THE Prepping thread - a new beginning :)

cheel

Hi wanttobemse,

I'm hoping to start the square foot gardening in my little patch. Have a google. Might be a good way to get started with some veg while you are clearing your new garden

Good luck with the move xx

jk0

I just noticed your new strapline Money. Hear hear. Did you see that in yesterday's paper about people coming to stay with UK relatives so they can have cataract operations?

Why on earth don't the hospitals charge them in advance?

Margaret54

Just been out and found a few slugs but at least they are gone now little varmits. You just have to keep at them I think, and not let up on the hunt for them. The potatoes seem to be doing well, ready to flower I think, and the beetroot and peas seem to be doing well. I am just learning in all of this, but I love gardening and will be so proud if I can put some of our food on the table. The tomato plants are growing well, but no fruits as yet. The strawberries which I rescued are about 10 at the moment, we only decided to grow a few plants of them this year as the youngest lads had flown the nest Will be doing some shopping for more of a store cupboard later, want to top up on some washing stuff and tinned foods. Have a lovely day everyone:) Margaret

moneyistooshorttomention

jk0 wrote: »

I just noticed your new strapline Money. Hear hear. Did you see that in yesterday's paper about people coming to stay with UK relatives so they can have cataract operations?

Why on earth don't the hospitals charge them in advance?

Yes I did - and its far from the first time I've read of this sort of thing happening in a variety of places and I've personally witnessed an NHS hospital not giving the person concerned a bill (even though I said they werent British or even European and would be due for one). I think the thing that angers me most is women flying in deliberately to Britain at the end of their pregnancies - ie so they can give birth at our expense.

I was annoyed about that - as they started rationing cataract operations halfway through my mother having hers done. She fought back and they did the second eye too (having tried to lie and tell her it wasnt bad enough - when, apparently, only a couple of months sooner they themselves had said it was).

I do hope one can believe May's comment that "Brexit means Brexit" and we stop all this "free movement of people" regardless.

cheel

Couple of interesting items on the local and national news today regarding climate change.

Apparently according to the local news some parts of Cornwall can now be classified as sub-tropical!

And the national news has said that as a country we are unprepared for flooding and the pests and diseases that will bring.

Xx

moneyistooshorttomention

That comment re "part of Cornwall sub-tropical" now has just given me an example of "Once you've seen it - you can't unsee (ie unread) it".

:(

and, on that note, back to do some more weeding in the garden on this semi-summer day....:cool:

Think positive - it's good enough not to have to put on a jacket/cardigan/etc.

GreyQueen

Afternoon all.

Lottie plans for after work are on hold as it is as black as the ace of spades out there and pertiddling down. If I don't end up with the most humungous spuds ever, I shall be very disappointed.

Re diseases, parts of England have had malaria until relatively recent centuries so there's no reason why that couldn't come back again. I sincerely hope not as the whine of the mozzie is my least-favourate part of the natural world.

Re starting from scratch in a new garden and wanting to grow veggies, I'd offer the following suggestions.

1. Cut down any long grass and remove the most obvious biggest ghastly bits of trash..

2. Burn untreated, unpainted proper wood (i.e. not MDF/ laminates/ plywood) and turn the ash under the soil after a day or so.

3. Understand that veggies take a lot more out of the soil than grass, so you will need to add material to build soil texture and fertility. Think muck, spent mushroom compost if you can get it, spent barley grains (we have an organic microbrewery deliver them for free to our allotments) and lesser things like leaves. You can throw tonnes and tonnes of this stuff at a veggie plot and it will lap it up.

4. Use a compass to find where north and south are, and observe the arc of the sun. If you have trees, aim to plant veggies in full sun. Very few will thrive in even partial shade.

5. Pay attention to the direction and strength of the prevailing winds. In the UK, it's normally south-westerly but local topography may dictate contrary winds. This will be important if you want to erect structures inc plastic greenhouses. My lottie cops the wind and stuff blows down.

6. Once you've bared the soil, wander around with a trowel and dig several tennis-ball sized holes in various parts of the plot. Fill them with water and time how quickly it drains away. This will give you an idea of how free-draining your soil is.

7. In several parts of the garden, rub bare soil between finders and thumbs. Is is slick and clay-like? Dry and sandy? Mixture of both? Do this in several parts as as single garden may well bestride a change in the geology, such as my Nan's which is half clay and half sandy.

8. If the area hasn't been cultivated, you will likely have infestations of soil dwelling pests which will raise havoc with your future veggies. The main culprits are wire-worms, cut-worms, leather jackets. Google for images. Remove on sight and feed to any birds (chickens will love you for this).

If you're starting about now, you are too late in the season for most plants and might be best to focus on clearing, cultivation and fertilising the soil. You can sow broad beans in Oct-Nov to overwinter and they'll rest at a small size then grow away sharply next spring.

Come Jan-Feb, fruit bushes will be in the shops and you can get those into the ground. HTH

Karmacat

Great post, GQ.

And I just love your word "pertiddling"

I definitely got pertiddled on earlier, though got back home just in time to avoid the worst of it - I'm still clearing a proper path from front to back for the Man That Can when I finally phone him. And clearing space for my future stock-ups.

greenbee

Monsoon season here - but another 12 bags of hippo-food removed from the stream. So the flood risk is slowly reducing

ancientofdays

Maryb have a great time!