Put away your purse & become debt-averse

savingmore

Thanks for all the news, I really find the forums more uplifting during these times, knowing that others are going through the same things, helps normalise what we are going through two.     
I have two questions for this knowledgeable group.  1.  I have two tyme plants in large outdoor containers.  I did nothing to them and they look dead.  anything I can do tom make them come alive?   and second question i see about bicarb.  I usually buy it from supermarket and couldn’t find any.  DH was buying water filters online from Wil**s and we saw they soldier bicarb.  So bought 500g of it, so much cheaper than supermarkets.  we are a bit puzzled though as it’s 100% bicarbonate of soda but all instructions on packet to do with cleaning and nothing about using in cooking.  just puzzled....presuming bicarb of soda i see just bicarb of soda?   thanks for .org any help with either.

foxgloves

Hi Savingmore - If your thyme plants have absolutely no sign of leaves by this time of year, they are probably dead. Just to be sure, I would do the following - First have a really good look at them. They might look straggly, dry & woody, but are there any signs of leaves at all? Look right down at the base as well as on the furthest ends of the stems. If you can see no signs of life, then snip a decent sized stem in half & look inside. Can you see any green? If not, then I think you can pretty much assume they are dead. We haven't had a cold winter, so the very soggy autumn probably didn't help. Even more unhelpful will have been the dry warm spring. Wind is very drying too & outside container plants usually need a lot more water than we think they do. Thyme & other mediterranean herbs don't like to be too wet but nothing can survive for long without water. If however, your forensic investigations do reveal a few new leaves, you could try giving the plants a good haircut, watering them well & if you can get some, feeding them some seaweed solution. I use the one in the brown plastic bottle which rhymes with Laxyflop.......I have found it to be excellent at encouraging poorly plants into recovery, but to be fair, it can't bring about resurrections! Hope this is helpful.
Re the bicarb of soda.......Yes, it is sold in larger amounts for cleaning purposes, but I don't know if it is a different 'grade' to the stuff sold in the baking section as bicarb of soda. I'm assuming that has to be 'food grade' to be sold as a baking additive, but I honestly don't know as it is a bit sciency for me........I reckon this is something which CrazyCatLady will know though, because she's a proper science boffin, so let's hope she comes on here as a peaceful break from all the meowing & can fill us in! 
F x

savingmore

oh thank you so much, i knew you would more knowledgeable than mr. google.  I will have a go at doing that.  they are two years old and i took them out of my allotment i tom containers.  really sad to lose them.  it’s funny how you get attached to plants.  one was a gorgeous lemon thyme.  never thought of food quality bicarb....yes let’s see if crazycatlady can help!  

foxgloves

There are some lovely thyme varieties, aren't there, savingmore? Years ago,I used to have a lovely orange scented one which I bought from the garden centre at Norfolk Lavender. It was so nice to cook with & even just to have a little pinch & a smell on the way past. It was one of several plants I lost during that really cold winter in 2010......the one where the snow turned up at the end of November & caught us all out. We're not that far north.....about halfway up the country.....yet temperatures dropped as low as minus 16 here one night & was below freezing at night for so long, I lost a rosemary, my bay tree, the orange thyme all sorts of other plants. 
Thymes should be fine in containers, but everything needs at least a tidsy bit of TLC. Hope you might be able to revive them.
F 

Pixiehouse55

Hi Savingmore.. We had a Tyme a few years back that we thought was dead,  decided to leave it there and see what happened. 3 weeks later it started shooting. So please maybe wait a little while? This also happened to one of my Fuchsia's I told hubby it was dead, this year he popped up with the Fuchsia that I said was dead.. it's looking very healthy now😁
Foxgloves when our builders were in at the start of COPID19 I put a separate towel in the bathroom for builders and their own tea mugs. Teaspoon and tea towel so they did not use ours. I was forever wiping down door handles etc. I think they thought I had gone mad!!😂🤣.
Sat and done my knitting today and I did order some dry mealworms and suet pellets online. Mealworms are so expensive aren't they? Normally get them from the R but I'm not going out at the moment and we are getting very good at not spending on extras that we don't need!!
Cheese on toast with fried egg for dinner no one was feeling very hungry .
Hope you have all had a good day?
Lots of people out in cars and on the beach as they it's a normal day. Have I missed something?

Pixiehouse55

Foxgloves. Do you freeze carrots or any other veg if so how do you do it please? Or anyone else?
I'm sure when my dear mum was alive she used to peel and Blanch for a few minutes cool down then freeze in bags.  I tried but mine when cooked didn't look very nice☹  and I don't like waste. Thanks in advance 

foxgloves

Pixiehouse55 - That's how I do mine. I only blanch them for 2 mins max, then rinse immediately in cold water, bag & freeze. I've never noticed anything odd about the flavour or appearance.
F

Pixiehouse55

Ah. Maybe that's where I'm going wrong? I've not put them in cold water afterwards. I will do that next time. Thanks 

crazy_cat_lady

Here I am  
Bicarb of soda is bicarb of soda. Chemically it's the same thing (sodium hydrogencarbonate). I would imagine food grade would be more expensive, and I would always put the caveat of not using anything that's not food grade as food. However, as this bicarb is ok for water filters etc then it would be fine for food. It's to do with how it's made and the conditions at the manufacturing plants that have to be met if they're going to use products as food. In the quantities you use bicarb I would say it would be fine.

foxgloves

Hello Diary readers, 
I'm finding that every morning when I get up, I need to tell myself what day it is..... 'Today is Sunday'...... honestly, it's like when my Gran had dementia.... the current situation & feeling in limbo is seriously starting to affect my sense of days!
Anyway.... a little money spent today as ordered 3 new t-shirts for Mr F. One was half price in the sale, so we were pleased with that small win. I didn't spend as long in the garden as planned because it took me longer than planned to prepare my big bargainaceous bag of ox cheek for the slow cooker, then an equally long time going over those recently received legal documents/accounts with my sister on Skype.
By the time I got out there, I decided to concentrate on lettuce, so I planted out my plug plants in the strip of bed I dug over yesterday next to the spinach & netted it against naughty beaks, then I pr*cked out & potted my 2nd sowing of lettuces into modules to grow them on. That will be 30 more to plant out in a few weeks when they are big enough.
I shall put some overnight laundry on in a minute & make a packed lunch for Mr F to take to work tomorrow, but that will be all my jobs for today. Dinner has cooked itself in the slow cooker & as I shall be the person dishing it up later, I'll make sure there is sufficient put aside to feed us tomorrow night too 😉
I intend to do nothing more strenuous than read a gardening mag & watch tv tonight. Will not be late to bed tonight, as Mr F needs an early start for work tomorrow & I am hoping to be very productive here on the home front.
Hope you've all managed to have a decent day.
F xx