Wot's one got growing?

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Wot's one got growing?

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Blue Sky

Joined: 30 Jan 2005
Posts: 7658
Location: France

Posted: Thu Apr 04, 19 11:45 am Post subject: Wot's one got growing?

In spite of the heatwave in February (I was lazy and went to Spain) we don't seem to have much on the go here in France. I've sown a succession of grain over the last few weeks but so far the only things to have broken the surface are little Lucy Locket's flower seedlings.

I'm not much into all this moon planting business but maybe that is to my detriment? I will continue to sow ... but it may be some time before we reap

Seedlings aside we do have herbs. Parsley, thyme, rosemary, bay, mint, chives and lemon balm.

Shan

Joined: 13 Jan 2009
Posts: 9075
Location: South Wales

Posted: Thu Apr 04, 19 12:57 pm Post subject:
We have the usual herbs and I have some Lemon Grass in a mug currently sprouting roots. The greenhouse has tomato, pepper, pak choi and chilli plants coming along nicely and the window sill has some cucumber seedlings, which have just popped up. I need to get the squash and pumpkins going.

sgt.colon

Joined: 27 Jul 2009
Posts: 7380
Location: Just south of north.

Posted: Thu Apr 04, 19 1:23 pm Post subject:
In the heated propagator we have tomatoes, sprouts, chilli's and peppers. Going to get some cucumber in this weekend. Down at the allotment I've got some broad beans in and this weekend I'm going to be doing carrots and parsnips.

tahir

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 45676
Location: Essex

Posted: Thu Apr 04, 19 2:15 pm Post subject:
I managed to find a couple of really small plants of torreya nucifera, a nut bearing conifer I've been after for years. Too samll to plant out so I've potted them up, still missing my veg plot

Mistress Rose

Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 16004

Posted: Fri Apr 05, 19 7:07 am Post subject:

Not heard of that one Tahir. Sounds interesting.

I haven't got anything in yet, but hoping to get a few seeds sown today if I feel up to it. I was thinking of doing some sowing and planting last weekend, but luckily I didn't as we have had frost, hail/snow, rain and general horrid weather this week. Will see what I can manage over the next week or so. All the beds are ready, so just a question of getting stuff in the ground or in seed boxes.

Shan

Joined: 13 Jan 2009
Posts: 9075
Location: South Wales

Posted: Fri Apr 05, 19 7:32 am Post subject:

tahir wrote:

I managed to find a couple of really small plants of torreya nucifera, a nut bearing conifer I've been after for years. Too samll to plant out so I've potted them up, still missing my veg plot

We are acquiring 4 Pinus Pinea and hoping to acquire some more in the future (surprisingly difficult to get hold of).

What do the nuts from the torreya nucifera taste like or are they put to another use?

Mistress Rose

Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 16004

Posted: Mon Apr 22, 19 8:32 am Post subject:

Managed to make one of the replacement raised beds yesterday using western red cedar from the wood next to ours, milled by husband and son. It meant digging out the old bed, as the old one was too wide, and moving quite a lot of soil, as well as moving the compost heap on the next bed to the compost area, so quite a lot of work. Hoping to get the last of the potatoes in today, but still need to add compost to the new bed, which is a lot deeper, before the onion sets can go in.

mousjoos

Joined: 05 Jun 2006
Posts: 1986
Location: VERY Sunny SW France

Posted: Mon Apr 22, 19 9:46 am Post subject:
Planted out the first home-reared tomato plants under cloches made from plastic wrapping & re-bar. Along with lettuces & radishes for company. One long row of spuds; & another going in this pm. Tomatoes in the poly tunnel along with more radishes, lettuce, parsley, coriander. Perpetual celery & fennel outside.

Ty Gwyn

Joined: 22 Sep 2010
Posts: 4613
Location: Lampeter

Posted: Mon Apr 22, 19 1:35 pm Post subject:
Grass. I wish Chris would travel to Wales,we need a good shower,lol.

