Kitchen Garden Forum

I spent 2.5 hrs yesterday filling pots with compost and sowing seeds in the sunshine. Just when I was wondering how to get hubby off the sofa to show me where he keeps the drill, so I could drill the drainage holes in the bottom of the pot for the beetroot, he came outside and asked if I wanted this doing! Blimey!! That was a mini result in itself.

Then today, we were out in the garden and he was explaining how he was going to re-do the garden (involving a mini-digger and skips!). He also asked what things I had sown. THEN, he was describing what his plans were for the top patio (the sunniest spot in the garden), and he said "this bit here, 2 slabs wide by 4 slabs down will be a veg patch for you. If you don't use it again, then I can just cover it with gravel". My jaw nearly hit the floor!!!!!!!

You young ladies seem to have this uncanny knack of wearing us blokes into submission, and you don't even realize you have done it.

That is good to here though Piglet6.

It's great news, isn't it.

But I haven't mentioned anything about having a veg patch in the garden. He mentioned something about putting my name down for an allotment, and I said that a whole plot would be way to big and that I'd be better suited to a quarter plot. I said something about the size of our dining room would be perfect. The size he's promised IS smaller than our dining room but it is a bigger space than all of my pots put together, and it will be manageable. PLUS, i can always spill over into the pots if needed - say, for tomatoes.

I'm very conscious that it is still only at the 'promise' stage - it has yet to materialise! LOL

Piglet, that is really such great news! I wonder if there has been something in the air this weekend - my foreman (Tim) came to help me dig another potato trench today and as I was tied up putting onion sets in he planted a row of pots for me!

Piglet6 I am sooooo pleased for you.

The urge to grow food is so strong for some people. I think most of on here would find it so hard not to do so.

Dear Elle, you were tied up, my goodness.

That's great news, Piglet.

Has anyone told you yet how this gardening thing grows - by the end of this summer you will be putting your name down for that allotment. Or maybe you will be removing one or two of the (yet-to-be-laid) new paving slabs, hoping that hubby doesn't notice.

Just a thought, since you have such limited growing space - have you thought of growing the varieties of tomato that can go in hanging baskets? I'm thinking of things like Tumbler, and Garden Pearl. There is an article here in the Telegraph comparing some of them:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening/gardeningadvice/5054902/Best-tomatoes-for-hanging-baskets.html

You can also slip a few herbs into hanging baskets!

LOL @ your comments.

Hmmmm, food for thought, Mouse.

I need your secret Piglet!!

Snowdrop will do whatever I ask of him in the garden (military training ) although sometimes he looks like he has been sucking lemons, he will never enjoy it and would never instigate any garden work.

So Genie Fairy, if you are going to grant me one wish - can you please turn my darling hubby into a gardener - thanking you kindly

oldherbaceous wrote:Dear Elle, you were tied up, my goodness.

Explains why it took so long OH!

tied up in the garden hmm do you have pics?

oldherbaceous wrote:Dear Elle, you were tied up, my goodness.

She must have a knot garden

If you could only see the line of potatoes planted by myself and a friend, you would know how far away from a Knot garden we are. We started at different ends, and while we did meet in the middle it is a good job it is for potatoes, not the channel tunnel, Tim took great pleasure in getting his line dead straight, as well as digging it deeper etc. The competition is on!

Great news Piglet. I didn't tell you, did I, that I'd secretly "put my witches influence" on him to bring him round? Maybe he's decided that giving you a vegetable patch in the garden would be better than you running off to an allotment and getting friendly with all those nice hunky fellows who offered to do your digging for you

Don't forget, you can often sneakily increase your growing area over a period of time. Just keep steathily edging away at your lawn a few inches at a time to increase the growing area.

I can also recommend the tumbling varieties of tomatoes for containers if space is short. I first started growing them a couple of years ago, in addition to the tall varieties and was amazed just how heavily they cropped. A mixture of Red & Yellow tumblers can look very decorative too.

Thanks Primrose, it does seem to have done the trick.

Hehehe, maybe he would get jealous. You can virtually SEE the allotments from my house! He prefers company, so I know that if I DID have an allotment he'd walk over there and find out what I'm keeping myself busy at. He may even end up helping fetch & carry!

PMSL @ sneakily edging away at the lawn! I like it!!! That may not be a bad idea! There is allegedly going to be patio slabs along the long edge of the patch, but not at the shallower edge. Hmmmm.........