Gardens and stuff

[Danishfurniturelover]

Charles will explain his no-dig style of gardening

Going to book this for the wife and I. She shares an allotment with a friend and we try and grow as much as we can in the back garden.

Hi was this any good? Hope you enjoyed yourself and learned a lot. I have heard of the no dig thing before, don't you just make raised beds and put cardboard down to smother the weeds? I have been collecting Amazon packaging to give it a try. Dont you still need to work the compost into the soil at some point? I don't have an allotment but make best use of the space by growing potatoes in bags, much better yield that way and you don't put the fork through them.[/QUOTE]

It is in February but I forgot to book and it sold out. Hopefully he will add more dates in the future.

 

[Lemonade Money]

Does anyone know the earliest I can pot herbs outside? Thinking of using the potted herbs you get in supermarkets.

 

[relic58]

Hi, don't be fooled by the mildish winter. The common reply would be after the last frost, which would be approx end of march early April depending on where you live and what you are growing. For now split the plants up (making two or three plants) and put in larger pots. Cut back to encourage new growth, that'll keep you supplied for a while (but you can't keep doing this). Meantime decide on the place or container you want to grow them outside and prepare the soil (remove weeds, add fertiliser like blood fish and bone), then cover with thick cardboard or old carpet to warm it up ready for the spring. Once they do go outside the plants might still need some protection until they get established. Splitting supermarket herbs is a good way of doing it but growing from seed is probably better if you can get them to germinate. Watch out for aphids.

 

[Glenda's Legs]

Does anyone know the earliest I can pot herbs outside? Thinking of using the potted herbs you get in supermarkets.

Some herbs are frost tolerant but given that in this instance they are not already established outdoors, I'd leave them till risk of frost has passed. Which is always a difficult one to predict but maybe some point in April for the SE.
Or if you want to get started sooner, get the supermarket pots of say rosemary, thyme, mint, and split each into two or more plants. Pot half outside in what would normally be a sunny but sheltered spot, and keep the others on a window ledge indoors. Given that it's a £1 or so for a pot, it's not a huge risk if the frost gets them.
If planting mint, make sure it's in its own pot rather than a bigger herb planter, as it spreads like mad.
Other tender herbs such as basil should be left until after the frosts.
Having said all that I'm relatively new to veg growing and there are definitely others on here who might have better advice.

 

[SpurMeUp]

Does anyone know the earliest I can pot herbs outside? Thinking of using the potted herbs you get in supermarkets.

Supermarket ones tend to be quite fragile - grown quickly and not that strong. But with say mint you should be okay. If you protect them behind glass or in a mini grow house they'll thrive and avoid the cold. A Bay tree/bush is easy and will resist everything, and is useful - pasta sauses, stews etc. A pot of Bay leaves with 7 leaves in it is like £3 or something in the shops. People prune them into pretty lollypop shapes

 

[Lemonade Money]

Many thanks all. @SpurMeUp actually got a couple of bay trees, survived a couple of winters now and doing fine.

 

[greatwhitenorf]

With a couple of feet of snow now covering the back garden, the soil will be well watered come spring. Hoping to plant early and starting with propagations in the kitchen windows.

Discovered Sugarloaf lettuce this past summer - big, dense heads that resemble a cross between Romaine and cabbage. Great flavour, keeps well. As we cut through heads of lettuce in late fall, we set toothpicks into the remaining 'stump', the bottom part of the heart, and placed them in small jars of water. They've been growing fine roots and now beginning to sprout fresh leaves.

We'll probably divide these sproutings in half when more leaves grow.

Also looking forward to growing Daikon radishes, another recent discovery. Cut into slices and grilled - lovely.

Instead of buying the usual Christmas tree - and chucking it out a week later - we opted for buying a potted cedar in late fall. About 42 inches in height. Kept it on the kitchen deck until Christmas week, then brought it in from the cold for 2-3 hours each day, just to begin acclimating it to warmer temps. A couple of days before Christmas, it came in for good and was decorated and kept in until Dec. 29, when we cleared it off and began leaving it out in the cold for a couple of hours a day to re-adjust. Now, it's looking good having endured heavy snowfalls and -20 temps. It will be taken up to our cottage in the spring and transplanted on the shoreline. We'll probably make this our tree tradition.