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 Post subject: Re: Gardening Corner
PostPosted: Sun Jun 26, 2022 20:22 
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Oh, thank you! Some of them are a bit small, but they certainly scrubbed up well. I was worried they’d be a bit grotty before I cleaned them up, but once the outer layer is off for the outer layers to dry and cure they start looking a lot prettier.

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 Post subject: Re: Gardening Corner
PostPosted: Mon Aug 08, 2022 14:03 
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Just a quick update. Everything is growing as hoped, I guess, apart from the brassicas which got nommed.

Potatoes we’ve harvested two of our six summer potato plantings, and I’ve sown three winter potato plantings too.

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Carrots are brilliant again this year. I think Bean has magic carrot growing skills.

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We have had amazing peas. They cropped heavily forested six weeks straight then died off, but then put out a load of new green growth and are cropping again.

We’ve had beetroot and onions and garlic.

I’m keeping an eye on the sweetcorn. I don’t know if o have a timing issue with the variety I have (Swift) with the males appearing so long before the females, so I’ll have to check the cob formation in a fortnight.

Tomatoes have been brilliant. I’ve got a few definite favourites to grow again next year, and I’m going to try and cross pollinate a tomato next year.

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The pumpkins are growing well, too. The one at the front measured over a metre in circumference today

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There’s other stuff, but it’s fun, and quite comforting at the current time.


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 Post subject: Re: Gardening Corner
PostPosted: Mon Aug 08, 2022 14:48 
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Isn't that lovely?

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Lovely Mimi

Really envious of your potatoes and tomatoes, and those carrots look like something you would see in an advert or cookery show or something.

Amazing!

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 Post subject: Re: Gardening Corner
PostPosted: Mon Aug 08, 2022 16:09 
That all looks awesome mimi! I'm so jealous!


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 Post subject: Re: Gardening Corner
PostPosted: Mon Aug 08, 2022 16:27 
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 Post subject: Re: Gardening Corner
PostPosted: Mon Aug 08, 2022 18:21 
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Excellent harvest Mimi!


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 Post subject: Re: Gardening Corner
PostPosted: Mon Aug 08, 2022 18:27 
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Solid.

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 Post subject: Re: Gardening Corner
PostPosted: Tue Aug 09, 2022 4:02 
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Can you dig it?

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Lovely colourful photos too.

How long would you say you have spent, and continue to spend on the garden?

Part of what's holding me back from trying is a feeling I've already a bit overcommitted, a realisation I already have a a lot of other tings to be responsible for... plus I think a little bit of inherent laziness

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 Post subject: Re: Gardening Corner
PostPosted: Mon Aug 15, 2022 17:40 
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Sir Taxalot wrote:
Lovely colourful photos too.

How long would you say you have spent, and continue to spend on the garden?

Part of what's holding me back from trying is a feeling I've already a bit overcommitted, a realisation I already have a a lot of other tings to be responsible for... plus I think a little bit of inherent laziness


Hmmm, difficult question. As all of my tomatoes are in pots during the heatwave I’ve had to water them every day, but usually I’d water them every third day. The stuff in the beds rarely needs watering, even during the heatwave I’ve only watered most of it once a week.

On top of that I usually do a little thing at lunchtime. That might be pruning the tomatoes, or just tidying something up. Usually I just wander around and look at stuff.

The busiest time is definitely March, because that is seed sowing time, and looking after baby plants.

You could just get a couple of buckets (97p in B&Q) and buy a couple of tomato plants next year (also B&Q) and with a couple of sticks see how you go. I don’t beat myself about things if I let them die. I had a bit of a MH blip earlier in the year and just didn’t want to look after some flower plants I’d grown from seed, and they died, and so I chucked them away and concentrated on what I was enjoying (which at that time was cleaning plant pots and tools).

I have a few more pictures.

