"Sacha" wrote in message
...
On 14/9/06 14:41, in article , "michael
adams"
wrote:


"Bob Hobden" wrote in message
...
I though I'd mention this to help any budding allotment growers.

Seen on our site this year...
1. Tomatoes not staked sufficiently strongly for the more exposed open
allotment site so they collapse when covered in fruit, it rains adding
weight and it's windy. Make a sturdy wooden/steel goal post type
structure
and tie the canes to that.
2. Indeterminate Tomatoes not pinched out and allowed to do their own
thing.

That's nothing. Tomatoes were first introduced into the UK in the 16th
century from South America. However up until the early 1800's they were
regarded as poisonous and of decorative interest only*. Both on account
of
their membership of the nightshade family and maybe (guess) the fact
that
they're not eaten by any birds or animals. In the UK at least.

You're kidding about birds not eating them, aren't you?! Blackbirds
especially seem to go mad for them!



Oops! I forgot. All mine are under polythene.

So our ancestors were even more dumb than I thought.

Or like me, they only grew them under glass.



michael adams

....




--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
http://www.discoverdartmoor.co.uk/

On 14/9/06 15:13, in article , "michael adams"
wrote:


"Sacha" wrote in message
...
On 14/9/06 14:41, in article , "michael
adams"
wrote:


"Bob Hobden" wrote in message
...
I though I'd mention this to help any budding allotment growers.

Seen on our site this year...
1. Tomatoes not staked sufficiently strongly for the more exposed open
allotment site so they collapse when covered in fruit, it rains adding
weight and it's windy. Make a sturdy wooden/steel goal post type
structure
and tie the canes to that.
2. Indeterminate Tomatoes not pinched out and allowed to do their own
thing.

That's nothing. Tomatoes were first introduced into the UK in the 16th
century from South America. However up until the early 1800's they were
regarded as poisonous and of decorative interest only*. Both on account
of
their membership of the nightshade family and maybe (guess) the fact
that
they're not eaten by any birds or animals. In the UK at least.

You're kidding about birds not eating them, aren't you?! Blackbirds
especially seem to go mad for them!



Oops! I forgot. All mine are under polythene.

So our ancestors were even more dumb than I thought.

Or like me, they only grew them under glass.

;-) Ours are under glass - admittedly with a lot of room for the birds to
fly in and out - so they seem to have everything on tap - a good feed, a
cosy perch and a load of seed and peanut feeders when they fancy a change!

--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
http://www.discoverdartmoor.co.uk/

K wrote:
I presume we stake them because they take up less space and are easier
to pick.

I let my sweet peas scramble on the ground to the tut tut of old
allotmenters .... In the case of the toms in Greece - it's dry, less
problem with slugs and therefore no need to stake them.

In reply to La Puce ) who wrote this in
, I, Marvo, say :

K wrote:
I presume we stake them because they take up less space and are
easier to pick.

I let my sweet peas scramble on the ground to the tut tut of old
allotmenters .... In the case of the toms in Greece - it's dry, less
problem with slugs and therefore no need to stake them.

One of the great things about allotments is that you get all sorts of
advice, right and/or wrong, from neighbouring allotmenters. You know which
is right and which is wrong by looking at the fruits, and veggies, of their
labours.

Sticks and stones may break my bones but tut-tutting will go over my head.

Any idea why it is difficult to start a discussion on urg without somebody
getting the hump?

No, didn't think so. I have one theory ... anyone want to hear it?

Uncle Marvo wrote:
One of the great things about allotments is that you get all sorts of
advice, right and/or wrong, from neighbouring allotmenters. You know which
is right and which is wrong by looking at the fruits, and veggies, of their
labours.

In my allotments society, size matters.

Sticks and stones may break my bones but tut-tutting will go over my head.

Not me. I'm latin.

Any idea why it is difficult to start a discussion on urg without somebody
getting the hump?

Errrr ... beside being latin? I don't know really.

No, didn't think so. I have one theory ... anyone want to hear it?

Sure.

In reply to La Puce ) who wrote this in
, I, Marvo, say :

Any idea why it is difficult to start a discussion on urg without
somebody getting the hump?

