Early Winter Bits and Bobs....

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Pa Snip
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It is 2 more like this one that I have in mind, this picture is 1 x 4.8mt x 1mt x 1mt

4. Apr 2017 (2).jpg
4. Apr 2017 (2).jpg (71.63 KiB) Viewed 4359 times

The danger when people start to believe their own publicity is that they often fall off their own ego.

At least travelling under the guise of the Pa Snip Enterprise gives me an excuse for appearing to be on another planet
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Primrose
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They certainly look very sturdy Pa. I imagine that when filled with soil they will withstand a battering from even the fiercest gales. When I was kneeling down yesterday weeding all the couch grass from my strawberry bed I was thinking that something higher up would be a distinct advantage.

Do hope the cold holds off and you can go ahead with the chemo. I don't suppose they're ever pleasant sessions but sometimes you just want to get things like this over and done with. Sending you best wishes!
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Diane
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Very impressed with your raised beds - and I wish you a Very Happy New Year and hope you don't feel too bad after the chemo. Thinking of you.
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Impressive beds PA Snip.

Regards filling them with soil would mushroom compost save a few bob?

Here mushroom compost is £40 compared to topsoil/compost mix £60 for bulk bag.
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Pa Snip
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Primrose, Diane & Colin
Thank you for your for your thoughts and good wishes


Unfortunately Mrs S is still carrying the bronchitis which, as my immunity is low, means I am not clearing it.
In fact my throat has been getting progressively worse all day to the point where I am thinking of postponing Tuesdays blood tests and Wednesdays chemo treatment. It would not be fair of me to go to the clinic and risk infecting other sufferers.

Colin, I will probably buy 6cu mt of bulk loose sharp sand as a base filler and then a lorry load of my usual loose composted horse manure mix to fill the beds

If I buy 10cu mt of compost the loose bulk price is around £240 (at least it was last year , have not checked this coming years price yet)
Last edited by Pa Snip on Mon Jan 01, 2018 8:21 pm, edited 1 time in total.

The danger when people start to believe their own publicity is that they often fall off their own ego.

At least travelling under the guise of the Pa Snip Enterprise gives me an excuse for appearing to be on another planet
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Only got to lottie for about 5 mins - quick dodge between the showers but everything OK & just a few bricks to put back on the netting. Whew! More to come though, tomorrow looking very much like today.
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Last January three of us put £20 each into a kitty to buy top soil from a mate of one of the three of us, it was going to be delivered at 10 am on the appointed day ,sure enough the wagon turned up but it was only a twenty ton load he tipped the load in roughly two halves as my plot was nearest the gate I had to be the last drop as he climbed into his cab he said it would be mid afternoon when he returned with the rest ,sure enough just as it was going dark he returned with a full 20 ton as the other two had enough it was decided to tip the full load on the track at the top of my plot , it was saturated when the barrow was half full you struggled to lift the handles ,it was a full weeks work moving it even with my grandson and another lad doing most of the work but it made a big difference
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I was told one of the girls down our allotments has passed away just before christmas she had been suffering with cancer the last few months we have seen very little of her, she had only just been given the plot when she was first diagnosed such a nice girl i will miss her
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The pollytunnel that was very swiftly snatched from the plot next to ours last week has been destroyed in the gales we are enduring today , justice has been done
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Hope the load can get near to you plot PA Snip, otherwise I feel there will be a bit of barrowing to do.
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Got some half price tomorite in the sale at Dobies also a packet of sweetpeas to sow this weekend in a propogator
Been gardening for over 65 years and still learning.
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My husband snaffled up a huge bag of "slightly imperfect" yellow, red and orange peppers in the supermarket today (although I couldn't see anything wrong with them and would have been happy to produce similar specimens) for less cost than it would be to purchase the potting compost in which to grow them. I'll be slicing them and bagging them up so we can grab a handful whenever needed. Looks as if that's one vegetable I won't be bothering to grow this year.

I enjoy growing peppers and chillies, but if you can buy them cheaper than the cost of producing them it's a bit of a debate as to whether the exercise is worth doing, although I realise growing your own isn't just about saving money, but also about the pleasure of producing your own food and knowing its origins.
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I too have thought it is cheaper to buy from supermarket or farm shop....25kg of spuds for £5 as an example.

But as you say Primrose it's more about the pleasure of producing your own and knowing where it comes from than about saving money.
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I don't grow enough to keep us going all year, I never really intended too, I grow the stuff that tastes better than anything from a shop, so Sweet Corn pulled from the plant and eaten immediately , raw whilst sat in the greenhouse is a taste you will never get from buying a cob of corn. Same with tomatoes or carrots, fresh is so much tastier and for me the cost is not that great, now I will have to live for a fair old bit to recoup the cost of the greenhouse. But the health benefits of being out of the traffic and not in a shop compared from being in the garden doing some gentle exercise is the true benefit to me.
Been gardening for over 65 years and still learning.
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I have to admit, I've not visited my plot since the end of November. I've had craft fairs every weekend in December, then we were all up to Whitley bay for Christmas with my brother's family, lovely it was too, several brisk walks along the beach!

My folks, with whom I share my plot, are thinking of moving this year to retire, far away, west country probably, so we may have to give up our 4 plots, having worked them since 1992. I have mixed feelings, as I won't be able to manage them by myself, no one else in the family is remotely interested, including my DH. I will miss it, but I think I'll be able to create a little plot at home, and concentrate on just the things I really want to grow. I will miss the cooking apples though, I always have some in the freezer, ready for a pie or crumble.

I hope to be able to grow garlic, tomates, chillies, rapsberries and strawberries at home at the very least.
It will mean sellign my 1965 triumph herald, my first car, which has been off the road for many years. It sits at the end of the garden on hardstanding. I'd have to take up the concrete, and remove a 12ft invasive laurel hedge (won't miss that!) I'll leave the end one in for the robins and blackbirds.
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