And now for a subject I am remarkably ignorant about. I hear there is a number of spare allotments available from my local council and like an increasingly large number of people these days it seems, I have been giving some serious thought towards growing my own fruit and veg. I am not very knowledgeable about the science of getting the best out of crops so I won't take much of an active part in this thread. More likely to be a reader than a poster on here, but I haven't seen any gardening thread on this forum so I decided it would e a good idea to create one. This is a thread devoted to gardening tips of all kind, where anyone can discuss and exchange tips about methods of growing anything from flowers to spuds, where both experienced or first-time gardeners can hopefully find helpful ways of getting the best of whatever it is they choose to grow.
I used to be an avid gardener and landscaped the front and back gardens of all the properties I lived in or owned. I spent 10 years cultivating two split leaf acers (Crimson Queen) which are very difficult to find, never mind grow. Sadly that all stopped when we moved into an apartment and I had to sell all of the potted plants at knock down prices
Well yes, it's impossible in London without a garden outside. That's one of the good things for me about having moved out of London. Down there waiting lists for allotments are something like six years or whatever..........Up here spare allotments are all over the place.
Incubus. i was a jobbing gardener for many years until I had to find work that would pay all year round and am currently advising both my children on their plots - one of whom also has an allotment. What do you need to know? I'm no Monty Don, but was quite pleased with what I did and can point you in the right direction perhaps.
Spuds are dead easy. 1) Put them in soil or compost when they start sprouting. 2) When they're big enough lift them and eat them (preferably cooked first - very indigestible when raw). If you're pushed for space you can plant them in carrier bags of soil hanging from nails in the wall, no need to mess about with pots or troughs, as long as the leaves can see the light they'll grow. (Leave them in the ground if you have heavy soil, they're brilliant at breaking it up - handy to prepare for other crops in later seasons.)
When I was a kid we lived in a house that had a front garden that was 100ft wide and and 50ft long and a back garden that was 100ft wide and 140ft long. Basically my childhood was one of forced slave labour us three boys had to double dig the garden at the beginning of every season and plant and harvest all sort of vegetable's including spuds, runner beans broad beans, carrots, onions (several verities. including shallots and spring.) strawberries cabbages, lettuce and rhubarb, we also had an orchard which had eating apples cooking apples, pears and cherries. On top of this there was a greenhouse in which we grew grapes, tomatoes and cucumbers. we also kept chickens for their eggs and homing pigeons for fun. we made our own wine and beer and anything else we could ferment we once even tried making a marrow rum. We also helped out on the local farm (Which was just across the road.) during hay making time I even help birth a calf once our milk came from the same farm fresh from the cows udder and I missed one of my exams at school as I forgot I had it and was driving a tractor spreading fertilizer (Liquid cow shit.) for the farmer instead.. I HATED every single minute of it.........
I was definitely fit and very strong my stomach was so flat and hard you could bounce a cannon ball off of it, there is no doubt that the physical effort had benefits, and when I say I hated every single minute of it I meant that at the time, in the same way as someone saying I hated school but looking back at it, it was the best childhood a boy could want I don't know how today's kids manage to get through their teens with the lack of exorcise they seem to get.... Oh we also used to go gathering fallen trees and saw them up using a two man rip saw and an axe for our open fires which we had in three of the downstairs rooms and they took some feeding I can tell you.. No chainsaws for us... So Incubus what would you like to know about growing stuff?
Mephistopheles, could we have a gauge on your age please? I did all that and loved every minute of it, except trying to harvest sprouts in the coldest December the UK had known for yonks and 'killing things' - hated that but knew it had to be done. Anyway we are being rude to Incubus. I applaud anyone who wants to grow stuff, for whatever reason, and look forward to hearing that he has acquired his allotment.
Mephistopheles sounds great to me - all the best bits of my youth. As an asthmatic it was only on the good days I could do those things, but that made it better. Ended up having a hobby of chopping logs, moving, chopping and stacking two tons on logs on a Sunday was my idea of heaven. Knackered my back on my 21st so the digging just doesn.t work for ma any more, but I've got my lawn, fruit trees and veggie plot back and others around to worry about the those flower things. I would always recommend runner beans as a rewarding way to start, but they need a lot of watering and so you need to be sure of your supplies. Leeks and onions are are a little less deamnading remotely. It's worth planning your plot around the facilities and take it in stages. A friend had a plot recently and the fellow gardeners and council were brilliatly helpful in getting him up, running and confident.
There is no doubt that gardening and physical labour can be very rewarding. I had a friend who was asthmatic she moved away to live near the sea and her asthma completely cleared up never to return...
Yes, the sea is a great place to go - the other half nearly convinced me that all inclusive holidays were the way to go as I always felt good - the trick to help is to gather and/or bury grass cutting and stinging nettles are the plants of the devil, of, and don't get me started on rape, whenever we went anywhere when I was young they used to prepare themselves for an attack the minute they saw a yellow field.