Errrr ... beside being latin? I don't know really.

No, didn't think so. I have one theory ... anyone want to hear it?

Sure.

It's because the only thing they have in common is gardening. So if anyone
mentions something controversial, like religion, sex, politics, the Simpsons
or anything someone will disagree. And then if the other person disagrees
again it looks like an argument, and gets out of hand. And then they get
invaded by President Bush.

That's my theory. Hope you like it :-)

"Janet Baraclough" wrote in message
I would add, rotovating the whole thing then not being able to keep up
with planting and weeding the whole area.
Janet

I'm afraid I've got to hold my hand up to that one! Having just moved from a
house with a small garden to a house with over an acre I've got carried away
and rotovated an area of 450 square metres of grassland for our new veg
plot. I still managed to over-fill it though and ended up planting sweetcorn
elsewhere! Problem has been the weeding - I just haven't had enough time to
keep up with manually pulling the vast amount of weeds, some of which have
unfortunately run to seed thus compounding the problem further. As my other
half says "one years seeds - seven years weeds!" She also complains that I
have grown enough cabbages, onions, runner beans, marrows and potatoes to
feed a village! At least we won't starve!
--
David
.... Email address on website http://www.avisoft.co.uk
.... Blog at http://dlts-french-adventures.blogspot.com/

Uncle Marvo wrote:
It's because the only thing they have in common is gardening. So if anyone
mentions something controversial, like religion, sex, politics, the Simpsons
or anything someone will disagree. And then if the other person disagrees
again it looks like an argument, and gets out of hand. And then they get
invaded by President Bush.
That's my theory. Hope you like it :-)

Don't go into politics or I'll have to assassinate you.

David (in Normandy) wrote:
I'm afraid I've got to hold my hand up to that one!

Don't be afraid. We're here.

Having just moved from a
house with a small garden to a house with over an acre I've got carried away
and rotovated an area of 450 square metres of grassland for our new veg
plot.

Now this should go on Bob's list.

I still managed to over-fill it though and ended up planting sweetcorn

elsewhere! Problem has been the weeding - I just haven't had enough time to
keep up with manually pulling the vast amount of weeds, some of which have
unfortunately run to seed thus compounding the problem further. As my other
half says "one years seeds - seven years weeds!" She also complains that I
have grown enough cabbages, onions, runner beans, marrows and potatoes to
feed a village! At least we won't starve!

Well done. Do you have any chickens? Perhaps moving them about on say
200m2 next spring would help you considerably with weeds and bugs. I'm
jealous.

In reply to La Puce ) who wrote this in
, I, Marvo, say :

Uncle Marvo wrote:
It's because the only thing they have in common is gardening. So if
anyone mentions something controversial, like religion, sex,
politics, the Simpsons or anything someone will disagree. And then
if the other person disagrees again it looks like an argument, and
gets out of hand. And then they get invaded by President Bush.
That's my theory. Hope you like it :-)

Don't go into politics or I'll have to assassinate you.

I won't if you don't. Anyway, Les French don't do politics, they just have a
decent revolution. You should show us how to do it, we need a bit of
excitement.

Which is your chosen method, cake-eating or the guillotine ;-)

"La Puce" wrote in message
Well done. Do you have any chickens? Perhaps moving them about on say
200m2 next spring would help you considerably with weeds and bugs. I'm
jealous.


The plan is to get 4 chickens next year. Apparently, from what I've read 4
is a good number to keep us in eggs without there being a glut or shortage
for much of the year. I've still got to make the chicken coop for them yet -
that's the bit I'm looking forward to - a bit of fancy carpentry! We've
delayed getting chickens because the French govt. can't make up its mind
what to do about bird flu. Earlier this year all birds had to be kept
indoors, then eventually they were allowed to free-range again since the
danger of infection from migrating birds had passed. Unfortunately this
ambiguity means they may need to be kept indoors again when bird migrations
begin again this Autumn. I just wish they would opt for vaccinating all
poultry, then everyone can just get on with keeping poultry outside again.
Fairly pointless keeping your own chickens just to leave them indoors and
fed on grain all the time - especially when there are lots of insects and
weeds they can be eating outside.
--
David
.... Email address on website http://www.avisoft.co.uk
.... Blog at http://dlts-french-adventures.blogspot.com/

Uncle Marvo wrote:
I won't if you don't. Anyway, Les French don't do politics, they just have a
decent revolution. You should show us how to do it, we need a bit of
excitement.

