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Chit Chat Garden ( 2017 )
Chit Chat Garden ( 2017 )
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Why didn't I think of that!
You could have hanging strawberry baskets, too  |
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Unfortunately it runs N-S along it's length (are all churches like this?) so the Sun gets the east early in the morning and west in late afternoon. Not ideal but you've got to make the best of what you have. Yes I'll mention it the next time I go around.
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I only grow chillis, tough as old boots and easy to keep alive. Last years plant (potted/windowsill) was hacked down a few weeks ago and is already bearing chilis, the cutting I took is also flowering but I doubt they will set yet.
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I spread a box of weed and feed on my lawn today. Bit early to catch any
 Dandelion but my main aim is all the patches of Moss this time. |
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9 small pots of compost with a single tomato seed in each placed in windowsill 10 days ago.
Little water sprinkled on each day. Seedlings are now 4cm high  |
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Something has stripped bare a pot of my Sweet pea ( Sir Henry Cecil ) in the polytunnel
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Tuesday is.....
Tomato seeds day Gardeners Delight Piccolo Dattero Muscato Piccolo Tondo Caliendo  |
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Still a bit chilly to be planting out but I filled 4 more of those pots with soil. I can surround my raised bed with 28 pots, maybe more and I'll try and find more space to grow wherever I can.
Another small raised bed has appeared in between the 2 small raised beds to the left in the picture and the doors went onto the Polytunnel. As I say this thing is driving itself with very little input from me, I'm just looking after my own small section. I'm happy this way as I can only spare an hour or 2 every week. |
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Sweet pea and nasturtium seedlings coming on nicely in the greenhouse.
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Compost,seaweed etc put into raised bed,dug it all around and covered with plastic ready to sow hopefully start of April
Going seed hunting today , |
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I have pinched the top out of my Sweat pea this morning. Filled the top of the pots with slug pellets, as i dont think it was mice that stripped the leaves off.
Potted on a dozen or so Cornflower. |
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First signs of my carrots today, outside in 3ft diameter tubs.
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Nice bit of frost in sunny Notts this morning. Next door neighbours car on the front is iced over
 Lots of the lawn moss has turned a dark brown colour now, so time to give the lawn a good scarifying i think today. |
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blimey, never realised we were due for night frosts, highlights that starting too early in the garden planting isnt always a good thing
you down for -5 tonight Smar Tarse according to the BBC  |
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I will be ok Delta, all my stuff so far is in tubs either just outside the polytunnel door, ready to be dragged in, or they are in there already
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The nearest weather station to me doesn't seem to have logged a temp below freezing the last 24 hours
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Well i have just put a Minimum/Maximum temp meter in the polytunnel, it will be interesting to see what it gets down to in there tonight
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We get frosts right up to the first week in May in the Midlands.
I don't bother putting beans in early these days. Certainly not before May on any account. They won't run until the weather warms up so what's the point. |
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Sweet pea and nasturtium seedlings coming on nicely in the greenhouse.
I usually start nasturtiums off in pots in the greenhouse as well. Not yet though. Trouble is once they take hold in the garden they don't half go. |
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Night frosts are possible up to the end of May in the Midlands.
One year I saw lots of people plant out squashes and beans on the whit weekend only for them to be zapped by a night frost. As Dr C says, they don't make any progress before the ground warms up and putting them out too early also makes them an easy target for slugs which love to hoover up sickly plants. I plant out tender crops second week of June when they can get off to a fast start. Mixing some fish blood and bone fertiliser into the soil at the bottom of the planting hole helps too. |
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The nasturtiums on my allotment border self-seed every year which suggests that if you just scatter the seeds where you want them to grow they will germinate.
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I'm in a built up area, I think our frosts have now gone. I was round for the past 2 hours, I took some photo's but I'll wait until mods clear them before putting them up. I bought some soil as can be seen in one of the photo's but then took a walk over the new section and they have tons of the stuff as good or better quality than I have and I think they have finished with it. I'm nicking some next time I go around.
I planted some peas, chives, carrots, radishes, sorrel. I transferred my cherry tree and rhubarb and watered everything. The bad news again is I used half the water from the water butt and we're not even in warm weather or a drought. I'll have to speak to the group about getting a tap in again. |
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 My raised bed, I'm surrounding it with those pots to give me more space. I plan on Peas, Beans and maybe sprouts/ cabbage and some other things suitable for pots, I've also some fruit bushes here that are starting to spring into life. There's also an area to the left I can grow salad veg in pots but again water is the big problem. One of those water butts wouldn't do 1 raised bed never mind the 8 plus the polytunnel.  Polytunnel and Shed. I don't have much input on this although it was me that spotted the £5k grant, I haven't a clue who built it or who's looking after it but I will claim a small part of it to grow tomatoes   This area is not owned or built by us but it's for Foodbank use. There are 10 raised beds, all filled with good soil. There's a ton of it left over There must be £5's worth of material and work put into this and I still haven't a clue who paid for it all. I reckon in total the group that runs the foodbank have spent £200 at most on all of this with over £10k spent on it all. The good Lord works in mysterious ways  |
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Nasturtuims do a wonderful job of attracting Cabbage White Butterflies . They lay their eggs on them and devour the leave , but not the flowers. Nasturtiums are very tough though and recover their foilage. As previously mentioned by others , they can run riot.
