My Garden

Idle chat

Last post 22-11-2009 11:46 AM by Roundelder. 4423 replies.

• 30/09/2009 11:03 AM	In reply to
  sue1002 Location: Ipswich, Suffolk Joined on: 06 Sep 2005 Posts: 5,200	Reply | Contact  Naughty seagulls!, we have seagulls around here but we've never had anything pinched by them. We've got rain forecast for Friday and the weekend is supposed to be very windy. sue1002

• 30/09/2009 01:47 PM

  In reply to

  miranda Location: Oxfordshire Joined on: 17 Nov 2004 Posts: 2,976

  Reply | Contact Sue, the apples are cookers - I'll keep the ones that look okay but for some reason they don't keep well and need cooking quite quickly. Some will go into jars and I'll try and give some to the neighbours. Sounds like seagulls are quite as bad as dogs, what with stealing ice cream and pasties. Do they wake you up before dawn, Sue?  I once saw a chicken steal a cracker with butter spread on it from a small child, just walked up and snatched it without a second glance. Good to hear that you've had some tomatoes, Richard. Did you notice the flavour of them? Every year I think that the homegrown toms taste so good I'll never buy them again, but we always end up getting some. If you can find a corner for celeriac, BB, it's worth growing. The greenery is very pretty, so you could always tuck some in amongst your other plants. They do need a lot of water, though. It's cooled down a lot here as well and we actually had some drizzle earlier, the first wet for weeks and weeks. I think this happened because I took the cover off the log pile yesterday, to let the air get to it.

• 30/09/2009 02:03 PM	In reply to
  sue1002 Location: Ipswich, Suffolk Joined on: 06 Sep 2005 Posts: 5,200	Reply | Contact No, the seagulls don't wake me up.  Although they fly over the houses, they are mainly seen over the park when we've had enough rain for a few puddles to form in the middle of the field. sue1002

• 30/09/2009 03:48 PM	In reply to
  BB Location: Hereford Joined on: 12 May 2009 Posts: 573	Reply | Contact We have you to thank then Miranda for the rain we had earlier, that was a good idea to take the cover off the log pile!. Many thanks for the seeds Sue, which have arrived today. I am looking forward to having a go with those! BB

• 30/09/2009 06:47 PM	In reply to
  sue1002 Location: Ipswich, Suffolk Joined on: 06 Sep 2005 Posts: 5,200	Reply | Contact  Glad you got the seeds ok BB. sue1002

• 30/09/2009 06:51 PM

  In reply to

  miranda Location: Oxfordshire Joined on: 17 Nov 2004 Posts: 2,976

  Reply | Contact Glad to help out, BB. It hasn't quite done the trick here yet as we've only had some drizzle and light rain. One result was that my partner cut up a mass of wood earlier and got it stacked in the wood shelter.  Must get my seeds in the post soon, but I'm still collecting them - I now have three batches of Aunt Madge seed, all from slightly different fruit. There are the larger round ones, the same sized pointy ones and some much smaller round ones that were in big bunches. And I've got two lots of Tigerella and two lots of White Tomesol - some from ideal looking fruit and some from not ideal looking fruit (as far as shape, colour and markings go). I put the last lot on to soak today. If this carries on I'll need an experimental ground like Wisley! Good to hear that the seagulls don't wake you up, Sue. When we stayed up near Inverness a couple of summers ago, the gulls went to bed at midnight and were up again about 2.30. It was really noisy.

• 30/09/2009 07:49 PM	In reply to
  Phot's-Moll Location: The sunny South coast. Joined on: 06 Jan 2007 Posts: 3,347	Reply | Contact  I live within easy walking distance of the coast, yet weirdly we never have visiting gulls - either in the garden or the park opposite. Bit weird that. I'm not complaing though as I know they can be a complete pain for some people. Whether you think you can do a thing, or think you cannot, you are right.

