Preparedness for when

GreyQueen

Thanks for that info, I think I will try some cuttings, as they're smallish bushes and I don't really have big enough branches to peg them down; you can do currants like that.

Currants are my favourite things to multiply; cut off the branches, stick'em pointy end down in the soil and have an 80% success rate.

I have two broad categories of plants; the quick and the dead. If it won't pretty much look after itself, it isn't growing on my allotment, I'm not up there enough to baby stuff along.

Enjoy your party.

lobbyludd

GreyQueen wrote: »

Thanks for that info, I think I will try some cuttings, as they're smallish bushes and I don't really have big enough branches to peg them down; you can do currants like that.

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green cuttings work best, woody stems will work with some lavenders but the success rate isn't good and some definitely won't work. I've never found a real need for rooting powder or gel, and propagate outside, with both spring and autumn (heal) cuttings - the only thing I'd recommend is placing them at the edge of a pot - they really, really, like to be at the edge of a pot.

Blue_Doggy

Bedsit_Bob wrote: »

Veal production welfare standards are far higher in the UK, than in other European countries.

Quite, I'd hate to see them (and the other livestock too) compromised in order to compete with, or under agreements made with, our new trading partners (whoever they will be).

Bedsit_Bob wrote: »

You have confidence in the unelected politicians in the EU?

I have no confidence in any members of the political species, elected, appointed, unelected or ennobled.

Bedsit_Bob wrote: »

I don't recall anyone on here, hoping for the collapse of the EU.

Some references to the "fall of the EU" seemed a little gleeful ...

GreyQueen

lobbyludd wrote: »

green cuttings work best, woody stems will work with some lavenders but the success rate isn't good and some definitely won't work. I've never found a real need for rooting powder or gel, and propagate outside, with both spring and autumn (heal) cuttings - the only thing I'd recommend is placing them at the edge of a pot - they really, really, like to be at the edge of a pot.

:T Thanks for that, it's really helpful, I'll give it a go in the autumn. I really want a goodly quantity of lavender on hand as I find it such a pleasant, relaxing plant.

Plus my beloved bees absolutely love it, and I garden with a view to keeping them happy. Last year I accidentally grew a nest of tree bumblebees in the cold frame *proud parent smile*. I love all bees, but these are especially cute as they look as if they've donned bright chestnut shrugs.

mila, the tree bumblebee is bombus hypnorum, a species which only arrived in the UK in 2001 and has caused quite a stir among people who are into these things. I've had them visiting my allotment for about 6 years now but 2015 was the first time they nested on it.

machasraven

I do love my allotment though it is going to take time to get it truly productive. This year we divided it up into beds and planted broad beans, peas onions leeks beetroot rhubarb blueberries and currants. At home we have carrots cauliflower and broccoli

maryb

My children are ranting at me and telling their friends I voted in because they don't want them to think I am racist. Sheesh!

I am disgusted at the attitude that the real pain of people should be discounted because they are uneducated! So they simply don't understand that it's not real?

Just a thought - Brexit would not have won without the votes of those Scots who voted out.

I think it's instructive to look at the comments of German businessmen rather than politicians. They are much more pragmatic and clearly want a trade deal. There will be a lot of posturing for public consumption and I'm sure the French would love to shaft us but ultimately they will do what Germany decides.

And I thought it was very interesting that the shares of European banks were hammered far more than our own. I think if it all goes pear shaped for them then we will be glad that this short term volatility differentiated the British banks and will hopefully limit the contagion. Anyway a lot of the drama on Friday was speculators being wrong footed about the result and having to cover their positions in a hurry

thriftwizard

This may be taking preparedness to ridiculous lengths, but I'm going to have a go at growing my own cotton...

One of my friends at Guild this afternoon was splitting open raw cotton bolls, removing the seeds and preparing the fibre for spinning. So I begged a couple of seeds & will give it a go. It seems to be possible that we could actually grow a couple of plants in our conservatory & get them to "fruiting" stage. Whilst I probably won't produce much more than a Sylko reel's worth, assuming they germinate at all, it's an interesting experiment & kind of has to go better than my attempts to "ret" my Phormium leaves (New Zealand Flax) to try to produce a spinning fibre. I just succeeded in rotting those altogether!

Oh well, there are plenty of nettles round here anyway, many of them as tall as I am, so probably the right variety for fibre...

milasavesmoney

GQ I just had a look at pictures of the tree bumblebee. Cute little insecto. I'm glad you have your own populating around your allotment. When you see bees you are definitely doing something right!

Tightwizard, if you have the cotton plants in the conservatory that should give you a long enough growing season 120-160 days for them to produce bolls. They are perennials and usually last several years. You could start them in peat pots and then transfer to a larger pot that can be set outside on sunny days. They love sun and heat. Plant them in sandy loam. The soil should be allowed to dry out some in between deep watering.
I live in cotton growing country. Cotton is treated as an annual when farmed. We have sandy soil and hot sunny days. My parents were both raised on cotton farms, my mother going in the fields when she was just four yrs old. My dad had to quit school when he was 11 to run the farm. His dad had come down with rheumatic fever and could not work for a few seasons. Dad never went back to school. My sister said he used to read her algebra lesson and then teach her the lesson and help her with her homework. Uneducated yes, stupid no!

Wonderful discussions on the Brexit vote. I've been keenly interested in the process and now the way forward. Best coming days to you all!

In the short term I'm hoping Obama steps it up with support (fair and equal trade agreements, moral support etc) from our country. Equally I hope the next president :eek: does so too. (Next presidential vote for me is horribly off putting if I vote one way or the other!!!)
i.e. Trump congratulated Scotland for voting to leave EU. He never ceases to amaze us with his speeches. :shocked::shocked::shocked::shocked:

armyknife

When the EU entanglement is out of the way, what will some people then blame for all the ills in this or their world?

[Deleted User]

Well I am pretty ancient, and I left school at 14 on a Friday in 1957 and started work the following Monday morning, and apart from having my two DDs in the late 1960s never had a day when I didn't have a job of some sort.

When my OH came home from the Sudan in 1983 when his contract was finished he had 14 months when he couldn't get work

I worked 7 days a week at three different jobs to keep us afloat.One of which was fruit picking.Life was hard at times but that wasn't anything new and a lot more folk in the early 1980s had it harder than us and lost their homes in a pretty nasty recession.

Things eventually picked up, and life became easier but we didn't whinge, we just got on with things

In my mid 50s I went back to pick up on my 'lost' education and eventually ended up at Uni doing a History degree.

So although I am more than a bit long in the tooth (and they are my own ) I feel that I was still fairly intelligent enough to know both how to vote, and what I was voting for.

To blandly label folk as old and thick is insulting and extremely rude. I have lived through rationing from WW2 and more than enough 'recessions/depressions' and no doubt God willing I shall survive this one.

We Brits are a pretty hardy bunch on the whole, and very tolerant of other people cultures,after all the majority of us are immigrants of some sort or another whether it be Vikings, Romans,Normans, or in my case descended from French Huguenots from the 17th century who were fleeing persecution from their fellow Frenchmen.

As a country we have survived two World Wars and the resulting recessions that follow them. In the 1950s although the war was over, life was a lot worse than it is today with shortages of the most basic stuff.

Life may get a bit tough for a lot of us, so whats new,its tough for many people at the moment anyway. But as with other major events that happen to us in the UK we will get through it ,especially if we all pull together.I am old enough to remember the 'I'm Backing Britain ' campaign, perhaps we should have another one

JackieO xx