Kitchen Garden Forum

Planted my potatoes last Tuesday and sowed peppers/tomatoes and assorted flower seeds in my glass-house yesterday. Today I did a bit of rotavating in order to sow parsnips and leeks when the soil warms up a little more; unfortunately I lost control of the rotavator and ripped out a few yards of my October sown broad beans. Finished lifting last years parsnips which were very good thanks to having deep sandy soil, just got a couple of yards of last years leeks to lift then it all starts again. A bit boring probably but I never tire of it.

Best wishes to all forum members
Barney

It's the yearly routine, Barney, that keeps all us gardeners going! Sometimes, when I finish a gardening job in spring, I look at the diary for previous years and find that I did the same job almost exactly the same date last year, and the year before, and the year before ..... After more than 60 years of gardening, I must have a built-in timer. And it NEVER gets boring.

Cider Boys. Re rotovator running amok. Try taking more tonic with the gin.

Nothing to do with gardening. How do you stop spectacle's steaming up when wearing a mask. When I go into the supermarket, I am walking around like Blind Pugh.

If you crack it you'll make your fortune! Had to go to the eye hospital recently and the first thing they did was tape my mask to my face. I've always had the same problem trying to use a dust mask and safety glasses at the same time when angle grinding and the like.

I am told (haven't tried it myself) that spraying with lens cleaner or a weak washing up liquid solution will stop it.

There is a fog free lens cleaner you can get from the optometrist - well not him specifically but from the shop. Someone also told me motor bike shops have a product as well used on helmet visors.

I find the blue masks that are the most common twist the ear ties so the top tie on the mask fits round the bottom of my ear and the bottom tie on the mask fits over the top of my ear do this both sides ,works for me

What Bush tomatoes are everyone growing this year

I normally grow a few bush tomatoes as they end to ripen earlier here which is useful in blight conditions. Usually grow Tumbling Tom Red and yellow. Varieties. Have also grown Balcony Yellow in the past but didnt notice much difference between the two yellow varieties.

Tried POP-IN last year. Superb , saved seed for this year.

There seems to be a difference between those "micro small " almost pea size tomatoes) and the small ones whixh are popularised by the "tumbling Tom" type varieties.

Can anybody explain the difference to me and how they're categorised on seed packets because I find the "micro size" ones irritatingly small and wouldnt want to accidentally buy a packet and grow them.

My Rhubarb is going great just perfect for when we make the Rhubarb wine again after our first try this year. We now have four planters of Rhubarb rather than two Trying to decide what to buy for the garden to celebrate my 50th Birthday in May thinking of a raised planter or something not sure but a plant would be nice but no ideas as yet.

We're having all our ancient fencing replaced at the moment and sadly a few plants are having to be sacrificed incuding my very profilic c but elderly blackberry bush/ Its roots had become massively thick and deep and were all entangled with the foundations of the concrete fence post. I fear a rhubarb plant is about to meet a similar fate.










we

Beautiful day down here - short sleeved T Shirt & a slight red tinge! I went down with enthusiasm for sowing but the Asparagus beds had been invaded by poppy seeds just when the tips are showing! As proper deep tap root poppies they had to go! Now I am clumsy by nature, so took it carefully & it took ages & gloves had to be off to pinch them out close to the asparagus tips! Only one casualty due to my hands & think by next week I might get a wee taste of some more mature spears. It will be raw but loads of wee babies for a proper harvest!
\