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Post by plocket on Jul 28, 2007 19:19:38 GMT 1
We spent a bit of time in the garden today!!! OH mowed the grass and I edged it first, AND I planted a new thalictrum  It was glorious just to be able to sit outside and soak up a bit of warmth. (Funny how I used a "wet" word to describe the warmth!!!) |
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Post by 4pygmies on Jul 29, 2007 12:59:15 GMT 1
I'm depressed! I've just been digging in the veggie patch and things are TERRIBLE...I think my potato crop is half what it should be, the carrots are tiny, the beans look pitiful.......still the onions look OK ish and if the tomatoes would ripen there is at least a good crop of plum tomatoes. Hardly any fruit on the apple trees though.....sometimes I wonder why I like this gardening lark.......
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Post by plocket on Jul 29, 2007 13:03:50 GMT 1
Aw hunnie don't be too down, it's been a bad year generally for vegetables because of the weather. How about this for an example: we have a dinky little apple tree that last year produced 12 apples. This year there are 2 ripening on it : And you can be positive about your tomatoes, even if you end up making tons of green tomato chutney  |
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Post by 4pygmies on Jul 29, 2007 13:07:23 GMT 1
Actually I LOVE green tomato chutney! I wanted to have a go at bottling the plum toms this year - I seem to buy such a lot of tinned ones.....as you say, everyone has had a bad year.....
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Post by plocket on Jul 29, 2007 13:08:32 GMT 1
Well the weather seems to be getting a bit better so hopefully you'd get some good ones. Mmmm home-bottled plum tomatoes - I can't think of much better!!!
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Post by 4pygmies on Jul 29, 2007 13:13:45 GMT 1
I am actually turning into my Nanna - she had a whole pantry full of stuff like that.......my grandparents grew virtually all their food......for some reason it's not that easy anymore to do that sort of thing, you seem to need an enormous amount of money to be a simple peasant. It's a mad world...
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Post by plocket on Jul 29, 2007 18:06:23 GMT 1
It's bonkers, but I know which life I'd choose |
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Jul 29, 2007 18:39:59 GMT 1
Well today I cooked the beetroot and pickled them in little jars, cooked our lovely little round carrots...soooo tasty with the roast beef etc... Took some cuttings from the tarragon for The witch...  Pricked out the bellis and wallflowers...they're not looking v happy tho asi t was a bit hot this arvo. Oh well...they either survive or they don't...  |
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Post by plocket on Jul 29, 2007 18:45:53 GMT 1
Fingers crossed they'll be ok Cheery. I wish our carrots were ready to harvest but I don't think they are getting enough sun : |
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Post by 4pygmies on Aug 15, 2007 9:18:54 GMT 1
I am going to get a stack of coir pots and repot all the wild flower plugs I've got ready for the kids to plant in the new term today. And I hope to move a load of pots about to make my patio look a bit less of a mess. I have too many crates and pots everywhere.......I dunno why I posted that...not very interesting is it?  |
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Post by Sleepy on Aug 15, 2007 9:32:14 GMT 1
I am going to get a stack of coir pots and repot all the wild flower plugs I've got ready for the kids to plant in the new term today. And I hope to move a load of pots about to make my patio look a bit less of a mess. I have too many crates and pots everywhere.......I dunno why I posted that...not very interesting is it? That's nice. And you could leave a few tucked in corners. Mrs Rat might be able to make a nice cosy nest out of them. |
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Post by sweetleaf on Aug 15, 2007 9:47:11 GMT 1
Yesterday I moved dozens of Lavender babies into deep plug trays and put them under the bench, today the upper levels of the bench will be cleared other than the peppers and chillies, and Ill have a concerted effort to get some seed sown. I seem to have been inundated with empty pots in both GH`S so a tidy up into the shed would seem to be on the cards too......... these threads are very good at helping you get your priorities in order!  |
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Post by Sleepy on Aug 15, 2007 9:53:56 GMT 1
Yesterday I moved dozens of Lavender babies into deep plug trays and put them under the bench, today the upper levels of the bench will be cleared other than the peppers and chillies, and Ill have a concerted effort to get some seed sown. I seem to have been inundated with empty pots in both GH`S so a tidy up into the shed would seem to be on the cards too......... these threads are very good at helping you get your priorities in order! Blimey - I wish I was as organised! |
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Post by sweetleaf on Aug 15, 2007 10:00:05 GMT 1
