a-x-l-e Posted July 2, 2010 Share Posted July 2, 2010 Try some of THIS, it keeps the rabbits well away from my garden Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdust36 Posted July 3, 2010 Share Posted July 3, 2010 just seen this thread so thought i would add a little. just built a small raised bed around 4ft by 4ft and 3 feet high for the benifit of my 2 youngest kids ( ages 2 and 5 years) in the bed they have planted peas, dwarf beans and carrots which are all doing well, they are now reaping their rewards from their strawberry plants they have potted up and also both enjoy rubbing their hands across their mint plants as they love the smell. they also have tomato plants which both of them are anxiously waiting for their 1st fruits from them. they also have sunflowers planted up and are both looking forward to the flowers from them so they can harvest them and give the flower heads to my parents (their granparents) so that they can use the seeds for their parrots which they breed. but the kids favourite thing they have planted is their mixed wild flower selection as i have been telling them about the decline of bee's and the bee's need the flowers to help them so both kids are really excited about their wild flower selection helping the bee's. i know this isnt much compared to alot of you but for my kids it means everything as for me its just a busmans holiday as im a gardener by trade but feel that getting them involved at an early age is so important as their plants compensates for the nitro fumes my r/c put into the air... i giveth and i taketh away...its a careful balancing act..lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonny555 Posted July 3, 2010 Share Posted July 3, 2010 I think it's great your getting your kids interested in the garden. I've designed my garden to attract birds and insects. The biggest draw being the half barrel pond. I never need to use pesticides as the good insects and the birds control all the nasties. Some new neighbours at the rear of our property have a cat which is proving to be a pest. It's using my garden to hunt the birds and has already killed one of the magpie fledglings, one of the doves and nearly killed one of the pigeons. It's had several starlings also. It can only be a matter of time before it gets the many different tits and finches. The other cats in the area steer well clear of our garden because of the dogs, but this cat lives with 2 dogs so isn't bothered about ours as it can escape before they can get at it. Think I might set up a sprinkler triggered by a movement sensor and see if that works. I can't believe the harvest I'm getting from strawberry's this year. We can't eat them quick enough and supplying 5 households with free strawberry's everyday and family. All this from a 6' x 4' bed. The birds have had more than their fair share too. So much so that I've hung old CD's around the bed to keep them off. Raspberry's are not so great this year because the cold weather we had killed off several canes on one plant and all canes on the other. We'll still get enough though for about 2 jars of jam. Not too bad seeing as the strawberry's will produce as many jars as we want. As long as this nice weather continues we're going to get a good harvest of grapes this year. Really pleased as it's an outside vine in north west England. The pear tree is in it's first fruiting year and we've got 2 fruits, one each for the missus and me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tamiyacowboy Posted July 4, 2010 Author Share Posted July 4, 2010 planted my Hybrid temptation F1 strawberry seeds today, hopefuly they should do well before winter so i can get them into the ground and under covered straw for the winter. my tomato's have popped my first sprig of fruit is turning and i am glad, my peas and beans took a heavy hammering, the beans via slugs and the bad hailstorm we had here early in year, the peas was doing ok but now soon a first flowers appear the lower leaves have all but gone yellow and dead. cucumbers have grown more but they still only around 6 inch high, i dont think they will finnish in time. my lettuce have been growing like mad i have already harvested 3x little jem lettuce and have around another 12 more. this year is more a struggle without my trusted old greenhouse, using that i was eating all my fruits around this time last year, going mother natures way has taken alot longer and shows a greenhouse is the mother of all growers. made my raised beds, took me a couple months to get the wooden pallets. i have been hunting local area for small scale building works and asking for the old pallets. 