God I love growing our own

[Sutty]

Given up with my ponds No longer have Fish as the otters just kept on eating them.Strange how a few years ago they were endangered now in this area they have become a bit of a pest.

I know some people have tried low electric fencing around ponds.

 

[JamezF]

Bit the bullet today and planted out my broad beans which I've put off again and again thanks to the weather until they have roots exploring out of the bottoms of the pots. Hopefully they'll be ok. I gave them a fair watering in, but they should get properly sorted tomorrow morning as we have about eight hours of heavy rain forecast.

James

 

[enrico]

Bit the bullet today and planted out my broad beans which I've put off again and again thanks to the weather until they have roots exploring out of the bottoms of the pots. Hopefully they'll be ok. I gave them a fair watering in, but they should get properly sorted tomorrow morning as we have about eight hours of heavy rain forecast.

James

Our first lot of broad beans have been out for a while and seem fine. Second sowing still in pots

 

[JamezF]

I finished potting up a load of our older strawberry plants today, removing them from the tubs they've been in for the last couple of years to see if they'll produce some early fruit if I leave them in the greenhouse.

Perhaps I needn't have bothered. This is a mid-season variety (Cambridge Favourite) that has been outside all Winter.

The photo is a little over-exposed, but that's a cluster of fruit in the middle. Not much chance of them ripening in this weather though, I reckon.

James

 

[Amari]

Our first lot of broad beans have been out for a while and seem fine. Second sowing still in pots

Bit the bullet today and planted out my broad beans which I've put off again and again thanks to the weather until they have roots exploring out of the bottoms of the pots. Hopefully they'll be ok. I gave them a fair watering in, but they should get properly sorted tomorrow morning as we have about eight hours of heavy rain forecast.

James

I incubated my broad beans on the windowsill at home until the tips of the roots emerged and planted them out on the allotment the day before yesterday.
When using a dibber, as usual, it often entered a 'void' = rodent sub-surface tunnels. Over 15 years on the site I have found short-tailed voles to be commoner than mice.
Thus forewarned I placed three traps and three cubes of warfarin-type cubes, protected from bird-bycatch by a net.
Yesterday = three mice caught and the cubes nibbled (pic).
Today = two mice caught (pic).
Whether they've eaten the beans I don't know. I'm growing further beans in the greenhouse to be planted out when established plants.
I don't enjoy gratuitously killing things, but what else can I do?

 

[enrico]

I incubated my broad beans on the windowsill at home until the tips of the roots emerged and planted them out on the allotment the day before yesterday.
When using a dibber, as usual, it often entered a 'void' = rodent sub-surface tunnels. Over 15 years on the site I have found short-tailed voles to be commoner than mice.
Thus forewarned I placed three traps and three cubes of warfarin-type cubes, protected from bird-bycatch by a net.
Yesterday = three mice caught and the cubes nibbled (pic).
Today = two mice caught (pic).
Whether they've eaten the beans I don't know. I'm growing further beans in the greenhouse to be planted out when established plants.
I don't enjoy gratuitously killing things, but what else can I do?

If you can get dry Holly leaves they work well for keeping them away

 

[JamezF]

If you can get dry Holly leaves they work well for keeping them away

My experience with holly leaves was that they blew away fairly quickly. So I tried ones still attached to the twigs, but once they dry out they fall off and we're back to the same problem. Of course it might just be that we're pretty exposed here. Perhaps putting fleece or mesh over the leaves might have helped. Of course you can't win, because fleece and mesh just give the slugs and snails somewhere safe to hide from predators...

James

 

[fian]

UK spelling Vs American.
"Sarco"=muscle
"Aenia" (American "enia")=lack of
So: anaemia, leukopaenia, thrombocytopaenia, etc.
Of course the Brits are correct!
Eg "orthopaedics" was originally named from "straightening children": paed=child, ortho=straight. The American spelling "pediatrics" dodgy: ped=foot, so would mean straightening feet!

You haven't actually accepted any.
Orthopedics has roots.
Orthos with upright or straight meaning
Paideia meaning education or training.
On the other hand
Pediatrics has as roots
Paidos with meaning of child
Iatreia with the meaning of healing.
The etymological origin of feet in Greek would be the root "podo", as an example the edible octopod that we Galicians like (the octopus).

