Chicken bald back

[Cinnamon]

Super,thanks very much....I do have that book and use it a lot

[Valkyrie]

OH has that book (and the rest of them ) velly interesting. Thankies for that tippy.

[Christian]

Sweet peas are in, as are swiss chard, kale and pak choi

 

Broad beans in the raised beds, the rest are ready to be planted into, but we now have a regular cat visitor to the veggie garden 5 years of cat free gardening, so I should be grateful. Needs to organise some netting to protect the beds from cats and pigeons.

 

Found some squash 'sweet dumpling' seeds, so have potted some up.

[Cinnamon]

I put my dwarf french beans out today,decided that they had gotton far too long & leggy,so chucked them & have sown straight into the soil instead. Hope the frosts are now over

I am also getting some Berlotti beans in, & possibly some Pak Choi later,if I can summon the energy to dig over the salads bed

[Olly]

Cucumber seeds went in last night. I'm desperate to grow some annuals but can't really fence off the flower-beds, and I suspect the hens will dig up any seeds I sow, so I'm experimenting by sowing night-scented stock and nigella in cells, they are supposed to be sown where they will grow but I'm hoping these will withstand being planted out.

 

Mind you, the spare Eglu run is getting in the way in the garage, I have a cunning plan to use it to keep chickens off the soft fruit, but perhaps some of it could be used over a flower-border until things establish themselves. I'm always amazed that self-seeding things like aquilegia come up every year, so obviously not everything gets eaten.

[Cinnamon]

Mine never bother with my annual geraniums either.

In fact I wish they would as it seeds everywhere

 

I have just stuck some Nastersium seeds around the edges of pots that have other stuff growing in them.

Last weekend Hubby & his mate totally cleared out my main border,so I now have a at swathe of soil to plan & play with.

Its a bit daunting really,& the soil is good but we have lots of huge roots coming from next doors. I am thinking of lots of Lavendar,which I love ,plus a couple of Hebes ,with annuals like California poppies,love-in-a-mist,Sunflowers & poached egg plants in the bare bits inbetween.

I have never really grown many flowers,so I am sure the learning curve will be steep!

[Old Speckled Hen]

Cinnamon, the bees will love your flowers

[Cinnamon]

Well,that will be a real bonus

So long as they keep away from me,as I am allergic

I love Bees,& find that they never bother me in the garden,so long as I know they are there.................

[Old Speckled Hen]

Good

My step daughter called last night for me to come over in my kit to get rid of Tawny Mining Bees in her lawn

They are such pretty little bees and quite harmless.

[bluekarin]

Good

My step daughter called last night for me to come over in my kit to get rid of Tawny Mining Bees in her lawn

They are such pretty little bees and quite harmless.

 

Oh that is too sad. Just looked at this site http://www.buglife.org.uk/discoverbugs/bugofthemonth/tawnyminingbeeand they say

 

Harmless pollinators

These bees are totally harmless and will not sting. In fact, they are useful pollinators in the garden. Their nests will not damage the lawn and the little earth mounds will disappear after a couple of weeks, so there is no need to remove them or try to discourage these lovely little bees – just enjoy them!

 

Down the road from us, under a pedestrian road bridge, we get a swarm of low flying black bees every spring. There are lots of holes in the ground, and they never bother you if you walk past. They are usually only there for a week or so, and then gone!

[Old Speckled Hen]

thanks bluekarin

I've sent her the link

[Lavenders_Blue]

This afternoon's hot spell has sent me into a flurry of borlotti bean sowing and digging horse manure into the raised bed. Why is hubby never around to do these jobs?!

[redhotchick]

My broad beans are coming through and I have the area protected with wire cages. The chickens have got around the outside of it tonight. The seedlings look ok, but I am giving serious thought to halting all free ranging until I get the area more secure, or even stopping it all together...other seedlings aren't going to be as robust.

[bluekarin]

I've just had to make two wooden frames and cover them with chicken wire to protect my seedlings from the chickens and the cats. I need to make a few more to protect my other borders which the chickens managed to dig up the whole thing. Not impressed.

[Martin B]

Blimey!

 

I need to get a move on!

 

I am going to be doing absolutely minimal this year.

 

Maybe only french beans, tomatoes, cucumbers and that is it.

