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Gardening 2008

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grumpyoldb said:
GEM, how do you manage to keep the slugs out of the barrel?
Do you cover them in poly?
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blue pellets of death mate. and then as secondary defence

My barrels are plastic oil drums with the ends cut out and cut in half. I bury these about a foot - 18 inches in the ground and use weed membrane in the bottom so they are effectively sealed and nothing can get in from underneath but they drain. Then I grow in peat/growbag mix whichever I get cheap. Around the outside of the drum I smear vaseline in a band about 3 inch wide, creepys and snails etc won't crossthat.
 
gemarriott said:
blue pellets of death mate. and then as secondary defence

My barrels are plastic oil drums with the ends cut out and cut in half. I bury these about a foot - 18 inches in the ground and use weed membrane in the bottom so they are effectively sealed and nothing can get in from underneath but they drain. Then I grow in peat/growbag mix whichever I get cheap. Around the outside of the drum I smear vaseline in a band about 3 inch wide, creepys and snails etc won't crossthat.
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Cheers for that, mate. I'll have a go next year. Our back garden is a split level paved area with shrubs around the edges but I can stand a couple of barrels on the lower level, without sinking them into the ground.

Thanks again.
 
grumpyoldb said:
Cheers for that, mate. I'll have a go next year. Our back garden is a split level paved area with shrubs around the edges but I can stand a couple of barrels on the lower level, without sinking them into the ground.

Thanks again.
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no worries mate. Why not try some Carlingford for Christmas, now we don't seem to get frosts too early with a bit of fleece you should manage a decent crop for Christmas dinner. The seed catalogues list decent Christmas varities
 
firestorm said:
Anyone have good remedies for keeping black aphids of runner beans?
Ta:PDT_Xtremez_28:
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pravada bug spray works, one spray then if needed another after 10 days. Beans safe to eat after 5 days. Alternative is spray with washing up water regularly.
 
firestorm said:
Anyone have good remedies for keeping black aphids of runner beans?
Ta:PDT_Xtremez_28:
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If they're just at the top of your plants then nip the tops off and problem gone...My beans have pretty much been and gone now...I've had 3 carrier bags worth so far with about another half bag to come...We did the nipping out thing and it worked perfectly...
 
Vim_Fuego said:
If they're just at the top of your plants then nip the tops off and problem gone...My beans have pretty much been and gone now...I've had 3 carrier bags worth so far with about another half bag to come...We did the nipping out thing and it worked perfectly...
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you are probably thinking of Broad beans mate, and yes that works brilliantly. Runner beans are only just coming into production and should be about 8 ft tall by now with at least 6 to 8 weeks of production ahead,.
 
Cheers fellas. Yup they are runners and running along magnificently. 8ft tall and full of beans and lovely red flowers. I've never grown them before but the little fella saw a pack of "magic beans" in the garden centre so I bought them for him. It's an introduction to gardening for him. It's been a great success.
thanks Gem, I'll pop out today and see if I can get some.

Incidentally my sweet peas are usually a disaster, but this year they are magnificent. Best ever by a mile.
It's nice being old isn't it?

I'm 40 today!!:PDT_Xtremez_09:
 
My chickens arrived yesterday...Two Leghorns and two Cuckoo Marans to start with...If I don't kill these when one of them gets broody I'm going to try some of these hatching eggs to increase the flock...This will keep the cost down.

That said Whisby farm and garden centre did me a fantastic deal on the 4 birds, 20kg's of feed and a huge sack of sawdust so I thought I'd plug them here...

Trouble is around Lincoln nobody sells the gear to keep chickens in Lincoln...I had to drive to near enough Melton Mowbray to get the stuff...Somebody is missing a trick here if you consider that there isn't a plot now available in Lincoln these days and even the vast area of waste and brambles has been carved up for plots in the past two months...

If they lay as advertised I'm supposed to get 150 eggs each per year off the Marans and 300 each off the leghorns...
 
Downsizer said:
Are they at POL?

What cock/hen ratio did you go for?
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Yes and we aren't allowed cocks although the cockadoodledoing noise from the plot behind me may suggest someone is bending the rules...We don't really want chicks until we are confident we know what we are doing and have solved all the niggly initial problems...Then there is a local farm that sells hatching eggs for £1 each or we may go for something a little fancier off the web...Right now we're just happy watching them scratch around...They came from the same field so there's no pecking order to sort out...The two whites hang around together as do the Marans...They took some putting to bed last night...In the end they got bored of evading me and hopped in themselves...The white ones going to sleep in a matter of minutes...

Interesting chicken related times...I'm off to check on them in a wee while...
 
Being frugal by nature (tight) I collect what seeds I can from the plants in the garden and so far most things are fine. Decorative poppy seeds (not the class A drug type) , lavateria and trailing nastursiums all drying out ready for next year. Later on in the year I shall save the seeds from inside my peppers and chillies. Doing this means I haven't had to buy seeds for a long time. Some things are coming to an end but the lillies are just about bloom if I can keep the lily beetles in check. Evil little blighters and as I am finding hard to get rid of. Not all is well in the veg patch though, carrots are nearly ready, some have started to bolt but cutting back on the TLC has helped. (Thanks Gem) but the "in the ground" spud harvest would have to improve to get to poor. Dug one up as a test this week as the tops have died back and are going brown. Result just 6 tiny spuds all a little smaller than a golf ball very disappointing. Hoping for better in my spud bins. Runner beans coming into full crop now and there are loads of them, second lot of radish about ready to. Chillies and cayenne peppers in the conservatory doing well but the bell peppers are not so good as I have been fighting a losing battle with the greenfly all summer. Outdoor toms miles better than the indoor ones even though they are the same variety.
 
gemarriott said:
If they are in pots or barrels just keep pulling out as many as you need when you need them and then just cover over the rest, safest store there is providing you keep the slugs away.
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Do I need to keep the soil moist in the bin or can I let it dry out for storage?
 
