Gardening 2021

[SteveH]

We should have a gardening thread.
I have removed three of my apple trees in the back garden, because really I had far too many, and have released space for a new vegetable plot (I gave up my allotment a few years ago, because it was difficult to manage it with a full-time job, being half a mile away, but in my own back garden it should be possible). I've been looking at the 'Real Seeds' catalogue online, a firm which specialises in unusual varieties, and a wooden compost bin kit, of which I may buy two.* I had three home-made bins constructed from odd bits of wood, but they have more or less rotted away. Two is a good idea, so that you can have one maturing and one providing mature compost. Three is even better - one being filled, one maturing, and one being emptied - but two will do for now. These Harrod bins are good and capacious, and aren't made of plastic, which I try to avoid.

* (Harrod, not Harrods: I don't think they're connected with the posh department store.)

[Nearly Sane]

I suspect I won't be participating since I can kill a cactus with a loom, but stickied the topic for others.

[SteveH]

I suspect I won't be participating since I can kill a cactus with a loom, but stickied the topic for others.

Thanks!
Real Seeds.

[Nearly Sane]

I suspect I won't be participating since I can kill a cactus with a loom, but stickied the topic for others.

Ffs! A look! I would think anyone could kill a cactus with s loom 

[SteveH]

Ffs! A look! I would think anyone could kill a cactus with s loom

I wondered what you meant!

[Aruntraveller]

My one tip, always use gloves.

Not only does it protect you from all manner of prickly plants, but cats, much though I love them, use gardens.......I need not say any more!

[SteveH]

Much too wet to do anything in the way of gardening at the moment, but I will be buying seeds and a couple of tomato mini-greenhouses online soon. Tomato mini-greenhouse.

[SteveH]

By "much too wet", I mean not just the stuff coming down, but also, and indeed more importantly, the stuff already in the ground, which is sodden. It'll be weeks before it's diggable.

[Roses]

I prefer artificial plants in our home, and a few in the garden, these days they look like the real thing. Steve will no doubt freak out at the thought of it. 

[SteveH]

I prefer artificial plants in our home, and a few in the garden, these days they look like the real thing. Steve will no doubt freak out at the thought of it. 

What a dreadful idea!

[Roses]

I must be psychic, I thought you would say something like that. Most of our outdoor plants are real, but indoors plants make my eyes and nose run, so artificial ones are best. 

[SteveH]

Well, I won't be doing any gardening at least until the snow melts, so watch this space...

[SteveH]

Just bought the March edition of 'Grow Your Own' magazine (we're not even out of January, ffs!), with a useful selection of free seeds, and a seed catalogue to supplement them. Now I just need to find a supplier online of rare spud varieties.

https://flic.kr/p/2kwabF1

[SteveH]

 I found a rare spud supplier, and am going to order these:
https://www.seedpotatoesdirect.co.uk/maincrop-seed-potatoes/80-299-salad-blue-seed-potatoes.html#/30-pack_size-1kg
https://www.seedpotatoesdirect.co.uk/maincrop-seed-potatoes/48-pink-fir-apple-seed-potatoes.html
Both of which are interestingly unusual. I've grown 'Pink Fir Apple' before; it's a good general-purpose spud, not just for salads.

[SteveH]

Sowed onions (Red Baron) and Rosemary in general-purpose compost in seed trays today. The compost wasn't organic, I'm afraid, or at least it didn't specifically say that t was. I try to be organic, but t isn't always possible.

[SteveH]

Just checked my emails. The seed-potatoes may take some time to arrive, apparently, due to Covid, snow, etc., and the compost bins have been despatched, but I've got to allow up to five days. Well, they do say that gardening teaches you patience...

[SteveH]

I was out in the back garden this morning, measuring and roughly marking plots. John Seymour (the late great) recommends deep beds 5' wide and up to 20' long, and I can only fit three in side by side at that width, so I may have to go with a three-year crop rotation, which isn't as good as a four- or five-year, but will have to do. John Harrison in 'The Complete Vegetable Grower' recommends, if you use a three-year plan, solanaceae (spuds and toms*) followed by brassicas (cabbages and relatives) followed by everything else.

*and chillies, capsicums, aubergines, tobacco, and deadly nightshade. I may one day try chillies and capsicums, but not aubergines, which I'm not wild about, and definitely not the other two.

[Nearly Sane]

Just to note I am passively (very) enjoying Steve's updates 

[SteveH]

The compost bins arrived an hour ago - see photos in link. I've erected one, and the other can wait until tomorrow. They are simple to construct, but quite hard work: the mortise joints are quite stiff, and need hammering.
Having re-measured, I have discovered that I have, just about, got room for four 4'x15' deep beds, with 12" paths between them. The furthest bed from the house will be partly under the outermost branches of the big apple tree, which is not ideal, but not disastrous. It'll still get plenty of sun.
https://flic.kr/s/aHsmU6nHZv

[SteveH]

My seed potatoes have arrived, and I've laid them out to chit (sprout). They're both old and rare varieties: 'Pink Fir Apple' on the left, the long, pinkish ones, and 'Salad Blue' on the right, which has dark blue skin and flesh, and the colour apparently survives cooking. Blue mashed potato might be an interesting novelty.
https://flic.kr/p/2kzPWSV

[Nearly Sane]

My seed potatoes have arrived, and I've laid them out to chit (sprout). They're both old and rare varieties: 'Pink Fir Apple' on the left, the long, pinkish ones, and 'Salad Blue' on the right, which has dark blue skin and flesh, and the colour apparently survives cooking. Blue mashed potato might be an interesting novelty.
https://flic.kr/p/2kzPWSV

Did they come from inside the UK?

[SteveH]

Did they come from inside the UK?

Yes - Perth.

[SteveH]

'Red Baron' onion (left) and rosemary seedlings, which have popped up in the last few days, in the heated propagator (top removed for photo).
https://flic.kr/p/2kCaTDu

[SteveH]

Rain forecast until Sunday, and the ground's already sodden! When on earth am I going to be able to dig my new vegetable plots at this rate?

[SteveH]

My son recently gave me some pre-planted pots of primulas in various colours, and narcissi. The primulas are already in full flower, having been grown under glass, presumably, and the narcissi are also well advanced. They're supposed to stay in the bowls as indoor plants, but they're all fully hardy, and have been hardened off over the last few days, and haven't come to any harm, so I've just planted them all in the front garden, teasing the roots out in the approved manner to prevent them continuing to grow round in a circle.
He also provided a camellia, which is a bit more problematical, as it grows up to 3 metres high and wide, but I can squeeze it in at the back of the back garden, though it'll be too close to the big apple tree to be ideal. I've told him not to provide any more large shrubs or trees, and to check the label for the ultimate dimensions!