Gardens/allotment

[EdS]

Another one of those nosey questions. What have people got in theirs?

We've got:
in the allotment -3 types of spud - all blue
Beans
peas
carrots
beetroot
sweet corn
many types of onion/garlic
asparagus - season over
cabbages
plus stuff I cann't remember - SWMBO's domain really.

mix of salad leave, cucumber, aubergine, chillies, toms in the polytunnel

apples, cherry, plums, greengages ,very rampent rhubard, goosberries, pears around the edge - eventually going to get some blackthron and make a fruit hedge.

usual hebs in the garden.

Plus bees back in the hive and more to come this week!

also got 11 semi free range (when we're about) guinea pigs in the garden.

 

[Ed]

You are so lucky to have an allotment. Around here you just can't get one. They tend to be kept within families and passed onto relatives....

Ed

 

[EdS]

We took a bit of a liberty and annexed a 5m X 20m strip of the SRC willow field's headland that backs on to us.

It owned by the company along with the house and the rest of the estateTook a lot of effort to remove all the junk, couch grass and nettles.

 

[george]

Sonds like a healthy allotment you've got EdS

We've just managed to get tenancy of a croft up here. They're like gold dust so we're chuffed to bits that after almost 10 years of trying we got one. It's basically just one and a half acres or so of good arable land with an 8th share in 800 acres of rough grazing - but we've got great plans for it. At the moment we've got nothing in, I'm just in the process of putting a deer fence round it(there's so many deer up here that nothing will grow without a fence!) and we're also in the process of ordering a huge polytunnel. By next spring we hope to have the polytunnel operational, 3 or 4 Large Black pigs, a few chooks and some fruit trees in. We'll put in the usual spuds etc. as well.

I fancy some bees as well but I've never dealt with them before.

George

 

[stuart f]

You are so lucky to have an allotment. Around here you just can't get one. They tend to be kept within families and passed onto relatives....

Our living room window looks out on to allotments and the unfortunate thing is more than half of them are like jungles, it just seems that nobody is intrested in growing their own food stuffs anymore,as a kid i remember every one of them being used,different generation.

We have one of them but its the wifes domain,me i just reap the rewards of her hard toil ,aah boiled new spuds straight from ground with lashings of melted butter mmm!

 

[EdS]

George,

Check out:

www.firsttunnels.co.uk

that is were we got our polytunnel from good value and cheap delivery throughout GB. Came with a free teabag - the first think to do when you follow their assemby instructions is sit down and put the kettle on!

If you want to keep bees check the British Beekeeper Assoc. website:

www.bbka.org.uk

There is a list of the local groups - most run beginers classes and get a swarm/colony for you. That how I started.

 

[george]

Cheers for the links EdS

I'll have a look

George

 

[ChrisKavanaugh]

If you want to keep deer out simply get some bar soap and distribute it around the perimeter. I'm talking the nasty commercial stuff in markets, not lavender or Oatmeal and honey organic products. Just cut them in half, drill a hole and hang along your fence. I've seen deer leap incredible heights or just bash fences down. I don't have a garden at present. But in the recent past I've grown native blue and red corns, beans and squash. Heirloom seed preservation is a fascinating pursuit here. Industrial commercial farming is destroying crop varieties worldwide from tomatoes to rice. We depend worldwide on maybe 4 major staples; rice,wheat,corn and soy. Even bannanas are in danger of commercial extinction( the yellow variety is essentially a clone gowing weak in it's genetic structure.)

 

[george]

If you want to keep deer out simply get some bar soap and distribute it around the perimeter. I'm talking the nasty commercial stuff in markets, not lavender or Oatmeal and honey organic products. Just cut them in half, drill a hole and hang along your fence. I've seen deer leap incredible heights or just bash fences down.

I've tried just about everything to keep deer out of my current garden Chris, even my dogs don't do the job. Problem here is that although they're wild deer, there are so many and the pressure on wild grazing is so great, they've become almost semi domesticated and they're no longer afraid of people or their smells. The only thing that works for me is a high tensile wire fence at least 1.8m high. Yep some of the deer can get through/over it but usually they just go on to somewhere easier to get into. (well thats the theory anyway )

I had to give up my garden the year before last until I put up a new fence - since then I've not lost a plant to them.

Locusts with antlers I reckon

George

 

[Brynglas]

In my garden,I have mostly trees!!


I'm lucky enough to have six acres, four and a half of which is broadleaf woodland of mostly beech, ash and oak.

The rest is divided up between a sloping bracken field, some wilderness and a more formal terraced and tended garden with a colection of rhododendrons and azaleas.

Things have been a little neglected over the last couple of months as my partner is due to deliver our twins any day now, so as soon as I can I'm off to do some serious strimming!

I'm always amenable to offers of weeding assistance if anyone's interested

 

[Ed]

I'm always amenable to offers of weeding assistance if anyone's interested

I'm sure if 'weeding assisstance' includes free use of a fire pit and somewhere to string a hootchie you'll get loads of offers ;-)


Ed

 

[Brynglas]

Now there's a thought!