by what I am like....:D the first snifta of a nice day in spring gets me all fired up to do the garden, so I should imagine other people get the same urge..so basically spring going through to early summer

RAS

rozeepozee wrote: »

There's lots of interesting Permaculture ideas about using space, especially going upwards when all the floor space is used. Check out Grow Food Not Lawns stuff. Really inspirational.

http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=grow+food+not+lawns&hl=en&tbo=u&tbm=isch&source=univ&sa=X&ei=ekvKULPjK4mV0QXVmoGIBg&ved=0CDEQsAQ&biw=1440&bih=691

Also look at The Edible Container Garden: Growing Fresh Food in Small Spaces by Martin Guerra - borrow if possble as the best bit is the few pages at the back showing his planting arrangements for the front and back gardens of a small London flat.

And http://urbanhomestead.org/photogallery/gallery/urban-homestead/

lostinrates

Chickens in at 2. 40, dismal, eh? It took me nine minutes and I am soaked to the skin as are the dogs. Yuck yuck.

COOLTRIKERCHICK

lostinrates wrote: »

Chickens in at 2. 40, dismal, eh? It took me nine minutes and I am soaked to the skin as are the dogs. Yuck yuck.

LIR its been pants here all days.. and no signs of any let up..

even though the temp is on recent days it is still feeling cold

rhiwfield

COOLTRIKERCHICK wrote: »

LIR its been pants here all days.. and no signs of any let up..

even though the temp is on recent days it is still feeling cold

Getting worse here