6 pallets have made me eight raised bed measuring 4ft long and around 3ft wide. my maris pipers are showing flowers to cant wait for my baby potatos to arrive, next year i am going jersy royal potatos Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdust36 Posted July 5, 2010 Share Posted July 5, 2010 kids enjoyed their 1st strawberries off their plants at the weekend and also enjoyed picking some mint leaves for the lamb roast yesterday.. also whilst we were stripping some of the larger leaves off the tomato plants so that the goodness and energy goes to the fruits instead of the leaves they spotted the 1st few small toms forming so now they are excited about them growing and ripening ready for them to try.. and dont know about anyone else but their sunflowers have had a major growth spurt over the weekend and have grown around 3-4 inches in height since friday. just need to get some sort of trickle irrigation system rigged up in the raised bed though as all this heat isnt helping much and also the suntrap garden i have is meaning constant watering both morning and evening and the plants still look miserable Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sphinx Posted July 5, 2010 Share Posted July 5, 2010 Well here is mine, when we moved in to the house, the back yard was a mess................ so i chopped the 8ft high weeds that was at the back of the garden and removed the 3 tress that was not letting in any light. Ordered some play bark of a mate and underlay and started to clean the garden up and removed 3 trips to the tip full of rubbish that the last people left. So after 3 weeks of hard work its almost there, just waiting for the grass to grow back, Finger crossed !!! Gav Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tamiyacowboy Posted January 13, 2011 Author Share Posted January 13, 2011 (edited) NEW SEASON : NEW YEAR : 2011 so here we are mid january with frosts and snow. i planted up some strawberrys seeds way back in august 2010, left them on the south facing windowsill. from around 10 seeds i had five take, from these five 2 have split crowns, one plant has split the crown into four crowns and the second plant split into two crowns. these plants are around 4-5 inch high in 4 inch pots. it has taken a long time but i have forced them to flower, i have two plants in flower with around 5-8 flowers showing from the crowns. hopefuly i can get them to fruit all year. i have planted up 20 tomato plants and 4 giant pumpkins. i have 6 honeydew seeds, and the usual lettuce, peas, beans, cucumbers. herbs and sweetpepper, not leaving out the 12 seed potatos chitting on the sill to. so this year i should have a nice bounty for the harvest and coming winter. i have used 6 old builders wooden pallets and have made twelve 5ft x 3ft raised beds, each bed is roughly 12 to 14 inches deep. a smaller 4ft x 4ft box has been made with a three foot depth for my potato box idea i am running. so here we go again a new year and another new growing season, lets hope for good rain and plenty of sunshine and i leave you with a very close up photo of the first strawberry flower that popped Edited January 13, 2011 by Tamiyacowboy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tamiyacowboy Posted February 17, 2011 Author Share Posted February 17, 2011 FEBRUARY: 2011 so its mid winter kind off here, weather is on and off. some days it is blistering sunny and more like mid/late spring, then other days the compost beds have froze a couple of CM deep. the strawberry seeds i planted are bounding along at a huge rate, the lone flower head i photographed in january is now a fully fledged strawberry abit on the small side, but it is 100% fruit, the second oldest strawberry plant has produced flowers and pollinated by my careful hand and brush. i need a shed, more for potting up and hardening off my plants. last year a very late frost killed of my best beans and cucumbers, so a shed is in great need. with them costing around Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tamiyacowboy Posted March 5, 2011 Author Share Posted March 5, 2011 (edited) MARCH : 2011 early well here comes march stomping its way into the season. the strawberrys from last years seeds are fruiting well and loving this early sunshine. my peas are in the garden with some DVD jewel case houses to help them along and the raised beds have been turned and worked. the windowsill is packed, i need more windows in the house/room. i have tomatos sweet peppers cucumbers and 5x strawberry plants hogging my south facing sill, i also have 2x honeydew melon seed popped and 3x apple tree seeds that look like they will pop to. a decided to get them of early and place them under a cloche or two at the start of april. this month or so should give them time to boost up before going out. well time to go. i have alot of grass to hand cut and swap over the compost bins, also have to digover and lay some more landscape fabric ready for another three wooden pallet made raised beds. i shall leave you with the strawberry bonsai plant i have. Edited March 5, 2011 by Tamiyacowboy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sphinx Posted March 5, 2011 Share Posted March 5, 2011 Just got the lawn mover and strimmer out, ready to do the front garden, then off to work for a few bits. Compost Bark Plant pots Daff seeds Gav Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tamiyacowboy Posted March 5, 2011 Author Share Posted March 5, 2011 Just got the lawn mover and strimmer out, ready to do the front garden, then off to work for a few bits. Compost Bark Plant pots Daff seeds Gav nice one gav i have the windowsill booked up till end of april, the march season will be replicated in april to so i have perpetual harvesting over the seasons close. i messed up last year with my garden peas, planted to late and couldnt handle the heat. so this year i chucked them out early and should have some nice mint pea soup in a month