Getting the garden going this spring

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Getting the garden going this spring
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Mistress Rose

Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 16003

Posted: Wed Apr 17, 24 5:17 am Post subject: Getting the garden going this spring

As either my ME has got worse, or I have long Covid after being ill in January, I am having to take gardening fairly slowly this year, and won't be trying to do so much. Taking it in two goes, I have finally got the potatoes in, put in onion sets in autumn as the spring planted ones don't do well for me, and have sown some seeds. Managed to get a tray of lettuce and spinach leaves hardening off, and have sown pea, mangetout and cabbage seeds in trays and pots. How are you getting on with veg sowing this year?

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46249
Location: yes

Posted: Wed Apr 17, 24 7:35 am Post subject:

the test radishes are up and looking keen to grow

therefore i have 100 lt of multi purpose for sterile, sort of, planting into containers

if available a couple of big boy toms are planned

without a tall boy dog and with the use of shiny i have a lot more growing space options

the two sheds might go and be replaced with one small one, or they may be mended and adapted
is that a flying pig i spy?
nice idea, but a worm can factory of to do that we need to do this, if we remove the big shed we need to deal with the rear wall/door to get the new small shed in the best place
the wall is stable and within tolerances, sort of, there is no way to adapt it without cleaning the bricks and laying a new footing thanks to somebody else's drain menders 25 yrs ago

throw the spoil in the trench is not proper
gravel and concrete for the pipe and then the road bed and block laying, backfill in an alleyway is not rocket engineering

re taking it slowly, some things are off my to-do list, see wall etc*, and the little stuff needs thought and timing to do it

*or with a game plan and a couple of adaptable workers it might be a few grand

Mistress Rose

Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 16003

Posted: Thu Apr 18, 24 7:51 am Post subject:
Have fun with the tomatoes Dpack. The rest sounds rather a lot to do.

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46249
Location: yes

Posted: Thu Apr 18, 24 8:02 am Post subject:
i have a semi tame gardener/handy person, i know a few builders cost and time slots need discussion, i need a new shower as well

Nicky cigreen

Joined: 25 Jun 2007
Posts: 9887
Location: Devon, uk

Posted: Thu Apr 18, 24 9:20 am Post subject:

having had covid before Christmas, then Christmas, then the time in hospital with my son, then the long drawn out recovery when he wasn't keen on being left at all.. then a period of time when I 'wasn't feeling it' re the garden.. plus all those days of rain... prepping the veg beds has been neglected... am now having to lift turf off my no-dig beds! - bit of a race to get it done in time as it wont be long before I start sowing the sweetcorn courgettes and squashes. I need to top compost the greenhouses too, and have a forest of baby tomatoes waiting...

tahir

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 45676
Location: Essex

Posted: Thu Apr 18, 24 9:52 am Post subject: Re: Getting the garden going this spring

Mistress Rose wrote:

put in onion sets in autumn as the spring planted ones don't do well for me, and have sown some seeds.

Never really did well with sets, I used to sow seed on boxing day indoors and then plant out in spring, got much better crops.

For the first time in yonks I'm growing chillies again, only in pots but that's better than nothing.

Mistress Rose

Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 16003

Posted: Thu Apr 18, 24 3:26 pm Post subject:

I have never really got on with onion seed I am afraid. I have tried once or twice, but never came to anything. I find autumn sown sets are rather better for our conditions, but even they are not that reliable. Managed to clear another bed today, but don't have the energy to add the compost. Then my leeks need to be planted out and some more compost found for the rest of the bed as it is a bit low.

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46249
Location: yes

Posted: Thu Apr 18, 24 5:53 pm Post subject:

setts on final reduction at the end of the sett planting season, in fish boxes(mouse wire

) and a sunny place is ace for spring onions and the ones you leave grow to a decent size

never done well with seeds, had a few main crops with setts that were ok

i recon the soil makes more difference than the type or the weather or the grower

get the soil right and the weather and onions will do the rest

Mistress Rose

Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 16003

Posted: Fri Apr 19, 24 6:52 am Post subject:
I am hoping the extra compost and biochar I added this year might help.

