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Gardening anyone?

um Offline Mr. Whippy

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Gardening anyone?
on: May 06, 2012, 02:15:05 AM
So here at Rocking Horse Farm, we do a bit of organic gardening.   :)  Mostly for personal consumption, but we freely give away a ton of produce.

Raspberries, strawberries, blackberries and asparagus are the perinnials.  But we plant lettuces, tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers annually.  Sometimes squash and onions.

Now pictures!







gb Offline AimlessWanderer

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Re: Gardening anyone?
Reply #1 on: May 06, 2012, 02:34:24 AM
Well .... anyone here who even half knows me is fully aware that I always mean well, but delivreing on my intentions is not a dead cert!!  :-[ :-[ Too many distractions  :(

As some will know I've just moved home (still very much work in progress) but I went in a local cheapo supermarket the other day (Aldi for those in the know) and bought a greenhouse for £30 (not glass - one of those flexi - meccano type jobbies)

Only issue is, other than my complete inability to follow through on any of my intentions, is that what garden I have faces North ... my gravelled areas are growing weeds though, so that's encouraging

 :tu:


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us Offline Sazabi

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Re: Gardening anyone?
Reply #2 on: May 06, 2012, 03:09:12 AM
Our Aldi stateside doesn't have cool stuff like you guys have. :pok:

This year my father transplanted cuttings from eight(?) different blueberry bushes from my grandmum's place, of which most are taking to the poor soil we have; albeit, truth be told, still better than the sandy soil of her place.  I think a couple grape vines have been planted, too; I don't know if we'll be trying tomatoes again this year.


um Offline Mr. Whippy

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Re: Gardening anyone?
Reply #3 on: May 06, 2012, 03:10:52 AM
Our Aldi stateside doesn't have cool stuff like you guys have. :pok:

This year my father transplanted cuttings from eight(?) different blueberry bushes from my grandmum's place, of which most are taking to the poor soil we have; albeit, truth be told, still better than the sandy soil of her place.  I think a couple grape vines have been planted, too; I don't know if we'll be trying tomatoes again this year.

If you're interested, our blackberries are stickerless.  And they produce a ton of berries but they do spread like weeds.  Let me know if you're interested...


us Offline Sazabi

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Re: Gardening anyone?
Reply #4 on: May 06, 2012, 03:14:26 AM
I'll let my father know; I believe six out of the eight bushes have taken, but I've not been the one keeping track of them.  I'm uncertain of what variety we have, however I do know the mature, established bushes produce copious amounts of berries back home. o.o

The comment that yours spread like weeds makes me believe these are of a similar phenotype; I know that the bushes back home have to be mowed regularly to keep additional propagation minimized.


us Offline David

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Re: Gardening anyone?
Reply #5 on: May 06, 2012, 03:47:28 AM
Use to garden alot but only plant a few things now days. Do not have any thing in yet as it keeps raining very time the ground just about gets dry enough to work up. Hope to plant some tomatoes, chilis, squash and some chard.    :)
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cy Offline dks

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Re: Gardening anyone?
Reply #6 on: May 06, 2012, 09:35:20 AM
I just have Mint at home... Even if you do not water it for half a year it will still sprout after some rain...
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Al : "Women!"

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gb Offline nuphoria

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Re: Gardening anyone?
Reply #7 on: May 06, 2012, 03:01:40 PM
Great pics Nate - very jealous of the space you have! There's nothing as good as eating something you grew for dinner :tu:

Stickerless blackberries sound great too. We have the common scratch you to hell variety on our allotment :D
Also, the weather here has been a joke so we have hardly done anything so far this year. Got plans, but no sunshine and not much energy... strawberries good to go from last year though :tu:
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wales Offline magentus

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Re: Gardening anyone?
Reply #8 on: May 06, 2012, 03:07:17 PM
I'll second that - rubbish weather and rain for the last 2 weeks.

We were out in the garden yesterday though - moving some feverfew, sage and rosemary around and finally bringing the tomatoes outside to the greenhouse.

