"0tterbot" wrote in message
"FarmI" ask@itshall be given wrote in message

in autumn, i had a bucket full of coriander seed that i couldn't seem to
organise planting anywhere, so i threw it around in a few garden beds &
now we have more coriander than i think i have ever seen!

Ditto! Mine self seeded all over the end of one bed and into the path at
the end of last summer and its growing beatifully ATM.

i'm going to put more seed out seeing as how i still have loads of seed,
and one new garden bed i was starting up last autumn seems to have all
gone wrong after the frosts - i put in a few plants that were going
wonderfully, but it looks now like they are completely dead. it is most
exasperating as it's unusual for any new thing i put in here to start off
so well!!! (that must have been the problem!!) so i might as well cover it
in coriander for now while i have a think.

also, i think any of us could do worse than have things like rocket or
coriander self-seeding about the place - you can eat it, the plants look
good when they go to seed, and it keeps the ground covered while you think
about what you would like to do. (and frankly i'm a huge fan of any plant
that does all the work for you).

So am I. My garden is very messy because I strew seeds around all over the
place and love volunteer plants even if its just mustard. At least it
provides chook greens.

Last year I had some Mullein come up right in the middle of a path in the
Veg garden and it looked glorious. Head of Home Affairs kept threatening to
pull them out and I kept threatening him with castration if the plants
suddenly disapeared.

there are lots of veg kicking along nicely (things that like winter,
obviously) but for the most part i'm ignoring everything unless eating
it - there's enough rain to water them & i mulched for winter long ago
of course. anyway, i'm finding it a convenient time to be run off my
feet with other things beside the garden.

i find winter extraordinarily difficult tbh. it's just so cold here &
when there's been 3 days without sunlight i start to lose my mind.

Yep. All that sodding cloud and not a drop of real rain - **** ghastly
mizzle at the best!

it is becoming rather exasperating (probably not as exasperating as in
victoria atm though). whenever it does rain, the dam level simply does not
change.

But at least the pathetic amount we have had seems to have left reasonable
soil moisture levels. At least in cultivated areas. If the soil is not
well cultivated it's still as dry as a chip only a couple of inches down,
but if it has been well prepared then lovely moisture!

Today I weeded the asparagus bed and half of one of the veg beds.
tomorrow I'll spread horse poop and leaves on the weeded veg bed and give
the asparagus a dose of dolomite.

i'm just in the process of moving all of my asparagus down the back. the
young ones i've got in pots are fine, although i wasn't really thinking
about how many i have (24 or something) & i don't have the bed space!! and
will have to quickly sort something out. the older ones are 2.5 years now,
& are staggeringly difficult to dig out!!!!! mainly, i hope i don't kill
them in the process - that would be a bugger :-) so i've decided not to
hope for any asparagus this year in case the big plants are still
recovering (or are dead ;-) & the small ones too small. they've started
shooting already although of course the shoots die when it frosts, so they
are clearly not dormant still. but, once they are moved & settled it is
nice to think there'll be asparagus every spring with no special work on
my behalf, 3 cheers for perennials eh.

25 plants! You'll have to provide a restaurant with that many :-))

And they seem to be very tough to kill.

I think I've moved my asparagus bed at least 3 times and somehow I always
leave at least one plant behind. 2 ended up being in areas which became
compacted bare paths and each year they still come up. I really should
rescue them I suppose.

"FarmI" ask@itshall be given wrote in message
...

So am I. My garden is very messy because I strew seeds around all over
the place and love volunteer plants even if its just mustard. At least it
provides chook greens.

Last year I had some Mullein come up right in the middle of a path in the
Veg garden and it looked glorious. Head of Home Affairs kept threatening
to pull them out and I kept threatening him with castration if the plants
suddenly disapeared.

is mullein the one with the big hairy leaves?

But at least the pathetic amount we have had seems to have left reasonable
soil moisture levels. At least in cultivated areas. If the soil is not
well cultivated it's still as dry as a chip only a couple of inches down,
but if it has been well prepared then lovely moisture!

but, once they are moved & settled it is
nice to think there'll be asparagus every spring with no special work on
my behalf, 3 cheers for perennials eh.

25 plants! You'll have to provide a restaurant with that many :-))

well i could do worse. there are more than 25, that's just the little ones.
i think there must have been 50 seeds in the packet or something :-)

And they seem to be very tough to kill.

that's lucky because i made a mess digging up the bigger crowns, they were
stuck in like anything, & a number of them broke so i hope they don't die.
then i got dh to do the rest because i don't like digging (no wonder).

I think I've moved my asparagus bed at least 3 times and somehow I always
leave at least one plant behind. 2 ended up being in areas which became
compacted bare paths and each year they still come up. I really should
rescue them I suppose.

having had that experience (of how difficult it is to dig them up!!) i have
no intention of moving the bed again!!!!! you must have been eating your
spinach
kylie

"0tterbot" wrote in message
"FarmI" ask@itshall be given wrote in message

Last year I had some Mullein come up right in the middle of a path in the
Veg garden and it looked glorious. Head of Home Affairs kept threatening
to pull them out and I kept threatening him with castration if the plants
suddenly disapeared.

is mullein the one with the big hairy leaves?

Yeah, aka Verbascum. Old cottage plant where the spire used to be used as a
form of candle and the leaves were used to line holey shoes.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verbascum_thapsus

25 plants! You'll have to provide a restaurant with that many :-))

well i could do worse. there are more than 25, that's just the little
ones. i think there must have been 50 seeds in the packet or something :-)

And they seem to be very tough to kill.

that's lucky because i made a mess digging up the bigger crowns, they were
stuck in like anything, & a number of them broke so i hope they don't die.
then i got dh to do the rest because i don't like digging (no wonder).

If it was only the roots that broke then no worries, it it was the crown,
then it depends on how much damage you did. In reality, I think it'd be
very hard to kill a big crown based on what I've done to them in the past.

I think I've moved my asparagus bed at least 3 times and somehow I always
leave at least one plant behind. 2 ended up being in areas which became
compacted bare paths and each year they still come up. I really should
rescue them I suppose.

having had that experience (of how difficult it is to dig them up!!) i
have no intention of moving the bed again!!!!! you must have been eating
your spinach

Nah. If it lives it lives, if it doesn't then it (and any other thing I
move) was in a place where I didn't want it anyway.

"FarmI" ask@itshall be given wrote in message
...

is mullein the one with the big hairy leaves?

Yeah, aka Verbascum. Old cottage plant where the spire used to be used as
a form of candle and the leaves were used to line holey shoes.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verbascum_thapsus

well there is everything i ever needed to know about mullein...!

i have some of that. normally, i pull it out before it gets big.

that's lucky because i made a mess digging up the bigger crowns, they
were stuck in like anything, & a number of them broke so i hope they
don't die. then i got dh to do the rest because i don't like digging (no
wonder).

If it was only the roots that broke then no worries, it it was the crown,
then it depends on how much damage you did. In reality, I think it'd be
very hard to kill a big crown based on what I've done to them in the past.

all the roots broke, but not all of the crowns (although some did, 2 or 3 i
think). fingers crossed!!

having had that experience (of how difficult it is to dig them up!!) i
have no intention of moving the bed again!!!!! you must have been eating
your spinach

Nah. If it lives it lives, if it doesn't then it (and any other thing I
move) was in a place where I didn't want it anyway.

that is fair enough.
kylie