A Little Dirt Never Hurt-Gardening 2020

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  • @Cathscats and @Roseofsharon thank you!
  • la vie en rougela vie en rouge Circus Host, 8th Day Host
    Our tomato seeds have come up magnificentlly well and I have spaced the little plants out. Husband en rouge insists on keeping them all... I am still waiting for an answer to the question, "What are you going to do with 50 tomato plants?"

    (We don't have a garden, only an (admittedly quite large) balcony.)
  • FirenzeFirenze Shipmate, Host Emeritus
    Possible market garden?
  • NenyaNenya Shipmate
    Our local small garden shop remains open (and apparently has never been so busy) because it also has pet supplies and I got some lovely pansies for some of my tubs last week. I'm enjoying having time for the garden this year - it got sadly neglected last year for a number of reasons.
  • FirenzeFirenze Shipmate, Host Emeritus
    I see that a few weeks ago I was complaining about the lack of dry weather. Now I want to complain of the lack of rain. I currently get a lot of healthful exercise ferrying a gallon bucket from the bathroom, down the stairs/passage/path to the garden.
  • I know the feeling, Firenze! From being up to my ears in water to wondering when the water butts will run out in what feels like no time at all. We had some rain last week which has topped the butt up nicely (it's always nice to wake up and find that your butt has been filled in the night), but it's still most un-April weather.

    AG
  • Another one ferrying bath water.......
  • Some of my climbing beans are now too big for the growhouse, even with the shelf above them taken out, so I have planted the biggest ones out. Four runner bean plants, and four Romano beans (those flat runner beans that appear in the supermarkets in summer) were planted yesterday. Not sure they will like the current N-easterly winds, so have given them protective veils of horticultural fleece for the time being.
    Not planting out the climbing French beans, nor the curly yellow ones just yet.

    A couple of tomato plants are beginning to worry me. They are also getting tall and one is producing flower buds, but the coir compost I ordered has yet to arrive, so I can't fill the pots they are supposed to be going in.
  • Its raining! Not a deluge but "soft refreshing rain".

    My clematis have really enjoyed the recent heat, all covered in blooms and scrambling everywhere. The pinks are also doing well.
  • Penny SPenny S Shipmate
    I need to get out to reduce three years' neglect, but there are problems. I'm too close to the neighbours so when it's hot and sunny, I would be surrounded by them enjoying their space, which is lovely for them. And now, when it isn't hot and sunny, it is dripping wet, so clearance of things which love to grow abundantly is out of the question, despite there being no-one around. And I couldn't get rid of the arisings, anyway. Can't burn, no garden waste collection for the non-compostable stuff, no dump for it either. And I have seeds. I could grow veggies. If I could see the earth.
  • The problem of the tall, flowering tomato plant has been resolved!
    I caught it with my sleeve, and in trying to catch it I broke off the cluster of flower buds and the growing point!
    Fortunately there is a conveniently placed side shoot that can take over as the main stem, and give me a few days grace before the compost situation gets urgent again.
  • FirenzeFirenze Shipmate, Host Emeritus
    A few spoonfuls of rain in the night. Wednesday looks like it might deliver - I will put down lawn dressing in hopes.
  • It's rained fairly steadily here and I am now only about eight inches from a full butt.
    (A gay friend on Fartbook said my updates about how many inches were in my butt made him feel even worse about lockdown. Ooops...)

    AG
  • NenyaNenya Shipmate
    It's rained fairly steadily here and I am now only about eight inches from a full butt.
    (A gay friend on Fartbook said my updates about how many inches were in my butt made him feel even worse about lockdown. Ooops...)

