Does anyone keep a gardening diary on MSE?

Rummer

I know this is the quiet season but I thought you would like to know that the gardening things are back in Poundland. We have had some very successful raspberry canes from there and some great bulbs

LavenderBees

Rummer wrote: »

I know this is the quiet season but I thought you would like to know that the gardening things are back in Poundland. We have had some very successful raspberry canes from there and some great bulbs

Thanks, Rummer. I appreciate that! I'm not buying anything at the moment as I have so many seeds, but that will be really useful info for others, I'm sure.

I will be storing away this little nugget of info for next January though, as I will be wanting raspberry canes and other fruits by then. I thnk my nearest PLand is in Newcastle....hmmmm....

LB xx

Rummer

I resisted buying plants and seeds as I realised I have too much to do before putting things in permanently. What I did get today though was some netting

My WWII book arrived today and I am loving it! The book tells you what to do every week of the year and is a reprint of the original so there are loads of adverts and info from the time. Really enjoyed what I have read so far and it is great.

LavenderBees

Rummer wrote: »

I resisted buying plants and seeds as I realised I have too much to do before putting things in permanently. What I did get today though was some netting

My WWII book arrived today and I am loving it! The book tells you what to do every week of the year and is a reprint of the original so there are loads of adverts and info from the time. Really enjoyed what I have read so far and it is great.

Yes, I bought things like fleece and netting last year when I first got my lottie because a) I got carried away with excitement and b) I thought I needed it NOW! :rotfl:

The WWII book sounds great. Even if you only use part of the advice, some of the time, I'm sure you'll find it useful...share any interesting titbits?

I've been back at work and dad has been very poorly (though now improving) so my week has run away with itself and no time for reading my library lottie books. Hoping for a quiet weekend to catch up.

LB xx

LavenderBees

I've declared war on the SLUGS! :mad:.

They've started nibbling my brassicas, and I'm NOT happy. Shouldn't they be dying or hibernating or something? Luckily, I have slug pellets, which I don't really want to use, but I don't think there's much choice.

So, that's what I've done today...declared war on the slugs!

The good news? the broad bean seedlings now have leaves:T and the sprouting white broccoli is...sprouting.....:T. Really pleased with this, not sure if it's the variety that is happy on my lottie or the fact that it is the only vege under a fleece tunnel cloche (others are under mesh tunnel cloches). Whatever it is, this broccoli looks very happy

The cabbages also have put on a little growth in the last week as have some of the garlic...the snapes are now about 3 inches high :T

:):) Overall very pleased with progress :):)

icontinuetodream

LavenderBees wrote: »

I've declared war on the SLUGS! :mad:.

They've started nibbling my brassicas, and I'm NOT happy. Shouldn't they be dying or hibernating or something? Luckily, I have slug pellets, which I don't really want to use, but I don't think there's much choice.

So, that's what I've done today...declared war on the slugs!

try crushed up eggshells around the base of plants....apparently, its too spikey for slugs and they avoid going over it!!

oh, and well done you!! :T:T:T

Suffolk_lass

I went to my preferred grower and bought 3 hedge packs yesterday - two of 4 foot beech to divide our front from the back and give privacy and one of "nature's harvest" - the latter are all hedgerow plants that fruit - to intersperce with the ancient ivy-strangled hedge between us and the fields. I also succumbed to two blackcurrent (compact) and two gooseberries (dessert) to populate the prepared beds. We resisted the urge to buy at the garden centre we stopped at with a "sale" on and bought only blood, fish and bone meal to boost the hedge-planting nutrients.

Finally we ordered the main hedge for the front to replace the now-removed privet. We are going for Rosemary to attract bees, keep it low in habit and not too spreading.

With the exception of the blood fish and bone, these were my delayed Christmas presents. Just having a cuppa and then a day's planting (in the fog) is planned. The man at the nursery was very generous with his advice and time, which is reassuring to us as we have only ever inherited and maintained gardens before.

Good luck with the slugs - we used to use beer traps to drown them, gravel to deter them, and salt on paths to create a barrier but so far very few here, despite the wet. Hope your Dad rallies

SL

LavenderBees

Hmmm.... interesting potential solutions to the slugs. I currently put my egg shells in the compost. I should maybe collect some and see if they work for me.

I also wonder if salt alters the composition of the soil? Does it matter if it does? Both these solutions sound more :money: than buying slug pellets at £5 a bottle. Also, the pellets are chemicals so must be changing the composition of the soil.

Any Chemists reading this to give me advice?? :rotfl:

When I start planting properly in March, I'll try some experiments, I think. Egg shells and salt being a LOT cheaper than pellets, and somehow more palatable to me, as I'd prefer not to spray or anything.

Sounds like you're going to be busy today SL, but the mild weather is perfect for planting your hedge. Sounds like you have a good supplier there! Make the most of his knowledge, that's for sure!

And thanks for your good wishes for Dad. He has many health problems, and occasionally has quite frightening episodes of ill health that affect his heart. We've also just been told he is at a much higher risk of stroke now. But he is out of hospital again, and is relieved and pretty chipper, really. So we just have to take it on the chin. Onwards and upwards

Have a lovely Sunday! I'm off to a local NT for a walk in the woods

LB xx

Rummer

Suffolk Lass the hedge plans sound exciting and it is always reassuring when you receive good advice from someone who is happy to take the time to discuss options and answer your questions.

Lavender We often go out in the summer to pick the slugs out of our garden however we do not have too many. What we have struggled with in the past are caterpillars :eek: one year they ate all our brassicas within a couple of days and there were 100s of them. This year I am going to net them as I can't face losing them all again.

Nothing has been done here on the gardening front apart from reading and seed sorting. I was hoping to get out today but it was too wet. In the next couple of weeks I am going to get the shed and the greenhouse cleared as my OH piled a lot of things into them. I want to get the potting shed painted this year and all pretty inside

LavenderBees

Rummer wrote: »

Suffolk Lass the hedge plans sound exciting and it is always reassuring when you receive good advice from someone who is happy to take the time to discuss options and answer your questions.

Lavender We often go out in the summer to pick the slugs out of our garden however we do not have too many. What we have struggled with in the past are caterpillars :eek: one year they ate all our brassicas within a couple of days and there were 100s of them. This year I am going to net them as I can't face losing them all again.

Nothing has been done here on the gardening front apart from reading and seed sorting. I was hoping to get out today but it was too wet. In the next couple of weeks I am going to get the shed and the greenhouse cleared as my OH piled a lot of things into them. I want to get the potting shed painted this year and all pretty inside

Everything is out to get the plants! :eek:

I have my brassicas covered my cloche tunnels and notice that some of my allotment neighbours have done that or netted theirs. Some haven't though, and don't seem to bother with slug pellets or any other kind of preventative measure. I wonder what return they get on their veges?

I thought I was preventing my plugs being eaten by wood pigeons etc...the cloches are expensive to start buying all at once, but I take the view that if I look after them, they hopefully will last me a while, and I'm NOT doing this work to feed the local insect life.

A load of caterpillars ate my horseradish leaves last year, and the chickens on another allotment ate those caterpillars (though seem to prefer snails). :rotfl:

Yuk!