On 3/4/09 20:44, in article , "Ophelia"
wrote:

Derek Turner wrote:
On Fri, 03 Apr 2009 20:12:29 +0200, David in Normandy wrote:

Mine are already up! They are all around an inch or two above the
surface of the soil. I'm just hoping there aren't any really hard
frosts.

Same here, but mine are covered by three or four inches of vraic so
shouldn't suffer even if do get a late frost.

Vraic?



Bladder wrack seaweed. Old Norman French/Jersey term for that type of
seaweed. It's a first class fertiliser/ground improver.

--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon
Exotic plants, shrubs & perennials online

Sacha wrote:
On 3/4/09 20:44, in article ,
"Ophelia" wrote:

Derek Turner wrote:
On Fri, 03 Apr 2009 20:12:29 +0200, David in Normandy wrote:

Mine are already up! They are all around an inch or two above the
surface of the soil. I'm just hoping there aren't any really hard
frosts.

Same here, but mine are covered by three or four inches of vraic so
shouldn't suffer even if do get a late frost.

Vraic?



Bladder wrack seaweed. Old Norman French/Jersey term for that type of
seaweed. It's a first class fertiliser/ground improver.

Ahh.. thank you

On Apr 3, 6:01*pm, "Pete C" wrote:
Ophelia wrote:
alan.holmes wrote:
Except that, if Martin really had any usefull information, it would
have been better either to post it or email it.

Thank you Alan but I was wrong to discount any work that Martin had
put into his response. *I have spent my working life researching. *It
is very easy for me to do that but I am enjoying the ideas and
friendly discourse here. It is so much nicer to talk. *For example,
when I asked about waiting to plant my potatoes until the shoots had
appeared, Steve was able to tell me that :

"There is disagreement every year about whether it actually achieves
anything anyway"

I probably couldn't have found that by googling. I am able to access
the knowledge and experience of real people here.

Nevertheless, I do apologise to Martin.

Indeed.......I ask questions here even though I know I could Google. Nothing
beats personal knowledge and experience.
--
Pete C
London UK

Me too, I can Google but the personal experiences and advice of
posters is superior. Martin is always very helpful, he will advise
and also direct me/us to a site to back it up. We have the best of
both worlds with him. Sometimes the written word can come over a bit
abrupt but I know that O and Martin understood and no offence was
taken on either side. Now young Pete, did you put in those C.Lucifer?

Judith

On Apr 3, 5:00*pm, "Ophelia" wrote:
Bob Hobden wrote:
"Ophelia" *wrote
Just to be sure I know what this means.. does it mean waiting til the
spuds have wee shoots growing from them?

Yes, well actually, getting them to start to sprout.

Ah! *I supposed that one put them in the light and waited. Is there a
technique?

I mentioned that when at Harlow Carr recently, I bought some bags,
compost and some seed potatoes. *I have them in the light awaiting
sprouts. * I have no sprouts. *Must I wait till the sprouts grow
before I can plant them, please?
No, if they haven't started to sprout and are otherwise OK then just
go ahead and plant.

Just one more question if you please. *Do I bury the potatoes completely or
leave some of the bumpy bits poking out?

Thank you Bob

ps Not just a question to you Bob, but are my questions terribly asinine?
Would it be preferable to the group for me to go away and do some research
first?

I did say I was a beginner, but perhaps I didn't make it clear just how much
of one

Hey you, don't be daft, I am the Queen of asinine questions and in
over 12 plus years nobody has told me to do research first. I think
those of us, you, me and some others make the group more interesting
in that we benefit from their advice and they, as good teachers, enjoy
teaching us.

Judith

Judith in France wrote:
On Apr 3, 6:01 pm, "Pete C" wrote:
Ophelia wrote:
alan.holmes wrote:
Except that, if Martin really had any usefull information, it would

snippy
.. Now young Pete, did you put in those C.Lucifer?

Of course.........nuffink
--
Pete C
London UK

On Apr 3, 10:48*pm, "Pete C" wrote:
Judith in France wrote:
On Apr 3, 6:01 pm, "Pete C" wrote:
Ophelia wrote:
alan.holmes wrote:
Except that, if Martin really had any usefull information, it would

snippy
. *Now young Pete, did you put in those C.Lucifer?

Of course.........nuffink
--
Pete C
London UK

Behave, they wont be up yet!!!!!

Judith

On Apr 3, 10:15*pm, Martin wrote:
On Fri, 3 Apr 2009 13:58:16 -0700 (PDT), Judith in France



wrote:
On Apr 3, 5:00*pm, "Ophelia" wrote:
Bob Hobden wrote:
"Ophelia" *wrote
Just to be sure I know what this means.. does it mean waiting til the
spuds have wee shoots growing from them?

Yes, well actually, getting them to start to sprout.

Ah! *I supposed that one put them in the light and waited. Is there a
technique?

I mentioned that when at Harlow Carr recently, I bought some bags,
compost and some seed potatoes. *I have them in the light awaiting
sprouts. * I have no sprouts. *Must I wait till the sprouts grow
before I can plant them, please?
No, if they haven't started to sprout and are otherwise OK then just
go ahead and plant.

