God I love growing our own

[pargyle]

I was thinking... the next obvious improvements are sealing one end so stuff can't fall out, a belt drive, and a tilting mechanism so everything stays inside when it's turning and the big lumps can be tipped out after sieving. Or, a cement mixer with a mesh barrel

James

This is what I have in mind ...

https://www.google.com/search?clien...ate=ive&vld=cid:d896bbc5,vid:le-Nmg0q9jE,st:0

 

[JamezF]

This is what I have in mind ...

https://www.google.com/search?clien...ate=ive&vld=cid:d896bbc5,vid:le-Nmg0q9jE,st:0

Hmmm. Do I need another project right now? *Sigh* Looks like I might have one regardless

James

 

[Sutty]

I was thinking... the next obvious improvements are sealing one end so stuff can't fall out, a belt drive, and a tilting mechanism so everything stays inside when it's turning and the big lumps can be tipped out after sieving. Or, a cement mixer with a mesh barrel

James

Or a motor, a tilt, and an open end so the big stuff can drop out of the end eg into a wheelbarrow.after the soil has dropped through the mesh.

 

[pargyle]

Hmmm. Do I need another project right now? *Sigh* Looks like I might have one regardless

James

I have the three bicyle wheel rims (ebay £5), I have the motor (several), timber, a couple of bearings, I have the mesh ... just need some wheels, a couple of belts, a secondary pulley of some sort to act as a reduction gear... and a couple of days creative engineering ...it's the last bit I'm lacking, plenty of ability but time poor.

 

[Midget Gem]

This is what I based it on:


I decided to keep it simple and within my ability range as I'd be much more likely to get it done, and portable as I don't want it sat out in the North Wales weather as it will either rot and/or get blown away. Not bothered about a motor as that requires electricity or fuel and I like my green gym. It didn't take long to sieve quite a large quantity of wet soil and was soooo satisfying. It's not quite finished yet as it needs sides to stop the soil going everywhere when I put it on top of the wheelbarrow, and needs the angle adjusting so the soil runs through more slowly, but I needed that bed filling now and it worked ok.

I have seen motorised longer ones


and cement mixer ones


but I have found, over the years, that if I KISS I'm much more likely to get it done. I can always upgrade if needs be but I probably never will

 

[enrico]

3rd picking of this year

 

[JamezF]

Damn! Mine still aren't even out of the ground.

James

 

[roche]

I spend about £8 on enough onion sets to last us as a family of 4 an entire year. Put them in the unheated greenhouse for about 6 weeks then gently replant them into the bed where they will grow until they are harvested in August / September.

One that's great is putting 8 / 10 White Lisbon seeds in each cell and succession sowing through the year, lovely fresh spring onions from May onwards, pull them up in bunches like you'd buy in the shops. Beetroot sow in cells of 4 or 5 to a cell, remove a couple when they are golf ball size in the summer and let the last few grown on to a decent size through the summer.

Having read this, I sent for a pack of White Lisbon seeds, and duly sowed about 8-10 in a pot, every week, and put them in the unheated greenhouse, for about the last 6 weeks....Not one has germinated. So I reckon this growing things from seeds lark is all a con. I think that people who say they do it actually sneak out into the garden and plant seedlings they have bought in their seed trays, progressively swapping them for larger and larger plants, until they finally run off to the super market and buy the finished fruit/vegetable....

 

[Erichalfbee]

Having read this, I sent for a pack of White Lisbon seeds, and duly sowed about 8-10 in a pot, every week, and put them in the unheated greenhouse, for about the last 6 weeks....Not one has germinated. So I reckon this growing things from seeds lark is all a con. I think that people who say they do it actually sneak out into the garden and plant seedlings they have bought in their seed trays, progressively swapping them for larger and larger plants, until they finally run off to the super market and buy the finished fruit/vegetable....

Sympathy.
Practically all my pepper and tomato seedlings have stopped at just the seed leaves. Stopped dead for a month.

