Search found 2145 matches

by Ricard with an H
Mon Aug 07, 2017 7:31 am
Forum: Weeds, Pests and Diseases
Topic: Rats again
Replies: 32
Views: 14135

Re: Rats again

Seems odd that I have less rat problems that you-all, and I have a huge hay barn next door. When I empty the log store I always find nests though they are mouse nests I think, presumably the rat digs the tunnels in the banks. I have a food waste and composting bin, yes, rats are tunnelling up to get...
by Ricard with an H
Fri Aug 04, 2017 7:06 am
Forum: General chatter
Topic: Mid Summer Bits and Bobs - 2017.
Replies: 185
Views: 49372

Re: Mid Summer Bits and Bobs - 2017.

What is copper spray for and doesn't it affect the taste, also, is blight carried on the wind or rain ? My only experience of blight was after a warm summer downpour.
by Ricard with an H
Thu Aug 03, 2017 10:31 am
Forum: General chatter
Topic: Mid Summer Bits and Bobs - 2017.
Replies: 185
Views: 49372

Re: Mid Summer Bits and Bobs - 2017.

seems to have only hit the pink fir apples, but better safe than sorry. Will start to lift the tattoos later. What a shame, my favourite tatty. How does Anja compare ? I did get a good crop of PFA last year though I planted very early, planted Charlotte a little later and they got hit so now I'm tr...
by Ricard with an H
Wed Aug 02, 2017 3:04 pm
Forum: General chatter
Topic: Mid Summer Bits and Bobs - 2017.
Replies: 185
Views: 49372

Re: Mid Summer Bits and Bobs - 2017.

[quote="old herbaceous"....was the first picture, of when you were 40!!!!! [/quote] Very kind OH. Taken three years ago on the isle of Mull. I edited out the lovely lady who is my best friend ever. For sensible reasons, I might get a Boaxxxxing. Its stopped raining so back to pulling the r...
by Ricard with an H
Wed Aug 02, 2017 2:48 pm
Forum: General chatter
Topic: Mid Summer Bits and Bobs - 2017.
Replies: 185
Views: 49372

Re: Mid Summer Bits and Bobs - 2017.

But what irritated me about this article in the times, and it's not the first time a columnist his aired these views, is this stereotypical image of a 40 year old being too old to wear shorts and even a T-shirt. I've had a lot of orthopaedic problems, hips spine, elbows and shoulder. Some were self ...
by Ricard with an H
Wed Aug 02, 2017 10:43 am
Forum: General chatter
Topic: Mid Summer Bits and Bobs - 2017.
Replies: 185
Views: 49372

Re: Mid Summer Bits and Bobs - 2017.

I only wear a straw hat on very sunny days and a bobble hat on the very coldest of days......... Thank-goodness. I also have two straw hats. One that looks like its been savaged by a dog and sat on for a long time, the other, dapper trilby style. Because I have a shaved head wearing hats has become...
by Ricard with an H
Wed Aug 02, 2017 10:14 am
Forum: General chatter
Topic: Mid Summer Bits and Bobs - 2017.
Replies: 185
Views: 49372

Re: Mid Summer Bits and Bobs - 2017.

I read in the times that if I'm over 40 I shouldn't wear shorts or a baseball cap. In the case of shorts it's assumed that us over 70 have varicose veins, scabby skin and lost all of our muscle tone and so tender folks don't want to view this. In the case of baseball caps we look like "child mo...
by Ricard with an H
Tue Aug 01, 2017 9:28 am
Forum: General chatter
Topic: Mid Summer Bits and Bobs - 2017.
Replies: 185
Views: 49372

Re: Mid Summer Bits and Bobs - 2017.

I found some pepper seeds I'm not going to use. Both sweet pepper are 2016. the hot ones are 2017. I have lots of others, presumably most of you also have lots of spares.
by Ricard with an H
Tue Aug 01, 2017 8:33 am
Forum: Weeds, Pests and Diseases
Topic: Where did this lot come from ?
Replies: 7
Views: 4175

Re: Where did this lot come from ?

I just realized I'm doing it again, as the flowers die and seed heads form I clip,them off and they fall to the soil. Now I had assumed that the unripened seed heads wouldn't be viable, I didn't grow marigolds in that bed but I did move soil around regularly from one bed to another so maybe that is ...
by Ricard with an H
Tue Aug 01, 2017 7:05 am
Forum: General chatter
Topic: Mid Summer Bits and Bobs - 2017.
Replies: 185
Views: 49372

Re: Mid Summer Bits and Bobs - 2017.

I don't have much foliage on my Charlotte yet but I'm growing under cover in the hope this helps protect against blight. Good crop Geoff, how do you keep them in the cupboard ? Just potato touching potato ? How long will they keep ? The few potatoes I ever stored have gone in a plastic bowl with bla...
by Ricard with an H
Mon Jul 31, 2017 7:37 am
Forum: Weeds, Pests and Diseases
Topic: Where did this lot come from ?
Replies: 7
Views: 4175

Re: Where did this lot come from ?

One consolation Richard, they are very easy to pull up. Well-yes, I've been pulling borage out from between strawberry plants ever since the spring. When my strawberries stopped producing I stopped pulling the borage and whilst I'm concentrating on other things it erupted to the point I didn't have...
by Ricard with an H
Sun Jul 30, 2017 3:29 pm
Forum: Weeds, Pests and Diseases
Topic: Where did this lot come from ?
Replies: 7
Views: 4175

Where did this lot come from ?

I once planted Borage in a bed at least ten paces away from the bed that is now taken over by Borage. This is my strawberry patch, Iv'e been pulling borage seedlings up since the spring and though I had got rid of them and whilst I do love Borage, this is silly. The other bed thats overcome with Mar...
by Ricard with an H
Sun Jul 30, 2017 3:13 pm
Forum: Best practices
Topic: Chilli and Sweet Pepper
Replies: 66
Views: 22433

Re: Chilli and Sweet Pepper

Geoff wrote: Two years ago we lost a load to voles; went down one morning and they had nipped the chills off, stripped them open and eaten the seeds.


That made me smile, capsicum is even transdermal on tough outer skin never mind lips and gums.
by Ricard with an H
Sat Jul 29, 2017 12:55 pm
Forum: Seasonal tips
Topic: Fresh lawn clipping as mulch
Replies: 42
Views: 23628

Re: Fresh lawn clipping as mulch

I have three lawns around the barn that need to be kept tidy, if I don't treat them I get the whole range of weeds imaginable taking over then the grasses suffer so I feed the grasses and mostly do spot treatment with a selective herbicide. The paddock, which is about an acre, could be left to meado...
by Ricard with an H
Sat Jul 29, 2017 8:09 am
Forum: Seasonal tips
Topic: Fresh lawn clipping as mulch
Replies: 42
Views: 23628

Re: Fresh lawn clipping as mulch

I have just bought Kitchen Garden magazine and though I skimmed through I noticed an article on the use of grass clippings as a mulch and I had just started mulching with grass clippings around the base of my mixed hedging. Unfortunately the clippings are already soggy. My grass cutting is by mulch ...