Some potatoes. These are Jazzy potatoes (I bought them solely because they made me think of @goddess Jasmine and I’m so glad I did because they are stellar and I’ll definitely grow them again).

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The Heinz tomatoes are just excellent, too
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And the pumpkins are all starting to ripen.

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 Post subject: Re: Gardening Corner
PostPosted: Wed Aug 24, 2022 11:24 
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We decided to harvest the pumpkins today as they seem nicely cured and the skins have hardened, so they’ll store for 3 - 6 months +. These were grown as an afterthought really, just as I saw the seeds in Morrisons garden centre bit, but Darwin is so proud of them. They’re great fun.


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 Post subject: Re: Gardening Corner
PostPosted: Wed Aug 24, 2022 16:16 
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They look awesome. Are they eaters or carvers?

We have what appear to be pumpkins growing in our new veg beds. No idea exactly, and where they've come from is a mystery! The beds are filled with home-made compost and we don't eat pumpkins...


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 Post subject: Re: Gardening Corner
PostPosted: Wed Aug 24, 2022 19:01 
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These are a carving variety because I’m super allergic to pumpkins/squash. If I touch the flesh all of the skin that it’s touches starts to peel off. It’s gross. Actually, I touched just the outside of the pumpkins last week and all my skin started peeling, so it must be the outside to some degree as well, but I’ve been wearing gloves today and all is fine. We have them in the house at Halloween and it’s no worry, but I wouldn’t risk trying to eat them. Oddly, I was talking to a friend about the pumpkin allergy and she has the same so maybe it’s a common allergy.

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 Post subject: Re: Gardening Corner
PostPosted: Thu Oct 06, 2022 18:03 
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I’ve just bought 100 saffron crocus bulbs, which should yield me just under one whole gram of saffron. I’ll be rich beyond my wildest dreams in no time!

I thought it’d be a nice little thing to be able to say I grew, though, and will come back each year of course.

https://www.farmergracy.co.uk/products/ ... s-bulbs-uk

Couldn’t afford the £770 for the 10,000 bulbs, sadly, so 100 will have to do. There’s free shipping on for the next couple of days at Farmer Gracy, BTW (code FRSH) in case anyone else wants some saffron crocuses or whatever else.

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 Post subject: Re: Gardening Corner
PostPosted: Wed Nov 02, 2022 14:16 
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The first of my saffron crocuses have popped up. I should get about three strands from each bulb that blooms. It said that there likely wouldn’t be a huge yield in the first year, but they’re looking like most of them are going to bloom, and they naturalise really easily, apparently, so I should get more and more each year.

Look: actual saffron strands!


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 Post subject: Re: Gardening Corner
PostPosted: Fri Nov 11, 2022 14:49 
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I’m not sure if this is of interest to anyone but me, but my little saffron growing idea is really stepping up a gear now. Today was the biggest single day harvest so far. I was told not to expect much by way of a harvest this first year, but the saffron flowers are doing so well. I’m drying them in little piles so that I can put them in little jars when they get to the right stage. I might even have enough to give a little jar to Ma at Christmas.


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 Post subject: Re: Gardening Corner
PostPosted: Fri Nov 11, 2022 19:30 
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Cor! Just caught up with this thread, amazing work, Mimi!

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 Post subject: Re: Gardening Corner
PostPosted: Fri Nov 11, 2022 19:54 
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With your clearly magical spot you could become the UK baroness of the stuff.


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 Post subject: Re: Gardening Corner
PostPosted: Fri Nov 11, 2022 22:12 
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Hehe, thanks both! It’s a happy little thing going on in the garden now that many crops have come to an end. I’m going to get a herb bed put out in spring as I bought one of these and thought I could sow a different herb in each of the sections: 12-Section Covered Potager Growhouse https://amzn.eu/cs0Fc31 It seemed like an amazing price.

The saffron crocuses are in large patio containers, Bik. We have a very heavy clay here, so I’m amending the soil as we work the garden, but that will be an ongoing project over many years.