    I thought of making a "snigger, innuendo"-type comment when you first mentioned your butt but decided discretion was the better part of valour, this being a Christian website and all. :wink:

    It's been raining steadily here all morning and I can almost hear the plants drinking. We raked a lot of moss out of our front lawn yesterday and hope that plus the rain will help the recent lawn treatment to take effect.
  • I had to call and order a second recycle can for green waste because of all of my weeding. I am taking a bit of pride in that requirement.
  • Pliz send rain, NE Scotland needs it!
  • DooneDoone Shipmate
    You can have mine (waves the clouds north from the SW)!
  • FirenzeFirenze Shipmate, Host Emeritus
    It rained! Not a startling amount, but enough to spare me the bucket hefting for a day or so.
  • Pouring down, or belting down, as they say in Oldham. I think the spuds are loving it, but I haven't chatted to them recently.
  • PendragonPendragon Shipmate
    I need to weed after that rain. Only problem is no garden waste collection. Sowed the bulk of my seeds week before last, including Dragonlet 1's bean for a school project, although he has to satisfy himself with a dwarf french one. My peas are just sprouting in the soil, and I have acquired a gooseberry plant as our next door neighbour had propagated too many!
  • Ethne AlbaEthne Alba Shipmate
    My weeds are all being pulled then drowned in a bucket of water to provide some sort of goodness.

    Once the water, that their smelly selves have been in for 4 weeks, has been strained through cloth that is.

    It stinks!
    Even with a lid on

  • Coir compost has arrived, so I have reconstituted one block, mixed it with multipurpose left from last year, and the tall tomato is now safely planted. It will need keeping warm at night until the temperature gets a couple of degrees higher - soon I hope, as my other tomatoes are getting ready to flower and need planting out.
  • Ethne AlbaEthne Alba Shipmate
    Compost. Ah

    Must order.....
  • This time yesterday I had no cucurbit plants at all. Twenty fours hours later my propagator holds no less than ten cucumber/gherkin seedlings, plus at least five squashes of one sort or another.

    I reckon those things could teach Triffids a thing or two.

    AG
  • FirenzeFirenze Shipmate, Host Emeritus
    I thought Jack and the Beanstalk was a fairy tale until the time I planted runner beans. Those things really can grow by what seems several feet in the night.

    Some more rain overnight which I hope will awaken the very many things I've sown in the past weeks.
  • Back to ultra dry again, (London), so we are heaving water around. We have a hosepipe but nervous about using taps. Just saw a rose chafer, wow, the colour and sheen on it. Supposed to be a pest, but I'm leaving it well alone.
  • Ethne AlbaEthne Alba Shipmate
    Contemplating the squash seed packets....... trying to decide where they would finally grow

    If even 1/4 germinate
  • So, another order of coir compost has arrived.
    I ordered this from a second source because the first was taking so long to arrive. As it transpired both arrived this week.

    The first order came as six blocks, each in a sealed plastic bag in which it could be reconstituted by the addition of 3Litres of water. The resulting 10L of compost, when mixed with double the volume of ordinary multipurpose compost is enough to fill one of the large pots I plant my tomatoes in.

    The coir that arrived today came as one large, unwrapped, block, which needs 20-25Litres of water adding, making 70-75L compost.
    I do not have a container that holds 70Litres, so am a bit short of ideas as to how to deal with this - nor how to store it until such time as I can use it, as the shed roof leaks and I don't want it to get wet - or even damp - just sitting in a cardboard box.
  • TheOrganistTheOrganist Shipmate
    edited May 2020
    Easy.

    First, measure the block and divide into 5 equal sized smaller blocks, then you just add 4-5 litres per block.
    As for storage, plastic bags.
  • Easy.

    First, measure the block and divide into 5 equal sized smaller blocks, then you just add 4-5 litres per block.
    Well, that is the obvious way to deal with it, but I'm not sure how well the block would cut, as it is very fibrous, nor what would be the best tool to use. I fear that it could be a rather messy and wasteful process.

  • It's likely to be messy whatever you do. I'd put plastic sheeting down if you must do it inside--otherwise get out onto a lawn somewhere. Get a saw or serrated knife of some sort and break it up into chunks. Once you've got it down to a heap of smaller pieces you're satisfied with, divide roughly (by eye) into (say) five piles, and bag each in plastic separately. Then when you come to use one, add roughly 1/5 of the water recommended for the whole lot. Don't be afraid to add more if it looks like it needs it--the worst you can do is wind up with something a bit soupy, which will dry out naturally if you leave it a couple days.

