Kitchen Garden Forum

Next Friday 3rd March (?) BBC2 GW Extra is vegetables and allotments. I have taped last night's Fruit Extra.

It Is 3rd March. On 10th March a visit to Cruft's for the doggies. Is there a cat show?
Allan

I thouroghly enjoyed the fruit growers special last night. Any footage of people in shorts sleves with a tan is good for the soul at this time of year I found it quite informative but really it was just 'nice' viewing. I loved the way Sarah Raven kept refering to her 'limited space' and 'small' orchard space - she's got bloody acres!and a green house the size of my cottage

I enjoyed it too. Very informative if you're looking to start your own orchard or even fruit cage.

It did annoy me that Sarah Raven only had "a small piece of land" to grow in. The size of it!!!!!

Anyway, those yellow and black cherries looked gorgeous, and the plums. Actually, all the fruit did. It's renewed my interest in trying a few more on the lottie.

At least with minerette trees you can cram quite a few into an area.

Now, where's my Ken Muir catalogue?.....

as usual I turned over to bbc2 and it was rugby again same next friday
Pete

Missed the fruit special, can't wait for the veg one. And so begins my seasonal begging of 'just let me watch GW before you turn it over to a movie we've seen 80 times, it's only a half hour'. Of course I have to do the same thing for Beechgrove Garden, though it doesn't really do it for me as much.

Saturday 4.March.
I sat through the GW Veg Special and it all came back to me as I saw it last summer. We must be grateful for a Veg special at all. The best idea was the strawberries in a 'hammock' to foil the mice, I shall be doing the equivalent. I'm not sure about the bean support, it jeapordises any contribution by the canes to the lateral stability of the structure. Does anybody else remember the other useful ideas, I didn't record it.

Ron's tips:

Weed everything all the time.

Hoe at least twice a week.

Mulch raspberries up to 8" deep with straw or whatever.

Potatoes: dig out a 9" deep trench, line with leaf mould, 3 sheets of newspaper and then freshly cut grass. Place potatoes on the grass and cover. Apparently keeps away blight.

Red & white tape flapping around works better than any other colour to keep away pigeons.

Plant carrots early (before May), when the seedlings about 1.5" high, earth them up. Helps prevent carrot fly.

Run soaker hoses from water butts when you go on holiday.


That's what he said for what it's worth. I'll give some of it a go, you never know...

It's disappointing that a repeat is the best that the Beeb can rustle up at this time of year, when we are all so anxious to get started.

I suppose it shows where vegetable gardeners stand in their priority order.

I loved the bloke drinking the "Goosberry drink" it was odviously vile but he put on a brave face.

The schedule for GW on BBC2 is Crufts, 2 weeks of Commonwealth Games then GW returns 31 March

Peat
If you have skyfreesat BBC2 England is on channel 989
Hope this might help

Don't knock it till youv'e tried it. The above drink sounded much better than Lizzies sprout wine, and it had a considerable amount of alcohol in it,
I think!

valmarg

Apologies on no signature, once again the system let me down. It was I, Allan
Monty Don always comes over well as a presenter. I won't comment on whether his vegetable gardening experience is to the same standard, take him for what he is.

hey the sprout wine was mine,, trust me better than the sprout wine is no recomendation