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Post by cernunnos on Feb 24, 2023 18:02:57 GMT 1
Looking at our onions and garlic this afternoon, that are growing well. We have decided to grow less onions and a lot more garlic , seeing the price difference. There was a glut of onions in the EU last year , most come from Holland,Spain and Belgium, so there should never be a shortage.
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Post by gigi on Feb 24, 2023 18:45:26 GMT 1
Snowdrops are going over but primroses are looking gorgeous all over the garden and my Magnolia Stellata has started flowering early - only a few actually open wide at the moment, but others ready to join them.
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Post by houpla on Feb 24, 2023 18:57:00 GMT 1
Onions, garlic and shallots have been the staple crops here, along with broad beans and peas, all sown or planted in autumn since the potager was made in 2008. Extremely good returns for very little work and no need for watering! Do you use shallots for cooking, cernunnos? The price of those is eye-watering but once you've made the initial investment on the sets, you have enough to replant, as well as plenty for cooking My problem is storage. Despite building a dedicated cold 'barn', and ripening/drying produce correctly, I have a job to keep fruit and veg stored without big losses. Butternut squashes seem to be the only long keepers. Still, being 'retired' I've got time to rescue and conserve things like onions and garlic that need using up. Cue batch Indian cuisine ... It's time to get cracking in the polytunnel this weekend. Early crops of radish, lettuce, spinach, mache, carrots, coriander and kohl rabi to sow! The ornamental garden is starting to look a bit better now, with snowdrops, narcissi, hyacinths, hellebores, magnolias flowering and acers coming into leaf.
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Post by cernunnos on Feb 25, 2023 11:46:09 GMT 1
I used to grow shallots , but also onions , so now just onions . We have decreased the varieties of veg grown and increased the amount. Our hellebores have gone wild, they appear everywhere.
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Post by jackie on Mar 20, 2023 17:24:23 GMT 1
My cut and come again salad crops in window boxes are doing well in the greenhouse. My tomato seeds ordered online on 6th March finally arrived today so have sown them this afternoon along with some carrots in a large tub container. Going to plant the first layer of Charlotte spuds in some old dustbins tomorrow. Container gardening is so much easier on the back!
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Nifty
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Post by Nifty on Mar 21, 2023 8:11:04 GMT 1
@ Jackie What size and how many dustbins?
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Post by cernunnos on Mar 24, 2023 8:43:01 GMT 1
First " charlottes" planted , feves in flower , garlic and onions doing well , spinach ready to eat next week. Once this wet period has passed, we will be sowing for the Summer veg. New bird boxes made and in position , I saw a bumble bee sussing out one of the older boxes yesterday , lets hope they take up residence again.
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Post by houpla on Mar 24, 2023 10:18:58 GMT 1
We had our first pîckings of asparagus this week...a good month later than usual, but very welcome The broad beans are forming but no peas thanks to the combined raids of pigeons and the hare. Lots of beautiful blossom on the peach, nectarine and apricot trees. Hopefully they'll get pollinated before the gale forecast for Sunday!
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Post by gigi on Mar 24, 2023 10:50:22 GMT 1
We’ve been away in the north for a couple of nights, arrived back late last night after a nasty 4 hour drive mostly through incredibly heavy rain to see a big, beautiful beacon as we approached our house. Our magnolia stellata was gleaming in the dark, looking so lovely.
When we left home there were flowers open; individual flowers had been opening for quite a while, but the sunshine while we were away obviously enticed the whole bush to open. It’s right by our front wall and is much-loved by others passing by as well as me; I planted it as a tiny twig 30+ years ago and it’s a large ball shape now.
I’m hoping that the next few days will be still and dry so everyone can continue to enjoy my stellata - my starry beacon.
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Post by jackie on Mar 24, 2023 11:39:41 GMT 1
@ Jackie What size and how many dustbins? Just the black dustbins you buy in brico shops and we’ve used 3 at the moment. Usually can accommodate 3 - 4 layers of spuds. with about 10cm of compost between each layer. Wait for the green shoots to appear before planting the next layer. I usually grow charlottes, lovely as new potatoes.
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Post by houpla on Mar 24, 2023 16:37:38 GMT 1
Our magnolia stellata was gleaming in the dark, looking so lovely. I've got one, but it's not official The Magnolia 'Black Tulip' must have been grafted onto stellata rootstock, because every year it throws up a lovely, strong shoot of pale pink stellata. It doesn't seem to be detrimental to the main tree, so I leave it to provide a pretty contrast.... The soulangeana and 'Heaven Scent' were very fleeting this year thanks (not) to last week's howling gale.
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mysty
Member
Posts: 1,298
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Post by mysty on Mar 26, 2023 17:27:59 GMT 1
Not our garden but we cut down about 2000sqm of bramble and bush over the last two days. That saved 1200 euros
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Post by houpla on Mar 27, 2023 20:37:55 GMT 1
Came out of the gale yesterday pretty unscathed, even the electric fence posts were still upright There wasn't as much rain as expected so soil's good for weeding. The Sophora planted a couple of years ago has a few flowers this year and all the borderline hardy stuff is showing signs of life, so the frosts didn't do as much damage as I feared. Had a staring contest with the whopping great hare that's been eating all my Euonymous shrubs. He gave in first No doubt he'll be back tonight, though. B*****!
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Post by cernunnos on Mar 28, 2023 8:11:13 GMT 1
Frost here last night , so after the storm and heavy rain on Sunday , pretty harsh climate for growing fruit !
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Post by spectrum on Mar 28, 2023 8:43:43 GMT 1
Also started picking the Asparagus, waiting until we have a bunch and then a bit of Fillet and potatoes with them, I cook ours in butter and olive oil, how do other people do them?
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