The actual saffron crocuses smell stunning.

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 Post subject: Re: Gardening Corner
PostPosted: Sat Nov 12, 2022 8:40 
That saffron looks great! You should make lussebullar! https://www.scandikitchen.co.uk/recipe- ... ucia-buns/


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 Post subject: Re: Gardening Corner
PostPosted: Sat Nov 12, 2022 9:21 
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I’ve read about these buns! (One of my Christmas hobbies is reading books on various holiday traditions). I’ll give them a go.

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 Post subject: Re: Gardening Corner
PostPosted: Sun Nov 27, 2022 18:59 
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Our Japanese quince sure can quince. Probably 10kg.

Some of these things are as big as apples!


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 Post subject: Re: Gardening Corner
PostPosted: Sun Nov 27, 2022 21:35 
Awesome
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Yes

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Wow that's loads. Will you be able to make all those into something?

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 Post subject: Re: Gardening Corner
PostPosted: Mon Nov 28, 2022 0:00 
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Last year Helen stewed them down and made ice cubes for adding to... Er, I forget what she said. They're all still in the freezer because they get forgotten about. Quite lucky I haven't fed them to the dog really. Or maybe I have and that's why she wasn't keen at first.

With this many we may be on for a few jars of quince jelly though.


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 Post subject: Re: Gardening Corner
PostPosted: Mon Nov 28, 2022 11:17 
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That’s an incredible number. Are those all from one tree?

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 Post subject: Re: Gardening Corner
PostPosted: Mon Feb 06, 2023 11:35 
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Yesterday we set up the metal bed that I won in a competition. I de used to put it on the boundary with next door as she grows quite a wild garden, and has everything covered with English Ivy.

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It’s strangled out the trees, and when we moved in there was about 100-150cm depth of ground cover ivy that had crept through to our side, right down tve left side of the garden, and the planting in that area had died, I think because of it.

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We’ve been pushing the ivy back bit by bit since we moved in but there was an area half was up the garden that we were going to tackle next, when I happened to win the raised bed.

We cleared some space for the bed, and put down some weed membrane under the bed to stop it growing up through the bed.

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I don’t usually use weed membrane on my raised beds, but this specifically has the ivy to contend with.

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Once the bed was constructed (we went with the longest, narrow configuration with the panels, we used a sort of hugelkulture style filling, which saved a lot of money and dealt with a lot of the woody garden waste we chopped back. So, layers of cardboard, logs, then small branches, and then (our lucky days) the tree surgeons were across the road so Russell went over to ask if they had any fresh woodchip, and they kindly brought two great big bags over. Look how pleased his little face is…

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So we added that, and will add some manure and compost to fill the rest.

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I’m going to put flowers in the back of it, around 40cm tall, and then in the front I’m going to put some strawberries. I have about 5-7 plants and ordered another 20, but they sent 28, so should get between 20-30 total, depending on how many take.


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 Post subject: Re: Gardening Corner
PostPosted: Sun Mar 05, 2023 20:22 
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A really happy day for me today because in our Wildlife pond…
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A little dream of mine, come true :luv:


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 Post subject: Re: Gardening Corner
PostPosted: Sun Mar 05, 2023 20:48 
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Incredible that you've been able to attract flamingos.


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 Post subject: Re: Gardening Corner
PostPosted: Sun Mar 05, 2023 21:36 
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Well, some residents are clearly very unhappy.


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 Post subject: Re: Gardening Corner
PostPosted: Sun Mar 05, 2023 21:43 
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When we moved in we found LOADS of statues buried underground. We’ve just put them all out. Not the frog: Darwin bought him :D

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 Post subject: Re: Gardening Corner
PostPosted: Mon Mar 06, 2023 14:21 
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Awesome :D


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 Post subject: Re: Gardening Corner
PostPosted: Fri May 05, 2023 14:13 
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First garden snackums of the season.


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