Search found 865 matches
- Tue Oct 26, 2010 2:32 pm
- Forum: Best practices
- Topic: Using rescources faster than nature can replace them.
- Replies: 30
- Views: 6785
Re: Using rescources faster than nature can replace them.
NB didn't say "ONLY the use of native plants ....." But most of what we do does revolve around promoting the successful growth of vegetables and fruit which are not originally indigenous. For example, I am in the process of harvesting my sweet potatoes. Not too bad this year, but I have to...
- Sun Oct 24, 2010 10:36 pm
- Forum: General chatter
- Topic: Heritage versus new varieties
- Replies: 17
- Views: 4607
Re: Heritage versus new varieties
Thanks for correcting me, JB. I didn't really mean to imply that ALL F1s were in the same bracket, but I was commenting generally on reasons why certain types of vegetables were grown for their predictability. As one who only grows for enjoyment, I will grow open-pollinated varieties happily, but I ...
- Sun Oct 24, 2010 10:29 pm
- Forum: General chatter
- Topic: To wash or not to wash? That is the question
- Replies: 29
- Views: 6057
Re: To wash or not to wash? That is the question
oFTEN MY BRASSICAS ARE HARVESTED WITH LOTS OF MINUTE WHITE FLIES, SO WE SOAK THE LEAVES ETC IN SALTED WATER FOR BETWEEN 10 AND 30 MINUTES BEFORE COOKING.
- Sat Oct 23, 2010 7:14 pm
- Forum: Best practices
- Topic: Putting newspaper in compost heaps
- Replies: 30
- Views: 7944
Re: Putting newspaper in compost heaps
Nor me, Johnboy. But I consider the use of newspaper to be recommended increasingly each year, as what they print is usually sh*t anyway!
- Sat Oct 23, 2010 7:11 pm
- Forum: Best practices
- Topic: Carrots again!
- Replies: 4
- Views: 2184
Re: Carrots again!
I've had my best results yet and I did 2 things differently: [a] I put moire leafmould than usual on the bed in autumn and [b] I used enviromesh all the year round, so I didn't get carrot fly.
- Sat Oct 23, 2010 7:09 pm
- Forum: Best practices
- Topic: Tips for using fleece
- Replies: 14
- Views: 9568
Re: Tips for using fleece
I have used fleece successfully for getting a crop of early potatoes extra early. I wish I had done so this year, but I forgot to buy any. I agree that it is easily damaged and I expect a life of only 3 or 4 years. I like your idea, Geoff, and I'll do this with my beans if I remember.
- Sat Oct 23, 2010 7:03 pm
- Forum: Seasonal tips
- Topic: green manure
- Replies: 18
- Views: 7198
Re: green manure
I grew my beans on a bed where I had emtied the contents of my bokashi bin over a 6-month period. I had a good crop. I grew my peas on soil "anured" for the previous crop. Although the peas did do better this year because I had time to water them in dry weather, they never got over 2 feet ...
- Fri Oct 22, 2010 11:24 am
- Forum: General chatter
- Topic: Starting from scratch
- Replies: 12
- Views: 3447
Re: Starting from scratch
A [belated] welcome from me too VV and good luck. It sounds to me as if you are in or near country, so a few thoughts occur to me: Gather as many leaves as you can in the autumn and put them into a "bin" which you can construct out of wire netting. My "bin" is about 4 foot square...
- Fri Oct 22, 2010 11:06 am
- Forum: General chatter
- Topic: Local Authority Madness
- Replies: 7
- Views: 2166
Re: Local Authority Madness
Despite all that others have said, I still believe that a letter to your MP, the relevant ministry and the council - and why not the preee as well, will be worth the effort. It may not achieve what you aim for but it will name and shame.
- Fri Oct 22, 2010 11:01 am
- Forum: General chatter
- Topic: Heritage versus new varieties
- Replies: 17
- Views: 4607
Re: Heritage versus new varieties
One important point in favour of the old varieties is that they will breed true from saved seed. Otherwise, Natrues Babe has given a fairly concise account of why the new varieties have come to be so predominant - not because they are better but because they are more predictable for the commercial g...
- Fri Oct 22, 2010 10:53 am
- Forum: Best practices
- Topic: Putting newspaper in compost heaps
- Replies: 30
- Views: 7944
Re: Putting newspaper in compost heaps
But is the ink in the ballpoint you use to fill in the crossword vegetable based?
- Wed Oct 20, 2010 5:10 pm
- Forum: Seasonal tips
- Topic: green manure
- Replies: 18
- Views: 7198
Re: green manure
That could explain things, JB. I'll certainly dig mine straight in this year, as an experiment, rather than putting it on the heap.
- Fri Oct 15, 2010 1:35 pm
- Forum: Best practices
- Topic: Putting newspaper in compost heaps
- Replies: 30
- Views: 7944
Re: Putting newspaper in compost heaps
I use newspaper to "earth up" my potatoes and to provide mulch around brassicas etc. Of course, I use quite thick wadges of the stuff and so they take time to get fully soaked and start disintegrating. When i need to clear the bed, e.g. for garlic, I then put the newspaper into the compost...
- Fri Oct 15, 2010 1:30 pm
- Forum: Best practices
- Topic: RESCUE
- Replies: 13
- Views: 3973
Re: RESCUE
Dera Elaine, if you have had a frost, then it has almost certainly been the culprit. Don't forget, potatoes are by nature a warm-weather plant. But you may not need to despair if you are growing earlies or replanted earlies for Xmas new potatoes: the foliage will have been executed by the frost, but...
- Fri Oct 15, 2010 1:25 pm
- Forum: Seasonal tips
- Topic: green manure
- Replies: 18
- Views: 7198
Re: green manure
I have also come across people on the allotments who use sweetcorn as a bulk-ading green manure. They just sow it late and dig it in when it has grown into big plants. It is certainly bulky when it goes into the soil, but I don't know how much good it does compared with other green manures such as g...