Yesterday I moved dozens of Lavender babies into deep plug trays and put them under the bench, today the upper levels of the bench will be cleared other than the peppers and chillies, and Ill have a concerted effort to get some seed sown. I seem to have been inundated with empty pots in both GH`S so a tidy up into the shed would seem to be on the cards too......... these threads are very good at helping you get your priorities in order! Blimey - I wish I was as organised! I dont think youre that bad babe, really. Not in the Greenhouse, in any case. |
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Post by sweetleaf on Aug 15, 2007 12:32:57 GMT 1
Im happy with GH2 now, theres a huge pile of plantpots to be sorted and washed and put away in size order in the shed, and there will be more when I go and sort GH1 this afternoon, sometimes I wondr why I start these jobs........ they just grow on you! I think this may take all afternoon  |
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Post by debbiem on Aug 15, 2007 16:26:32 GMT 1
OH and I are getting close to having our first GH - it won't be huge but it'll so be used!!!!Not like our last one where we lived before - that was a big one we inherited with the house but in the end the chickens took it over and that was that. They enjoyed it more than we did, it was always full of weeds and beasties, pointless!!!!!!  |
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Post by sweetleaf on Aug 15, 2007 17:22:29 GMT 1
I had a visitor this afternoon, my mate came round and between us we "half made" some trellis,for the passion flower to climb while we listened to some very loud Bob Dylan on Media player as it turned out we didnt have enough of the thicker wood required for the back so hes gone off to look in his shed, I may see him again today or in a week but he will come back with the right stuff, so Ill be patient. We have been mates for most of the last 20 years, and hes always been reliable, in a long term kinda way. ;D All in all a pleasant afternoon. Oh, and all the pots are now disinfected and stacked in size order on the shelves in the shed. |
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Post by debbiem on Aug 16, 2007 10:24:57 GMT 1
Sounds a lovely way to spend an afternoon, SL. |
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Post by 4pygmies on Aug 22, 2007 7:56:39 GMT 1
The weather is so foul that there's no gardening today but I do want to get into the GH and have a chuck out. Most of my Basil has finished and the Hunter toms and Chillis might as well hit the heap as they have been so pitiful this summer... what a disappointment. Still this means I can start filling up seed trays and sow the Autumn seeds. Every cloud has a silver lining!
Has anyone ever grown Great Golden Knapweed (Centaurea macrocephala) from seed? I love this plant so much I have 2 packets of seed! I want LOTS on my new flower garden - any tips to get the best germination rate would be much appreciated. It's best sown in Autumn but should I let the trays winter outside or leave them in the GH?
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Post by debbiem on Aug 22, 2007 8:25:52 GMT 1
Is it native? I would've thought leaving it outside would be best if it is. But then again it's safer in the greenhouse from beasties, the elements etc....not sure.....
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Post by ladystargazer on Aug 22, 2007 8:30:10 GMT 1
Don't know this particular one, 4P - I have the common blue cornflower, Centaurea Whotsitsname. If yours is anything like mine you'll only need 1seed let alone 2 packets. It spreads like wildfire. I took 3 plants from my neighbours front garden (with her permisssion, of course ) and put them in my back garden. This was 15 years ago. Now they are all along that border, getting into another border, growing between the joins in the path and trying to invade the lawn! Every year I dig them up and throw them on the compost but they still come back. Be warned! |
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Post by 4pygmies on Aug 22, 2007 8:37:00 GMT 1
It's a Knapweed but it's a cultivar I think. It's really beautiful...hang on, let me see if I can get a picture...  I want lots of it hovering above smaller blue flowering plants and all mixed up with marigolds next year in my flower garden - I have a picture in my head......I don't mind plants spreading like wildfire, LSG, as long as they're pretty (apart from Soapwort - death to its plaguey roots...) |
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Post by ladystargazer on Aug 22, 2007 8:45:34 GMT 1
Well mine is fully hardy. Can you not sow it where you want it, rather than in trays?
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Post by 4pygmies on Aug 22, 2007 8:53:04 GMT 1
No, sadly, as where I want it planted is completely overgrown with really nasty weeds. I have a major job digging over the whole area ready to replant in the Spring. I've been muttering about this bit of my garden for 2 years now and it still hasn't been done...no time..but I am determined to make it so this year. I miss sitting in the seat watching the insects etc (assuming the weather gets summery next year...) I never sow direct as I have such a struggle keeping the garden weed free so I tend to have serious weed attacks every so often in various parts and completely dig over the whole bed to try and get the pernicious roots out.......not good gardening practise but the only way I can get anything looking reasonable. My garden is too big.....
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Post by debbiem on Aug 22, 2007 10:44:38 GMT 1
What a lovely plant!  |
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