or so. melons seeds i rescued from a tesco's honeydew melon last year. i gained 100 lovely pristine melon seed. washed them stuck them on a sunny window for a week then bagged them in a makeshift seed evelope. realy suprised me to see them pop up Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sphinx Posted March 7, 2011 Share Posted March 7, 2011 Got my stuff, just waiting for the right weather its -3 here this morning Grass food/seeds need to go down today after work Gav Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martin34 Posted March 7, 2011 Share Posted March 7, 2011 I am going to start on my runner beans next month.Last year i had a total disaster with them.I tryed twice but both times they just wouldnt grow unlike the year before when i had loads of them.I am going to sow them inside then when they start to grow i will slowly introduce them to the outside for a week before planting out.Thats what i did the year before last with great results so fingers crossed . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sphinx Posted March 7, 2011 Share Posted March 7, 2011 I am going to start on my runner beans next month.Last year i had a total disaster with them.I tryed twice but both times they just wouldnt grow unlike the year before when i had loads of them.I am going to sow them inside then when they start to grow i will slowly introduce them to the outside for a week before planting out.Thats what i did the year before last with great results so fingers crossed . Iv never been one for growing veg etc I like my garden plain, clean and a few plants lol. That reminds me i need to get the chainsaw from work for the old tree stumps lol I told the kids, the back garden is there's, and the front/side is mine. Now keep off lol Gav Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martin34 Posted March 7, 2011 Share Posted March 7, 2011 The only veg i grow(or try )is runners.You cant beat them picked fresh just before the sunday roast Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sphinx Posted March 7, 2011 Share Posted March 7, 2011 The only veg i grow(or try )is runners.You cant beat them picked fresh just before the sunday roast Runner beans yuk lol I only eat peas, potatoes and uncooked carrots lol Gav Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tamiyacowboy Posted March 7, 2011 Author Share Posted March 7, 2011 (edited) I am going to start on my runner beans next month.Last year i had a total disaster with them.I tryed twice but both times they just wouldnt grow unlike the year before when i had loads of them.I am going to sow them inside then when they start to grow i will slowly introduce them to the outside for a week before planting out.Thats what i did the year before last with great results so fingers crossed . Toilet Rolls - Kitchen Rolls these two above mentioned are my devils choice for beans and pea's stack them up in a nice sized tray, fill each 3/4 full with compo/soil pop in a seed into each card roll then top off. now when planting out here in norfolk we have our last frost mid april and has known to come as late as mid may. beans are suckers they really eat space on the sill. so use nature to your advantage. the garden on a morning will show some places that dont get the frost as they are sheltered. an ideal place for a little bottle/pvc coldframe. fold one end of the tube over to make a closed base so soil does not fall out, when they are ready to be planted out throw the whole lot into the garden and tease the folded end apart to allow roots to seek. i have been doing well over the past three seasons with a dwarf french bean. ideal finger food for fussy 13yr old niece and a 10yr old godson . sweet peppers go well with short beans and can be used to help/aid climbing. i also use my tomato plants as climbers for the pea's/beans. lol sphinx Gerr off mah grasses !!! i bet you try and make grass angels in the cut clippings to " NO kids these clippings are mine get your own " wildlife view : i have this annoying nextdoor neighbours ivy plant growing up the side of her house, dont get me wrong a lovely looking house with ivy but those bloody fledging starlings/sparrows are doing my head in. they always bickering and fighting. the magpies have moved on down the road about 4000 yards. it was thursday i was in the garden messing around. i know a neighbour who's yard back onto the green the same as my yard has/had a fishpond. so there i am feet up across the gap in the raised beds and my only vice a ciggy in hand. i glance up and see this HUGE and i mean HUGE shadow floating around above the garden, it was like a dinosaur long bandy legs a very long neck. a heron a blue/grey heron landed on his fench and then kind of crashed into the pond. like an idiot no camera at the time, but now the hunter has become the hunted. it looks like the same heron i spotted mid winter in the small beck ( brook ) while out walking Edited March 7, 2011 by Tamiyacowboy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sphinx Posted March 7, 2011 Share Posted March 7, 2011 But we are due more snow, is this gonna be a problem ? Gav Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henzy190 Posted March 7, 2011 Share Posted March 7, 2011 We do a decent bit of growing A whole mix of things including