God I love growing our own

[Goran]

Yesterday picked young nettle for tea.. Few days ago last batch of potatoes in the ground.. In the meantime I learned kiddo to graft fruit trees.. Seems again proven he has " green hands" - lot of that seems will succeed and he likes it..

 

[JamezF]

Woohoo! I've just been out in the veg plot and noticed the first four asparagus shoots have appeared.

I am very happy

James

 

[enrico]

Woohoo! I've just been out in the veg plot and noticed the first four asparagus shoots have appeared.

I am very happy

James

We are selling at the gate already

 

[JamezF]

We are selling at the gate already

You'll be giving people spear envy...

James

 

[JamezF]

Bah! Half an hour ago a fox got into our chicken runs and killed all but one hen and a cockerel I was keeping for breeding. Absolutely huge animal, it was. When I ran outside it jumped the fence with no hesitation whatsoever. We've never had that happen before. It's been quite a few years since the last "incursion", but that was by digging under the fence and (I hope) I fixed that.

James

 

[Sutty]

Bah! Half an hour ago a fox got into our chicken runs and killed all but one hen and a cockerel I was keeping for breeding. Absolutely huge animal, it was. When I ran outside it jumped the fence with no hesitation whatsoever. We've never had that happen before. It's been quite a few years since the last "incursion", but that was by digging under the fence and (I hope) I fixed that.

James

Time to get a trap +/- a shotgun licence.
Sorry you lost all the birds.

 

[roche]

I spend about £8 on enough onion sets to last us as a family of 4 an entire year. Put them in the unheated greenhouse for about 6 weeks then gently replant them into the bed where they will grow until they are harvested in August / September.

One that's great is putting 8 / 10 White Lisbon seeds in each cell and succession sowing through the year, lovely fresh spring onions from May onwards, pull them up in bunches like you'd buy in the shops. Beetroot sow in cells of 4 or 5 to a cell, remove a couple when they are golf ball size in the summer and let the last few grown on to a decent size through the summer.

What do you plant your White Lisbon in? Is it any particular type of compost or other growing medium? Given my lack of success with germination I am looking for faults in my method...

 

[enrico]

What do you plant your White Lisbon in? Is it any particular type of compost or other growing medium? Given my lack of success with germination I am looking for faults in my method...

Pear free compost is only ever any good if you mix feed or other home compost to it or it just doesn't work! Noticed that last year when nothing grew past seed leaves. This year no problem by using a mix

 

[enrico]

Bah! Half an hour ago a fox got into our chicken runs and killed all but one hen and a cockerel I was keeping for breeding. Absolutely huge animal, it was. When I ran outside it jumped the fence with no hesitation whatsoever. We've never had that happen before. It's been quite a few years since the last "incursion", but that was by digging under the fence and (I hope) I fixed that.

James

Oh wow! Sorry mate. The best hens we ever have are the rescued ones. They ksy every day for a good couple of years. The ones we get from Black down Hills stop laying after a year and never lay again and are three times the price. We will always get rescued hens in the future.

 

[Goran]

I have a problem.. When I see a plant, I take seeds and sow.. Like that I sow cedar tree, Japanese raisin tree, date. Took bunch of cutting from fig and stick into ground and to my surprise a lot of are growing.. Now I have to find a place to plant a forest.. Not to mention some fruit trees we grafted.. And some more which I wait to see will they emerge from the ground.. " Hi, my name is Goran and I have addiction to plant". I have to go to rehab..

 

[pargyle]

I have a problem.. When I see a plant, I take seeds and sow.. Like that I sow cedar tree, Japanese raisin tree, date. Took bunch of cutting from fig and stick into ground and to my surprise a lot of are growing.. Now I have to find a place to plant a forest.. Not to mention some fruit trees we grafted.. And some more which I wait to see will they emerge from the ground.. " Hi, my name is Goran and I have addiction to plant". I have to go to rehab..

I can't resist taking cuttings ... even just prunings I tend to stick in a pot and they usually grow - it's a disease 'Ineedmoreplantsitis' ...totally incurable ..

 

[Sutty]

Although a dreadful gardener I'm also guilty of this - I've brought cuttings of cacti etc home from abroad and rooted them.
Currently I have two lemongrass stalks in water hoping they will root....

 

[E&MBees]

I have a problem.. When I see a plant, I take seeds and sow.. Like that I sow cedar tree, Japanese raisin tree, date. Took bunch of cutting from fig and stick into ground and to my surprise a lot of are growing.. Now I have to find a place to plant a forest.. Not to mention some fruit trees we grafted.. And some more which I wait to see will they emerge from the ground.. " Hi, my name is Goran and I have addiction to plant". I have to go to rehab..

Sounds like my back garden. I have so many pots full of cuttings and bits of plants. My family are fed up with them and me! I can’t resist a bargain plant that needs a bit of nurturing back to health.

 

[The Poot]

A tip for you gardeners out there….

 

[Erichalfbee]

Recipe for compost please. I have garden compost and leaf mould. What else to add?
Thoroughly disappointed with seedlings this year so I’m going to try making my own.

 

[JamezF]

Recipe for compost please. I have garden compost and leaf mould. What else to add?
Thoroughly disappointed with seedlings this year so I’m going to try making my own.

In at least one of his videos, Charles Dowding talks through what he uses for home-made seed compost, though I believe he may still use bought in for starting seeds off.

James

 

[fian]

Beach sand and fertilizer in equal parts and sawdust on top for the seedbeds.

 

[pargyle]

Recipe for compost please. I have garden compost and leaf mould. What else to add?

Thoroughly disappointed with seedlings this year so I’m going to try making my own.

I do 70% compost 20% leaf mould (finely seived) and 10% vermiculite or perlite. I have heard that coir is good to add as well ..

 

[Erichalfbee]

Thanks for there compost ideas. If it weren't for the tomatoes I found growing in the tunnel I would largely be bereft this year. Have to buy my peppers and aubergines.

 

[enrico]

Thanks for there compost ideas. If it weren't for the tomatoes I found growing in the tunnel I would largely be bereft this year. Have to buy my peppers and aubergines.

We us the peat free but add our own compost for a bit of body and then some blood fish and bone powder. The only problem with adding our own compost this year has been the millions of tomato seedlings that have popped up in everything. Cant grow them when you want to but get a forest of them when you don't!!