The Prepping Thread - A Newer Beginning ;)

Nargleblast

A cold and frosty morning in the Land of Nargle, a day for hot drinks and warm clothing. Try telling that to OH who insists on sitting around wearing a vest and no socks then moans it's cold.

I hasten to add he does wear undercrackers and trousers too.

southantrim3

It's very cold here in County Antrim this morning!! Think the wood supplies need replenished!

tori.k

Karmacat wrote: »

I've been out this afternoon with the big garden fork again - the left hand border, underneath the big rhodendron and the huge mahonia ... I cleared it a couple of years ago, and events overtook me, the brambles were starting to come back, and baby rhodies, and grass, were making their presence felt. The ground crop there is winter savory, so I know it will recover from my digging at the brambles. There's still more to do, but its good.



I'm wondering about filling that whole area with wild garlic - I have several plants now, and it reproduces their habitat pretty well. Bulbs would be good too - not garlic bulbs, but ones that grow in shade etc. Not just for pretty, but for eating - does anyone know anything like that?

Babington leeks ( wild leeks) will do a fair bit of shade swizz chard and perpetual spinach also rhubarb, alpine strawberries lot of edibles will cope with shade but it will affect yield

Karmacat

Chard! Thank you Tori! That's a win, then. Divided my work in the garden in two today, first part was cutting down some of the laurel trunks and then 8 or so of the branches growing out of the next section. Then back to the bit underneath the rhodie and mahonia. Pulled up chunks of nasty wet long grass (some of it is two feet long :o:o ) and realised I'd never get it clear enough to plant the garlic bulbs today, and I *need* to do it today, they sprouted two weeks ago. So I planted them over a big plastic agri-sack thats been laying on the ground in front of the mahonia for about two years the drawer I was going to use as a raised bed has had its bottom rotted away, but the sides are good enough for another year, so I planted all the bulbs/cloves in there, all in fresh soil. Very, very close together, three inches or so, so the size might not be great, but some are sprouting on sprouting, they'll survive to be eaten/ planted next year, they'll be fine.



The rest of the ground, I can definitely prepare it for chard. Brilliant :T

GreyQueen

I'm a big fan of chard, it can supply you with healthy salad greens 365 days a year with no input from yourself. I had a row of chard bolt about 10 years ago and have been enjoying free-range feral chard ever since. Best value pkt of seeds I ever bought, lol.

thriftwizard

Don't mention seeds...! Catalogues popping through the door, temptation arriving in my inbox - I'd need an entire estate, complete with workers, to grow everything i want to grow!

GreyQueen

thriftwizard wrote: »

Don't mention seeds...! Catalogues popping through the door, temptation arriving in my inbox - I'd need an entire estate, complete with workers, to grow everything i want to grow!

That horse bolted months ago for me, made out like a bandit at Wilko's getting seeds for veg and flowers at 10 p per pkt. Deep deep joy.......... :rotfl:

Karmacat

I *so* know what you mean, thriftwizard! GQ, you're kind of famous for your chard, you know? Now I know/ remember/ realise it can cope with shade, it's a no brainer to have it there. I'll be cutting back the neighbour's dratted privet to the property line, and cutting back my own rhodie and anything else I can manage, to get as much light in there as possible.

GreyQueen

Karmacat wrote: »

I *so* know what you mean, thriftwizard! GQ, you're kind of famous for your chard, you know?

Some folk are destined to be famous for interesting things, my ability to let chard go feral (it comes up like cress if you let some bolt) is just one of my 'talents'. Seriously, go for it, it's sooo easy and the leaves are mostly up outta the dirt and away from the slugs.

Karmacat

I might have to bag up some of the dead leaves, to let them turn in the leaf mould bin, rather than disintegrating gently into the ground - there's an awful lot of predators in that stuff that'd like nothing more than a quick snack of chard. Goes for my grass too, I still don't have it at the right height (see above post - some creeps around and its two feet long _pale_ though every time I work out there now it's getting a bit closer to a normal garden that will be a healthy place to grow veg. My self sown sorrel is beautiful right now! Thats a start.