The all new 2019 growing your own thread!

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Suffolk_lass wrote: »

We have used copper plumbing pipes (16mm) as arches (used a pipe bender) and red-lead colour paint so no copper leaching. The arches sit over the path between beds 3-4 and 5-6 so we grow climbing beans over the arches. We use these four beds for the traditional four crop rotation.

Today we cleared all the clutter cut down sticks and prunings, and covered prepped beds with old carpets. Then moved to a big (mostly flower) bed where we cut down blackthorn and brambles.

I have had a really hot bath and a long soak and still have so many thorns in my hands, fingers and arms. Other than using a needle or waiting, any effective solution for getting those tiny weeny bits out gratefully received please

edit; After a night of prickles and pain, there are around 6 I can't locate to remove

Magnifying glass & tweezers - real good long tweezers as used for typesetting or army surplus medical tweezers. Pinch where you think the little blighter is hiding, locate & pull. If you can't see it, gently running the tip of the tweezers over the general area might help you locate & pull it

CAFCGirl

Suffolk_lass wrote: »

We have used copper plumbing pipes (16mm) as arches (used a pipe bender) and red-lead colour paint so no copper leaching. The arches sit over the path between beds 3-4 and 5-6 so we grow climbing beans over the arches. We use these four beds for the traditional four crop rotation.

Today we cleared all the clutter cut down sticks and prunings, and covered prepped beds with old carpets. Then moved to a big (mostly flower) bed where we cut down blackthorn and brambles.

I have had a really hot bath and a long soak and still have so many thorns in my hands, fingers and arms. Other than using a needle or waiting, any effective solution for getting those tiny weeny bits out gratefully received please

edit; After a night of prickles and pain, there are around 6 I can't locate to remove

Coat the areas with PVA glue, let it dry and peel.

Or make a bicarb paste, apply and cover with plaster. Leave over night and uncover in morning and they should have been pulled out.

euronorris

Magnesium sulphate paste (can buy in chemists) over splinters, covered with a plaster, should draw them out. Good luck!

Have transplanted my pea seedlings to larger pots. Moved the rhubarb plant from its pot (should've done years ago, it was so root bound!), and into one of the borders in the garden. I bought one of the raspberry canes from lidl and that is now in the ground also. Picked up a few strawberry plants from garden centre and planted them up too.

Tried to tidy up an old planter we still have in garden. It's like a bag version, and its disintegrating. Plus, the soil was overrun with moss and other weeds where we had neglected them. I was surprised to find some spring onions and shallots growing in there though! Lol DD then wanted to pull them all out (they were too little to harvest really, but couldn't leave them in there either). I only managed to get the top layer of soil, with the moss and weeds out and into the green bin. Still too heavy to lift the bag up. I'm not strong enough, and neither is the bag anymore. I was a bit cream cracked, cold and windswept after all that! Lol

Also transplanted the courgette seedlings into larger pots as they have also taken off. Sowed some cucumbers and the black tomato seeds, and runner beans.

Surprised to see my chillies have germinated already!! They are from seeds I harvested from last years plants. Peppers and strawberry seeds still quiet. Everything else popping up!

Kantankrus_Mare

euronorris wrote: »

.

Surprised to see my chillies have germinated already!! They are from seeds I harvested from last years plants. Peppers and strawberry seeds still quiet. Everything else popping up!

It always amazes and delights me when seeds saved from previous year germinate and give you free plants and then free food. :T

Isnt nature amazing ?

Right so I have a hanging basket and three half moon baskets on my allotment shed. Didnt put anything in them last year and put bedding plants in the year before which looked really pretty but I'm wondering if I can put some summer bulbs in that would come back every year.

Pablosmummy

Sowed my tomatoes this week and they've all come up already, sweet peppers and chilli's are nearly ready to !!!!! out, my marigolds and pansies are growing well so should be a decent size to plant out in a month or so.
Crazy weather today, snow, rain, wind, thunder, sunny, hail and now rain again! Hoping everything is surviving out the garden

Suffolk_lass

Thanks everyone. I think I have got rid of four but as both the remaining two were from blackthorn rather than brambles, the finger and heel of my hand are a bit infected (I always get that) so I am not sure yet if hours of sucking, squeezing and searching is the only problem now. The prickly bit has gone.

It was bitterly cold here today so we collected the chicken wire from the nearby person who advertised it on FB marketplace and then made seed pots from newspaper cups in toilet roll holders (cut in half). Sowed chillies, peppers and tomatoes. Must tell Unwins how disappointed I was that the tomato seed packet from them contained just 6 seeds at 50p each! The Italian packets I bought in the market last year had at least 60 in and cost €1 each. Cuor di Bue - enormous things if there is enough sun!

euronorris

Some seed packets are really stingy! The black tomatoes I was after had only 6-8 seeds from sutton's and the like. At over £3 too! Found a site online selling packets with a minimum of 10 seeds (I got 12), at half the price!

CAFCGirl

Seed sowing indoors for me today, and will plug in the propagated to get another set of chillies going I think. Nothing happening in the ones I did last month so figure I'll put them in there plus a fresh sowing.
Going to start off some beans today I think.

All my slates are clean too so a bit of arts and crafts.

Suffolk_lass

euronorris wrote: »

Some seed packets are really stingy! The black tomatoes I was after had only 6-8 seeds from sutton's and the like. At over £3 too! Found a site online selling packets with a minimum of 10 seeds (I got 12), at half the price!

I bought a Black Russian trial pack from T&M while cruising their website ( - in fact I changed loads of my preferred varieties this year to take trial packs, children's packs and special offers) and there are about 20 seeds in the 99p packet.

The stingy packet is Sungold F1 (hybrid) so I can't even grow them from seeds I have harvested.

I don't have a propagator so my chillies are on top of the bug-zapper that is nice and warm

euronorris

That's a good idea. Thanks Suffolklass.


I don't have a fancy propagator. I just got a set of 4 from Lidl for £3.99 last year (and didn't end up using it until this year). Not available online anymore, but there's still some in my local store. Most of my seedlings (including the chillies have done really well in there). Just waiting on the strawberries and sweet peppers to germinate.


Anyone ever ordered from Charlies.co.uk? They have a good elevated deep root planter we want, and they are cheapest available. Just wondered if anyone has any experience of using them?