GreenFly - A 'flylady style' gardening thread with weekly tasks to tame your garden

Brie

Annoyed that I didn't find any courgette plants anywhere I bought some (very cheap) seeds to plant.  What do you figure the success of this might be?  Assuming no birds churn up the pots....

Farway

Brie said:

Annoyed that I didn't find any courgette plants anywhere I bought some (very cheap) seeds to plant.  What do you figure the success of this might be?  Assuming no birds churn up the pots....

I did the same last week, the seeds are up already, so it's down to the weather now

Nothing ventured etc. They have two options, grow or die.

Floss

greenbee said:

There are a few greenhouses coming up nearby for free or very cheap on FB marketplace Kaz. You do have to take them apart and transport them though! One of the ones that's a frame with no glass might be the best bet, and then replace the glass with plastic

I put twin-wall polycarbonate into a greenhouse frame when I had an allotment, it was fab - no breakages and very warm.

redofromstart

I bought my greenhouse in a popular orange diy store at a huge reduction just after Christmas many years back, the one prior to that was someone at works MIL who just wanted it removing after her DH passed away. Polycarbonate sheet works well in my experience, as long as you have enough clips to hold it - true of the glass also. 

Polytunnel are cheap too, my only advice is to buy one that has been on sale for a few years where you can get new covers. £65 for a new one after 7 years on mine 

SuzeQStan

We got a greenhouse this last year - after years of ones that blew away in the wind despite weighing them down etc (got a bit fed up) anyway it was a project - dug foundations, hardcore to a serious depth and everything bolted down to the ground. 

It’s amazing to see the difference in the veg in GH compared to the raised bed. Toms beetroot beans several varieties, hot peppers (to scare our nephew with). It’s nice to think we might actually have veg this year worth eating.

cherry, plum, apple & pear trees seem to have reached majority and fruiting.  I’ve been looking into how to protect the fruit from birds etc but I can’t bear to do it. They can have the fruit - I’ll buy mine on offer and Whoopsies from Asd@ lol.

edit to add - can’t give away my old polytunnel - no one wants it

Sun_Addict

We live in a very exposed windy area at the top of a hill there are no wind breaks and our glass greenhouse has been fine. 

The new water butt arrived today, a tad bigger than I envisaged, we’ll need a lot of rain to fill this baby 😆 Currently collecting rainwater in and old storage box so this has to be a better option. 

Picked a few more sugar snap peas and mangetout tonight and the salad leaves are also ready for picking. 

Cherryfudge

Sun_Addict said:

The new water butt arrived today, a tad bigger than I envisaged, we’ll need a lot of rain to fill this baby 😆 Currently collecting rainwater in and old storage box so this has to be a better option. 

We have our water butt attached to the downpipe for our row of four terraced houses - we get all the water from one side of the the four properties. It fills up with no trouble and when the rain is very heavy, actually leaks out of the top as well as overwhelming the drain beneath the pipe. So if you can attached your water butt to a roof, you may even want a second one to maximise the benefits. (We had a second one but it broke).

My only other tip is to make sure you can get a watering can under the tap before allowing it to fill with water. I have no idea how I know that's important. 

I use rain water for houseplants now and they seem happier with that than our local hard water.

Floss

The key thing to remember with a glass greenhouse is to close the door when it is windy....

-taff

Or open the roof window as well as the door so it goes through. The wind has blown my glass greenhouse, which weights a ton obviously with all the glass, 6x8, a few inches across the wooden sleepers it sits on before...

@greenbee I saw a trick the other day. Put your green bin waste on the floor, run over it with the lawnmower a few times without the collection basket on it, then use it with the collection basket on to collect it and put it in the bin. I watched a green bin full reduced to a basket full.

redofromstart

My greenhouse is always open - one of the cats used to be able to open the door so I leave the door and the window open all of the time. The glass damage has generally been rugby ball related, and I have replaced with polycarbonate each time as it is safer, if less effective.

Some signs of recovery on the Last Courgette.  I was considering slug pellets, which I have never tried before, but the elderly dog eats compost so I think safer not to. 

I still have 27 dianthus to plant, 30 holly hocks arrived yesterday, and I spotted a nettle in the front garden this morning.  The green waste bins are empty at least, and it isn't actively raining but I have things I should be doing indoors which is when the garden gets away from me.

Great suggestion on the mowing of green waste @-taff . Always amazes me how much difference using the shredder makes as well - it really reduces the volume down and I rarely think to get it out.