potatoes, spring onions, tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce and rhubarb. We also have a plum tree which we use to make homemade plum wine (I'm too young to drink but my parents tell me it's tasty ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tamiyacowboy Posted March 7, 2011 Author Share Posted March 7, 2011 But we are due more snow, is this gonna be a problem ? Gav if you cover over with winter fleece or a makeshift cloche you should be fine. a cloche abut this time of year will help warm up the soil and also keep a microclimate a couple 4 degree above the outside temp. i have been using 2lt fizzy pop bottles, the niece and godson drink it i get the bottles for micro cloches. cutting the bottom off and keeping the cap on they can be pushed into the ground around your seed's, when it gets warm pop out and remove the bottle tops, then replace top before dusk. old dvd clear cases ( thin jewel type) can be made to slot together and make a makeshift small cloche, this can be placed over beans and pea's to keep them frosty free. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eamo1978 Posted March 8, 2011 Share Posted March 8, 2011 Hi lads im wanting to get into growing more fruit and veg. Ive got a four metre square patch in the garden and wondering if its neccessary to add manure every year into it to aid growth. What should I looking into planting this time of year. I wouldnt mind some potatoes again and perhaps runner beans and we always do peas in pods. The potatoes we did two years ago (maris piper) turned out very well....can I just plant some rooted potatoes from the supermarket into the ground or is it best to get potato sets? Please excuse my lack of knowledge but I would like to learn more Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tamiyacowboy Posted March 8, 2011 Author Share Posted March 8, 2011 Hi lads im wanting to get into growing more fruit and veg. Ive got a four metre square patch in the garden and wondering if its neccessary to add manure every year into it to aid growth. What should I looking into planting this time of year. I wouldnt mind some potatoes again and perhaps runner beans and we always do peas in pods. The potatoes we did two years ago (maris piper) turned out very well....can I just plant some rooted potatoes from the supermarket into the ground or is it best to get potato sets? Please excuse my lack of knowledge but I would like to learn more hi eamo and welcome to the gardeners corner. so you have a 12x12ft roughly patch. here is how i would go. potatos - beans - peas - lettuce - cucumber as for manure/bulking up. yes you can do this every year in and out. i tend to use cheap compost to help bulk up soil and add some good nutrients. everything that i grow i re-compost. thats everything even old damaged fruit, grass clippings, egg shells and the likes ( green kitchen waste) no cooked foods or meat. cucumbers tattys lettuce all love hot weather, pea's beans and likes like cooler weather and will do better. March time you are best to pot up seeds on the windowsill, two weeks to pop through then around a month for the plant to be big enough to plant out. so mid april you will be planting out and hopefuly the last frosts have gone. make sure your tayys are cycled around the plot with the other veg you grow. potato's in one area one year, the next year plant something like beans/peas. with garden peas we dont dig up the roots, we leave these in the ground to rot. peas and beans take nitrogen from the air and store it in the roots, these roots rot down and leave a nice nitrogen rich soil. for manure i would be digging plenty in around now, but would have done this back in october time. prep the soil, give it a good turning over so the frosts help break it down more, give it a healthy tilling over and good rake ready for spring time planting. Tattys : last years tattys came from some maris piper, let the smaller potatos sit on the windowsill to chitt, when you get green shoots around an inch long plant them in your soil. as the tatty plant grows mound soil around the plants stem to produce tubers all the way up. when the flowers die of and/or leaves they are ready to be dug up. once dug up leave them ontop of the soil for an hour or so to toughen up the skins Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eamo1978 Posted March 9, 2011 Share Posted March 9, 2011 Thanks very much mate when can I plant potatoes then? Im going to wilkinsons one day so ill pick up the lettuce, cucumber etc. Do cucumber seeds plant straight into the ground? And can I plant more than one seed at a time in the pots? If I get a compost bin will I never have to bother with manure again? