The ups and downs and ins and outs of growing your own, 2018

LessImpecunious

CAFCGirl wrote: »

Also managed to dig and install another layered bed (1mx1m).

Hi CAFCGirl - wondering about your layered beds and apologies if you've described these before here or elsewhere, but I haven't been able to get the search function to work inside the forum threads - I've only come across the lasagne/layered beds in raised bed form, and yours sounds as if it may be different!...

sazzlebgood?

slipped and slid on the paths at the lottie today, collected some potatoes from the clamp, harvested some kalettes and cabbage for tea tomorrow.

unrecordings

I managed to dig up some Oca today and learned two vital lessons:

1) If you plant Oca in raised beds with lovingly prepared compost/leafmulch/sand etc they'll spread out, but if you plant them in a shallow plot with heavy soil then the tubers will form in a more compact bunch. There were less of the tiddly unusable ones too.

2a) If you intend to buy bareroot Apple trees, check your pollination guides first (!)

2b) Poundstretcher, bareroot fruit trees £4.99. The pollination guides on the labels are next to useless. Here's a helpful one:

https://www.ashridgetrees.co.uk/gardening-advice/fruit-tree-advice/pollinationchecker

By chance we managed to get three Apple trees (including the existing one) all in the same group. Does three trees count as an orchard ?

In terms of slipping and sliding, deck shoes are the best and these days I just garden in old Converse Allstars or cheap surfing shoes (which I discovered as I needed something I could get on/off in my partially crippled state

sazzlebgood?

Thanks unrecordings for the advice on shoes. Not sure if 3 trees counts as an orchard, to be honest I tried looking it up and gave a variety of answers. Perhaps you could call it an orchard in training and add more as time goes on.

Tiglath

We have big plans for our new smallholding when we move in on 16th Feb. Greenhouse and polytunnel first to actually grow some stuff this year, establish a herb bed close to the kitchen, build some compost bins at various points. The orchard has 30 heritage apples, pears, plums, hazelnuts and figs - I want to add in quince, crab apple and medlars. The ground is just mud because of the current owner had free-range geese. The whole lot is overgrown - we have to crawl through gaps climb through trees so don't really have a view of what it will look like - we know there's a pig run, 4 or 5 chicken sheds, various bits sectioned off with fencing. Our growing this first year will be quite cautious and focus on Mediterranean veg and salad stuff. Maybe some late spuds. Later on we'll plot and plan for subsequent years, such as a fruit cage, and even later than that we'll do something with the formal garden and front garden. It'll take us a few years to be selfsufficientish, I reckon.

unrecordings

Sounds fantastic Tiglath.

Tiglath

When do you all sow your tomato/pepper/aubergine seeds? We're moving into our new place on 16th Feb and transporting seedlings is out of the question. I guess I'll still have time on my side once we're there.

unrecordings

Some have started already. I tend to start at the beginning of Feb, for me too early and they start off a little too leggy.

Suffolk_lass

Tiglath wrote: »

When do you all sow your tomato/pepper/aubergine seeds? We're moving into our new place on 16th Feb and transporting seedlings is out of the question. I guess I'll still have time on my side once we're there.

As long as the tomatoes are sown before mid-March they will be OK, if a tiny bit late. I freeze loads at the end of the year so I don't mind that.

Aubergines I sow around Easter, peppers and chillies in March - but I also germinate all of these indoors on top of my bug zapper (so with bottom heat) to spur them on. It works a treat

tibawo

sazzlebgood? wrote: »

slipped and slid on the paths at the lottie today, collected some potatoes from the clamp, harvested some kalettes and cabbage for tea tomorrow.

glad it wasn't just me sliding down the path. She shifting hard core and it was like a mud slide!