NorthernMonkeyGirl

Joined: 10 Apr 2011
Posts: 4630
Location: Peeping over your shoulder

Posted: Sat Apr 20, 24 7:16 pm Post subject:

The fruit bushes and trees are flowering, the perennial kale is once again expanding to take over the street, the perennial leeks...well, of the three that appeared in autumn, they mostly look like grass.

I've cobbled together a mini greenhouse and sown some seeds - tomato, pepper, runner beans, yard long beans, and another round of squash seeds. None of the same batch of squash seeds have germinated after a couple of early attempts. Fir apple spuds are peeking through.

Next door house has sold, they are renovating inside quite extensively. They seem nice, we have agreed to replace the dividing fence (as it slowly lurches towards the ground

) and I said if they ever decided they wanted rid of the fruit trees there, please let me know...

Mistress Rose

Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 16003

Posted: Sun Apr 21, 24 9:12 am Post subject:
I think squash need above a certain temperature to germinate. Have you been able to give them that? I have trouble with them and courgettes most years for that reason.

gz

Joined: 23 Jan 2009
Posts: 8961
Location: Ayrshire, Scotland

Posted: Sun Apr 21, 24 9:28 am Post subject:
They are some of the seeds that I germinate on damp paper in a takeaway box. That is a good way to check seed viability..and is also generally faster than in compost

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46249
Location: yes

Posted: Tue Apr 23, 24 12:33 pm Post subject:

slow gardening here as well, i have managed to "hermit crab" 4 of the perennial herbs into bigger sizes over six weeks, only a couple more to go

im not sure what to do with the straggly "night lavender", rather fun, it does not smell much during the day but at night it is fragrant and popular with moths when in flower
never met it before, not sure what strain it is, it did well from nursery to first upsized pot on a medium window sill first year but looks a bit shabby after winter
the english lavender looks great in its "new "shell, that version is an old pal that has been in the family for several generations, cloning is great with some plants

im toying with taking cuttings off the night one and see if a trim refreshes the mother and if they strike

gardening has become "light duties as capable" which aint much, hey ho

ps capable got typed as capapable, im turning into trump

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46249
Location: yes

Posted: Tue Apr 23, 24 12:54 pm Post subject:

the black mint looks and tastes ok, i wont feed it until it tries to flower and has had a "top cut"

the base of a plastic bottle in the planting pot works a treat with the mints that like part swamp/part damp soil
shockingly long-lasting as well, potentially a next to end of life use for the things, buried in no dig beds to increase water retention might be a fitting last task for them

artificial aquifer right where it is needed by plants

i might have a trial with some thirsty ones in the big black pots, the results and root autopsy might be educational and popping a bottle bum in the bottom of a pot is no effort

i have done similar with the fish boxes, drain holes a couple of inches above base level, it works

no tall male mutts added plenty of locations for "container"gardening that were challenging when there were contented customers in the gents

i need to consider the shed thing carefully, maybe drawings will help

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46249
Location: yes

Posted: Tue Apr 23, 24 1:47 pm Post subject:

a rather tangential garden thought, soil and germination temp etc

the data is online for most commercial seed strains, local conditions of soil temp are easy to measure

re kit, a basic probe such as used in catering can be had for under £10, a basic IR temp reading machine for £20 or around £60 if you want a reliable wide scale one

surface or probe or bare bum(comfy is carrot time

) is best

thermometers in the greenhouse air or on the kitchen wall are not a measure of soil temp, which is a big factor for germination success

Transferable skills suggest that with both the ambient air and whatever "substrate" is used, temp monitoring and control to requirements is wise and important for good results from seed or cuttings

are the worms active? is quite useful for an outside sowing guide, ditto which "weeds" are growing etc

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