On Thu, 30 Oct 2003 18:03:44 +0000, Victoria Clare
wrote:

The catalogues have started to arrive...

What are you growing from seed this year, and why?

I had something of a break from any serious gardening this year - so
the whole place is a bit of a mess ( AKA wildlife garden, guv ).
But - I had a six ton grain wagon turn up last weekend stacked full to
the brim with grade A horse manure.
It's a very peculiar thing to be woken up first thing on a Sunday
morning by a farmer shouting 'Oi, 'ere's yer shit - where d'ya want
it?'.

For the most part I'm simply going to lay it over the veg patch a foot
deep, and plant straight into it under black polythene next season (
it'd take too long to weed the plot... and now the 'rains' have
arrived ).
That's going to leave me with a very rich surface layer - so I'm going
for gross feeders this year. I quite fancy some of the more esoteric
squashes - and I reckon a goodly range of beans will be on the cards,
including the curiously named Lab Lab bean.
I'm considered growing beans for dry storage too - something I've not
tried before.

Peas will be the usual Alderman - simply because I've got the space,
plus Douce Provence ( if I can find them ).

I'd considered buying some of those giant pumpkin seeds - but what the
hell d'you do with a pumpkin that's over a yard in diameter?? Make a
shed out of it? Quite fancy the snazzy blue pumpkins Marshalls are
offering...

And now that I have four large 'sleepers' - and all the manure I can
poke a stick at, I might invest in a strawberry patch - so that I can
eat 'em 'til I puke ( hopefully not literally ).

Globe artichokes are on the list too ( again ) - though I make no
promises that I'll get a crop by the end of the year - and I reckon
it's high time I bought those apple trees I've been promising myself
for years now.
Anyone got any recommendations for a nice, fresh, crisp apple with a
bit of a bite that does well in an organic garden?

Elephant garlic looks like it might be fun - and with a sifted bed of
well rotted manure I reckon I ought to be able to grow some
spectacularly tasty carrots. Might give Sytan a go - though carrot fly
doesn't seem to be that much of a problem up here.

No blooms on the list as yet - the bed that runs along the rear hedge
is 'mature' ( read overgrown ) and desperately needs thinning out - so
that pretty much takes care of the fancy gardening for next year.

BUT - just adjacent to my workshop a couple are setting up a large
polytunnel. Seems they're going to trade rare flower seeds, so I
expect that there may well be a few 'end of line' plants up for grabs
from time to time.
Eat yer heart out eh?

Regards,



--
Stephen Howard - Woodwind repairs & period restorations
http://www.shwoodwind.co.uk
Emails to: showard{who is at}shwoodwind{dot}co{dot}uk