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HootMaRoot Posted March 9, 2011 Share Posted March 9, 2011 you guys down south are lucky growing season in NW scotland wont realy start for almost another 3 > 5 weeks unless you have a pollytunnel. but i need to work the ground i want my pollytunnel on as it heather growing on it till only a couple of weeks ago, when i had the ground turned now i got to clear most the stones cover in plenty of lime and get it rotovated. so i can get potatoes in the ground this year to help break the ground up even more making it easyer to work. as for the small plots round the back of my house keeping it simple this year and only planting oinions,carrots,sprouts,cabbage,leeks and ofc a salad patch that my little cousins help with Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tamiyacowboy Posted March 9, 2011 Author Share Posted March 9, 2011 (edited) Thanks very much mate when can I plant potatoes then? Im going to wilkinsons one day so ill pick up the lettuce, cucumber etc. Do cucumber seeds plant straight into the ground? And can I plant more than one seed at a time in the pots? If I get a compost bin will I never have to bother with manure again? you can plant out potato's around now onwards and be ready around september /october. Cucumber can be planted into the ground or into pots. place a couple of seeds into the pot's. when grown most gardeners will remove the less stronger plant and leave the strongest. myself i will grow even the weaker plants, if the fruit up it is an added bonus. Compost bin Helps but is not a pure replacement, making compost can take from three months to around 10 months. it depends on where your compost bin is and the heat it build up. grass clippings. tomato plants cucumbers peppers peas bean plants can all be composted, egg shells teabags and sometimes coffee gounds to. depending on age of the gardeners you chat with each one will have different ways of doing things. Compost V manure : lets look at your garden first and its soil. when we dig the garden your soil is the main bulk. this gets compacted down to a hard crust. for gardening this can be come a chore. compost is broken down green waste. it rots down to form a brown to black humus. when compost is added to soil it acts as a bulking agent once mixed in. it allows water to be held. and gives sandy soils some more life. Manure is slightly different, this tends to be horse-cow-pig poop thats been mucked out and bagged up. manure is like a turbo boost to your car, but for your soil. it injects lots of soil borne good bugs to help break down this poop and release its NPK ( nitrogen photasium and phost) these are the main building blocks for plants and the require each mineral to help growth. N : strong healthy green leaves P : builds strong healthy roots allowing plant to be more stronger and feed better. K : helps your fruits grow and your flowers become more vivid. when you buy manure/fertilizer it tends to have an NPK number and may look like this 18 -8 5. this converted is 18% N - 8% P and 5% K. this food we would feed the plants before they flower/fruit. the big nitrogen number means lots of green leaf and healthy roots. tomato food tends to have a low N count and a higher P and K counts. this food is ideal for tomato's cucmbers peas and beans strawberrys and the likes once they have grown and ready to flower. the count for this type of food may look like this 8-20-20 this is 8% N - 20% P - 20% K, a food thats balanced can be 18-18-18. so like nitro fuel the higher the number the more kick a plant gets. but with that kick comes danger this is the form of chemical/mineral burns. brown-yellow leaves that curl at edges and look like they have been under the sun and burnt. depending what you place into your compost bin depends on the goodness you get back out from it. to get lots of nitrogen we can throw beans and pea plants into the bin with lots of grass clippings and leaves from the garden ( not tree litter we will cover that later when your more into gardening), one more thing can be added to KICKSTART your compost bin and the good bugs we require, it is not for the faint hearted. your urine, yes thats right your wazz contains around 30% nitrogen. its what is used on the farmers fields etc etc. if you wish to use it and not dump it down the toilet, take 1 measure urine to 10 measure of water and throw into the heap/bin. now seeds and shops. this last two seasons i have been using cheap seeds, thinsg found for like 50p and upto £1.80p the cheap none brand seed. i also buy from ebay but mostly the cheap shops around. gardening is akin to the RC hobby, some things work really well and are a big bonus, and others just dont work whatever you try. you find what can grow and then move from there. collecting seeds is fun and rewarding. this means from your first pack it is possible to never buy any more seeds. peppers tomato's lettuce beans pea's, these are easy to harvest and also collect seeds. if we leave the plants to mature they will produce fruit-seedheads these can be collected and dried out from june - november on the windowsill ready for next years growing season. a small-medium sized piece of square paper can be folded into a seed pouch and keep them nice and cool and dry. mum/wife makes a chilli concarne i would be hanging round ready to collect them seeds she will throw away. my first sweet pepper i grew was from a sainsburys purchased sweet bell pepper. i shoved seeds on the sill for a month then planted up. it grew to about 4ft high and gave me fist sized peppers all summer long and into october to. tattys cucmbers lettuce tomato's peppers are easy grow items. beans and peas need a little more care they dont need lots of nitrogen. Edited March 9, 2011 by Tamiyacowboy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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