[HappyHippy]

Don't envy all that barrowing Julia !
I finally managed to get out to the shops and bought my seeds, tatties, onions and garlic - but strangely enough the garden centre and Homebase were both out of seed compost  everyone must be sowing 
So tomorrow I'll be getting all my loo roll tubes and various plastic packaging that I've been hoarding for months and hopefully get going. The sight of sprouting seeds (and the rocket I'm going to put under him ) should have my other half racing away to get my raised beds made !

[juliag]

I went into homebase yesterday for some seed compost and apparently they wont be getting any in this year?? All they will be stocking will be john innes number 1 which if you read the back of the bag can also be used for sowing seeds.........

[carole h]

I've never used seed compost - just a general purpose compost for everything... do you think it makes a difference?

[juliag]

well it brought my sweet pea seeds up yesterday in 7 hours!

[Fluffywelshsheep]

my seedling are in the greenhouse nice and snug, have to wait for hubby to do the garden (he has big plans lol, he didn't like my raised beds last year)

Linz

[sellickbhoy]

NOTHING!!!! Just the 9-5 work that pays the rent, but it's very quiet.

today is the quiet before the storm, i've a hectic weekend of woodcutting, fence building, raised bed building, chillis and peppers to sow, willow to plant, gonna start some sweet peas and a courgette plant. I've a few tonne of manure/compst to turn and i'm cutting down some boards to make planters to help decorate around the drive.

then i've got 10 deid fruit trees to remove and 10 new ones to plant - the new ones are getting some serious protection to keep the rabbits away as well!

[northfifeduckling]

What happened to your fruit trees, sellickbhoy? Did all 10 get so badly damaged by rabbits?
We planted the 4 trees I bought last week, 2 apples, one more pear and a black cherry. I had to restrain myself at Morrisons yesterday, they had fruit trees for £4.99, one of them my favourite eater, Red Devil. I had promised myself only to have one more tree and that would be a damson or similar dark plum. There's no more room to play badminton now in the summer..

[sellickbhoy]

What happened to your fruit trees, sellickbhoy? Did all 10 get so badly damaged by rabbits?
We planted the 4 trees I bought last week, 2 apples, one more pear and a black cherry. I had to restrain myself at Morrisons yesterday, they had fruit trees for £4.99, one of them my favourite eater, Red Devil. I had promised myself only to have one more tree and that would be a damson or similar dark plum. There's no more room to play badminton now in the summer..

they were all fatally damaged by the rabbits. there was not a continuous strip of bark form top to bottom, every tree had had a (in some cases a tiny) small area that had been gnawed all the way round.

So, i've bought my plastic spiral tree guards, and i've got a few pallets that'll i'll use to build a "fort" around the trees until it's big enough to look after itself.

I've also just spent the last few days plugging all the holes on 2 sides of the garden - this weekend, i'll do the other 2 - so hopefully that'll keep them out and away from my crops.

I've taken mon/tue off, so i've 4 days to get all the jobs done - hopefully after that i'll just have to worry about planting/watering/weeding.


I've still plenty room in the garden to build my dog a wee agility course

[carl]

I'm at work, which is a bit quiet. contemplating which fruit trees to stick in. now I've read this i'm off to morrisons on the way home, at 4.99 i might as well get a few more than planned. i fancy a few apple, pear, plum and damson if available. feeling a bit sad this morning as one of my chooks, a little pekin called pancake, which was not happy about it's new companions was lying moribund in a corner this morning. i gave it a few drops of water, but i doubt she will be alive when i get home, she has that look of a chicken that has given up.( all hunched up and uninterested). i had put her a new boyfriend in along with some other bantams and poults, but she was not pleased at all and has spent a few days fighting with them all, I guess she became the bottom level of the pecking order. I hope she does make it through and I will have to move her again, don't know where to though.

[northfifeduckling]

Aldi and Lidl both still had a few fruit trees left when I came in recently, at £ 4 each.
So sorry about your hen, Carl, I hope you'll be able to save her!

[HappyHippy]

I'm soooo jealous of everyone who's got fruit trees !
I would love an orchard - had great plans of cider making and preserves 
But after speaking to various folk, it seems I'm just too far above sea level and too exposed to consider it. I'll have to restrict myself to 1 or 2 in big pots that I can grow in my sheltered courtyard in the meantime 
If anyone has had successfull crops in exposed areas or 1000ft above sea level I'd love to hear what varieties you've got.

[doganjo]

Good Grief!  I was beginning to think you were in Outer Mongolia there!  You're only half an hour or so from me.  Nothing ventured, nothing gained - for tech price of these supermarket trees it's surely worth a try?  - I started off with 3 apples and a plum - total cost £20 - when I was in northern Aberdeenshire - where we regularly got snowed in.  Have a go!

[xxmillyxx]

More packing for me today - the final move has been rearranged to Sunday thanks to BT being very efficient (NOT).  Friday and Saturday planting tree's up at new house.  Sunday moving.  Monday sorting BT out (AGAIN) and Sky - Tuesday upacking - Wednesday in hospital for an operation for a week.  

OMG this is going to be fun  

[carl]

could you plant a line of something to sheild the orchard from the prevailing wind?
 a stressfulful time milly, good luck and hope all goes well.

[sellickbhoy]

Hi Happy Hippy

i spoke to the very helpful Tracey at Deacons Nursery (they are based in the isle of white, but ship anywhere in uK - google them for an email)

they gave me lots of good advise on the types of trees that would be suitable for a northern climate, i'm sure they could pick out a few hardy types for your location/climate.

you can get dwarf rootstocks, I've bought M26 types which should grow to about 8-10 feet high/wide - small enough for you to put a fence up to protect from the wind, and also small enough for you to replace the soil if you don't have suitable soil

I was watching grand designs yesterday, the guy built a house from old tyres filled with sand, you could do something similar - using these to build a windbreak. you'd get them free from any kwik fit/mechanic type place. They'd also absorb any heat from the sun which might then be used to give some additional warmth to the trees (if you were to cordon them along the wall.)

also, with these cheap aldi/lidl teas, you could do some guerilla gardening, find a quiet wee spot at a lower altitude, and bung a couple of trees in by the roadside/edge of a woods, canal bank etc let nature look after them and you can go "scrumping" for your own fruit.