Well I now live by the seaside but unfortunately in the one area that's got the fastest cliff erosion rates in Europe, so it's probably only a matter of time before we all find ourselves submerged. Ah well. Jen Thanky you for the offer but it's a bit early for that yet. I set up this thread for people on here to exchange tips but the only things I've sowed so far are indoors and back-garden stuff. red spuds, carrots, asparagus (although that'll take a year or so), rocket, strawberries. I was thinking more in terms of the issues associated with getting a sizeable area to play around with, like an allotment. Issues to do with geeting rid of the bad stuff while avoiding destroying the good stuff in the process. This area (east Riding of Yorkshire) is incredibly good for growing stuff due to the climate, but unfortunately it's also incredibly good for weeds. Never seen anything like it, the pace at which they take everything over. Tips on weedkiller that does what it's meant to without destroying other plants or local wildlife, or for the matter of that destroying the neighbours' cats would be quite welcome though. the_roadie yeah I know, as irish green used to say she-who-must-be-obeyed (you know who) sowed come spuds in a humble 10- inch-deep pot 3 weeks ago and they're already showing signs of just about being ready for harvesting.
Ahem you may just want to edit your post just a tad. Incubus a weed is simply a plant that is in the wrong place all you have to do is remove them and replace them with something you want but slightly more aggressive for instance a lot of the herbs are very useful and can blot out weeds altogether especially something like mint and it goes lovely with lamb... Some people actually give their gardens over to nature as it attracts a multitude of wildlife. When I was a kid weeds were not a big problem once you knew how to control them naturally and I wouldn't recommend any type of weed killer as they do not work in the long term and they poison the earth for other plants and for the creepy crawlies that so many plants rely on to be healthy.... Its like slugs you don't want them but the worst thing you can do is put down slug pellets, no all you need is a small pond wait and let the frogs and toads to populate it and hey presto no more slug problem. Edit If you put fish in the pond they will eat all the frog spawn to get around this as soon as you see the spawn fish it out put it in a bucket of the same pond water and allow the tadpoles to hatch once the they are big enough to fend for themselves reintroduce them to the pond. oh and keep the bucket of spawn in a shaded area. End Edit
We used to use yoghurt pots filled with beer to control the slugs - an alternative option if you can't dig a pond. Look into complimentary planting too - planting plants to attract the pests so your actual crop is left alone. That avoids the need to use pesticides.
I plant marigolds with my runner/broad beans to attract the pests away, seems to work okay. Good tip on the slug traps....but having to sacrifice my beer for slugs Anyone know how to get rid of greenfly off raspberries without chemicals?
I have grown spuds for the last 7 years. For planting spuds I never bother to wait for the spuds to sprout, I also never ever waste money on garden centre 'seed' potatoes, they are a massive rip off. Just buy a bag of spuds in the supermarket, plant them any time after the hard frosts have finished. As soon as the soil temperature rises the spuds will start to grow. Now you can ignore them until autum. Once the plants start to die off you can dig them up as you need them. Lots of people say to dig them all up and keep them in sand. Total waste of time, just leave them in the ground untill you need them. If its a mild winter they will stay good right through untill spring when they will start to grow again. If the winter is very hard and the soil freezes solid your tatties will turn to mush, but this only happens in really hard winters like 2 years ago. I am also growing chillis for the 3rd time this year. Growing F1 apache (small and powerful) these are idiot proof, you actually have to thin the flowers to prevent to many chillis from growing it is so prolific. I am also growing for the first time Scotch bonnet chillis and just for a laugh the worlds hottest chilli the Dorset Naga. Growing chilli is pretty easy, keep the soil damp not wet, put the pot on a south facing window sill, when they start to fruit thin them out so you get a decent size chilli and not lots of microscopic ones. Let the chillis go red before you pick them for extra heat. I would like a bit of advice on growing tomatoes, courgette and aubergines which I am attemping for the first time this year. Can anyone help ?
Dizzi ladybirds and lacewings eat greenfly you can buy them online here http://www.gardening-naturally.com/acatalog/Biological_Control.html?gclid=CJy5hNfMsbACFUIOfAodPXimVQ They are expensive though. I spray mine a few times early in the year well before the fruits start forming.
Dizzi, just rub them off with your fingers - greenfly are very fragile and easily destroyed, but it is something you have to do every couple of days. Greenlantern101, courgettes, just whack them in the ground - they always grow and are even better if you've incorporated a bit of muck/compost before planting. This year (it looks like it will not have consistent temperatures!), I would only attempt tomatoes in a greenhouse or on a windowsill (even the 'outdoors' varieties need constant heat) and aubergines are just arses, again only for greenhouses and even then they can be fairly fickle. Incubus, weed control - the standard is black polythene stretched over the infected area for at least a year. But this doesn't work for things like ground elder, bindweed, couch grass, nettles and brambles - pull and/or cut back to the ground (do not dig, if a minute trace of root is left it creates another plant) and keep doing it (with brambles, just rub off any new shoots), maybe for two seasons or more - it will eventually exhaust the root and the plant will die. Regular mowing is good for many weeds and don't allow any to set seed - a dandelion 'clock' will give you hundreds of new plants next season, for instance. Don't worry about annuals like speedwell or chickweed, just hoe them off as you see them or, if mature, pull them up. Personally, I allow some weeds in my garden - some are very pretty and all have a use for other wildlife.
What you need to do with greenfly is attract their natural predictors there is actually one called "Aphid predator" and of course Ladybirds or Ladybugs if your American.. To attract these wee beasties you can plant Mint, Fennel, Dandelions, Dill, Clover or Yarrow, they love em but they love aphids more, beware though some of these plants are very attractive to bees as well (White clover for one.) I'm only saying that because if for some strange reason you don't like bees....
