"Alan Gould" wrote in message
...
In article , Rachael of Nex, the Wiccan
Rat writes

Hand polinate .... new to all this veggie stuff - how do I go about doing
that ?
Tickle the inside of a flower with a very fine, small brush, or you can
use your fingers, or a feather etc. Transfer some pollen to another
flower and it will be pollinated most times. Once a plant has been
pollinated, it does not usually need doing again.

Ok, I'll do that. Just call me Cupid of the Pepper Plants ... chuckle


Also, I don't do chemical fertilisers - will these fruiters be happy
with
nettle soup ? I got quite abit of that hanging about.

Yes indeed. That's what we always give ours. It improves their flavour
and it helps to protect the plants from ailments. Don't overdo it
though, too much feeding or watering leads to mushy flesh texture.
Same goes for tomatoes etc.

Right. How much is too much, or is that a nebulous thing ?
I only apply nettle infusion as liquid feed to the plants once in a
season, twice at the very most. That is because I ensure that the soil
they are growing in, i.e. my own made organic compost, already has
plenty of nutrients in it. The motto is - feed the soil, not the plants
- then the plants take as much as they want from it when they wish to.

I'm hoping the soil is pretty good - the bf says it is, anyway, he knows
more about that part of the garden than I do. We'll see how things turn out
I guess.

I keep going out into my little patch of garden and I can't get over how
much it's changed in the last year and a half.
In January '03 it was a total disaster area.
(I did write a whole big thing about the work done on my garden to sort it
out - and it was no small amount of work that required some quite extensive
clearing of borkwn glass and other crap and moving of earth and fencing and
building of steps and so on before I could actually plant anything - but it
was too long and I sounded like a totally obsessed loon, so I deleted it.)

Bods talk about the sense of achievement in gardening - but I reckon you'll
never know just how much that cannot be underestimated until you've done
some of it. It's my little world out there. I decide what goes where and I
tend to it and care for it. I now see why gardeners go all out for it.
I've ordered a composter from my local council (what a bargain !) and
hopefully it will soon arrive. Which will be another thing for me to get
excited about. ;-)



If any aphids arrive, I apply nettle infusion to the leaves. When the
aphids have gone, usually next day, the infusion becomes ingested into
the plant through the leaves. Then it acts as a plant tonic and provides
nutrients, minerals and trace elements wherever they are needed.

That's a useful tip, thanks.



I reckon the bf will eat them off the plant if I'm not careful - he loves
them, so I probably won't have to freeze any. Thing is, I *don't*
actually
like them - I told you I sowed them on a whim ! Heheheheh. ;-)

That's gardening Rachel - best wishes to both of you.

Thanks. And to you.


Rachael