how does your garden grow?

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dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 44034
Location: yes

Posted: Sun Apr 27, 25 10:00 am Post subject:
ddg came up with this and other versions of ANON pigs are ace as far as "farm animals" go, chook pig moo etc (a good dog might be high on the awards list sheep might best be harvested with a bow from their grazing lairs, horrible things, they do not like me either, none have eaten me but i know to grow mint

Mistress Rose

Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 16382

Posted: Mon Apr 28, 25 6:54 am Post subject:

Brilliant.

Personally I like sheep, although some of the older breeds want watching. I baby sat a Soay ram lamb one afternoon, and judging by its subsequent behaviour, it might have been better if I had let it walk into the clay oven. It got sent to Wales in disgrace in the end, having proved to only be good for covering ewes and otherwise being unmanageable. Shetlands are nice, and so are their fleeces. I am always wary of pigs, and judging by the behaviour of wild boar/Tamworth crosses, they can be totally impossible. I understand Channel Island bulls can be rather tricky as well.

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 44034
Location: yes

Posted: Mon Apr 28, 25 3:42 pm Post subject:

re moos, for dangeroos, any can be even if they do not mean it
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steers. immature bulls in a herd with mothers and babies (and maybe a bull)

mothers with babies

one type herds in their patch
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lots of random moos in a panic
"""" escaping

a random moo in an unexpected place

any sort of fright among a calm herd
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breakfast

dodging coo horns while they scamper around a feeder is interesting
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misinterpreted curiosity , in either direction
-----------------------------------------
misinterpreted "intimate care"

you killed my sister, i didn't but i was doing intimate calving care and it was unlikely to help, can lead to blood feud (the killer kerry was difficult until she was burgers:roll:)
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plain clumsy

mind yer feet etc

===========================
humorous, "would it be funny to lean on him?" that one can squash you bad style against a stall
==============================

enthusiastic in whatever way
"playing" with each other
bitten by a fly
all can be dangeroos if you or they get surprised by anything

--------------------------

a well trained bull will come if you call him, bigger than a mutt but they interact in similar ways for slightly different motivations

taking a stone from a bull's toes, untethered, in the open, was easier than getting burdock burrs out of a lakeland terrier's fur with him tied to a piano leg

(he was a monster who taught me lots of useful things)

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 44034
Location: yes

Posted: Mon Apr 28, 25 3:44 pm Post subject:

(he was a monster who taught me lots of useful things)

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 44034
Location: yes

Posted: Mon Apr 28, 25 3:54 pm Post subject:
back to the manure theme multi species is good pig high density potassium chook high density nitrogen moo bulk and nutrients horse bulk, nitrogen and things guinea pig bulk and nutrients etc

Mistress Rose

Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 16382

Posted: Tue Apr 29, 25 6:48 am Post subject:
Yes, unfortunately a local farmer here was killed by a bull he was usually on good terms with. As for manure, good if you can easily get it.

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 44034
Location: yes

Posted: Thu May 01, 25 3:10 pm Post subject:
shaded air temp 26.5C sun warmed soil temp at 5 cm, 17C rather hot for mayday in the middleish bit of these islands nice for the "maybe"early plantings, im not sure what to go for if this year is another "record heat event" the cucumbers and tings should be ok with watering im wondering if i should try a few hot place things that i rather like

Mistress Rose

Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 16382

Posted: Fri May 02, 25 6:48 am Post subject:

Well I wouldn't bother yet. The temperature here is supposed to be 10 C cooler next week.

I went to a Forestry Commission do some years ago and one of the 'experts' was saying we should be planting eastern Mediterranean trees. Since then we have had cold, wet, dry, hot, so rather suspect anyone trying it has lost the lot. Certainly I don't think they would have liked the winter we have been through as it has been very wet, as was last summer.

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 44034
Location: yes

Posted: Fri May 02, 25 10:10 am Post subject:

the cucumbers have hatched, they are not going out for a while

temp is one aspect, the other is they are more slimey hoard resistant when they are 6 weeks or more old
i suspect they do not taste nice once they get beyond toddler stage

there are quite a few plants that get munched when young and not munched when a bit older

the ones that thrive here only get munched by me, the rocket(self sown with a bit of help) is rampant and delicious for humans, wildlife does not seem to like it

the green leafy thing from japan is taking caterpillar damage, the green and purple leafy thing from japan is almost unmunched
both taste ok to me and i dont usually like purple plants