Planted some peas , beetroot and more potaotes today. |
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great pics Ovalman, and updates ..
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That looks really nice, Ovalman. Sunny yet sheltered. If you know you have it long term would it be worthwhile planting some espalier apples and pears along the wall?
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My polytunnel got down to a low of 0.9°c last night.
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There's apple and pear trees to the East of the building so I can't see any further trees being paid for. I've a small cherry tree but with the water situation I think I'll hold onto it at home.
I really don't have much input in all of this, It's a Christian run foodbank and I've no interest to get into the inner circle. I've a good mate there and I mentioned before that I spotted them growing in small pots. I just wanted somewhere to grow my own veg so I suggested putting some raised beds in with my own money to do so. They loved the idea, it meant community involvement and as a foodbank they could supply some food (not that it would be any financial benefit). I also spotted a £5k grant for community use which paid for the Polytunnel, shed, trees and soil. I've paid for nothing except my own needs and most of this has been paid from free money so it shows what is achievable if you have somewhere to grow. I've really done very little else. I look after my own raised bed and call round to see them every Thursday to find out any news. Things like that new section have popped up without my knowledge. I don't know where the money came for this but I'm sure it's been a grant. There are other people driving this. I'm happy this way BTW. I only want somewhere to grow my own and now I have it. I want to see if I can supply myself with all my salad and veg needs without potatoes. I've mention the water problem many times but my hands are tied. I watered everyone's section yesterday but when the drought comes I'll be looking after my own section first. |
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I always collect a couple of dozen pods from the nasturtiums in the autumn when they shed.
Or you can simply wait and push them below the surface if they're still there the following year. The birds like them, so it's best to collect some in case they take the lot. |
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I've no interest in growing flowers, if you can't eat it I won't grow it
2 things I learned this week, from Gardeners World on TV, it's still time to plant parsnips (I always thought you had to plant them in January), sow them with a row of radishes. The radishes won't compete with the parsnips and will be picked long before the parsnips get established. I'm going to put a row into my raised bed. Also a friend told me you can split up chive plants to give you more chive plants similar to shallots. I don't plan on growing any onions this season but I do have some chives in a pot which I'll split. I thought that was 2 great tips. |
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Ovalman, I've grown radishes all my life.
Simply put them in the ground and up they come. Yet when I try to grow them in pots or troughs in the greenhouse they come to nothing. I find that strange. |
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Still loving this thread. You guys are an inspiration
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Most things work in pots although I found last season some things worked better than others. Peas and beans grew OK but didn't produce many pods, I think I planted too many in each pot hence my question earlier in the thread about broad beans. Salad leaves like rocket and spinach were brilliant btw. I didn't try radishes in pots but I can't see why they wouldn't work. They are quick growing and small in size, I think they would be ideal for pots. Radish leaves can also be eaten.
One thing I found (by mistake) was that carrots were suited for over wintering in pots. I planted some carrots last August in small pots, they grew OK but the leaves died off over winter and I thought the plants had just died. I cleared the pots last months and I found several perfectly eatable carrots. I'll definitely be doing the same this year at the end of summer. I'd like to grow my XMas dinner veg this year. Sprouts, Carrots, Parsnip, Turnip and Potatoes, I think with the Polytunnel and maybe a heater the spuds would work, everything else is suited for late season growing. Those pots in the pics are 1 square foot each and there's a method of growing called square foot gardening (have a Google, there's loads of information) so I think these pots are ideal to implement the method. |
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Now and over the next 4 or 5 weeks is the best time to plant parsnips. Germination can be very hit and miss and I reckon the seed manufacturers tell you to sow in February so they can sell you more packets. Always use fresh parsnip seed as they don't remain viable for long.
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Thanks Foinavan, I'll pick some parsnip seeds up later. I didn't plan on parsnips until I heard the Gardeners World program but I'll definitely be putting them in later.
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Ovalman
I always plant my Parsnip seeds last week in April - for Winter harvest - planting and eating by the seasons .. Dr Crippen my radish the reverse of yours - poly good, outside poor to terrible - |
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and as a footnote to Parsnips - one of the few seeds that dont last, so never plant old seed.
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also Ovalman re B Sprouts - we always have our first pick of the year for Xmas Dinner - and plant the seed first week of June, hasnt failed me yet
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I honestly thought they had to be planted by the start of March so thanks for the info guys or I'd never have tackled them. I read up on them, they store well in the ground so planting them now will still get an XMas crop.
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Delta,
Perhaps I'd do better with radishes if I planted them in soil in the greenhouse instead of compost? |