 

Minimal space at the moment so will see what I can do.

 

Martin

[stehaggan]

I am actually starting to panic now... still no lettuces, cabbages, chard, kale etc sown.. turnips beetroots, kohl rabi, fennel, still not sown and i havent even planted my onions shallots and potatoes yet

 

Every time I am off the weather is pants and now i'm stuck in work on such a nice day and I've just read the post and remembered I wanted to plant berlotti beans so now im going to shoot to the garden centre.

 

How many beans do you recommend to plant? lol

[j00lz_12366]

I'm running out of space now...no greenhouse and no way we could get one..

 

we're thinking of moving so I'm trying to make the outdoor space as pretty as possible and last year I spent a fortune on bedding plants etc so ive decided to grow my own as well as a bit of veg to go in my new raised beds

 

Ive got some:

Giant pansies

lavender

Morning glory (climbers-i think)

Nasturtiums

Sweet peas

Lobelia and Alysum

 

Veg/fruit Ive got

Caulis

Onion

Alpine strawberries

Tomatoes

2 different types of courgettes

 

Need to get some peas and beans sown and some more toms, but theres nowhere left to put them! Nothing will be ready to go out for a while and it can get pretty cold at night-I was thinking of putting my shelf unit in the (empty) WIR for the courgettes and nasturtiums but theyre coming next Saturday...

[ali-s]

Another lot of Runner Bean - Scarlet Emperor sown this afternoon. If all the Runner Beans germinate I will have 62 plants We like Runner Beans Also sown, Leek - Musselburgh and Broccoli - Purple Sprouting.

 

Germination is slow in the repaired geenhouse. Two glass panels broken in the wind. It has been very windy here for over a week now and cold with it. Panels have been replaced with perspex and fixed into place with lots of duck tape.

 

Green house filling up nicely but really need the other greenhouse repaired and sorted out ready to use.

 

Nothing sown outside yet. Veg beds not ready and still time for us to have frost and even snow so no rush yet.

[Cinnamon]

Got my Beetroot in today,and went to sow my Pak Choi to find I had no seeds.

Got some more from the super place on eBay that was recommended a few pages back,plus 6 or so other packs of seeds I didn't realise I needed

[Daphne]

I sowed some veggie seeds in the conservatory about 7-10 days ago and they are all up already - except the broad beans I've finished digging the veg bed, and I am tackling all the 'spare' grass in my long perennials/shrub border, with the aim to have it done by the end of Sunday. I am beginning to wish that plants, particularly grass, grew to their allotted size and space and then stopped

[bluekarin]

I sowed some veggie seeds in the conservatory about 7-10 days ago and they are all up already - except the broad beans I've finished digging the veg bed, and I am tackling all the 'spare' grass in my long perennials/shrub border, with the aim to have it done by the end of Sunday. I am beginning to wish that plants, particularly grass, grew to their allotted size and space and then stopped

 

Why is it then that when you want it to grow somewhere, say a bare patch in the lawn, does it not grow there? It'll spread happily through the borders, like you say, and the wood chip I have in my front garden, which we put down to replace the grass as it just wouldn't grow there

[craftyhunnypie]

Will someone tell me how you prick out spring onions. They are a nightmare. I had a few kits which have grown great but were a bit dense, so I have pricked out some onions into one of the large veggie raised bed bags. What a job.

My raddish are growing really good, doesn't seem 5 minutes since I sowed them. The lettuces & the beetroots are poking through too in the cloche. Hollyhocks are real strong seedlings & I have lots of coriander & carnations growing too.

The beans will need to go into bigger pots soon. I just love growing stuff. No sign of my carrots yet. Planted cucumber seeds & some cress today.

Emma.x

[sjp]

you don't need to prick out spring onions just thin them out as they get big enough to eat with ordenary onions I prick them out when they get about 2 inch tall

[craftyhunnypie]

But they were soooo densely packed in the little kit pot. All these spindly onions like blades of grass.

 

Emma.x

[Martin B]

Well.

 

I felt extremly motivated to get a move on today.

 

Sewn some Runner Beans, Mange Tout, Sweetcorn and mixed lettuce. Also put some second earlies in to bags.

 

Managed to get some courgette plants too! I missed the courgette glut last year!!

 

Martin