Can carrots jump out of the ground ?

[Westi]

Good job whatever their shape & size they are edible..& you get a when you serve them up!

Westi

[Ricard with an H]

They do taste good though. I'll only grow carrot again when I have a section of bed that is stone-free and sandy though I do need read more and to take more advise.

It's a real fiddle with a knife to prepare carrot like that for the table when you're used to cutting straight carrots.

I don't think I had carrot fly though one carrot looked mange-y and did have little creatures inside. Others had split and seemed to attract little slugs in the cracks but just the odd one or two, nothing major.

[Ricard with an H]

If I didn't have the ability to laugh at myself, my trials and failures I would probably be depressive enough to need help.

My carrots suffered inexperience but tasted good, most were bent and twisted but the row I sowed direct are better and still growing together with the fact my dog hasn't figured that there are more carrots because they're in a different area.

My beans did suffered like everything else this year but again, I have a harvest and in both cases I learnt something, now my dog has a taste for raw french beans so on a daily basis I see her pulling bean pods from the plants.

[Westi]

Ditto - my dog thinks the Runners & the French Beans are a bit of a PYO experience. A bit partial to peas also but they have been a bit of a failure this year!

Westi

[Ricard with an H]

So she finally finished-off my beans, the last image I had of Molly in my bean plantation was her sitting on some plants whilst nibbling other plants. The final inspection showed lot's of one-inch bean pods where she had bitten them off rather than pulling them off.

My partner and I both laughed about it though it won't be so funny next year, and here is the very latest.

One of my three raised beds has had the soil transformed by me adding sand and composted material together with more de-stoning and lots of weeding/twitch-pulling and all ready yesterday for my onion and Garlic sets. I'm inside having a cuppa-break and wondering where my dog is, if you ever owned a cocker spaniel you'll know she usually follows me like a shadow.

She's made a little bowl in the nice soft soil of my carefully raked and graded bed and is snoozing in the sunshine.

[vegpatchmum]

One of my three raised beds has had the soil transformed by me adding sand and composted material together with more de-stoning and lots of weeding/twitch-pulling and all ready yesterday for my onion and Garlic sets. I'm inside having a cuppa-break and wondering where my dog is, if you ever owned a cocker spaniel you'll know she usually follows me like a shadow.

She's made a little bowl in the nice soft soil of my carefully raked and graded bed and is snoozing in the sunshine.

Sorry but I really couldn't help myself and I'm sure she fully appreciates your efforts to make her such a wonderfully comfortable sunlounger

VPM
x

[Ricard with an H]

I can't get angry, 20 years ago I lost my first dog to old-age and spent 3 months grieving. The grieving included beating myself up for all-sorts of rules I applied that dogs don't understand.

[Westi]

I know exactly what you are saying - they are naughty (our rules), but they are just dogs! My Vizler has just stripped the last of the runners off the few plants at home (not to mention pulling down the canes) & has been gnawing on the stored pumpkins! Yes cross at her but it was me that introduced her to those flavours. (& she is well good compared to our first springer who was quite frankly the best dog ever - but not when I was living through it & apologising to the neighbours & replacing the furniture)

Westi

[Ricard with an H]

I'm trying to train her to understand she isn't allowed but it's difficult and I don't want to have to put a fence around the raised beds.

She understands the word, "NO". But I figure she thinks if i'm not around it won't matter.

It took a couple of years for me to stop her going into the barns where the cow-poo is stored. She likes to eat cow-poo but then she would have massive evacuations. Every-time I caught her I would make a fuss showing anger, she hasn't done that for ages now.

[Westi]

NO! - an easy word but soo hard for the critters to understand..they are hungry they eat, they want to dig they do..can't even add up the money spent on puppy classes to instill my commands. Mind Ambush Amber can sit to the hand signal so thinking I'm doing OK - if only she would look at me it would be more successful!

Love them all though - & as try as I might can't keep up the 'cross' face when have the 'I'm confused Mate' face in front of me!

Westi

[peter]

Mine bolts any discarded food found on the ground and we live near a secondary school.

Does understand "drop it", provided she hadn't started swallowing, which is rare.
She adores pods of peas, but never helps herself.

She also knows not to walk on dug ground, she goes round my plot on the paths, unless I'm actually calling her onto it plus she understands "off" in pretty much all circumstances.

Could be I'm lucky with choosing German Shorthaired Pointers as they're fairly biddable provided they're well exercised.

[Ricard with an H]

I suppose it's perfectly feasible that some dogs, like some people, will stick one finger up to authority at the same time as understanding the issue.

My dog also understands the word, "Down" to mean dropping anything she has in her mouth, she drops things in her mouth when it's convenient to her or when it suits her. In the same way the command, "No" is understood to mean that whatever she is doing is wrong and it works when she decides it's going to work.

Surely, if we can train a dog to urinate and defecate outside it can't be that difficult to train that certain areas are out of bounds, i'm only on my second dog so i'm no expert. Does personality come into it ? Are male and female as different in dogs as in humans, I bought up three daughters so the household consisted of myself, a lady westie and four female humans. In hindsight, the collusion was obvious and the only way I ever got anything agreed on was if it was presented in such a way that it was their idea.

If I walked into the lounge and the dog was on the settee she stayed there if a daughter or wife was in attendance, if it was just the dog and me she would be off the settee before I actually caught her but not smart enough to realise the evidence of a warm cushion had incriminated her.

I didn't want another dog, outvoted again.

[Ricard with an H]

Back to the carrots then.

I just cleared a small row of carrot to make room for the garlic and onion, this row was the only row I had sown directly into the ground. The carrots were small, but they they were straight and tasted nice. Straight carrot out of the same stony ground that produced the weirdest shapes I have ever-ever seen.

It's not just the stones then ?

I spent all my life being average-to rubbish at most things I did even though I do have some skills. Here I am at the age of 70 learning basic stuff about growing food.

Only one generation ago in this area, if people didn't grow and make their own they went hungry. I'm just reading a schoolmasters report of his daily absentees from the village school 1923, mostly the absentees were working in the fields, plots, gardens and the like.

[vegpatchmum]

Lol. Our school is celebrating it's 140th birthday this year and we have had lots of stories about pigsties in the school grounds and chickens and the like ....... ahhh the good old days before Health and Safety took over

VPM
x

P.S. As for your carrots - could be it be the fact that they hadn't grown long enough to start twisting and curling etc?

P.P.S. Right, back to hemming fairy skirts and cutting out fairy wings