[rustyme]

hello all,
          back to normal here now. My keyboard went up the creek along with my mouse , so it was nearly impossible to type anything more than two or three letters. Still , got a new k/b and mouse now and all seems to be working ok .  Veggie plot !!! right , well I have been getting a few bits and bobs off the plot as of late. A few new spuds and plenty of radishes, also had some spring onions and a bit of lettuce . Everything is doing reasonably well after hanging a bit in the dry spell we had earlier on . Now it has to cope with the wet one we are still having now. The other two sections of the plot have sort of gone on hold , as I am trying to catch up with ragworting the land. God do I hate that job !!!!! , still it isn't as bad as last years lot . I also had to do some re working of the river bank , as it had shifted a lot and was washing huge chunks of land away . Doing it all by hand takes forever , but after a week or so you can see where you have been working . I think I have broken the back of that job now , it has to be done in the summer when the river is low. However , this year we have had so much rain it hasn't gone down that much really. Hopefully I will get back onto clearing the other two sections of the plot soon ( more ragworting to be done yet ) and if nothing else I will be ready for next year . I did get a few hundred sunflowers in , but the bloody magpies (I think) got them .  I have got to ( very soon ) sort out the beehive on the land . It has been neglected for 2 years now , and is in desperate need of repair , it has been nocked slightly off level and the super has slid over a touch on the brood box. It has been completely glued in place by the bees and I think the whole hive will collapse if I try to split it . So I will try to put another brood box on it and wait for the queen to move into it and then pop an excluder on to keep her out of the old one . Then I can remove the old super and brood box at the end of the year, leaving a new brood box and super along with a new floor and crown board . The hive in the yard is really going well . They have just about filled two frames with honey along with lots of work in the other supers and brood box.
   Will put on some pics later , hope everyone is doing well and has lots of veggies...

cheers

Russ  

[Rosemary]

Courgettes, lots of cougettes! Tomatoes coming now, potatoes, carrots and peas. Sweetcorn looking a bit sad. Beetroot and swede need thinned - maybe today.

[Fluffywelshsheep]

my garden is going great Gun plenty of snap peas   (luckly i love them) Tatties where a bitof a disaster for me got blight on them and on removing them the soild was sopping wet not sure what happened. But the second lot of tatties i put in are doing brilliant and are nearly as big as the out side 3foot fence brilliant (not sign of you know what on them),

Turnips, kohlrabies , Lettuce, leeks, spring onion are still come on so all okay so far.

[Guy]

Hi all , comfrey , read lots about it with bocking 14 ? etc.am interested in starting some to make liquid fertiliser but wondered how big a bed would i need to give me a plentiful supply of fertiliser? when the fertiliser has been syphoned off , what can be done with the mulch that is left??

[rustyme]

hello Guy,
           bocking 14 is the one to go for as it is sterile and therefore can't spread everywhere by seed. The root is just as prolific though , so is very easy to propagate . One plant (once established) will provide 2-3lb of plant material at each cutting . You will get that amount 4 or 5 times a year, so it is easy to calculate from that how much you will get . You can chuck as much manure on it (even raw fresh stuff) as you want, and it will cope and thrive. If you use it to make liquid fertiliser , then don't do it by the back door ....it really stinks !!! But it is very good as a LF. The gunk that is left can go on the compost heap , or even back onto the comfrey bed .It is still very good stuff. Oh by the way , mix the liquid fert. down to about 20 - 1 , otherwise it will be too much for most plants.

cheers mate ...
 
Russ

[Guy]

thanks Russ , will start to plan it out for this season..... looks like a lorrys just turned up so best go

[rustyme]

http://www.soilandhealth.org/01aglibrary/01aglibwelcome.html

 Hello Guy,
 RE:Comfrey.       the above link will take you to a list of books available for downloading . You have to fill in a little form stating that you haven't had a copy of the book you want from the library before , and they then send you a link to download it from . On the main list , if you scroll down , is Lawrence D Hills book on Comfrey. One of the best and most comprehensive books on the subject. it is hard to find a copy secondhand and when you do they can be dear . So it is very handy that it available from the link for free.  Lots of other good books on the site too.
 
cheers

Russ

[Fluffywelshsheep]

Thanks i have book market that page

Started another lot of broad beans off and some runner beans (yes it to early for them) but am gona try growing them indoors ! (yes am mad) it's something i read/saw about some one growing them in doors that gt me thinking to see if i could do it.

[Fluffywelshsheep]

sown some more seeds today and have had to move then because we wont have a kitchen next week due to a refit !!!

[doganjo]

I've just been planting some seeds too - went to Aldi's for two of these window greenhouses and they are now out in the conservatory.  Still a bit cold out there as I don't have the radiator fitted up yet (and furniture went mouldy!) but have a halogen heater now so will put that on for an hour at a time to keep temp up.

[gavbod]

Hi

We are planning to start a vegetable plot in Northern France this year, we have grown vegetables in the past but not quite on this scale.  We plan to have a plot about 35ft x 15ft and would like some advice on what we should be planting, we would like to be as self sufficient as possible in the future and will eventually turn more of the garden over to vegetables and fruit trees

Any Advice would be really gratefully recieved
Thanks

[Fluffywelshsheep]

to start with what veg do you eat and at what price would you buy them at, Concentrate on the mostexpensive variaties you buy in frist then work backwards to cheapest price

[northfifeduckling]

It's been so cold again, I can't wait to really get going. I don't want to start too early with my seeds as I lost too many things that way in previous years. the only thing sown outside yet are early radishes, inside I've started out lettuces, Hokaido pumpkins and red cabbage. Early tatties are ready to go in in  few weeks.

[Fluffywelshsheep]

well it's snowing here lol
so no outdoor work

[Fluffywelshsheep]

Okay  just sown my 1st batch of carrots in raised beds also put sown sweet peas in pots in the greenhouse.
Linz
 edit make that also 8 potatoes in old compost sack (but don't tell hubby, cos he might think it's too much work for me as he isn't here!)