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#1
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Not Enought Rain
Today there was a desultory attempt at rain to the west of London, it
didn't justify resorting to a hat. I did a bit of digging afterwards but an inch or so into the soil it is still as dry as dust. Part of me wants the full 40 days and 40 nights job. On the up side, I now have a new and rather larger shed so I can have my garage/workshop back. A row of Broad Beans has been planted. The Chillies in the greenhouse are still ripening. The foxes are staying away from my overwintering onion patch. After a good haircut the outdoor Coriander has produced another flush of growth; I will harvest it for the freezer next week. Two French Bean plants (out of our) have so far survived the predation of the slugs and snails. Not sure if they will produce anything. The germination rate (or the atttrition rate) has not been good. I will buy new seed next year. The Root Ginger experiment has produced about a foot of foliage. The Rhubard (Timperley Early planted in a large clay pot) didn't appreciate the frost a few nights ago and has gone into hibernation. The Raspberries keep on coming - increasingly small and getting a bit manky but nevertheless till worth harvesting. They weren't supposed to be Autumn fruiting but the variability of their spininess suggests that we may have a mix of strains. I have acquired a largish electrically heated propagator so that I can get the plants started off earlier next year. Regards JonH |
#2
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Not Enought Rain
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#3
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Not Enough Rain
On 27 Oct 2011 20:52:59 GMT, wrote:
wrote: A row of Broad Beans has been planted. My late-summer ones are flowering, but didn't get enough insects, so I think they're done for. Last time I tried to over-winter, they flowered in November and died. I may give it another go, but I don't have anywhere with decent soil available. How are they for crappy soil? Mind you, if I did them in the crappy bit, it wouldn't be available to put manure on. My garden soil is of various parentage and its the first time that I've tried Broad Beans; some of the soil is somewhat industrial but it's been down to grass for twenty years or so. I'm not sure about the parentage of the BB seeds either. (Provided by the FIL.) I have three Dalek bins working away that I hope might provide suitable compost for future years, hopefully busy digesting the Butternut Squash plants which whilest prolific and fecund produced fruits that were not desirable. The only manure available to me is Cat and Fox; I would not use either. The Root Ginger experiment has produced about a foot of foliage. The Interesting. I've never tried growing root ginger. Until now, neither have I. We'll see how it goes, I am not confident about the results. I may need to bring the plant into the conservatory as things get colder. The Raspberries keep on coming - increasingly small and getting a bit manky but nevertheless till worth harvesting. They weren't supposed to be Autumn fruiting but the variability of their spininess suggests that we may have a mix of strains. The raspberries here seem to have finally given up, even the yellow ones. I have acquired a largish electrically heated propagator so that I can get the plants started off earlier next year. Let us know when you get started. It will be January/February, with Naga Chillies and Okra. Following that probably some tomatoes so that they have a chance to ripen in the open before the Blight sets in. Watch This Space. Regards JonH |
#4
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Not Enought Rain
JonH wrote
Today there was a desultory attempt at rain to the west of London, it didn't justify resorting to a hat. I did a bit of digging afterwards but an inch or so into the soil it is still as dry as dust. Part of me wants the full 40 days and 40 nights job. On the up side, I now have a new and rather larger shed so I can have my garage/workshop back. A row of Broad Beans has been planted. The Chillies in the greenhouse are still ripening. The foxes are staying away from my overwintering onion patch. After a good haircut the outdoor Coriander has produced another flush of growth; I will harvest it for the freezer next week. Two French Bean plants (out of our) have so far survived the predation of the slugs and snails. Not sure if they will produce anything. The germination rate (or the atttrition rate) has not been good. I will buy new seed next year. The Root Ginger experiment has produced about a foot of foliage. The Rhubard (Timperley Early planted in a large clay pot) didn't appreciate the frost a few nights ago and has gone into hibernation. The Raspberries keep on coming - increasingly small and getting a bit manky but nevertheless till worth harvesting. They weren't supposed to be Autumn fruiting but the variability of their spininess suggests that we may have a mix of strains. I have acquired a largish electrically heated propagator so that I can get the plants started off earlier next year. I'm also West of London and up until now have been constantly watering all except the brassicas which seem to cope. Even the cherry trees we planted this year and last have asked for water. Our chillies out on the allotment are under one of those large cloches (£19.99 special offer at Wyvales) and are continuing to go red (already had over 4lbs). Tomatoes were still cropping at the beginning of the week but this rain might just bring too much blight upon them for them to cope. Late October and still cropping outside Toms isn't bad. Self sown coriander is germinating in a large patch so will let that do it's own thing. Don't do Broad Beans any more and certainly not autumn planted as we always lost too many over winter, found it better to plant them in Feb. I grew Ginger some years ago, it grew to about 4ft tall but never looked robustly healthy, when I tipped it out of it's pot there was not much growth to the root so never bothered again. It needs heat in the winter BTW, won't take frost. Rhubarb is better if it's frosted, says the old wisdom. I left a root on top of the soil right through a winter, by mistake, and when I planted it come spring it showed no damage. Don't grow raspberries, damn things are like couch grass and take over. Boysenberry is flowering! -- Regards Bob Hobden Posting to this Newsgroup from the W. of London UK |
#5
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Cloches and tunnel
In article , Bob Hobden
writes Our chillies out on the allotment are under one of those large cloches (£19.99 special offer at Wyvales) I have long raised beds and have, over the years, bought and then discarded several types of tunnels or plastic cloches. They either are too flimsy or don't really hold together or work. Even wrestled with those bits of blue hose and wire etc. that dear old Geoffrey Smith used to make but I could never get the hang of them Do i take it you would recommend the Wyevale one then Bob? Would be good for extending lettuce and early crops etc. Janet -- Janet Tweedy Dalmatian Telegraph http://www.lancedal.demon.co.uk |
#6
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Cloches and tunnel
"Janet Tweedy" wrote ..
Bob Hobden writes Our chillies out on the allotment are under one of those large cloches (£19.99 special offer at Wyvales) I have long raised beds and have, over the years, bought and then discarded several types of tunnels or plastic cloches. They either are too flimsy or don't really hold together or work. Even wrestled with those bits of blue hose and wire etc. that dear old Geoffrey Smith used to make but I could never get the hang of them Do i take it you would recommend the Wyevale one then Bob? Would be good for extending lettuce and early crops etc. This is the first year we have used them. We bought three to cover our chillies and aubergines when first planted out and they performed very well, the plants growing well and taller than usual. However we did use more tent pegs to hold them down than were provided. During the height of the summer we removed the plastic covers just leaving the metal structure in place. With the plastic covers back on they now seem to be helping our chillies to ripen, indeed we are getting our best crop of red chillies ever. If I was in a wilder area of the UK I would consider gluing the metal bits into the plastic corners but that said none have shown any inclination to come loose. Better (more) tent pegs is a must though and do be careful/gentle when putting on the covers they can split at the corners if you are rough, best to have two doing it pulling down both sides at once. So far I think they are good value for money but only at the cheaper price. -- Regards Bob Hobden Posting to this Newsgroup from the W. of London UK |
#7
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Cloches and tunnel
In article , Bob Hobden
writes So far I think they are good value for money but only at the cheaper price. Sounds like something worth investigating, thanks Bob -- Janet Tweedy Dalmatian Telegraph http://www.lancedal.demon.co.uk |
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