    Alternately, borrow somebody's strapping teenager and let them deal with it--from a safe social distance.
  • edited May 2020
    The snow has all melted as of the past weekend. We turned on the outside water yesterday, raked up all the leaves and debris. The trees still look winter dormant but if you're close the buds are there. Lady bugs are coming to life and there's a few spiders. I had some dandelion greens for breakfast: all that's green so far.

    The city and the province have allowed the community gardens to be open with appropriate precautions. (UK would call them allotments.) It's not quite digging weather yet. But we're thinking about it. Yay.
  • FirenzeFirenze Shipmate, Host Emeritus
    Looks to be set for another fine warm day here. Another one of hefting buckets from the bathroom to encourage the few wisps and shoots of green that aren't chickweed, cleavers or bindweed (which require no encouragement).

    Waiting for more seeds and bulbs in the post, but suppliers seem to be running at least a fortnight behind.
  • MaryLouiseMaryLouise Purgatory Host, 8th Day Host
    Late autumn here and planting season in the Cape (South Africa) but the plant nurseries are all closed, so I'm just transplanting young chard into pots, planting out a rare and delicate euphorbia and taking cuttings of plectranthus, pelargoniums and succulents. Wondering about growing micro-greens on the windowsill.
  • Get a saw or serrated knife of some sort and break it up into chunks. Once you've got it down to a heap of smaller pieces you're satisfied with, divide roughly (by eye) into (say) five piles,
    If I can find an implement of suitable strength (it's a hefty chunk to hack apart) I will weight the resulting bits, as my 'eye' is not to be relied on when comparing sizes.

    I still have two of the smaller blocks to use before I need to tackle the biggie, but I am feeling slightly less daunted by it now.
  • Good! Alternately you could borrow our puppy and she'd reduce it to a nice pile of loose material in a heartbeat. Just tell her "no."
  • Ethne AlbaEthne Alba Shipmate
    Snow! Sleet, hail and rain.

    And

    Enough sunshine to make the greenhouse right toasty!
  • CattyishCattyish Shipmate Posts: 21
    We're in the north east of Scotland and so it's the Beechgrove Garden I turn to for guidance. My garden is a very productive mess right now. It's been sunny then over the past few days it's rained and snowed and hailed. The apple blossom is looking pretty and the daffodils and tulips haven't quite all fallen over.

    I have some raised beds made of old shelves tipped on their sides and filled with compost from my existing bins, chard plants my neighbour's father-in-law offered to anyone with space and lots of self-propagating walking onions and strawberry plants and lots of herbs, especially mint. The rhubarb one of my colleagues gave me a big root of is growing beautifully where I used to have a compost bin and seems to like being picked.

    I've stuck some salad seeds into the soil but only the ones under a cloche or in a seed tray have really come up with anything. The plants are small but add lovely flavour to a plate.

    Most of my ornamental plants are self sufficient perennials or shrubs. Everything was getting pretty enthusiastic but I'll have to see what it all looks like after today's chilly wind. Certainly the cheap garden arch is almost falling over under the weight of the honeysuckle. I should have bought a better one.

    I'll never be a famous gardener, but it's a lovely place to be.

    Cattyish, solar powered radio and sun hat.
  • We've bought some bedding plants but they're in the house. Snow 2 days ago again and -10°C overnight last night. This is a late spring.
  • Thought for the day (having just easten our first home-grown ones). Who first thought of eating a globe artichoke, and why?

    AG
  • CattyishCattyish Shipmate Posts: 21
    On artichokoes, from an American foodie website.
    Pedanius Dioscorides (40-90 A.D.), a 1st century A.D. Greek physician of Anazarbus, Cilicia, wrote about artichokes at the time of Christ. While traveling as a surgeon with the Roman army of Emperor Nero, he collected information on the remedies of the period and wrote a work on The Greek Herbal of Dioscorides. Originally written in Greek, Dioscorides’ herbal was later translated into Latin as De Materia Medica. It remained the authority in medicinal plants for over 1500 years.