Just one more question if you please. *Do I bury the potatoes completely or
leave some of the bumpy bits poking out?

Thank you Bob

ps Not just a question to you Bob, but are my questions terribly asinine?
Would it be preferable to the group for me to go away and do some research
first?

I did say I was a beginner, but perhaps I didn't make it clear just how much
of one

Hey you, don't be daft, I am the Queen of asinine questions and in
over 12 plus years nobody has told me to do research first. *I think
those of us, you, me and some others make the group more interesting
in that we benefit from their advice and they, as good teachers, enjoy
teaching us.

Nobody told Ophelia to do research first.
The RHS explanation is better than I can write myself and it did answer the
question.
--

Martin

I know sweetie, can you advise me on .... I forgot you already did, a
week ago and it is coming on well. :-)

Judith

"Ophelia" wrote in message
...
alan.holmes wrote:
"Ophelia" wrote in message
...
alan.holmes wrote:

I don't think its important to buy potatoes already starting to chit,
if the time is not right to plant them, seeds already chiting can be
a real nuisance.

I never buy bags of seed potatoes, as there are always far to many
for my needs, I look for places which sell them loose, so I can
choose exactly those which are suitable for me to use.

I bought just a few. They did have big sacks full but I got a small ...
umm... net? of them! About a dozen if memory serves without going outside
to look. I will tomorrow though if you would like to know?

I can't wait!(:-)

"Ophelia" wrote in message
...
Derek Turner wrote:
On Fri, 03 Apr 2009 20:12:29 +0200, David in Normandy wrote:

Mine are already up! They are all around an inch or two above the
surface of the soil. I'm just hoping there aren't any really hard
frosts.

Same here, but mine are covered by three or four inches of vraic so
shouldn't suffer even if do get a late frost.

Vraic?

You rotter, I was going to ask that!(:-)

"Sacha" wrote in message
...
On 3/4/09 20:44, in article , "Ophelia"
wrote:

Derek Turner wrote:
On Fri, 03 Apr 2009 20:12:29 +0200, David in Normandy wrote:

Mine are already up! They are all around an inch or two above the
surface of the soil. I'm just hoping there aren't any really hard
frosts.

Same here, but mine are covered by three or four inches of vraic so
shouldn't suffer even if do get a late frost.

Vraic?



Bladder wrack seaweed. Old Norman French/Jersey term for that type of
seaweed. It's a first class fertiliser/ground improver.

Do you think they will have it in the 'pound' shop?



--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon
Exotic plants, shrubs & perennials online

Ophelia writes
Not just a question to you Bob, but are my questions terribly asinine?
Would it be preferable to the group for me to go away and do some
research first?

Even experts have subjects in which they are complete beginners. And for
every person who asks a question, there are probably 6 who would like to
know the answer but for whatever reason have not got around to asking.
--
Kay

alan.holmes wrote:
"Ophelia" wrote in message
...
alan.holmes wrote:
"Ophelia" wrote in message
...
alan.holmes wrote:

I don't think its important to buy potatoes already starting to
chit, if the time is not right to plant them, seeds already chiting
can be a real nuisance.

I never buy bags of seed potatoes, as there are always far to many
for my needs, I look for places which sell them loose, so I can
choose exactly those which are suitable for me to use.

I bought just a few. They did have big sacks full but I got a small
... umm... net? of them! About a dozen if memory serves without
going outside to look. I will tomorrow though if you would like to
know?

I can't wait!(:-)

lol watchit

K wrote:
Ophelia writes
Not just a question to you Bob, but are my questions terribly
asinine? Would it be preferable to the group for me to go away and
do some research first?

Even experts have subjects in which they are complete beginners. And
for every person who asks a question, there are probably 6 who would
like to know the answer but for whatever reason have not got around
to asking.

Thank you Kay. You are very kind

On Apr 4, 6:42*pm, "Ophelia" wrote:
K wrote:
Ophelia writes
Not just a question to you Bob, but are my questions terribly
asinine? Would it be preferable to the group for me to go away and
do some research first?

Even experts have subjects in which they are complete beginners. And
for every person who asks a question, there are probably 6 who would
like to know the answer but for whatever reason have not got around
to asking.

Thank you Kay. *You are very kind

If you have any cacti, ask Kay. I went to her home in Leeds and she
has a special greenhouse entirely devoted to them and insect eating
plant things, she has a good garden.

Judith

On Sat, 04 Apr 2009 01:43:12 +0100, Anne Welsh Jackson wrote:


Do you use the vraic straight from the beach, Derek, or do you steep it
in water first? I'm thinking about salt deposits...

Hey, my allotment is only 100 yards from the sea so...
It is said that the taste of 'real' Jersey Royals was largely down to the
salt and iodine in the vraic. Sadly the commercial farmers no longer use
it. So for them I just put it straight on. The soil is sandy and free-
draining so it should wash out easily. I'm guessing that asparagus will
love being covered in straight-from-the-beach vraic this autumn. Ditto
sea-kale.