2023 - the good, the not so good but hopefully not ugly of growing your own!

carinjo

Glittering_M said:

Have most of the seeds I want now, just waiting to plant them . Particularly frustrating me is anything that wants a particularly warm environment to germinate in, our house was 8c today and we can't have the heating on the whole time.

There a few things you can do to generate more heat. The easiest is a sunny window sill. Using smaller trays for seeds and you can use any clear plastic to wrap it in and create a greenhouse effect. I have used clear binbags, large ziplock bags. I use an old glass shelf over my long planter for the leek seeds. 
Of course some seeds like squash and sunflower don't even need light to germinate, i stick them in the boiler cupboard and check twice a day, as soon as they germinate, move them to windowsill. Remove them from window sill overnight when temperature really drops. 
Yes, the cold will cause a struggle once the seedlings appear, my tomatoes are leggy each year, no matter what, but you should still have some successes hopefully.

Glittering_M

Thanks you, I've been put off as my coriander went really leggy. I'll give it a go once I get some compost.

carinjo

Glittering_M said:

Thanks you, I've been put off as my coriander went really leggy. I'll give it a go once I get some compost.

I'm going to try a Monty trick this year and run my hand over the seedlings whenever i go past. Apparently it simulates outside conditions and makes them stronger and helps with legginess. Is that even a word?!

MissRikkiC

I’ve got a huge project on going In the garden on account of being such a novice when I started. 

I used pallet collars as ‘raised beds’ back in 2021, and they did okay. But I doubled them so stacked 2 high and have since decided I’ve got space for more (I really haven’t 🤪) so need to separate them all.  The mistake I made as such a novice was lining the previous lawn area, that we dug up with weed suppressing fabric before covering in chip stone, before popping down the beds, 2 high, filling layer one with breeze blocks from the wall I knocked down in my kitchen and layering litres and litres of compost on top. Okay so I made many mistakes. I was very new! 

So now I’m trying to get back down to the soil, turn it over and have single height beds on top with compost. It’s a massive job as I’m going from 6 to 12 and the 6 are already in place! Really need to get a move on! 

Suffolk_lass

We are way behind already thanks to the distraction of a potential move. Clearing up is the priority for the timebeing!

Fosterdog

@MissRikkiC I made a similar mistake in my old garden, the easiest fix was to take the top layer of the beds off and set them up as new beds first, that gave me immediate planting space and then I had had weeks/months longer to deal with the messed up lower levels and used those beds for later season planting, I think I started with 8 and in the first year only got around to getting 10 sorted and did the others the next year because I started by trying to deal with the current beds first. I really wish I'd saved time and gone straight to the new beds first plan.

Not a lot going on in my garden yet, I've had this awful bug that's been going around so spent well over a week completely drained, I even had to take a sick day on my worst day with it and I never take time off sick. I really need a dry and preferably not too cold day to get out there and finish the new season prep. I've got beds that need new compost added, a new raised bed to be built, two areas to clear either for in ground or raised beds/containers, I need to do a pot inventory too. Only two types of seeds I still need to buy but they won't be needed until at least April so plenty of time.

sammy_kaye18

Hi all

Sorry I have been AWOL 
Seeing the diabetic nurse tomorrow finally. 
Son then needed blood tests.
Sister has been bad after her new now ex boyfriend triggered her PTSD from a previous abusive relationship and MIL and mother have been quite poorly with this nasty lurgy that seems to be doing the round (now thankfully on the mend) 

Which has meant I fell behind with my garden a bit but have had a productive few days. 
We put all the gravel round, used old doors to make raised small plat form around the base of my greenhouse to hopefully put potato sacks onto which I have brought. 
Myself and my 12 year old spent a day cutting up and lining the big pallet bed
Today I neatened the hedge at the front that had been overhanging our neighbours garden and used that to part fill the big bed, along with some well rotted manure, grass cuttings and top soil. 

Husband brought me a 600kg bag of top soil as my valentines day present with instructions to grow my own flowers  he has friends who work in local building supply place so it was essentially free and delivered so cant argue. 

I did looking pound stretcher the other day as ours is closing down and got some onion sets (presto) and some bluebell bulbs and mini daffodil bulbs. Need to look into planting the last two but have some placement ideas already. Hoping to go back over again in the next few days and find a few more bargains for the garden. Either seeds, pots, lighting or even just a few more set of gardening gloves! 

Going to use the next few dry days to get final few things moved, cleared, built, tidied up and then when the wetter weather appears I will focus on planting up some seedlings etc 

MissRikkiC

Thanks @Fosterdog I have been trying to do that but when I say I think I’ve got space, I haven’t really. I mean I have but it’s tight and the originals need moving to allow the space for the new ones. I have started, it’s just slow. And we’ve been so busy this weekend that other than to clear the dog muck off the lawn, I’ve not done anything else out there! I need to get all my propagators from the shed and fix my lean to greenhouse so that I can get in there started off with some seeds too. So much to do! 

ancientmum

Re getting as much heat as you can to seeds without spending a fortune, I covered mine with old bubble wrap at night' then when some seeds started to germinate I balanced clear plastic punnets on top of the ones they growing in.  These allow light and air in.   Great tip carinjo, about stressing the seedlings a la Monty.  I have some rocket which looks like sickly mustard and cress and doesn't seem to be getting any stronger, so I'll try showing it some love by stroking it.

carinjo

Suffolk_lass said:

We are way behind already thanks to the distraction of a potential move. Clearing up is the priority for the timebeing!

Oh wow. That can't be easy, especially with all the effort you have put in over the years. And didn't you just get a fruit cage? 
@ancientmum, i've had success with clear punnets, using them as mini cloches on allotment, pegged down