tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8952493292502321421.comments2014-04-10T13:43:32.247-07:00Wigglywoo and Chickens tooAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16595253317396872975noreply@blogger.comBlogger251125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8952493292502321421.post-61686852517829106942014-04-10T13:43:32.247-07:002014-04-10T13:43:32.247-07:00Hi Joanne, time is just flying by it does not seem...Hi Joanne, time is just flying by it does not seem possible we are over a quarter of the way through the year already!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16595253317396872975noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8952493292502321421.post-24446737157555895952014-04-08T02:43:54.499-07:002014-04-08T02:43:54.499-07:00It is just so busy isn't it, my broad beans ar...It is just so busy isn't it, my broad beans are still in the greenhouse, I must get them planted soon. Jo@awholeplotoflovehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03525039817338877634noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8952493292502321421.post-59005165581653187202014-03-16T10:55:26.491-07:002014-03-16T10:55:26.491-07:00I did over do it a bit and haven't had any tim...I did over do it a bit and haven't had any time to get out there this week, but had a rummage in my seed box Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16595253317396872975noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8952493292502321421.post-51822589589470940052014-03-16T10:54:07.239-07:002014-03-16T10:54:07.239-07:00Some great tips there for what to do when, I have ...Some great tips there for what to do when, I have never grown a tree. Thank you so much for joining in with the quest mum your have given lots of great answers and all shall be added in the journal along with the answers and advice Joanne gave xAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16595253317396872975noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8952493292502321421.post-78759789068221315682014-03-16T10:48:17.254-07:002014-03-16T10:48:17.254-07:00Can't believe it has been a week since! I like...Can't believe it has been a week since! I like that idea an edible hedge, and your so lucky to have all them fruit trees. Thanks for joining in Joanne, you have been an absolute star xAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16595253317396872975noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8952493292502321421.post-19660131255622983372014-03-14T15:20:41.016-07:002014-03-14T15:20:41.016-07:00wow you sound just like me, just always wanting to...wow you sound just like me, just always wanting to do a bit more and then creaking and groaning and just taking the extra pills, but just so satisfyingflowerladyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05723569414963037767noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8952493292502321421.post-81283695182462875822014-03-11T12:06:38.373-07:002014-03-11T12:06:38.373-07:0046) A lot of success in the garden comes from doin...46) A lot of success in the garden comes from doing the right thing at the right time, list me 5 things that I should be doing at a particular time of the year?<br />We only plant when we feel the time is right. So - warm weather now - out in the garden and tidy it up. DH will rotovate tomorrow but I won't plant until it warms up a bit more. Always keep on top of the weeding. Once the patch has been cleared hoe regularly to keep weeds at bay. Pick courgettes when you see them! At the height of the growing season keep inspecting and picking the crop. Keep on top of lawn mowing and hedge cutting. Is that 5?<br />47) Many edible things grow wild in fields or hedgerows. Please tell me what I should look out for and how to use it…<br />Sorry I can't help here. I don't forage unless it's someone else's fruit in their garden!<br />48) It is said you don't own a wood, you just tend it for the next generation. Tell me about the trees you have grown, tended or simply been near during your gardening life…<br />We planted a laburnum seed when I was pregnant the first time and it grew into a fine tree. Unfortunately we had to chop it down after nearly 30 years as it became diseased. We also planted an alder in our front garden in the hopes that it would grow and screen out the view of the lamp-post from our front room. It grew into a fine specimen and screened to post wonderfully until the council changed all the street lights and put one up six feet away from the original. Now we can see the lamp-post from the front room and the tree screens nothing!