Kitchen Garden Forum

Well that's one interesting solution Shallot Man. They do say(and I sometimes wonder who these gardening "experts" are,) that you should replace your plants after about 3 years. However rarely is a complete scientific explanation given as to the reason. They also suggest you also change the location of your strawberry bed. Is that because leaving the plants in situ gradually depletes certain nutrients or prevents certain diseases building up? In latter years, age has meant that my strawberries were left in situ every year and we still got a reasonable crop.

If you regularly fertilise the soil and perhaps add some additional nutrients, that seems to produce a reasonable result provided the plants don't become diseased.

Primrose wrote:Well that's one interesting solution Shallot Man. They do say(and I sometimes wonder who these gardening "experts" are,) that you should replace your plants after about 3 years. However rarely is a complete scientific explanation given as to the reason. They also suggest you also change the location of your strawberry bed. Is that because leaving the plants in situ gradually depletes certain nutrients or prevents certain diseases building up? In latter years, age has meant that my strawberries were left in situ every year and we still got a reasonable crop.

If you regularly fertilise the soil and perhaps add some additional nutrients, that seems to produce a reasonable result provided the plants don't become diseased.

Could also mean good business for the Nurseries. On a different note. For some 15 yrs growing my own shallots, [ JERMOR }would select the largest each year for next years stock. Over the years clusters shrunk from approx. 10-12 bulbs to 5 or six [ larger] Never had any problems.

Spent most of today in my greenhouse, ran out of room.

Bank holidays and Saturday I were mostly on my allotment.
Reinstated twelve foot of path between my plot and neighbour, 42 squashes and cucumbers planted out, 300 onions and 100 garlic & elephant garlic weeded , bar a bit the size of a double bed that was too dry to get the spurge out, watered it for today and woke briefly at 3am to a downpour, hence greenhouse today.

Three days well spent, Peter, but what will you do with 300 onions?

It's been rather miserable up here to today - the greenhouse heater (which kicks in when the temperature goes down to 15C) was on all day. Flaming June?

I agree Monika. We got cold in the village jubilee party tent (open on two sides) this afternoon and lit the fire this evening! Max 11 now down to 8. Mind, the trifle was nice.

Mine are in pots and troughs. Tough to wrangle the mower up over them on the workbench!!

As some of you are aware, the light of my life passed away in March last year. So I have become Chief Cook and bottle washer. Still being in Imperial mode, I have found shopping a slight problem. Have been saved by unit pricing. Now can someone explain to me how it is cheaper to buy the small bars of my favourite chocolate, than the large bars. In my day the larger you bought the cheaper the goods. Also just bought Vine-Ripened tomatoes. Is their any other kind.

Wonder who got the horse poo left on the mall over the weekend?

Wouldn't like to pick up the lecy bill for weekend.

Colin2016 wrote:Wonder who got the horse poo left on the mall over the weekend?

Wouldn't like to pick up the lecy bill for weekend.

Understand the RHS gets their supply from the Horse Guards.

Lucky RHS.

Looking out of the window. Squirrels burying peanuts in the lawn. £25 a bag. Also Goldfinches chucking the Niger seed around as their is no tomorrow. Are well. Such is life.

Monika wrote:Three days well spent, Peter, but what will you do with 300 onions?

Well I discovered one year you need an awful lot of onions if you like making caramelised onion jam ! It was delicious but used up virtually my whole crop so decided buying from Waitrose was a better option, and saved an awful lot of tears in the process.

Monika wrote:Three days well spent, Peter, but what will you do with 300 onions?

Family of four plus friends, we'll eat them and gift some to friends as well.

I've managed to mulch all the valleys with mowings from the main path over three weekends, that's on top of the things layer of shredded composted hazel and stuff. 19216811.bid
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Welcome to the forum, Puritumse….sounds like you have been busy!