Put away your purse & become debt-averse

foxgloves

Hi HHoD - I think that bed will be for squashes & courgettes this year. Then carrying on up the garden from there on that side, I've got a strawberry bed, then a couple of rows of perpetual spinach (nearly finished so I intend to pick the last of it next week to use in a chickpea curry) Then later on the next big bed will be sweetcorn, then right at the end, I've got rhubarb. I haven't properly got the other side of the path planned yet, but it will include 2 types of beans, lettuces, radishes, watercress, rocket spring onions...... & celeriac if the seeds decide ever actually to germinate. We've also got some autumn sown garlic in there. In the greenhouse, I'm aiming for tomatoes (plus some outdoor ones), cucumbers, peppers, chillies & aubergines. Mr F is chitting potatoes for a few pots of first earlies. We don't currently grow much fruit. We might make a raspberry bed ready for next year as we now have a space where a tree came out. We have a blackberry, pear tree, an ancient apple tree which is probably as old as the house & I also have a grapevine in a pot. So there's always loads to do at this time of year. But it does feel worth it in summer when I can walk down the garden first thing with a basket & see what's ready to pick. It makes all the hard work worthwhile.
F x

crazy_cat_lady

Hope you're not too achey today foxgloves - sounds like a very busy day yesterday. I still have no motivation at all to get out into the garden... I'm dreading when the day comes where I have to cut the grass myself as I normally get someone else to do it for me - think that might end up being a job for the kids...

DawnW

Envious of your big garden Foxgloves, just been out in my little one. I would definitely recommend raspberries - I grow the autumn kind (red and yellow ones), which are much easier to look after than the summer ones. They just get cut to the ground after fruiting each year, kept weeded more or less, and fed now and then, and we get loads of raspberries. Enough to make jam and freeze some, as well as to eat fresh. They are just reappearing now, and it amazing how much growth they make in a short time, especially alongside producing all those raspberries! They share a raised bed with the rhubarb and a loganberry vine, lots of bulbs, chives and oregano and various flowers, mainly self seeded.

foxgloves

I'd been wondering about autumn ones, Dawn. I think it will take us a while to create the new bed. Currently there is a tree stump (diseased) & a lot of gravel & black plastic, as that was the previous owner's solution to most garden problems. The soil will be hugely compacted under all that lot plus doubtless full of roots. So we won't be picking raspberries this year, but we could aim for next autumn. Thanks for the info. Haven't grown raspberries before, though had a sulky tayberry in my previous garden.
F x

foxgloves

I wasn't too achey, thanks CCL, & my hands weren't too sore, which was lucky as I didn't wear my thumb/wrist support (I call it my 'assassin's glove'). I must be sensible & wear it for all future heavy garden work.
I can't say things like grass cutting, clearing, weeding, etc, are jobs I feel particularly motivated to do, but as I don't like long untidy grass or tatty garden, there isn't an alternative & it's all good for fitness & fresh air. We pay to have our big long hedges properly cut once a year plus any tree work. We do everything else ourselves. It's worth it because even without the food we grow, the garden is pretty to sit in & as we try to attract wildlife in, it's nice to spot various creatures too.
F x