Mistress Rose

Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 16004

Posted: Tue Apr 23, 19 6:36 am Post subject:

We have rain forecast for later this week. We need it for the garden, but could put the dampers on bagging charcoal.

We got some more compost from the rotted sawdust from the woods, so the raised bed is full, but we spent the day filling the two old tractor tyres we have up there with another lot of sawdust, so didn't get the planting done. Hope to get it done over the next couple of days so the rain can get them going.

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46249
Location: yes

Posted: Thu Jun 06, 19 11:40 pm Post subject:

wots still alive and thriving?
can we learn from the fallen?

deep pots with a half plastic bottle as as water reservoir in them do seem to work well for the damp preferring mints

cucumbers are not as easy as i remember, zero germination this year

radish are ace , if you like radish or saag/other greenery dishes are available, any bit of space can be used for a few weeks .

the big boys see elsewhere

at the mo my favourite source of common herbs to plant out are supermarkets.
the cut and eat stuff can be cut short, de potted , unrolled and planted in long tubs or cut short and put in a big pot
unrolled works well with chives, parsley etc and up potted is better for thyme, rocket etc
they are not specimen plants but they are productive, the survivors can become very good specimen plants with tlc to keep em going if they do more than a season.
my old chives are huge and very tasty , they live with the "wild" garlic and are both 3 yrs old. both get wild garlic conditions as far as possible, spring sun, shade after that, quite damp. they seem happy even if they move around in a trough.

£1 for a pot of several or hundred herb seedlings is worth having even if it does mean a bit of nursing sometimes.

repotting:

if you move up size 3 times at the right times and very carefully it seems effective for tomatoes.
stuff like rosemary over pot for a 2 yr schedule

perhaps 3 repottings is about right for a lot of plants , maybe not for the "field" crops but for longish lived pampered pets it works.
too small, dry and nutrient poor is bad but too big or too rich all the time can be just as bad with some

if you are serious about good compost get some guinea pigs, gp deep litter is super good with a few extras like wood ash and soil n gerrenery . give it a year to ferment ,then a year in use under planting soil and then give it a good turn
at that point it will be awesome fluffy black soil.

at a rough estimate one gp can create a few cubic feet of good compost a year, not just by manure but by activating the right sort of microflora and chemistry in deep litter frass, hay frass is ace but even stuff like wood wool will compost if gps tell it to

Shan

Joined: 13 Jan 2009
Posts: 9075
Location: South Wales

Posted: Fri Jun 07, 19 6:36 am Post subject:
I need to get a few things planted out fro the greenhouse: various pumpkins and leeks. The Pak Choi grew to monster proportions in the greenhouse: extremely productive. Tomatoes, peppers and chillies doing well. I bought in 3 grafted aubergine plants, which have put on a massive growth spurt after being transplanted into bigger pots.

Mistress Rose

Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 16004

Posted: Fri Jun 07, 19 6:40 am Post subject:
Perhaps I ought to get a guinea pig or two. I know a work colleague used to use them as lawn mowers.

sgt.colon

Joined: 27 Jul 2009
Posts: 7380
Location: Just south of north.

Posted: Fri Jun 07, 19 8:00 am Post subject:
Nearly all things going well for me. Broad beans, beetroot, peas, carrots, cabbages, sprouts, onions and garlic all looking really good. And as I've already reported, parsnips, tomatoes, chillies and peppers put on a really poor show or were a total no go. Cucumbers, growing but very, very slowly.

gz

Joined: 23 Jan 2009
Posts: 8962
Location: Ayrshire, Scotland

Posted: Fri Jun 07, 19 8:18 am Post subject:

From last Autumn planting we have red onions, leeks, garlic and a few broad beans..only three out of 25 survived the winter...
The strawberries have been strawed and are about to be netted...the blackbirds are already eyeing up the green unripe strawbs...

We have finally spent our wedding present gift vouchers...took us a year to decide on a 2mx 3m polytunnel. The frame has been planted,hope to get the cover on today and get sowing seeds.

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