<br />Love from Mum<br />xxMumhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08442767679857541996noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8952493292502321421.post-44062543036025212232014-03-11T03:33:40.062-07:002014-03-11T03:33:40.062-07:00You've had a busy weekend, the weather was jus...You've had a busy weekend, the weather was just lovely though wasn't it! 46) Oh my I'm probably the wrong person to answer this question, I'm more a stick it in & see, mmmmmm I prune my cherry & plum trees in the summer to help prevent silver leaf disease, I try not to sow seed to early in the year, that's about it I'm a big believer of if you don't succeed try again, 47) I've recently planted an edible hedge, for a bit of lazy foraging in the future , hazels nuts can be used in pesto instead of pine nuts, wild damsons for jams & wine & elderflower for cordial, 48) For such a small garden I have lots of trees, two apple, two pear, two cherry, fig, plum, greengage but the garden wouldn't feel the same without them + the two holly trees in the front, Take care Jo@awholeplotoflovehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03525039817338877634noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8952493292502321421.post-16372976262283581982014-03-09T12:03:53.640-07:002014-03-09T12:03:53.640-07:0041) Organic Gardening is becoming more prevalent.....41) Organic Gardening is becoming more prevalent...what views and advice would you give me?<br />We try to grow as organically as possible but with DH with a chemistry background he's in charge of what will help plants grow. The one thing we do is enrich the soil with our own compost and do a good manuring every few years. Breathe deeply folks!<br /><br />42) Gardening can be expensive, so what money saving tips would you give me?<br />Once you've got your gardening tools and utensils - look after them. Save seed. If we buy new seed we buy from<br />http://www.moreveg.co.uk<br />with seeds at 50p. There are only a few seeds in a packet but that is all you need so there is no waste.<br /><br />43) How do you manage a compost heap? what do you put in it and what do you keep out?<br />All kitchen scraps and garden waste go in the compost as well as torn up paper and card. I just keep topping it up and it just keeps composting down. It doesn't get hot but it does rot.<br /><br />44) Companion planting is where some plants benefit from growing near each other...what have you observed?<br />I've tried growing carrots by onions and marigolds with tomatoes. I've found that if you grow lettuce at the end of the vegetable rows the slugs just munch on the lettuce and don't roam too much along the rest of the row.<br /><br />45) How should I organise my plants and time in the greenhouse?<br />In my greenhouse we just grow tomatoes and a cucumber. The vine growing along the roofline only needs a haircut once a year and small trims if it gets leggy. I nip off the side shoots on the tomatoes as I inspect them each day. The cucumber tends to grow too fast for me and every year turns out as a tangled mess. I haven't the heart to cut it back because each tendril sports small cucumbers.<br /><br />Love from Mum<br />xx<br />Mumhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08442767679857541996noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8952493292502321421.post-90336270175209505512014-03-08T23:56:54.287-08:002014-03-08T23:56:54.287-08:00Blimey it sounds like you have had a week of it, 4...Blimey it sounds like you have had a week of it, 41) I've always tended to garden organically, in the past I've scattered slug pellets on the greenhouse floor but with the possibility of chickens this year I won't be doing that again, my garden is small enough for me to keep on top of any problems without resorting to chemicals, that's the way I look on it, 42) The smaller your garden the more expensive it is I have found, certainly by looking after pots & equipment you buy helps keep costs down, & toilet roll innards make good pots to sow seedlings to plant direct into the ground, 43) I have three compost bins & put all garden & veg waste from the kitchen. Papers & cardboard gets chucked into, If I can compost it, in it goes, 44) I like the idea of it but I don't think it works so well on a small plot, 45) Plan before you plant up your greenhouse crops, it is all too easy to cram plants in & it doesn't do them any good, Hope you have a better week this time. Jo@awholeplotoflovehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03525039817338877634noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8952493292502321421.post-30400911866208955462014-03-03T07:18:05.267-08:002014-03-03T07:18:05.267-08:0036) What top tips would you give me for having a w...36) What top tips would you give me for having a water feature in the garden?<br />Make sure that there are no children around permanently as they will need to be supervised or a fence put around the pond for safety. When we had a pond we had 3 different levels with small waterfalls joining them together. Once children arrived the small fence had to go up which meant access to view wildlife in the pond was restricted.<br /><br />37) What success have you had with indoor plants?<br />I have no success at all as I cannot gauge how much water they need. DH looks after all the indoor plants.<br /><br />38) Not everyone has a large garden so what tips would you give for growing vegetables and flowers in containers or baskets?<br />They will need good soil or compost suitable for veg growing and also an eye kept on watering.<br /><br />39) Plants that heal...which plants do you think have healing properties?<br />I'm very sceptical. Plants and growing plants make you happy - a kind of healing I suppose.<br /><br />40) How have you dealt with weeds? which have you removed and which have you encouraged?<br />I take out weeds using a trowel and keep them at bay with a hoe. I don't encourage any weeds.