foxgloves

Hello diary readers, 
As I type this, the jackdaws (actually, I think they could be hooded crows) nesting between our chimney pots are making the weirdest noises down our chimney..... it sounds like an orgy up there! Or maybe they are just squabbling over a particularly choice morsel of old bread crust.
Well, today has sped by. Mr F went to town for our fresh fruit & veg, Easter meat & the stuff we couldn't get yesterday. Successful apart from tuna & flour, but I shall be OK for flour for a while yet. Covid safety measures at the supermarket apparently very good.
I pegged out all our cotton shopping bags after a hot machine wash, then washed all our bags for life in the sink & pegged those out too. We have decided to tackle safety precautions as though everybody has the virus except us..... of course this isn't the case, but we've noticed that thinking in this way, that anyone could be a potential infector has noticeably inched up our protective measures.
What else have I done? I've baked a loaf of bread, tried a new recipe (the home made baked beans from 'Pinch of Nom' book) for our lunch, wrote a few Easter cards (Gosh.... how expensive were those? My usual shops where I'd be able to buy a pack all closed. Still sending just to family & best friends as we all need a glimmer of cheer atm, don't we?), wrapped a nice bar of choc each for nephews & my sister and posted everything when we went out on our walk this afternoon. I'm going to finish my book now & decide which one to read next from the huge pile I got from the library before lockdown.
I need to make lots of greenhouse progress at the weekend, but it is apparently going to be nice weather, so that should be doubly good for my mood. 
Hope you're all managing to stay well m'dears. Stay as safe as you possibly can, whatever your circumstances. We can only do our best. We will come out on the other side of all this, but the sad, scary situation is still very much with us at the moment. Stay strong,
F xx

PurpleFairy26

Another vote for autumn raspberries here too. I bought them 2 years ago and despite them arriving the same day as a foot of snow which prevented them being planted for nearly 3 weeks they came back well and last year we had a bumper crop. Hoping for the same this year (although I was a little late cutting them back) but they saved us a fortune in buying fresh (smalls can inhale a punnet at 5 paces 😂) plus we made loads of jam with them which we are still enjoying. 

I also bought 2 blueberry plants at the same time. 1 didn't make it but the other gave lots of fruit last year too, which was also a saving on buying in the shops. 

DawnW

The birds will be jackdaws Foxgloves, we have loads of them here. They have grey heads and are much smaller than hooded crows, who wouldn't deign to squabble over breadcrusts on chimney pots. They are really destructive at this time of the year, I daren't use that fibrous hanging basket liner stuff as they absolutely shred it. They were even pulling the string I had tied the loganberry up with to pieces, and have pulled down the compost I had heaped over the potato row, taking out twigs etc.  But they are very clever birds, and their antics are a constant source of amusement. And we need all the distractions we can get at the moment, don't we?

DawnW

PurpleFairy26 said:

Another vote for autumn raspberries here too. I bought them 2 years ago and despite them arriving the same day as a foot of snow which prevented them being planted for nearly 3 weeks they came back well and last year we had a bumper crop. Hoping for the same this year (although I was a little late cutting them back) but they saved us a fortune in buying fresh (smalls can inhale a punnet at 5 paces 😂) plus we made loads of jam with them which we are still enjoying. 

I also bought 2 blueberry plants at the same time. 1 didn't make it but the other gave lots of fruit last year too, which was also a saving on buying in the shops. 

Lol my grandchildren swarm over them like locusts, after the strawberries have finished, but there is still always enough to make jam and freeze some. I made cordial too one year, used a recipe that I found on this site. I must look it out again.

PurpleFairy26

DawnW said:

PurpleFairy26 said:

Another vote for autumn raspberries here too. I bought them 2 years ago and despite them arriving the same day as a foot of snow which prevented them being planted for nearly 3 weeks they came back well and last year we had a bumper crop. Hoping for the same this year (although I was a little late cutting them back) but they saved us a fortune in buying fresh (smalls can inhale a punnet at 5 paces 😂) plus we made loads of jam with them which we are still enjoying. 

I also bought 2 blueberry plants at the same time. 1 didn't make it but the other gave lots of fruit last year too, which was also a saving on buying in the shops. 

Lol my grandchildren swarm over them like locusts, after the strawberries have finished, but there is still always enough to make jam and freeze some. I made cordial too one year, used a recipe that I found on this site. I must look it out again.

Oh, cordial sounds lovely dawn do share the recipe if you find it. I'm loving being able to still be in supply of home made jam this late on in the year. DH did roll his eyes at the time when I spent a couple of days making a few big batches but now is paying dividends, especially in jam roll poly 🤣