THE Prepping thread - a new beginning :)

thriftwizard

{{{Hugs}}} Alibobsy; so glad your church community has rallied round you & is proving to be a comfort.

Karmacat

GreyQueen wrote: »

:bdaycake:Happy Birthday MrsLW! Hope you're having a fantastic day.

I missed the info first time round - Happy Birthday Mrs LW

Karmakat, courgettes are beyond simples to germinate, pls give them a go from seed, it's just a case of poking a seed into a pot of dampened compost then ignoring it for a while. If it's tough to grow, I don't bother with it, but courgettes are child's play.

It's the "ignore for a while" that foils me :o:o how long is a while? I know it shouldn't dry out ... but I end up drowning it, as I say

NewShadow wrote: »

I lurve this :j:j:j I downloaded it, thank you!

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GreyQueen

Wet the compost so it's moist to the touch, and shove the courgette seed in vertically. You can speed germination slightly by gently abrading the seed with a bit of sandpaper - water has to penetrate the husk to trigger germination.

Put aside somewhere and ignore for about 5-7 days. Test by poking fingertips just under surface of the compost - if it feels dry, add a little water until it feels moist. Ignore for another 5-7 days. By which point, the seed should have germinated. Water whenever seems dry and transplant when the first set of true leaves have shown (and the risk of frost is past, or there is frost protection in place).

Courgettes are thirsty little beggars once growing on but don't need to be drowned when sown.

All seeds are dry and dormant (otherwise they'd've rotted or germinated) so they have to re-hydrate before they can germinate. With big seeds, this can take a little time. I tend to soak things like beans and peas for 24-48 hours before sowing.

I sowed 48 hr soaked broad beans into wet ground in the rain one spring and they were breaching the soil in 4 days (they hook up, so you see the curve of the stem first, before they straighten out and you see the leaves).

Various things can cause failure for all seeds; seed is duff, a pest eats it (mice always steal 90% of pea seeds on the lottie), the soil is too cold for germination, the seed is too wet or too dry, or was buried too deeply for the stored bundle of energy in the seed to propel its shoot above the ground so it can start photosynthesising. HTH.

fuddle

I'm after a little help if I may?

The long slender candles? Could you tell me what they are called?

Plus I have a picture in my head of what my grandma used to hold them in and I would like to get some for myself. It was a flat bottomed plate made of stoneware I think. She had tge candle set in the middle with a loop in which to carry it. Can you help me name it to try and find what it was?

Edit: i have found it. Searched stonewear candle stick holder. Er... Dim!

[Deleted User]

They're called DINNER CANDLES lovey!

[Deleted User]

fuddle wrote: »

It was a flat bottomed plate made of stoneware I think. She had the candle set in the middle with a loop in which to carry it. Can you help me name it to try and find what it was?

This is brass, rather than stoneware, but it's 1940s vintage.



https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/497190451/vintage-and-antique-solid-brass?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=vintage&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=finger%20candle%20holder&ref=sc_gallery_3&plkey=fc8df0abdaecc48781d0295075b636cd9b92f68d:497190451

Karmacat

GQ, thank you so much! That makes a lot of sense (which is why people harp on about you writing something ).

Post has been saved to my gardening folder on my computer. On here, I'll make do (please and thank you) with another post about your friend's lovely antique shop :j:j:j

When you're ready

Prepping and kondoing are identical for me at the mo, in chopping down these laurel - the garden can get more sun, more air, the house will warm up more too, and since there'll still be a lot of branches (holly, fruit, ash, buddleia) etc after the smaller laurel is taken to the recycling centre, there'll be some soil improvement too after I burn the branches and put the cooled ashes on the soil

Cheapskate

I've re-homed some of my mum's candlesticks and holders, including a brass candleholder like Bob pictured. Fuddle, you can still buy what's called 'household' candles, lots of market ironmongers and similar shops sell them, maybe online somewhere, too?

A xo

GreyQueen

I'm a very basic gardener, dunno a lot about flowers and shrubs and the more exotic veggies, most of which I wouldn't eat as a gift and certainly don't want to faff around growing.

I look at it from this POV; seeds are programmed to germinate and plants are destined to grow. What I'm doing as a gardener is removing obstacles to these things happening.

Firstly, maximising the fertility of the soil. Muck, spent brewery grains, household scraps composted. I eat two boiled eggs a day with my breakfast salad. I chuck the shells in a pyrex and nuke them for 5 mins once a week. When cooled, I grind them with the pestle and mortar and will sprinkle them over the soil. When I go to the lottie this aft, I will be chucking a tubbyware of tea leaves on the soil.

Drop in the ocean of 300 square meters of soil, but little and often helps. Ditto cultivation, turning the soil over to make it fluffy and loose so's the roots can grow easily. Ditto getting the soil-dwelling grubs out and parking them on the bird-table up there - go quickly and I always joke about it being organic pest control.

Gardening's an interesting set of constantly shifting variables, plus fresh air and exercise, what's not to like?:rotfl:

Karmacat

GreyQueen wrote: »

I'm a very basic gardener, dunno a lot about flowers and shrubs and the more exotic veggies, most of which I wouldn't eat as a gift and certainly don't want to faff around growing.

Me too, I'm absolutely uninterested in *trying* to grow flowers. I like scabious, I like forget me not, and lots of herb flowers, and thats your lot

I look at it from this POV; seeds are programmed to germinate and plants are destined to grow. What I'm doing as a gardener is removing obstacles to these things happening.

I try too hard, with the watering I *become* an obstacle

:rotfl::rotfl:

This lunchtime, though - the laurel yielded before me, half a dozen big thick branches, sunlight will descend upon my garden, a cleansing breeze will flow more easily ... and I *will* turn the odd spadeful of soil, I make this vow

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