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 44034
Location: yes

Posted: Mon May 19, 25 4:17 pm Post subject:

two big boys potted up, deep planted so as the stem grows roots, look ok

thymes look ok

flat parsleys look ok

the green thing and the green and purple thing are growing faster than a few slugs can munch them, the slimey hoard is tolerated but the nematodes are endemic and keep the leaf munchers to low numbers, the others tidy up

the mouse castle is almost greened

two big pots of chives are show quality

one rose is growing very fast, the other about half the rate, the latter will more than catch up next year, first year the do roots and fairly fast
both are flowering, i remove some as soon as they open some are for bees etc, next year they can flower as much as they want

veg basket sprouted onions got planted and are a few weeks from large "spring" onions with shallot size bulbs

the japaneese big white radish are doing something but not doing it fast. i get the feeling they need a bit warmer to do the rapid grow thing

one of the ferns is doing well, they other less so. it is why i got two in the hope one of them would thrive
the bramble is ace, ditto most of the old freinds like mints

the rare breed apple grafts seem to be doing well, i had to "fluff" them but both have lots of fruit established, i will remove some of it to improve the best looking ones, in 60lt recycling boxes (at a fiver each far cheaper than "planters" of a similar size

im waiting for the sheep wool/sheep grease pellets to arrive before i put the japanese cucumbers out, it does protect them from slugs

the reclaimed yard is rather nice

i cannot do heavy stuff but i have a pal who gives me mates rates on construction and "landscape" establishment and maintenance etc

the use of aircraft cable and assorted hardware is ace for creating attachment points for assorted plants

potting compost, j arthur bowers , used it for years

organic manure, i do not have local but simpahome organic farm is good

too much in one go?

i rather happy with how it has changed, should have done it years ago

Mistress Rose

Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 16382

Posted: Tue May 20, 25 7:56 am Post subject:

Sounds good Dpack. Our quince has pretty well finished flowering and has some set fruit, and the wilding apple is currently in flower. The potatoes look good, but not sure what they are doing underground. The onion sets I put in last autumn are doing well; bulbing up nicely. Having trouble with getting seed established, but currently have leeks, and I think some carrots coming along very small. Have planted out chard, cabbages and mange tout peas and am keeping them watered as we haven't had any rain since April. May get some this week. We have storage tanks under the greenhouse with a hand pump, so have been watering seeds, seedlings and onions frequently.

The cowslips/false oxlips and most primroses in the lawn are seeding and a few other things are coming on. Husband is having a go at the pond; don't know if it is salvagable or not, but has some holes in the lining that need repairing.

Florence

Joined: 15 Mar 2025
Posts: 67

Posted: Wed May 21, 25 7:38 am Post subject:

It's only small and the drought is doing little good. It's also partly under change. I'm not pressure washing the slabs left from the now gone greenhouse as it's too small an area to hire one and the next door neighbour who thought she had been given one has found she has no appropriate connector to her hose. We'll not mention she thought you filled it with soapy water then plugged it into the power to work.

Neighbour the other way is still moping reasonably quietly about the perfectly good fence I've had erected to replace the rotten pallets which he just said needed a couple of posts. I've had to properly prune his rambling rose which he had been managing with a hedge cutter for a number of years and tie it back to the fence. But he does say it's now good, full of flowers and hiding the fence.

Fence is also protecting my excellent, mature hellebores which were here when I came 20 odd years back. Cost of plants, you don't kill or remove the expensive ones.

Fence keeping the verminous hedge belonging to the other housing association which has never been properly cut in its lifetime at the back out is an eye sore. There used to be one fence all the way down behind the 12 bungalows in the line and my bit has been disconnected by the replacements on either side. So it's a stand-alone now and the grumpy neighbour with the rose had a new one this season which left mine wavering in the wind. Put in by the housing association and a slightly useless young contractor. Couple of new posts going in today in the corner to keep it upright. Thing is the fence isn't too bad - needs painting. Rotting at ground level in places. If I save up I might just do something in the future rather than leave it in the hands of the landlord. Will mean emptying the small bed with flowers in along the front of it. And managing the overhanging hedge which isn't my responsibility even if it has to be in order to live with the garden.

Otherwise a decent display of flowers in pots round the seat on the remains of the greenhouse - the slabs now patio.

gz

Joined: 23 Jan 2009
Posts: 9114
Location: Ayrshire, Scotland

Posted: Wed May 21, 25 7:46 am Post subject:
Spent a lot of the past two days catching up after two years of minimal gardening..compost heap has grown, green waste bin full for Friday's collection. I need to go and get some free municipal compost..just for the cost of getting there. Garden is dry...holding back on transplanting or sowing anything

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 44034
Location: yes

Posted: Wed May 21, 25 4:58 pm Post subject:

careful with municipal compost and bagged etc without a 5* rating over a long time or you know where it came from and what it is made of

it only takes "treated" weeds or bedding etc to wreck a decent soil

some may be ace, imho unless you do more the due diligence it is risky

the killer compost

if that happened now i would get somebody to bring a concrete pump and some shuttering and the yard would go up a yard

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 44034
Location: yes

Posted: Wed May 21, 25 5:14 pm Post subject:

since the killer compost , organic farm manure and 5* bagged , the stuff above have been ace for years, organic dried chook guano (i know i should bleat it or better make mixture but im urban

, better applied in a dibber hole and capped off with soil to mature and disperse it almost naturally

thinking of guano, my flock are splendid at bringing me gifts

and feathers and random plants

the " the jackdaw of york "needs a bit more training but i do get random shiny stuff etc

always check fallen corvid nests

proper prospecting after a storm

some folk have done well from that knowledge

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