Been weeding at work and catching up on the lawn mowing - it's a jungle out there.
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ca Offline jzmtl

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Re: Gardening anyone?
Reply #9 on: May 07, 2012, 01:30:00 AM
Wish I had the space to, your garden looks bigger than my entire living space.  :rofl:


ca Offline Suveges

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Re: Gardening anyone?
Reply #10 on: May 07, 2012, 02:06:15 AM
I'm not really that into it, but my wife is. I'm pretty much just the labour.  Shovel this dirt here, throw this peat moss over there, etc.  :facepalm:


um Offline Mr. Whippy

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Re: Gardening anyone?
Reply #11 on: May 07, 2012, 02:24:05 AM
I'm not really that into it, but my wife is. I'm pretty much just the labour.  Shovel this dirt here, throw this peat moss over there, etc.  :facepalm:

Shovels can be nicely sharpened with the file on a Wave. :D


ca Offline jzmtl

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Re: Gardening anyone?
Reply #12 on: May 07, 2012, 02:32:31 AM
Bah, too much work, I stick with belt sander or angle grinder (with sanding disk).


gb Offline AimlessWanderer

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Re: Gardening anyone?
Reply #13 on: May 05, 2013, 01:34:41 AM
Well, I'm having my first real crack at gardening this year, and today was a very busy day. All mine is being done in pots, planters and growbags in my rather dinky back garden. Despite that I still seem to be going through cash and materials rather rapidly.  :o

I went to the garden centre earlier and got 9 x 60 litre (12 gallon?) bags of compost - that's 540 litres on top of the 250 litres I'd already used - and after a busy day of potting up and sowing I only have about 30 litres left  :o This container gardening is playing havoc with my car's suspension  :P I have still got to go out and get my tomato plants yet (left it way too late to start from seed), and keeping my fingers crossed I'll have enough compost left for the planters  :-\

I'm only aiming for modest quantities of everything, but I'm primarily after experience this year to see what works and what doesn't. Some stuff I'm not expecting any yield from such as my kiwi fruit, fig tree and plum tree as these are only just starting to wake up after being potted up. The stuff I started off indoors has gone straight out without hardening off, so that also might let me down, and the rest has been sown today. I've also been planting and sowing companion plants to try as get nature doing the pest control and take some of the burden off me.  :P

I'm really hoping I do get some decent stuff though, even if I am greener round the gills than I am on the fingers. I am expecting some failures though as I am being rather ambitious   :D :D
« Last Edit: May 05, 2013, 01:36:23 AM by 50ft-trad »


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us Offline tattoosteve99

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Re: Gardening anyone?
Reply #14 on: May 05, 2013, 03:53:39 AM
My dad gave me a really cool tip to grow potatoes.  Start with a old tire, need several of them. Plant the taters in the first one after filling it with soil. When it grows high enough add another tire. Up to 3. When they are done growing and the plant wilts, they are ready. Just pull off the tire and pick them up. That's a good way to grow almost anything as it will keep varmints out and when you cut your grass you don't hit the garden. 
If I remember correctly, wait, what was I saying?


gb Offline AimlessWanderer

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Re: Gardening anyone?
Reply #15 on: May 06, 2013, 01:08:26 AM
I've run out of room for growing anything else ... or I did have till this evening ...

Today I fitted an outdoor tap to make watering SOOO much easier, potted up raspberries, strawberries, peppers and a couple of varieties of tomato - one of which has gone in a hanging basket. I also fitted a trellis for my kiwi fruit to explore, and potted up several more companion plants.

