We've changed the name of this board from 'Greenfingered MoneySaving' to simply 'Gardening'. This is to help make it easier to find for the horticulturally inclined. The URL remains unchanged for the time being, so all links to the board are unaffected.
The all new 2019 growing your own thread!
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Sounds like an adventurous bargain you found there!
I think I may follow your lead and at least cover the area for now, till it's ready for 'the big dig'. I can't rotovate my plot - it's literally the entrance to bind weed hell and I don't\won't use chemicals on it so I just dig out what I can.
I've got old staging that I'll use in it for this year and will use some o f it to fashion tomato cages over my growbags. Plan is tomatoes, chillies, peppers and aubergine in there, as well as seedling starting zone.
Day off tomorrow as I'm going on a den building and fire lighting session with DS
Manifesting Abundance in 2023Fashion On The Ration 2023 36/660 -
Day off tomorrow as I'm going on a den building and fire lighting session with DS
Top tip - if you've got some dry storage, when you prune woody things like rosemary, lavender etc - tie up little bundles of prunings (say the size of a kitchen roll tube) and let them dry for a few months. Since I figured that one out, every bonfire only requires one match
Why am I in this handcart and where are we going ?0 -
I’ve been awol for a week or so but now back home for a long stretch, so gardening is top of the list.
My peas have grown to around 4cm and looking very healthy. I swear you could have watched them grow it’s happened so fast. A few tomato seeds have shown their delicate first growth as have the leeks. Another two weeks and the next lot of seeds will be started. Got my onions ready to go in.
Half the veg patch is looking healthy with a fairly fine tilth, for a clay soil anyway, so I’m raring to go.
Just been reading about price rises for fresh fruits and veg in the wake of a no deal Brexit. Even with a deal there will be tariffs passed onto the customer. Even more reason to grow your own.
Happy gardening everyone.0 -
unrecordings wrote: »Top tip - if you've got some dry storage, when you prune woody things like rosemary, lavender etc - tie up little bundles of prunings (say the size of a kitchen roll tube) and let them dry for a few months. Since I figured that one out, every bonfire only requires one match
We dry out the (chopped up) Christmas tree in a dustbin (plastic, with a lid held down with bricks) and a frond has the same effect. Also citrus fruit peel, dried out (on the top of the stove) smells great as firelighters and "burn like bu**ery" - to quote my Grandma.
When we put carpet over our beds CAFC it helpfully encourages the bindweed roots up to the surface. We just have to watch out for the residents (often a mouse nest and surface tunnels evident when the carpet is removed).
We have been in the veg beds this week, preparing, weeding and clearing. Lots of onions and leeks that filled other gaps last year are still going strong. Indoors I only have early potatoes chitting in the kitchen so far. The decrepit greenhouse was blown out of square last year and although OK for tomatoes and chillies, once they are up and growing, it is not somewhere I want to spend time - especially with a destroyed roof panel still to replace.
We will replace the greenhouse and i had been looking at a poly-tunnel too/instead - v interested in your choice CAFC if you are willing to shareSave £12k in 2024 - #2 target is £5000 only £798.34 so far
OS Grocery Challenge 2024 31.1% spent or £932.98/£3,000 annual
I also Reverse Meal Plan on that thread and grow much of our own premium price fruit and veg, joining in on the Grow your own thread
My Debt Free Diary Get a grip Woman0 -
I have been digging out little thistles that seeded everywhere after the farmer got his man to plough as close as possible to our hedges (he was cross with me) last year. Some need an excavator - all over the orchard-bit (too small to call an orchard!)
Bl**dy wood-sorrel, it is everywhere. Clearly the ton bag of heat-treated compost was not heated enough - it is everywhere. I have cleared some paths, the bed with asparagus in, pulled and dug out an apple seedling (growing from the rootstock of the old russet) and loads of over-ambitious raspberry canes, making an escape bid. Just so much to do. DH has done most of another bed (they are a sleeper length and just too wide to reach the middle without a supporting hand or foot) - and there are 8 - and he has cut down all the raspberry canes as he could not tell which ones to leave (they are tough, it isn't a problem).
We have got so much composting to do I foresee a trip to the local store that sells big bags of well-rotted farmyard manure!Save £12k in 2024 - #2 target is £5000 only £798.34 so far
OS Grocery Challenge 2024 31.1% spent or £932.98/£3,000 annual
I also Reverse Meal Plan on that thread and grow much of our own premium price fruit and veg, joining in on the Grow your own thread
My Debt Free Diary Get a grip Woman0 -
I'm going to try straw bale gardening this year as part of my end of garden plot is riddled with roots. I have got a few "traditional" raised beds which I made from cut price decking boards but I'm intrigued by the fact that, according to what I've read, straw bales will last for up to 3 years and increase productivity due to the warmth produced when decomposing.
I haven't decided what to grow in them yet but has anybody else tried this method?0 -
Bertiewhite- any more info on straw bale gardening? I've never heard of it.
Today I have dug over the veg patch again and put the first onions in. I hope it's not too early. I'm wondering if the warm weather has given me a false sense of security!
Laid down my paths so I can get between the rows without stamping on everything.
It was such a beautiful day today. I wish it was always so lovely. 0 -
I was thinking about trying straw bale gardening but I couldn't find any that could be delivered in less than 42 bale quantities. Bit too much for the back garden.Shampoo? No thanks, I'll have real poo...0
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Well from what I can make out, you place the bale end on so you are planting in the cut ends. Water the bale for 2 weeks before you want to plant and also add nitrogen (urine should do by all accounts). Then either make holes in the bale to plant plugs into or cut a slit along if you are sowing seeds. Add a little bit of compost to the hole/slit and plant or sow. The bale will start to decompose inside providing nutrients & warmth.Bertiewhite- any more info on straw bale gardening? I've never heard of it.
The advantages are that you can place the bales anywhere, they are at a decent height, they require no digging and the warmth from inside increases yield (much like a hotbed I suppose). A bale will last for up to 3 years and then can be broken up for quality compost. You do have to keep the bale watered as they are free draining.
I got a couple for 2 quid each as part of a larger order through one of my mates but when I had horses, I found plenty of farmers who would sell bales in single figures.
I've put mine in as wellToday I have dug over the veg patch again and put the first onions in. I hope it's not too early. I'm wondering if the warm weather has given me a false sense of security!0 -
Been knackered this week (14 hours sleep last night) - but made it outside and got some pottering dealt with. I've a neighbour who keeps bees - he must have uncovered the hives in the last couple of days, because the snowdrops were, well - buzzing
Wild garlic is coming through, the tender herbs I overwintered in a greenhouse are coming back and the garden is coming to life again.
Why am I in this handcart and where are we going ?0
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