    Ancient Greeks and Romans considered artichokes a delicacy and an aphrodisiac. In Ancient Greece, the artichoke was attributed to being effective in securing the birth of boys.

    Cattyish, tea and cereal.
  • Ethne AlbaEthne Alba Shipmate
    @Cattyish ......I was in complete ignorance of the Beechgrove Garden...

    Who knows, this might even tempt me back to a little television viewing!

    Thank you so much!
  • FirenzeFirenze Shipmate, Host Emeritus
    edited May 2020
    I watched a timely episode of Gardeners' World on catch up last night. Mr Don was potting nerines and I gathered I'd put mine in too shallow, too spaced and too shaded. So I moved them this morning.
  • The Knotweed has been gardening today, so I'm assuming that she's sickening for something.

    In other news, I've been thinking about ponds when I should be working from home. One day I'd like a wildlife pond and have been thinking about how to fit one in - it needs to be around 2 feet / 60 centipedes deep to allow frogs to hibernate, but that's quite a hole in our stiff clay. On the other hand, I'm also collecting rocks from the local fields for a rockery (think Johnny Cash here) so I am pondering ways of building a rockery with a raised pond in it - I only need to raise it a foot and I have a far more manageable hole to dig, and the local drift geology tends to stone slabs so I can easily raise up a bit that I can then run water down for aeration. On the other hand, I'm a bit concerned that I might end up with something looking like a pimple. Blowed if I know!

    AG
  • FirenzeFirenze Shipmate, Host Emeritus
    Of course it depends on your species of centipede. If it's the Giant Amazonian, that's upward of 60 ft, which would be more of a mine than a pond.
  • Firenze wrote: »
    I watched a timely episode of Gardeners' World on catch up last night. Mr Don was potting nerines.
    Poor Mr Don, now that Nigel the dog has died.

    My wife ordered some plants from a nursery in Somerset. They took a long time to comer because of the virus. However they arrived today, beautifully packed and in superb condition. They have been Duly Planted in the South Bed.

  • Major work putting the garden to rights after the departure of the builders, so today:
    - edged the grass (lawn, I wish)
    - planted first batches of runner beans, peas and carrots
    - divided primulas
    - divided, moved and planted large heuchera
    - tackled the out-of-control mint
    - planted up a large pot with stocks, anemones and trailing nasturtiums
    - tied-in climbing roses

    I should have mown the grass but that will happen tomorrow. For the moment I'm feeling weary so I think a medicinal small malt is in order before an early night.
  • The Knotweed has been gardening today, so I'm assuming that she's sickening for something.

    In other news, I've been thinking about ponds when I should be working from home. One day I'd like a wildlife pond and have been thinking about how to fit one in - it needs to be around 2 feet / 60 centipedes deep to allow frogs to hibernate, but that's quite a hole in our stiff clay. On the other hand, I'm also collecting rocks from the local fields for a rockery (think Johnny Cash here) so I am pondering ways of building a rockery with a raised pond in it - I only need to raise it a foot and I have a far more manageable hole to dig, and the local drift geology tends to stone slabs so I can easily raise up a bit that I can then run water down for aeration. On the other hand, I'm a bit concerned that I might end up with something looking like a pimple. Blowed if I know!

    AG

    Check local codes (ya, you know this, I wish I had tho'). Around here 24 inches of depth gets you a six-foot ring fence requirement.
  • NenyaNenya Shipmate
    Cattyish wrote: »
    Cattyish, tea and cereal.

    Cattyish! :smiley: >waves madly< Lovely to see you round the place again!

    I've always loved the way you finish off your posts. :smile:
  • Ethne AlbaEthne Alba Shipmate
    We have one of those ponds @Sandemaniac . It came with the house. I get what you say and a Mean Person could compare it to a pimple....

    At first I was a bit......meh.
    Esp as it is not exactly hidden away. But after a year in? It has grown on me and I couldn’t imagine life without it.

    Planting is all, get that right and you ll be away. Enjoy
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