Finally I have a mortgage I can start to pay off!

QueenJess

themadvix said:

QueenJess said:

Eating from the garden is always exciting (I am stupidly excited that I have 4 strawberries to eat later, although I think DS is going to fight them off me..).  I usually think I'll just plant a few plants and wonder why it takes 5x longer than I think it will.  You'd think planting would be the quick bit.  I bet it took an age to plant all those!

It so is! My strawberries aren't quite ready yet but I'm inspecting them (and the raspberries - of which there are hundreds!) daily.

It took all afternoon - the most difficult bit is working out where to put them! The pack I received (which was a gift) was meant to use 2 sqm - which is the size of my veg bed - well it only had room at the recommended distancing for 3 of the types of veg!

What a brilliant gift!  I always say that there is room to squeeze a few more plants in the garden and it is never full (but then I am also starting to struggle to fit everything in!).  At least lots of salads etc can be thrown into containers. 

Hundreds of raspberries daily is my dream scenario... no one can produce as many as we would be able to consume here!

themadvix

It was a brilliant gift - I'd heard of Rocket Gardens years ago, but they seemed quite pricey (it's all organic), but rather liked the idea. Then BIL and his wife got me a voucher for my birthday which was wonderful!

Hundreds of raspberries is my dream too - last year was their first year and I had quite a few then, so I'm super excited about this year! I don't think there's such a thing as too many raspberries!

QueenJess

themadvix said:

It was a brilliant gift - I'd heard of Rocket Gardens years ago, but they seemed quite pricey (it's all organic), but rather liked the idea. Then BIL and his wife got me a voucher for my birthday which was wonderful!

Hundreds of raspberries is my dream too - last year was their first year and I had quite a few then, so I'm super excited about this year! I don't think there's such a thing as too many raspberries!

I have heard of them too, but never tried them out as like you, I thought they were expensive.  I did buy a redcurrant bush from them years ago though (not sure they sell individual plants anymore?) and it is absolutely huge now - much bigger than it is meant to get and is attacking all the other plants!

themadvix

I think that's just redcurrant bushes Mine's just the same!

They do individual fruit plants, but most of their stuff is sold in threes (unless you're getting a whole pack like me). I've managed to split some of the extras I bought with FIL and Mum. I have been really impressed with the quality though - with the exception of the lettuces, which were a bit battered, they're really strong little plants. They also say to contact them about any that don't look great... not sure I'm too worried about the lettuces though, what we've got will probably be plenty.

Cheery_Daff

Ooh, I too would love hundreds of raspberries! 😍 But have never managed to grow more than a handful - certainly never enough to preserve any. Not looking good for this year either so far 🙄 Maybe next year I'll invest in some proper prolific bushes!

Suffolk_lass

We grow raspberries but prefer the size and robustness of the autumn fruiting varieties - and given DH does the "pruning" by chopping them all down to the ground, we rarely get properly formed summer fruiting berries (great flavour, but they are being out-competed) - which are supposed to be pruned out after fruiting. I love the idea of spreading through other beds

QueenJess

Suffolk_lass said:

We grow raspberries but prefer the size and robustness of the autumn fruiting varieties - and given DH does the "pruning" by chopping them all down to the ground, we rarely get properly formed summer fruiting berries (great flavour, but they are being out-competed) - which are supposed to be pruned out after fruiting. I love the idea of spreading through other beds

I'm hoping for raspberries this year.  I planted some last year and nothing really happened (although I was then too ill to look after them or do anything with them).  I thought they had died, but I found two very happy ones in the garden so far.  I planted a mix of summer and autumn fruiting ones and am not sure when one ended and the other one started, so these ones will be a surprise.  I don't have any specific fruit patches in my garden and all my fruit grows happily with all the flowers.  I prefer it quite random!

themadvix

Afternoon all,

Love that your raspberries are dotted around the garden Jess, but watch out - mine seem to be keen on taking over! They have a very narrow section of raised bed (about 20 cm deep) between a fence and patio and are spreading along it very expertly and sneaking out in place you wouldn't expect - the other side of the fence, the veg bed on the other side of the patio etc.! 

Well as per usual, just as I've got used to being virtually unemployed and have made plans to see people this week, work has erupted and I'm back to mega busy. Certainly not complaining though. Better yet, I've been asked to quote for a project for September, so things are looking better for the future too. 

Did an Olio collection last night and one this morning and have plenty of fruit and bread as a result (have just cut up a pineapple!). Will take the remnants to the homeless shelter later when I collect a Freegled bit of trellis for the garden. Also collected two mini deck chairs yesterday and cleaned them up for Niece and other small visitors. Have two more Olio collections on Wednesday (glutton for punishment, me), although it's all be hugely chaotic on there today!

Good job I have lots of work as I spent lots of money at the weekend. Desperately needed new sandals (as in only had one pair of slip-on wedges and they are faded and a big crack through one sole) so bought some lovely new Gabor ones from JL. I tried on several pairs and might go back for more (hopefully when there's a sale on!). I hate buying shoes as I find it really hard to find nice-looking, comfortable ones, so this was a revelation for me. Came home and decided to clean my walking shoes ready for holiday and got to scraping the mud off before I discovered a massive hole in the side of them... so I ordered some new ones of those from Vivobarefoot (which had been the plan, but was putting off because of lack of money). So £200+ spent on shoes in one day (where's that bluee eeky smiley?!). I did get 20% off the walking boots at least (saving £38! 😮). (Please don't kick me out!)

BIL and fiancee came over for drinks that turned into dinner on Saturday evening, but we covered all of that from stores (they bring their own drinks, very well trained! ). Was a lovely evening. We got quite a few jobs done during the day too, including DH fitting a double-din radio in my car that has handsfree and Apple Carplay, so I can finally listen to more than one radio station! We already had the radio so he 'just' had to modify the centre console to fit it - he did a very good job too. 

Money saving:
* Listed a few more bits on Ebay
* Ordered needed anniversary/Fathers' Day and birthday card from Funky P1geon, but found a 50% discount code, which made it less than £2/card, which is *much* better value
* 20% on expensive shoes
* Clicks done
* Free food
* Free chairs and trellis

Gratitudes:
* Grateful Olioers
* Free stuff  - I love the sharing economy
* Lovely weekend with DH, gently pottering and relaxing in turn
* Work!

Have a good day all!

Cheery_Daff

Eek to shoe buying! Sounds justified though - as long as you don't do it every week 😁

We had two raspberries on one of our bushes the other day. Sadly I spotted them just as a chicken was pecking them off 😂

QueenJess

themadvix said:

Love that your raspberries are dotted around the garden Jess, but watch out - mine seem to be keen on taking over! They have a very narrow section of raised bed (about 20 cm deep) between a fence and patio and are spreading along it very expertly and sneaking out in place you wouldn't expect - the other side of the fence, the veg bed on the other side of the patio etc.! 

Oh yes - I am aware they are bullies and fully expect to have to vigorously curtail them!