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Chit Chat Garden ( 2017 )
Chit Chat Garden ( 2017 )
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love the DIY racking S T
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Question for the panel:-
I've got a rather large blackberry bush which needs to be cut back. When should I do this? |
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I ask the panel similarly regarding a wild raspberry bush I found (2 years ago) with my wild strawbs.
Last years buds were great but the fruit was overtaken by bugs. What am I doing wrong? |
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Isn't "blackberry bush" just a polite word for "brambles"? In which case they're indestructible, no matter when or how much you cut them back.
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Blackberries fruit on one-year-old canes so your first job is to cut out all the older canes. You will notice that where the canes arch down to the ground they will root and form new plants. If you allow this to happen the bramble will completely take over your garden in no time at all and it will be the devil's own job to get rid of it.
Once you have cut out all the surplus growth (do it now before it starts growing again), tie in the remaining canes to supports and once they have fruited in the autumn, cut them out and tie in the new growth. Raspberries are susceptible to viruses which are transmitted by aphids. Always start with quality virus-free stock from a reputable grower and replace it after a few years when the yield starts to decline. I would never grow raspberries taken from the wild or from another gardener. |
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You are right Screaming,
 you have to be ruthless and keep at it. If they get on top, you've had it. The wildlife in your garden will love it, though. |
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Thanks for your help Foinavon, will do.
As for wildlife we get a mouse nest under there each year much to the cat's delight  |
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Done a bit of planning tonight, only carrots, beetroot, parsnip, lettuce, khol rabi and spring onions are going in my raised bed, everything else will go into pots.
I'm going to buy 1 possibly 2 www.popadome.co.uk and a small greenhouse heater for my raised bed, that should keep me growing all year round. I've always wondered about self sufficiency. What sort of requirements would be needed to supply myself all year round? |
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grow and eat with/in the seasons.
pickle some dig up and bury in wet soil/sand in frost free place to prolong availability [carrots beetroot celeriac etc) store correctly [no pots with onions etc] |
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Salting works too. We didn't have a freezer (or a fridge, come to that) when I was growing up, so runner beans were cut up and salted and stored in old pickle jars.
http://slightlyselfsufficient.co.uk/how-to-salt-runner-beans/ If you try it, and it's very simple, remember to wrap the jars in something like brown paper to keep out the light, and store them on a shelf. Other than that, ignore the bit about soaking them in water before cooking them. I don't know why it mentions that, because it only makes them tough. Maybe the author believes the myth of salt being dangerous rather than essential. They do taste different from fresh ones, but it's a taste all of its own and brings back all sorts of memories of my parents. |
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Got my pot rack into the polytunnel today.
I decided to make the bottom shelve removable, so i made them all short individual parts. Easy enough to do, just nail noggins under each end so they can't slip off to the sides. [ This image is no longer available. ] |
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You started your garlic in pots Smarty?
I plant mine in the garden in September. They are up but not as developed as yours. |
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I am going through a garden transition Foinavon, moved in here a couple of years ago and am just getting around to the veg half of the garden proper
 My garlic went in pots mid October, i will plant them on at the beginning of April. |
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I love this thread
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I bought some heritage tomatoes at a local farm shop , all different colours , shapes and sizes.
Saved some seeds , planted them last week and within 4 or 5 days they are sprouting. |
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Aww,
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Good luck with your veg plot Smarty, always a lot of work at the beginning. Will you post some photos in the summer?
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Got my Pepper seeds in pots today, 10 sweet and 10 hot, with a bit of (beginner's) luck i will have some pepper plants to photo come summer.
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Thompson & Morgan have got a special offer on fruit trees ( Braeburn apple, cherry, plum, pear)
4 for £28 |
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Any tips on growing Dahlia ? I have been given a few seeds called Boogie Nights.
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I treat mine like half hardy annuals although they are perennials.
Sow them in trays in the warm or in a propagator and keep in a cold frame until all danger of frost has passed. I plant out towards the end of May and they bloom late summer until the autumn frosts. I cut the stems down at that point and leave the roots in the ground. More often than not quite a few of them grow again the next year although if you wanted to, you could lift the tubers and store them or leave them in the ground and mulch them. I find it more convenient to sow fresh seed each year and any volunteers are a bonus. |
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too cold
not going outside! |
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Cheers Foinavon, i have just done them all and put them on a warm windowsill.
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I haven't started yet but need to get going soon. I'm sowing a dahlia variety called Bishop's Children which is relatively small, about 2 ft in height with dark leaves and single daisy-like flowers. I grew them last year and was pleased with the colours.
Also have seeds of Aster, Geum, Mesembryanthemum, Cosmos (2 varieties), Calendula and Carnation. I try to have continuous flowering from the early spring crocuses and daffodils through to the onset of winter. Wallflowers provide a useful link from the tulips to the summer annuals and those are started in summer and planted out in the Autumn to flower the following spring. |
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I'm with hospital atm with food poisoning. I ate a daffodil bulb thinking it was an onion. Doctors say I should be out by Spring.
 I haven't done anything either, not that I've much to do. I mean to dig the bed over and clear my pots but it's too chilly. I'll take some picks when I next go around. If you can't eat it, don't grow it guys  |
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You can eat Dahlia flowers and tubers, so I'm told. Haven't tried it though  |
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My wheelbarrow had yet another puncture, Hawthorn this time. My neighbour had some tyre fix glue that you spray into it and then inflate the tyre, this is meant to glue shut any holes. So i tried it but it didn't work, first barrow load of soil and it was flat again.
 Anyway it got me thinking about ways of puncture proofing the tyre, fill it with sand was one thought, then i saw an old spray can of expanding insulation foam in my man-cave. A quick google to see if anyone had tried it in a tyre before, and it seems everyone is doing it.  So i pulled the inner tube out and threw it away, put the tyre back on and filled it with expanding insulation foam through the valve hole. It has worked a treat |
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I've never had a puncture, although it needs topping up with the foot pump from time to time. Will be interested to see how this stands the test of time, will the foam structure break down after a time if transporting heavy loads? Hope it works.
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It works well Foinavon, i shifted a dozen very full barrows of soil. Like you say though, how long will it last ?
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Just noticed the first signs of my two year old Rhubarb pushing through
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Not long to wait now for the first crop of the season. Wonderful rhubarb, the gift of nature. I must go and put some chicken manure pellets round mine this week to top up the nitrogen supply.
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dont you have custard round it, like most people ?
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Crumble on top, then custard all over
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Has to be cream, for me
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Stewed rhubarb is great stirred into your morning porridge. Mine is made with water as I don't touch milk (or custard).
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I cut a 50ft(ish) Ash tree down at crimbo, so today i have acquired a very heavy duty Turfer and am pulling the stump out. I have managed to dig around it and axe my way through the thick as your arm roots
 I have it tipped at an angle as i am "turfing" it out, so i start to dig out from right underneath the stump, and to my surprise out pops a lovely green glass bottle Written on it "Cash Boots Chemists" and "Not to be taken" "1oz" |
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Try rubbing it if there is a big puff of smoke
You are in Luck |
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Excellent thread.
Did well with bell peppers and cucumber in the greenhouse last year. The cucumber was one that didn't require cross fertilisation. So just kept it well watered , and liquid fertiliser every week. Had a really good crop. Similar process with peppers. Outside, potatoes, French beans and runner beans did well. The disappointment was my Sweet Peas. So will start early this year. Indoors from now ? |
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Some people swear by it, I couldn't myself.
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