I think I've provoked enough excitement in here for this month at
least, don't you think?

Which is your chosen method, cake-eating or the guillotine ;-)

Which reminds me, my dearest cousin in Trellissac has just bought two
moutons, named them Marguerite and Antoinette and she promised them
never to eat them. She got them so that she doesn't need to cut the
grass and she picks up the lil' round poos daily and throw that on her
compost. Delightful.

In reply to David (in Normandy) )
who wrote this in , I, Marvo, say :

"La Puce" wrote in message
Well done. Do you have any chickens? Perhaps moving them about on say
200m2 next spring would help you considerably with weeds and bugs.
I'm jealous.


The plan is to get 4 chickens next year. Apparently, from what I've
read 4 is a good number to keep us in eggs without there being a glut
or shortage for much of the year. I've still got to make the chicken
coop for them yet - that's the bit I'm looking forward to - a bit of
fancy carpentry! We've delayed getting chickens because the French
govt. can't make up its mind what to do about bird flu. Earlier this
year all birds had to be kept indoors, then eventually they were
allowed to free-range again since the danger of infection from
migrating birds had passed. Unfortunately this ambiguity means they
may need to be kept indoors again when bird migrations begin again
this Autumn. I just wish they would opt for vaccinating all poultry,
then everyone can just get on with keeping poultry outside again.
Fairly pointless keeping your own chickens just to leave them indoors
and fed on grain all the time - especially when there are lots of
insects and weeds they can be eating outside.

I had some eggs given to me last week, light blue like duck eggs but they
were definitely chicken eggs. I couldn't see the point, they were light
yolked like normal ones, nothing special. I prefer organic columbian
blacktail free range ones, which have a rich yolk and are well worth the
difference. IINVMM the light blue eggs cost the bloke something like £2 for
half a dozen, which seems rude.

Is it something in the feed that gives the yolk the character?

In reply to La Puce ) who wrote this in
, I, Marvo, say :

Uncle Marvo wrote:
I won't if you don't. Anyway, Les French don't do politics, they
just have a decent revolution. You should show us how to do it, we
need a bit of excitement.

I think I've provoked enough excitement in here for this month at
least, don't you think?

Never! It's the spice of life, or something. You carry on exciting us :-)

Which is your chosen method, cake-eating or the guillotine ;-)

Which reminds me, my dearest cousin in Trellissac has just bought two
moutons, named them Marguerite and Antoinette and she promised them
never to eat them. She got them so that she doesn't need to cut the
grass and she picks up the lil' round poos daily and throw that on her
compost. Delightful.

Sheeps? I'm sure that veggie poo is suitable for composting, but I wouldn't
be sure ... some time ago the dictatorship^Wgovernment said you weren't
supposed to compost tea bags or eggshells, now it seems you should. I
compost left over curry, myself, and virtually anything else. I manage to
fill a black bag every five weeks, and most of that is oily rags and the
plastic wrappings off fag packets :-)

David (in Normandy) wrote:
The plan is to get 4 chickens next year. Apparently, from what I've read 4
is a good number to keep us in eggs without there being a glut or shortage
for much of the year. I've still got to make the chicken coop for them yet -
that's the bit I'm looking forward to - a bit of fancy carpentry!

Fantastic! Even more jealous. When I was about 10 years old, my best
friend and I started a craze at school which lasted for years
afterwards - poultry leg rings, which we wore on her fingers like
rings. I had all the colours and every week end I would stock up and
sell them back double price. I was at boarding school and it was fierce
commerce in those days, especially for pots of nutella and scoobidou
toffee shells )

What cockrel will you get? Can I suggest a French Maran and call it
Napoleon (we had one you see) - they're loud and bold and have a
gorgeous plumage.