Vim. Buff Orpingtons are good looking birds and lay well.
Proper old fashioned looking chucks, the kind you see in pre Victorian country art and get a couple of bantams for the kids to look after.:PDT_Xtremez_28:
 
Downsizer said:
Do I need to keep the soil moist in the bin or can I let it dry out for storage?
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Keep it dry mate I reckon the damp may set off all kinds of mould and other nasties. In times gone by spuds were stored in dry sand to stop them going off.

Gem may have different view but store them dry for me.
 
Tin basher said:
Being frugal by nature (tight) I collect what seeds I can from the plants in the garden and so far most things are fine. Decorative poppy seeds (not the class A drug type) , lavateria and trailing nastursiums all drying out ready for next year. Later on in the year I shall save the seeds from inside my peppers and chillies. Doing this means I haven't had to buy seeds for a long time. Some things are coming to an end but the lillies are just about bloom if I can keep the lily beetles in check. Evil little blighters and as I am finding hard to get rid of. Not all is well in the veg patch though, carrots are nearly ready, some have started to bolt but cutting back on the TLC has helped. (Thanks Gem) but the "in the ground" spud harvest would have to improve to get to poor. Dug one up as a test this week as the tops have died back and are going brown. Result just 6 tiny spuds all a little smaller than a golf ball very disappointing. Hoping for better in my spud bins. Runner beans coming into full crop now and there are loads of them, second lot of radish about ready to. Chillies and cayenne peppers in the conservatory doing well but the bell peppers are not so good as I have been fighting a losing battle with the greenfly all summer. Outdoor toms miles better than the indoor ones even though they are the same variety.
Click to expand...

By this time last year all of mine were in full bloom, the entire bed was awash with colours and looked very good, this year they are all coming out in stages. I've got two which have just dropped and the rest are about to bloom. The gladioli are all coming to flower now and the Lavateria, Buddlia and fushia are awash with flowers thanks to the advice on bushing them out last year. The Bottle brush hasn't got one single flower on it this year though, lots of fresh leaves now though thought I'd lost it after the heavy pruning that got, but it seems to be okay.

Been out checking on my carrots, was a bit worried about if they'd be okay after the neighbours cat took to eating all the tops however even with stubby tops the carrots are coming on a treat, very aromatic and the sweetcorn is coming along well, seemed to start off slow but flying away now. Fantastic crop on the strawberries this year and quite a few apples on the trees, even though several were knocked off by heavy rains. Potatoes and pumpkins not doing so well his time though but then I wasn't around in the early stages to give the care they'd normally get.

Thinking of maybe giving broccolli a go next year as it's one of the kids favourite vegetables, anyone got any handy tips on growing that. Guessing it's too late for this year.
 
First full day of chicken ownership and 4 eggs...2 white from the Leghorns and two brown from the Marans...Totally chuffed...plus they put themselves to bed tonight...

I do like the Buff Orpingtons but there is rare Lincolnshire buff that is getting back off the ground again from near extinction since 1987 that I think, if I get confident enough at this, I may have a go at...In fact the Buff Orpington was the cause of this breed's demise...Good looking bird though (in chicken terms).
 
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Trials and tribulations.

Trials and tribulations.

It's been ages since I last caught up on the goat and a while since doing anything other than watering in the garden!

Been pottering about in the garden this evening in a vain effort to catch up on the things I should have been doing!

Weeded the borders, one of my little fir trees has turned brown and died. Can't see any sign of pest or disease, someone suggested it may need more water as it was in a sheltered place.

All my antirhinums seem to be small and bushy this year. Last year in my previous house they stood about four foot tall. Mother B'stard says hers are doing well, maybe it's something in the soil around here?

Sweet peas are producing masses of flowers, always got a ready supply of freshcut flowers on my window sill for the time being.

My chillis seem to have wilted. Left them out in the green house on a hot day, most of the leaves fell off and any of my small chillis turned from green to brown. At least I don't have an issue with greenfly now!

Tomatoes seem to be doing really well. Just hoping they turn red instead of brown like my chillis!

And Finally dug up my first batch of potatoes tonight.

Mrs B'stard said we needed to get some from tesco's.... fear not said I, for I can provide for my family (as I pulled out 2 pea sized potatoes).

Luckily I found 12 decent sized potatoes after sifting through the soil and a large handfull of mini spuds that should be ok for the kids.

Hope my second batch of spuds is more successful, is there anything I can do to increase my crop now, or have I left it too late?

HTB
 
Sorry to keep hijacking the gardening thread but I think if I started a poultry keeping one I'd get very lonely...

Anyway make my egg count 8 in the first 48 hours of ownership...They're machines not flesh and blood I tells yer!

Anyway back on topic...My broad beans, that I have had 3 carrier bags of pods off already, have started to flower again...Is this normal as my £4.99 allomenteering book from ASDA which I am basing my entire smallholding experience on doesn't mention a second flowering?
 
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