The Prepping Thread - A Newer Beginning ;)

jamanda

Ah, but we only put the runner beans out after the nasty frosts.  I also never mentioned how big my tomato plants are.  They were planted as seeds on the kitchen windowsill and are now about 5 - 6" high if you squint and ignore the mutant ones that started and then got fed up.  We don't heat the greenhouse and since my mother has taken up residence in my "front room", which is lovely and light, I can't do many seeds.

We aren't that much in front of you.

ancientofdays

Well I'm behind everyone. We concentrated on household preps and by the time I realised that the only seed saved from last year was half a packet of parsley seed, it was too late. But I planted out some potatoes that had gone sprouty,  far too late really and the first 3 are growing very well, the second lot should come up in the next few days, going by the time between planting and showing leaves with the first lot. So at least there might be something I've produced, even if it is just herbs and a few spuds. 

annieb64

Has anyone tried growing veg from scraps? I put the base of a cabbage in water and it produced roots and three baby cabbages on the base. Should I split it before planting out?

mothernerd

Any hints on what I can do with my mother? She's outside for the fourth day running, not in the shade, won't wear a hat or suncream, insisting that the roses need to be planted now. I'm 'doing things the hard way' because I want to take off the six inches of excess stones which are constantly having to be swept up as they're higher than the edging, level out the soil, then plant the roses with lavender and the red onions underneath (to prevent the diseases roses get). Last year she had me taking cuttings to make a rose garden in the little side bed by the side (main) door. 
Due to the problems with deliveries the roses took 5 weeks to arrive instead of 7 days and she's changed her mind about where they should go but I'm knee deep in trying to plant out, pot on and find more space for all the other things that need attention. She's already thrown out about 100 strawberry plants 'because they were untidy', tried to drag a dustbin out of the corner because 'it's an eyesore' (I caught her as she was putting her hand on the handle) and wants me to replant the tree that's in it into one of the large purpose bought containers whereas I want to wait for the veg topsoil to arrive (3 days overdue) and put the unplanted trees in the new tubs and then move the dustbin tree to a more discreet location (it's tucked into the corner atm because we don't need anything extra to fall over.
Sorry rant over - I will let her do what she wants, then re-do it properly later on. I am loving the gardening (growing veg) but I am struggling and trying to avoid hot sun (I burnt because I neglected to slap on the factor 30 on those few overcast days we had a couple of weeks back, my hayfever is ramping up again despite medication as we've had so many days of continuous sun and I also have eczema caused by the sun - I come out in white patches). She'll make herself ill and then spend the rest of the day moaning about it. She's told me I'm not allowed to shout at her.
Tomatoes and peppers (in the polytunnel) are growing like Topsy, recently planted dwarf beans are poking their heads out of the yoghurt pots (500ml ones), strawberries and lettuce in half bottles stapled across the fences are flourishing as long as I get to water them every two days, nearly everything recovered from last weeks winds (which destroyed the mini plastic greenhouse and ripped the cover off the polytunnel, taking off the front panel and turning the rest inside out like an umbrella). Polytunnel is mostly taped together with gorilla tape and the greenhouse frame has been turned into 3m long staging with leftover bits of the bathroom panelling as shelves. Ordered extra brassica seeds to make an early start on next year  once I've got this lot under control (and the cleaning, and the cooking and the shopping - re-ordering once I've had a delivery but finding I'm no longer waiting 3 weeks - and the paperwork including mum's tax return). Thank you for listening.

Rowan9

Mothernerd you do so much for your mum. I don’t have any advice but am cheering you on from the sidelines! You are doing so well with all the gardening too. I really enjoy reading about it. Don’t overdo it though and make sure you take care of yourself 

short_bird

GreyQueen said:

 and stick in a couple of Audreys and stand well back. If nothing else, it will be interesting and 400 sq m gives me some room to play with.

"Feed me, Seymour!"
  

cornishchick

Raspberries ....
Myself, my daughter and My partner's dad have all had new Canes in the autumn of last year, all from different nurseries, different canes and all living in different parts of the country, we are currently all experiencing no growth at all on any of our canes and joke with one another about our crop of sticks.... 
my first batch of courgettes seeds didn't sprout and I struggled to get new ones, of which all of them have sprouted so I am behind. I have plenty of cut and come again salad and chard growing. so that's good.
my tomatoes seeds grow then just died on me... 

Si_Clist

cornishchick said:

Raspberries ....
Myself, my daughter and My partner's dad have all had new Canes in the autumn of last year, all from different nurseries, different canes and all living in different parts of the country, we are currently all experiencing no growth at all on any of our canes and joke with one another about our crop of sticks....

A pound to a penny says waterlogging, to which raspberries seem particularly averse.  We simply had way too much rain earlier in the year.  Our two varieties on the allotment still look like they're trying their best to die, but as the plot took the best part of three weeks after the rains to dry out even to how it normally is after normal rain, that's no surprise at all.

In the back garden we have a long row of Glen Prosen, one end of which looks just like its mates on the allotment.  The other end is doing well now after a very iffy start.  Guess which end has hedge roots and a clump of rhubarb competing with it for moisture ...

Tink_04

I’m really enjoying the gardening chat. I have potatoes goring in a bag and some carrots, lettuce, sweet peppers, spring onion, spinach and green beans in pots. I’m new to it all but really enjoying growing.

Tink

greenbee

I've been working hard in the garden today. I finished digging out the space for the raised bed, levelled it, sieved all the soil off the lumps of grass I'd dug out to reclaim the topsoil, then marked out an area slightly larger than the bed with pallet wood and covered it in sand (I had masses of builders' sand in sandbags that were starting to rot, most of which was used for the base of the other raised bed), then put a layer of weed suppressant membrane over it (this lot isn't as good as the last lot, but I don't care right now... ) built the bed and put that on the membrane. I then put a layer of rubble on the membrane (kindly donated by my brother - I am always after rubble/large stones for the stream, and my SIL is digging vast amounts of chalk and flint out of their garden at the moment), followed by the contents of the compost bins (not much as they were emptied a couple of weeks ago, so also not very well rotted - but mostly weed from the stream). I then dismantled the old compost bins (too small) and scraped up what was left - lots of good compost, which I now need to sieve. The topsoil has gone in, but the rest (plus some bagged compost) will have to wait until tomorrow as I'm shattered and achy!