Next Year I will........

A place to chat about anything you like, including non-gardening related subjects. Just keep it clean, please!

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Tigger
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Tie in my tomato plants earlier and keep them tidy. Stake the chillis earlier. Net the cabbages. Find a better way to support melons. Sow the aubergines earlier.

What are you going to do better?
OverWyreGrower
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Thin the grapes at the right time (instead of being greedy) :roll:

Prune the fruit trees properly (instead of being lazy) :oops:

Get Mr OWG to eat a new vegetable that we have grown ourselves :)

Try and only plant what we like, rather than loads of stuff we don't like and can't get rid of :lol:
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jopsy
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well..
spend more time in the garden
grow less courgettes/marrows
grow more cucumber
have tomatoes that are red
get to my strawberries before the neighbours!!
"Happiness is the sense that one matters"
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oldherbaceous
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Dear Tigger, i was only thinking about this earlier today, i must design a stronger structure to carry my runner beans, they have blown over two years on the trot due to the huge growth they have made. :evil:
I like your answers OWG, very funny indeed. :D

Kind regards Old Herbaceous.

We will always get some sort of weather.
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Primrose
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- Not rush out in a fit of enthusiasm on the first sunny day in February and sow seed which then rots and fails to germinate because of frost.
- Pick all my courgettes when they are no longer than four inches long.
- Not be so greedy for volume that I plant all my veggies so close together in the vegetable patch that they smother each other.
- Not plant so many chilli plants that I could supply the whole of the curryy-loving community in the UK !
- Try to grow kohl rabi successfully.
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Primrose
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old herbaceaous - saw your comment about your runner bean poles collapsing under the weight of growth and wonder if you use bamboo canes?
I had this problem with bamboos canes originally but for several years I've been using the plastic covered carbon fibre poles which you can buy from garden centres. I also grow my climbing beans in a single row now, rather than a having a double row of canes propped up against each other and tied at the top.
Although they're more expensive initially I find they're much stronger and despite the very heavy winds we had last week-end and the huge amount of foliage on them the poles are only listing to about 10 degrees. I found with the double row method that once a couple of poles in the structure get disloged by wind, they seem to concertina and the momentum brings the whole lot down.
Allan
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Primrose, tell us more. Who sells carbon fibre rods. The only ones I have come across were plastic coated steel and bent too easily. I have been using the same bamboos for about 5 years. Before I used them I either trimmed the ends to a node in the wood or glued a suitable length of dowel in the end, result that none of the canes ever split at the bottom.
Also I put them away immediately the beans have finished being worth picking.
The strongest structure is the wigwam, not always the most convenient especially if your beans are in a trench.
Allan
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oldherbaceous
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Dear Primrose, thankyou so much for supplying an alternative method to using bamboo canes, i normally grow about one hundred plants so i will need quite a lot of these poles, but if they last a long time it will be money well spent.
I will find a suplier in my area and work out the cost.
Thanks again.
Who said you can't teach an old dog new tricks. :wink:

Kind regards Old Herbaceous.

Theres no fool like an old fool.
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The Grock in the Frock
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MY GOD HERBY,YOU GROW A LOT OF RUNNER BEANS,WHAT DO YOU DO WITH THEM? :?
Love you lots like Jelly Tots
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oldherbaceous
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I sell the odd bag for a bit of pocket money, and then there are the ladies of the village to keep happy. :shock: :wink:

Kind regards Old Herbaceous.

Theres no fool like an old fool.
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The Grock in the Frock
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MMMM,i bet that keeps you busy :twisted:
Love you lots like Jelly Tots
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jopsy
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i'm afraid OH runners wouldn't keep me happy! :wink:
"Happiness is the sense that one matters"
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Zena
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If all it takes to the keep the ladies in your life happy is runner beans, then you're very lucky!
Next year, though, I need to do something about mine too! My canes (in a sort of wigwam) keep falling over. I, too, shall try to grow veg that we actually like. and I need to plan in advance and make sure I have stuff ready to go in at the appropriate time. and water it more. and weed more often. and grow fewer courgettes. and kill more slugs. and get a shed and greenhouse.
Most things really - I made lots of mistakes this year :lol:
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The Grock in the Frock
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the ladies in O/H 's village are easily pleased! 8)
Love you lots like Jelly Tots
Allan
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After many years of gardening I still make the mistake only too often of sowing seeds far too thickly. I am attempting to sow radishes in containers, I have been working at 1.5 inch spacing, it is still far too close. The ideal spacing would mean no thinning at all, saving time and seeds. At least I don't have to wait a whole year for another attempt as is the case in many crops.. I WILL get it right eventually.
Allan
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