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Re: Autumn Bits and Bobs

Posted: Thu Oct 29, 2020 6:15 pm
by Jardinero_m35
Stravaig wrote:We bought a cross-trainer with the plan of getting fit indoors, but I'm a bit afraid of falling while getting on and off so I haven't been using it. :(

I really need to do something, but I don't know where to start. We live in a flat so climbing the stairs isn't an option.


I can heartily recommend training with resistance bands, easy to store and so useful. You can use them for general strength work or cardio sessions really. The sky is the limit and you'll get a full set for under £50.

I'm getting some use out of mine at the moment as I've not managed to get down to my allotment :(

Re: Autumn Bits and Bobs

Posted: Thu Oct 29, 2020 8:44 pm
by Westi
The only thing I would suggest for starting this year would be onion set & garlic but they will happily grow in single cell trays ready for when your final planting plan is ready - just pop the garlic outside so it gets a frost as needs it to clove. I'm one for covering all sitting beds over winter with a bit of compost on top of the normal beds & some manure on what could be the brassica beds & black plastic or whatever you can find on top so the worms are happy to take it down for you over the winter.

Extra tip when spring shows just unroll the plastic until weeds show & roll it back over to kill the weeds so ready for sowing. Have you found that precious little pile, pallet bin or dalek thing on the plot Jardinero? Worth its weight in gold no matter how many nettles or stuff in it on first look. Agree with Monika, find one book, preferable with an author living in your climate area. It is too confusing & contradictory to go online everywhere or get too many books. You're learning will come with the challenges you overcome most of those you do that with fine netting & stakes. (Just a hint for your list for Xmas presents this year)! :)

Welcome to the forum btw!

Re: Autumn Bits and Bobs

Posted: Fri Oct 30, 2020 8:57 am
by Colin2016
Have you thought of using cardboard as an alternative to plastic?

Re: Autumn Bits and Bobs

Posted: Fri Oct 30, 2020 11:08 am
by robo
I use cardboard a lot the more I can get the happier I am ,the polly tunnel has beds on both sides and the top I normally give them a turn over but not deep cover in chicken manure then cardboard after a spraying of jeyes fluid this year one side struggled to grow anything to a decent size I put it down to the cardboard being impregnated with chemicals , which and why I am a loss but I’m having a long think wether I will be using cardboard again on top of this my tomatoes were hit with blight I sprayed every were with jeyes fluid I thought I had nothing to loose most survived some eventually put new growth on and still going the cardboard affected side did not do very well at all

Re: Autumn Bits and Bobs

Posted: Fri Oct 30, 2020 11:32 am
by Monika
Colin, I have tried to use just cardboard but find it so fiddly to weigh it down so that it does not blow away. Our black plastic (which we use to cover the manure-covered beds) are old silage sheets, hence already second hand and they last for years, so I don't feel too guilty about it.

Re: Autumn Bits and Bobs

Posted: Fri Oct 30, 2020 12:25 pm
by Stephen
Welcome Jardiniero
I'd agree with Monika, dig, then cover. I'll use some manure and some layers of cardboard.

Re: Autumn Bits and Bobs

Posted: Fri Oct 30, 2020 3:07 pm
by Colin2016
How about putting the compost/manure on top of the cardboard?

Re: Autumn Bits and Bobs

Posted: Fri Oct 30, 2020 7:27 pm
by Westi
I've had my black plastic for about 15yrs & it is still going strong & not perishing, but it is thick stuff. My neighbour who moved gave it to me & he got it from work. He worked in the aviation industry so haven't got a clue what could have been wrapped in it. It is a slog dragging it out from behind the shed each autumn & putting it back again as it weighs a fair bit & is very difficult to fold up so takes up a fair bit of space, even though I have cut it into more manageable sizes.

When it dies which I don't think will be soon; I shall use cardboard as recycling day in the close could get me more than enough in just a couple of collections. As we know 'A' likes to be generous with the packaging & there are huge boxes that would cover maybe 2 beds completely including the path.

Re: Autumn Bits and Bobs

Posted: Sun Nov 01, 2020 8:48 am
by Geoff
Have I ever mentioned it seems to have been a little damp this year?

Half the months this year have been the wettest since I've had my weather station. October was also the coldest October.

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This is the state of my damson tree - I suppose it shows I have clean air!

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Re: Autumn Bits and Bobs

Posted: Sun Nov 01, 2020 10:19 am
by Monika
Interesting graph, Geoff. Just out of interest: how much rain exactly did you have this October? We had 157mm which is not at all out of the ordinary, in fact, probably below the average. Your bar seems to be nearer 200mm. Interestingly, we also had some lower night temperatures in September than in October.

Re: Autumn Bits and Bobs

Posted: Sun Nov 01, 2020 10:57 am
by Geoff
October rain 194mm, must have been the Westerlies giving me more. I don't know how the software calculates the average temperature but it said September was 11.1 and October 8.0 but yes the minimum was lower in September at 0.3 compared with 1.3. The warm middle of September with a high of 24.8 must have pulled up the average, highest in October 15.2. September solar generation was average with October a little below the month's average.

Re: Autumn Bits and Bobs

Posted: Sun Nov 01, 2020 11:32 am
by Primrose
We today chopped open a large butternut squash which has been stored in our garage since September 2019, (Ie last autumn). It was still in absolutely perfect condition . This vegetable really takes the Number 1 prize in my book for being the perfect Lockdown storage vegetable !

I wonder what is the longest time anybody has stored a winter squash for and still found it in good condition.

Re: Autumn Bits and Bobs

Posted: Sun Nov 01, 2020 12:54 pm
by Stravaig
I'm wondering if it has now become law in Ukraine that weekdays are allowed to be sunny but it must be rainy and miserable at weekends. :roll:

Re: Autumn Bits and Bobs

Posted: Tue Nov 03, 2020 9:33 pm
by Stravaig
Apparently this has been Kyiv's warmest October since records started 140 years ago.

Our first winter here was brutal - and it was more difficult because we were still finding our way around. Last year there wasn't a winter at all really. What's coming this year?

Well, I don't like the cold weather but the advantage for me is that I can use the back balcony as a walk-in freezer if it's regularly down to below zero.

Are Swedes (neeps) a Scottish thing? I've very rarely seen them outside the UK. I've once seen them in Kyiv's equivalent of Harrods for about £10 fo a tennis-ball-size one. (I didn't buy.) Gee, we used to feed them to cattle in Aberdeenshire. I'd have thought that they'd be a good thing to grow here, and they're so sweet and delicious. I miss my neeps.

Re: Autumn Bits and Bobs

Posted: Wed Nov 04, 2020 7:16 pm
by Westi
I expect they will grow for you Stravaig, they are pretty hardy & stand well but you could always harvest before your soil freezes & store them in a clamp to take as required.