Tools in play were Ranger 14 and Octane, though the Chris Caine Survival Tool came out after a few glasses of Ardbeg single malt whisky to smite a plum tree which I'd discovered had been hit badly with bacterial canker  :cry: I figured it's safer to get rid than jeopardise my cherry tree. I'll scrub the pot out then reuse it as a home for my fig tree


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gb Offline AimlessWanderer

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Re: Gardening anyone?
Reply #16 on: May 13, 2013, 03:35:30 PM
Looks like it's just me doing anything this year  :-[ :P :D

Just playing the waiting game in the garden at the moment, but potted up 5 physalis plants (cape gooseberry) for the lounge windowsill this weekend. I'll prob not need curtains when they take off  :D


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cy Offline dks

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Re: Gardening anyone?
Reply #17 on: May 13, 2013, 03:40:00 PM
Kelly: "Daddy, what makes men cheat on women?
Al : "Women!"

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gb Offline AimlessWanderer

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Re: Gardening anyone?
Reply #18 on: May 13, 2013, 03:48:08 PM
 Maybe pics will help wake this thread up  :P Early days yet (not much to see) but you get the idea ;) should look a lot better in a couple of months
Rotherham-20130511-00065.jpg
* Rotherham-20130511-00065.jpg (Filesize: 163.97 KB)
Rotherham-20130511-00057.jpg
* Rotherham-20130511-00057.jpg (Filesize: 164.86 KB)
IMG-20130511-00055.jpg
* IMG-20130511-00055.jpg (Filesize: 153.68 KB)
« Last Edit: May 13, 2013, 04:32:27 PM by 50ft-trad »


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us Offline tattoosteve99

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Re: Gardening anyone?
Reply #19 on: May 13, 2013, 11:41:31 PM
Well I started mine :P. so far I have a few potatoes. I just got 4 tires and they are ready to be played with tomatoes. I will also be planting cucumbers, squash, green beans and a few other things. I'll get some pics so at least your not alone 50 ;)
If I remember correctly, wait, what was I saying?


gb Offline AimlessWanderer

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Re: Gardening anyone?
Reply #20 on: May 14, 2013, 12:02:31 AM
Good man!  :tu: :D :D :D


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hr Offline enki_ck

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Re: Gardening anyone?
Reply #21 on: May 14, 2013, 09:55:58 PM
Hammered a few poles, spread some nets and took a few pics today. :whistle:









gb Offline Cupboard

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Re: Gardening anyone?
Reply #22 on: May 14, 2013, 10:33:20 PM
Gardening's a bit of a chore to me, I don't really take any pleasure from it. I was all for ploughing up my flower beds and putting turf down but I was roundly told by my mum that I wasn't allowed to do that! We now have a good arrangement where I keep on top of things like mowing, hedgecutting and obvious weeds and she does the clever and fiddly bits that I don't really understand.

I visit them in the winter, they visit me in the summer. Sorted  :tu:

By the time I've been at work from 7-5/6, cooked & eaten and done the various things I do 4-5 evenings a week I just want to collapse in to a heap on a Saturday. Youngsters... just no stamina :D


us Offline tattoosteve99

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Re: Gardening anyone?
Reply #23 on: May 14, 2013, 11:14:05 PM
It's a small start but here's a few pics.
Potatoes



Future spot for tomatoes and squash. There will be more tires added lol

If I remember correctly, wait, what was I saying?


gb Offline AimlessWanderer

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Re: Gardening anyone?
Reply #24 on: May 15, 2013, 12:02:01 AM
Nice one fellers  :tu:

@Steve Are you planning on keeping adding tyres and earthing up the tatties like you mentioned before? I'll be interested to see how that pans out - keep the piccies coming  ;)

@ Nikola .... How many are you feeding  :ahhh :ahhh :D That's a nice plot you have there  :tu: What crops do you have in? I hope you didn't have to cut those poles with a 108mm GAK  :P :D

@ Cupboard - Yeah I've been like that pretty much all my life, and only decided to give it a go this year. I haven't got a sodding clue what I'm doing really, and for the most part I'm hoping the plants will take the initiative and figure things out for themselves  :P :D :D :D In all serious it's a steep learning curve, but I think I've got the right plants set out in the right way that they shouldn't be too much of a time burden for those evenings where you just want to crash out. Geting things to this stage has been time consuming, but it's time for the plants to get their arses in gear now  :D

