Help MBE grow his dinner 2013.

mrbadexample

annie123 wrote: »

That's because I've been awol rather than waffling on as usual :D


An assortment of health problems have cropped up in this household unfortunately but think we're on top of them now, and my last grandparent has now passed, funeral next week.

You had been missed. Sorry to hear about your loss - have a dodgy hug. :grouphug:

I don't think you've missed much - too cold to do an awful lot. Apparently it'll be ages before it starts to warm up.

aliasojo

Hi guys! Been visiting the garden centre today, just to wind myself up.

Wont be planting this year. We're in limbo at the moment and may have to leave here in a couple/few months so it's not worth starting planting or sowing. It will likely be too late to start growing if we move/get settled elsewhere again so this year will be cancelled.

I'm actually quite sad, I really enjoyed pottering and growing bits (even if I did have some epic fails ).

I shall just have to garden 'virtually', through you lot.

We've had hard frosts every morning and glorious sunshine in the afternoons here. It looks like a beautiful summers day outside right now.

bluemeadow

On the subject of Alpine Strawberries I am having real trouble getting the seeds started, Picked them up cheap at the end of last year and have done everything its says on the packet but 4 weeks later only 3 have sprouted (out of about 20) any advice gratefuly accepted.

Badrick

bluemeadow wrote: »

On the subject of Alpine Strawberries I am having real trouble getting the seeds started, Picked them up cheap at the end of last year and have done everything its says on the packet but 4 weeks later only 3 have sprouted (out of about 20) any advice gratefuly accepted.

Alpine Strawberry seeds benefit from a period of freezing ([FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]cold stratification[/FONT]) and then sown on the surface of compost.
If you have them in a seed tray, I'd put tray out where it can get frosted for a couple of weeks and then stick them in a cool bright place.
If you try another pack of seed, stick them in the freezer for a couple of weeks prior to sowing.
More information HERE.

mrbadexample

Nice sunny day today, so took the opportunity to mow the lawn and jetwash the greenhouse (20°C inside!). Cut the lawn as short as I can to try and hoover up as many of the sycamore helicopters as possible.

I put some horse muck round the rhubarb - better late than never. Also fished a few more leaves and blanket weed out of the pond to tidy it up a bit. It would appear that some of the mortar joints have cracked over the winter, but nothing serious I don't think. I'm a bit worried that I've put the pond in the wrong place, as it's a bit shady and might not get enough warmth for frogspawn to flourish. Oh well, I guess time will tell.

I could do with giving the patio a quick sweep but apart from that I think I'm about ready to go.

djohn2002uk

annie123 wrote: »

An assortment of health problems have cropped up in this household unfortunately but think we're on top of them now, and my last grandparent has now passed, funeral next week.
So I'm way behind where I should be. Chillis just about to go into the heated prop this afternoon, garden now almost cleared and sorted, spuds are chitting, well only the very early ones, the rest are going to have to wait due to space.
I've bought one on these: http://www.aldi.co.uk/uk/html/offers/special_buys3_29286.htm
should cut down on the amount of mess I make I hope!

Sorry to hear about your problems Annie. Hope you really are on top of them and after next week you'll be able to concentrate a bit more on things you enjoy.

mrbadexample

Right, I've had that sweep up and now it's looking fairly tidy:





Roll on the summer!

Little_Vics

that's impressive!! I have a day off tomorrow so will be blitzing my garden too. Hoorah.

annie123

mrbadexample wrote: »

You had been missed. Sorry to hear about your loss - have a dodgy hug. :grouphug:

I don't think you've missed much - too cold to do an awful lot. Apparently it'll be ages before it starts to warm up.

djohn2002uk wrote: »

Sorry to hear about your problems Annie. Hope you really are on top of them and after next week you'll be able to concentrate a bit more on things you enjoy.

Thanks guys :A

No sun here MBE according to bbc I've got to wait till Monday. Lawn seems very soggy still but the beds are a bit better than a few weeks ago so might get some main crop spuds in this weekend.

Tonight I sowed my tomato seeds, on the basis that hardening off starts mid April here, well except for last year, but I'm feeling optimistic about this summer.

I've decided to do away with the council recycling tubs as containers, because I can get more flower buckets on the concrete area and move them around easier as needed.
I want to paint the flower buckets, don't like all that black, need something cheerful like yellow, what paint can I use on them?

Little_Vics

Are they the flower buckets from supermarkets? If so, the best stuff to use is a spray paint specifically for plastic - you can get some on ebay.

I have seen a wheelie bin with stickers all over it, so maybe that's another idea?

xLV