<br /><br />Love from Mum<br />xxMumhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08442767679857541996noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8952493292502321421.post-44946073438958592332014-03-03T00:37:16.995-08:002014-03-03T00:37:16.995-08:00Well done on swimming 24 lengths, I don't thin...Well done on swimming 24 lengths, I don't think I have ever swam that much! 36) a wildlife pond, I have a small one & am planning to put a bigger one n this year, just watching the ripples on the water makes me happy!, 37) none we had herbs on a window sill once disastrous!, 38) give everything a chance in a container even stuff that is said to be not suitable for container growing can give an ample crop, 39) I had an AloeVera once, it was great you just snapped off the leaves & the gel inside was very cooling, 40) I embrace them, they feed my compost bin well! Take careJo@awholeplotoflovehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03525039817338877634noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8952493292502321421.post-89047388230502661912014-02-28T10:55:43.108-08:002014-02-28T10:55:43.108-08:0031) What vegetable would you suggest I should Grow...31) What vegetable would you suggest I should Grow?<br />Grow vegetables that you would not normally eat but would like to try.<br /><br />32) Can you recommend any vegetable varieties that grow/do best<br />I just stick to the veg that grow well in my garden - no particular variety.<br /><br />33) What advice would you give me about growing fruit?<br />I've not really been successful in growing fruit as I've not got much space. Having said that the strawberries had a bumper crop last year.<br /><br />34) "A garden without flowers is like a day without sunshine" What flowers do you like and have successfully grown?<br />One year we sowed Love Lies Bleeding and the came up like trees!<br /><br />35) If I wanted to have a perfect lawn like a bowling green what advice would you give me?<br />Sow the best grass seed and look after the lawn at all times - mowing, feeding, raking etc.<br />Love from Mum<br />xxMumhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08442767679857541996noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8952493292502321421.post-53558338401918119212014-02-27T08:31:28.493-08:002014-02-27T08:31:28.493-08:00Yum granola bars, I haven't had one of them in...Yum granola bars, I haven't had one of them in ages. Right sneaking in in case I forget later. 26) God knows, though I did read once of a farmer dying & a family member finding some old seeds in a draw & scattering them on the grave. When they returned several months later they found a large amount of celery growing. That sounds far more fun than a plant being named after you. 27) Just to join you out there & let them help, my youngest son would never eat veg but will quite happily graze his way across the veg garden, 28) Like you beans & sweet peas/corn get sown in toilet tubes, anything else chuck in & see, 29) Take a chance & sow, 30) Wow that's interesting about the rhubarb leaves I shall try that. However always net your brassicas securely as I learnt last year to my cost. Jo@awholeplotoflovehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03525039817338877634noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8952493292502321421.post-44776168214984994922014-02-26T11:31:21.595-08:002014-02-26T11:31:21.595-08:00Have to agree that all home grown veg makes for a ...Have to agree that all home grown veg makes for a great meal, I really missed it all last year so going to hopefully make up for it this year. Better get myself organised! Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16595253317396872975noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8952493292502321421.post-79611386847442448422014-02-26T11:28:37.105-08:002014-02-26T11:28:37.105-08:00Thanks mum, the dreaded moving day must or seemed ...Thanks mum, the dreaded moving day must or seemed endless for you! Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16595253317396872975noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8952493292502321421.post-68036317493910709602014-02-26T10:49:29.147-08:002014-02-26T10:49:29.147-08:0016) Tell me about your most memorable day in the g...16) Tell me about your most memorable day in the garden<br />Moving day - we moved ourselves to this house and we must have travelled up and down the garden hundreds of times to unload everything into the house. We ware kn*****ed at the end of the day.<br /><br />17) Animals are often attracted to gardens, tell me about some of your encounters<br />We have a fox that uses our front garden on its way back to its lair. The hole in the hedge and brush tail marks in the grass give the game away.<br />18) What are the greatest changes you have noticed in gardening throughout your life?<br />I've not noticed any particular changes - we still garden simply.<br /><br />19) What changes in the climate has affected you plants or gardening and how have you noticed this?<br />It was a foul growing year the year before last when the weather was so bad that it affected our growing season.<br /><br />20) Villages often run gardening competitions. Tell me about any you have experienced.<br />We won the Gorgeous Garden competition many years back when our garden was devoted to flowers, ponds and landscapey bits. We wouldn't win it now with vegetables taking up the whole of the back garden and part of the front!<br /><br />Love from Mum<br />xxMumhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08442767679857541996noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8952493292502321421.post-27000381582359649702014-02-26T10:42:53.311-08:002014-02-26T10:42:53.311-08:0021) What is your favourite gardening tool?