Weather has gone a bit sour over here, and the butternut squash is really not happy at all. I'm glad I kept a couple of plants in reserve (both of pumpkin and butternut squash). I did start some tomatoes off from seed in the house, but those are sulking outside too - so I'm glad I cheated and put some more established plants in from the garden centre  ;) Everything else seems OK so far .... it's just so darn slow as we've only had two decent days where that big yellow thing has made an appearance in the sky. The only things that seem to be making much progress are the corn, the strawberries (surprisingly) and even more surprisingly the kiwi fruit seems quite content and is sending out some healthy looking new spurs


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hr Offline enki_ck

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Re: Gardening anyone?
Reply #25 on: May 15, 2013, 12:10:57 AM
One bed strawberries, two beds of onions, two beds of green beans, one bed of paprika, one of broad bean, beetroot, carrots, tomatoes, lettuce, cucumbers and chard.

Tools used you can see here on the ground. No 108mm GAK :twak: A folding saw and a Stihl hatchet. :D



gb Offline AimlessWanderer

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Re: Gardening anyone?
Reply #26 on: May 15, 2013, 01:00:34 AM
Looks like you should get a good haul from that lot  :tu:


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gr Offline firiki

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Re: Gardening anyone?
Reply #27 on: May 15, 2013, 10:40:05 AM
Nice job guys, keep it up :)

Wow, enki_ck, I'm green with envy, I'd like me a garden like this at home :tu:

@tattoosteve, I'm not sure it is worth putting soil in the tires if we're talking vegetables and not flowers, I think they are meant to protect the growing plants. I'll try and find out more.

@50-trad, strawberries don't like direct sunlight and they like damp places. Mine are sun-bathing and they haven't even flowered yet when I should be harvesting them. Must make them a tent again. Try not to put many plants too close to each other, they need to lay roots* and also feel they have their space to grow in as a general rule.

*Bit of info, some plants don't get along well with each other for they either fight for the same nutrients or they poison others with the ingredients they leave in the ground.



Omnia vincit amor. Vae victis.


gb Offline AimlessWanderer

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Re: Gardening anyone?
Reply #28 on: May 15, 2013, 11:38:31 AM
Thanks firiki  :tu: My strawberries have been sited for full sun, as that's what the general consensus has been. Remember full sun here is very different to full sun over there  ;)

I have been quite careful to ensure that the plants are organised to help rather than hinder. Sunflower is next to the corn, nasturtiums in with squashes and tomatoes, onions in the carrots and brassicas but away from the toms, brassicas together and so on, plus a few geraniums to bring the right insects in and swathes of copper tape to deter the slugs and snails that the geraniums attract.  :-\ I have discovered that garlic round the fruit trees is a good idea too, and I'm going to be looking into what effects herbs will have on their surroundings (once I decide which I want to grow) to complement the arrangement further  :tu:

There's no chance of root problems with mixed plants as I've made sure that anything that might "fight" is in separate pots, I just hope the pots are big enough for the root structures ... but that's all part of the learning curve for me this year. What I do need to watch I think is air space as the plants grow to make sure they don't get mildewed or fight for sun. The real objective for this year is to feed the brain (learn from it) rather than feed the belly, so that next year I can build on the outcomes and try to get a better yield over the widest possible timespan  :)


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gr Offline firiki

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Re: Gardening anyone?
Reply #29 on: May 15, 2013, 12:12:45 PM
Wow, you really did your research I see! Well done  :tu:
What I do need to watch I think is air space as the plants grow to make sure they don't get mildewed or fight for sun.
That's what I tried to say, if given enough air space they'll probably flourish. I see you were meticulous in preparing your garden so I take it you got some good soil as well. Root width/depth is important as well as photoperiodism. These two things should guide you well I think. Also, take a look at basil... Hope all goes well and you enjoy  :)
Omnia vincit amor. Vae victis.


 

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