Kitchen Garden Forum

Crikey, almost a convention online at same time this morning

GOOD MORNING

Geoff...........Pawty & Plumpudding.

Tea or Coffee in the shed it is then, whilst we discuss the days plan.

Hi,

That's a lot of labels! I use lolly pop sticks now as you can chuck them on the composter (I'm too disorganised to keep and clean the plastic ones).

Richard - aprons are a good thing - mr Pawty has three! And yes, one is pink with flowers on.

Pa snip - unfortunately my cats did not respect the fact that I was at a friends annual pub crawl in London yesterday..... I'm awake but not feeling the most lively.......

Planning a few hours at the allotment today and hoping it doesn't rain as mr Pawty has also promised a few hours ( which doesn't happen very often!)

Pawty

A few years ago I got fed up with scratting round for labels so bought 1,000 pack, some have still not had a first outing. I do use a lot, I think I've written out about 80 for my first two week's sowing. I use thimble pots for tomatoes, aubergines and peppers so each gets a label and 16 different sweet peas divided across sets of rootrainers (I grow a set each for 4 different people as well as my own) soon gets the count up.
Richard, I usually avoid colds by the same lack of contact method and I can't think where I got this one from, I usually blame shopping but have avoided that quite well recently.
We have a few discussions about the NHS as my son is a GP and is undoubtedly stressed. I believe, like you have hinted, the main problem with the NHS is not funding, manpower or organisation (though they do contribute) but too many customers. I read a statistic somewhere recently, that I don't think has had much publicity, that the number of GP visits per patient per year is at an all time high and still rising. Now is the nation getting less healthy or more demanding? There seems to be a culture that you are supposed to feel well all the time and if you don't it is somebody else's responsibility and they can give you a pill for it. Then again the cities are probably almost as unhealthy as they were in Victorian times, can't help that the population spends 2 hours a day sitting on each other's knees. I guess there aren't many on this forum who understand how the deep urban sub-species lives and the bad health it creates.

Good morning, tea would be lovely thanks Pa. It's nice and sunny here so I'm hoping to get another day's tidying up everything and trying to renovate or scrap the arbour seat that blew down in the gales.

Saw a bumblebee, lots of honey bees and a peacock butterfly yesterday.

Just sorted out watering in the conservatory, the chillies look healthy, taken the lid off the heated prop as it's warm and sunny in there(cool outside though).Sweet peas are doing well, nipped the tops out of those. Leeks looking good, still in their modules, but the Onions don't look brilliant, I've done well in the past growing them from seed, but these look pretty weak to me. Bought some "'erbs" yesterday, so just plunged the pots in the greenhouse soil for now, will go and water them in a bit, got 2 lavender, a curry plant, a thyme and something else that I've forgot for 99 pence instead of £2.49 each, love a bargain from Dobies.

The parsnip beast of Old Milton Bryan...

OH that's got a better pair of legs than me

Miserable day today. In the clouds all day with constant drizzle. Finished putting first batch of stuff in the propagator and sowed all the onion family in the greenhouse, not switched the heating on yet but I think it will be OK for them.

On the subject of labelling I use 12mm wide Dymo tape labels onto plastic.

Dymo tape, why did I not think of that, the indelible ink I've used is now illegible ink.

Make sure you get the tape with the stronger outdoor adhesive. The normal tape used to be fine, I used it for years, but then when I got more it peeled off in damp weather.

Lovely day on lottie, although cloudy. I now have Lottie 2 spic & span & even sorted out the winter brassica bed on Lottie 1. Disappointed to notice my Calvero Nero is trying to sprout, maybe between the frogs & the plants we may be heading to an early Spring - finger crossed!

Very pleased with how much I have to harvest, thanks to the mild winter! I took cabbage, cauliflower, frilly sprouts & kale. But still have mooli, parsnip, turnip, celeriac, leek, jerusalem artichokes, beetroot & even some salad leaves. My chard has succumbed to mildew of some sort, but have been cropping it since Summer.

And this is my piece de resistance! Well chuffed with this beauty so celebrated with Cauliflower Cheese.

Very nice westi mine have been a disaster this year last year's was as big as football's just shows you don't
Know what to expect

Hoping to make it 5 days in a row to the plot, however it is looking decidedly grey and overcast out there despite the prediction being 14 degrees and a 9mph wind.

Will give it a go anyway, determined not to be beaten

Bright sunshine up here, still cold and windy with a chance of snow later, we went for a walk up one of our favourite Glen yesterday, it's Baltic, so shalln't be in a rush to put stuff in the garden or greenhouse just yet, don't think winters finished just yet.