 

[ldwgs]

I incubated my broad beans on the windowsill at home until the tips of the roots emerged and planted them out on the allotment the day before yesterday.
When using a dibber, as usual, it often entered a 'void' = rodent sub-surface tunnels. Over 15 years on the site I have found short-tailed voles to be commoner than mice.
Thus forewarned I placed three traps and three cubes of warfarin-type cubes, protected from bird-bycatch by a net.
Yesterday = three mice caught and the cubes nibbled (pic).
Today = two mice caught (pic).
Whether they've eaten the beans I don't know. I'm growing further beans in the greenhouse to be planted out when established plants.
I don't enjoy gratuitously killing things, but what else can I do?

very thorny twigs eg rose cuttings stuffed into holes and strewn over plants stops them being eaten

 

[alancooper]

Bit the bullet today and planted out my broad beans which I've put off again and again thanks to the weather until they have roots exploring out of the bottoms of the pots. Hopefully they'll be ok. I gave them a fair watering in, but they should get properly sorted tomorrow morning as we have about eight hours of heavy rain forecast.

James

On my heavy clay/compost soil (mild wet climate), Spring pot sown broad bean transplants under-performed compared with Spring direct sown broad beans. Autumn sowing is disastrous.

 

[JamezF]

On my heavy clay/compost soil (mild wet climate), Spring pot sown broad bean transplants under-performed compared with Spring direct sown broad beans. Autumn sowing is disastrous.

I tried Autumn sowing a couple of years ago, both broad beans and field beans. Almost nothing survived the winter. I suspect it's most effective somewhere relatively sheltered and frost-free.

James

 

[Goran]

Small patch of lettuce.. and too much for us.. will have some for sharing. In greenhouse we have for pretty long ( about month) green onions which we also like much.. For about week or little more we have small red radishes we also like a lot in greenhouse.. We don't treat these with anything.. no need.. few if gone due to diseases.. a lot more remain to eat.. We don't heat greenhouse..

 

[JamezF]

They do look like very healthy lettuces.

James

 

[alancooper]

Have had poly tunnel envy for a while. I'm never going to get one, or have the time or skill for a whole tunnel.
But I've just inherited one of the small walk in plastic tube greenhouses (walk in is a bit of an exaggeration ). Plan is to put it up at work, tucked away, and look after-able while I'm there.

Would like some ideas for easy starter things, I definately want some tomatoes for pizza base use, having just bought a wood fired oven too.
Fancy some chillis, and courgettes too.
Just some ideas on varieties, that will cope with my lack of knowledge. ( Shropshire based) And best things to grow them in etc. pots, bags? Substrate?

Thanks in advance. Clueless but enthusiastic

Mark.

If I had just a small area under poly I would grow to eat fresh to enjoy the wonderful taste. Why mask it in cooked recipes? Use the supermarket for volume?

 

[pargyle]

If I had just a small area under poly I would grow to eat fresh to enjoy the wonderful taste. Why mask it in cooked recipes? Use the supermarket for volume?

There are other options:

I have an A Frame with troughs on both sides - in the early months I cover it with clear polythene held in place with clips. I have rocket, lettuce, land cress, lollo rosso, mixed salad leaves all germinating, the troughs on the end have three flavours of mint and the space inside the A Frame has a shelf with seed trays with radishes and cress growing. All in a space 1.2 m x 1.0m

This was it last year ..

 

[Antipodes]

Here I go gathering nuts in March.

 

[fian]

Here I go gathering nuts in March.

From the photo I would say that they are hazelnuts and not walnuts.

 

[Antipodes]

From the photo I would say that they are hazelnuts and not walnuts.

Yes, T.B. Cosford and Barcelona varieties.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Yes, T.B. Cosford and Barcelona varieties.

I try to get to ours before the squirrels do. I make my own “Nutella” for the grandkids and for cooking.
Imported hazelnuts and products made from them have such awful provenance.

 

[Midget Gem]

I try to get to ours before the squirrels do. I make my own “Nutella” for the grandkids and for cooking.
Imported hazelnuts and products made from them have such awful provenance.

What's the recipe?