• 30/09/2009 09:15 PM

  In reply to

  richardpeeej Location: Leicester Joined on: 22 May 2009 Posts: 808

  Reply | Contact Hello all I've been busy today, a meeting  in town this morning to do with work, then this afternoon fetching loft insulation and emptying,relining and refilling the little pond.Then this this evening went out with OH for a meal. I think the seagulls have learned a few tricks over the years how to grab food off unsuspecting tourists including ice cream and pasties! The gulls are not down there with you Phot's in the gardens of the sunny south coast because  they have all come in land to see what new tricks they can learn up here in the Midlands! The tomatoes were small but tasted lovely Miranda, I can't remember what they were called I'll look at the packet tomorrow (they weren't Aunt Madge though). Thanks very much  for the seeds Sue and BB they came today in the morning post. Richard

• 30/09/2009 09:28 PM

  In reply to

  sue1002 Location: Ipswich, Suffolk Joined on: 06 Sep 2005 Posts: 5,200

  Reply | Contact  Some of the White Tomesol tomatoes do come out a funny shape don't they Miranda?  With the ones here, it seems to be the ones that form on the plants first when the night time temperatures are still low. Glad you got your seeds ok Richard, it's good to know that Royal Mail are delivering when they should  You have had a busy day, hope you enjoyed your well earned meal out. sue1002

• 30/09/2009 09:56 PM	In reply to
  richardpeeej Location: Leicester Joined on: 22 May 2009 Posts: 808	Reply | Contact Yes thanks Sue we had a nice carvery, I had a mixture of beef and turkey, and OH had turkey.You could have as much veg and potatoes as you liked so I had a little bit of each! It was good that the Royal Mail did their job today. Clive (our postman) delivered the seeds this morning on his bicycle. Richard

• 01/10/2009 08:58 AM	In reply to
  miranda Location: Oxfordshire Joined on: 17 Nov 2004 Posts: 2,976	Reply | Contact Your dinner sounds good, Richard, and so do the tomatoes.  With tomatoe seed collecting, I'm thinking it might be worth waiting till the plant are quite done to collect seed. I've gone and collected a load from earlier and then decided that, later on, other plants actually look much better to collect from.

• 01/10/2009 11:04 AM	In reply to
  richardpeeej Location: Leicester Joined on: 22 May 2009 Posts: 808	Reply | Contact I have tomato plants popping up in all sorts of places Miranda,in the border, window box and flower pot.They must have come from seeds that were in the compost bin. I have left them in there for now, and there are even a few small tomatoes on some of them! I have not collected any tomato seeds before and would have to find out how to do that. Richard

• 01/10/2009 11:09 AM	In reply to
  miranda Location: Oxfordshire Joined on: 17 Nov 2004 Posts: 2,976	Reply | Contact Yes, I've also found that the seeds stay viable in the compost bin, to the extent that I stopped putting tomatoes in there. It's good that you've got some fruit on your volunteer plants! I did a guide for saving tomato seeds a couple of years back: http://www.wildchicken.com/nature/garden/ga016_collecting_tomato_seeds.htm  -  it's really straightforward.

• 01/10/2009 11:15 AM	In reply to
  sue1002 Location: Ipswich, Suffolk Joined on: 06 Sep 2005 Posts: 5,200	Reply | Contact  I get tomato seedlings coming up from where I've spread homemade compost about too and just remove them as I see them, they usually come up in clumps and are very easy to spot. Thanks for the Antirrhinum seeds BB, they came in the post this morning and were waiting for me when I got back from town. sue1002

• 01/10/2009 11:17 AM

  In reply to

  Susiq Location: Northumberland Joined on: 16 Feb 2008 Posts: 1,104

  Reply | Contact Hi all, Finally had a chance to look back on missed posts - Sorry BB I didn't realise your OH was also in hospital, I hope he is well on the way to recovery. Did you get your leak fixed Richard? Sue and BB, will try and get your seeds in the post very soon! Phot's it is strange, we are very close to the sea and we don't get squawking seagulls either!! Miranda, your celeriac sounds delicious - do you plant them in autumn or spring? Well, I had an amazing result at the show on Saturday, my crab apple jelly and plum jam, got nowhere, but my bread and butter pickle came 1st as did my green tom chutney My vase of dahlias came 2nd so did my one flower and one veg (dahlia and a cucumber!) But my biggest surprise was my flower arrangement not only came first, but I got the most points overall for flower arranging and have got a huge silver salver to keep for the year! Piccy in local rag too!!! Think I'll stick to making savoury things rather than jams in future!