It has ...21) What is your favourite gardening tool?<br />It has to be my trowel. It's the one tool I use the most - I like to get 'down' to weeding!<br /><br />22) What is your favourite meal with using fresh produce from the garden?<br />Everything I grow makes for favourite meals but the best has to be a stir fry with almost all the veg home grown.<br /><br />23) What is your most memorable rhyme or quote about gardening?<br />It's a quote by Neil from The Young Ones.<br />We sow the seed, nature grows the seed and then we eat the seed!<br /><br />24) If you could invite anyone past or present into your garden who would it be and why?<br />Dad - he was the start of it all.<br /><br />25) Describe what would be your perfect day in the garden<br />Just pooling about here and there, working, sitting, relaxing and entertaining in the garden.<br />Love from Mum<br />xx<br />Mumhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08442767679857541996noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8952493292502321421.post-20708413245520645852014-02-26T09:22:28.833-08:002014-02-26T09:22:28.833-08:00Mum I can't find your reply... I did think it ...Mum I can't find your reply... I did think it strange to only see one waiting for me but thought you may have been too busy to do it xAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16595253317396872975noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8952493292502321421.post-73321628579694293502014-02-26T09:20:27.246-08:002014-02-26T09:20:27.246-08:00Hi Joanne, lovely answers my little journal is goi...Hi Joanne, lovely answers my little journal is going to make a great little read xAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16595253317396872975noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8952493292502321421.post-79495201541755326272014-02-26T02:59:35.188-08:002014-02-26T02:59:35.188-08:00Sounds like you are having a busy time of it! 21) ...Sounds like you are having a busy time of it! 21) hand fork I can do far more with that than a larger garden tool, 22) vegetable stir fry, 23) one for the mouse, one for the crow, one to rot & one to grow, even though I am far too stingy I always think of it when I am sowing seeds straight into the garden, 24) my paternal grandfather, he died when I was in primary school way way before I was interested in gardening, it would be nice to ask his opinions on things, 25) a spot of watering, weeding & plant seeing to in the morning, a bbq in the afternoon with friends & a quiet sit down at the end of the day in the greenhouse. Take careJo@awholeplotoflovehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03525039817338877634noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8952493292502321421.post-32087520576666736072014-02-25T11:37:07.395-08:002014-02-25T11:37:07.395-08:00Hi Mum, thanks I will x I hate to tell you but the...Hi Mum, thanks I will x I hate to tell you but there are no where to be seen :( I will look in my emails to see if it has gone a wandering in there xAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16595253317396872975noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8952493292502321421.post-53514809198833531922014-02-25T10:57:24.753-08:002014-02-25T10:57:24.753-08:00Don't forget to rest. I did answer your questi...Don't forget to rest. I did answer your questions in your last post but I don't see my comment now. Hope it's not got lost in the ether.<br />Love from Mum<br />xxMumhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08442767679857541996noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8952493292502321421.post-2659294672167437992014-02-24T11:53:28.472-08:002014-02-24T11:53:28.472-08:00 can just see bouncing chickens lol x can just see bouncing chickens lol xAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16595253317396872975noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8952493292502321421.post-63011928967180616142014-02-21T11:42:49.571-08:002014-02-21T11:42:49.571-08:00I'm enjoying it, it's rather fun! 16) befo...I'm enjoying it, it's rather fun! 16) before we turned the back garden into the veg plot it was full of the kids toys. My youngest son had a large trampoline & I will never forget him trying to get next doors chickens onto the trampoline with him, 17) Going on from 16, next doors chickens always seemed to gravitate to our back garden way back then, until we had a fence put up at the side of the house, 18) To be honest I don't think I have, 19) If there has been a change in climate it hasn't happened where I live, 20) There used to be a best kept garden held locally but that was before I started to garden so I never entered, I must find out if there is something similar. Have a good day tomorrow. Jo@awholeplotoflovehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03525039817338877634noreply@blogger.com