 

[JamezF]

Having read this, I sent for a pack of White Lisbon seeds, and duly sowed about 8-10 in a pot, every week, and put them in the unheated greenhouse, for about the last 6 weeks....Not one has germinated. So I reckon this growing things from seeds lark is all a con. I think that people who say they do it actually sneak out into the garden and plant seedlings they have bought in their seed trays, progressively swapping them for larger and larger plants, until they finally run off to the super market and buy the finished fruit/vegetable....

You know, that would probably be easier I planted out twenty module trays worth of seedlings this weekend. It was painful going.

Oddly though, I have sown a fair few White Lisbon myself over the last couple of months. Germination appears to have been very poor. And they're not the only things. Several times I've sown two different varieties of Snapdragon in the same module tray and put them in the propagator. One variety germinated very well, the other very poorly. Some Busy Lizzies that I did the same way ended up with one variety germinating well and the other not at all. Other plants have done pretty well though. Summer brassicas particularly.

I had to get some planting out done this weekend because I've been holding the plants back in the greenhouse because of the poor weather and they're just getting far too big. So as well as 650-ish onions, I've planted out lots of peas, sugar snaps and sweet peas, a few radish and some beetroot.

I'm still catching up on spreading compost on the veg beds. I got another one mostly done today whilst dodging heavy rain showers (less the bit that still has a few leeks standing in it). I'm well over halfway now though. Just two and a half beds to go in the main plot, the herb/rhubarb bed and then the greenhouses/polytunnels once the Winter crops come out.

Elsewhere, my daughter is part way through cutting the lawns for the second time already this year. The grass is crazily out of control.

James

 

[JamezF]

Practically all my pepper and tomato seedlings have stopped at just the seed leaves. Stopped dead for a month.

Same here. The tomatoes are particularly bad. I'm wondering if it's something to do with the lack of sunlight.

James

 

[Erichalfbee]

Same here. The tomatoes are particularly bad. I'm wondering if it's something to do with the lack of sunlight.

James

Mine are under lights but I don’t think k there is enough blue in them. I’ve taken a chance and put them in the greenhouse
We use marigolds in the polytunnel as pest control. They self seed and we hoe out the surplus. Lo and behold I found a good few tomato seedlings on their second leaf. They managed despite the cold nights so you might have something there

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Sympathy.
Practically all my pepper and tomato seedlings have stopped at just the seed leaves. Stopped dead for a month.

never put anything like that in until mid April

 

[Erichalfbee]

I’ve always put them in end feb and had no problems. I might just try again.

 

[JamezF]

never put anything like that in until mid April

I am trying an early tomato this year that I'm hoping will be flowering some time around then

James

 

[JamezF]

Mine are under lights but I don’t think k there is enough blue in them. I’ve taken a chance and put them in the greenhouse
We use marigolds in the polytunnel as pest control. They self seed and we hoe out the surplus. Lo and behold I found a good few tomato seedlings on their second leaf. They managed despite the cold nights so you might have something there

Certainly here it has been exceptionally overcast for much of the year so far. To the point where subconsciously it's actually become almost normal. A couple of weeks back I was surprised that the chickens were still out at the time I'd been closing them up for the night on previous days. It took me a while to realise that it was because the sky was clear, and it didn't get dark until at least half an hour later than I'd got used to.

James

 

[enrico]

Sympathy.
Practically all my pepper and tomato seedlings have stopped at just the seed leaves. Stopped dead for a month.

That happened to us last year, stupid peat free compost (although I fully applaud the reasons why)_, so we used our own compost for them this year!

 

[enrico]

Certainly here it has been exceptionally overcast for much of the year so far. To the point where subconsciously it's actually become almost normal. A couple of weeks back I was surprised that the chickens were still out at the time I'd been closing them up for the night on previous days. It took me a while to realise that it was because the sky was clear, and it didn't get dark until at least half an hour later than I'd got used to.

James

My PV panels show quite a good sun pattern this year, not much different to other years. I can stick a graph up for you but it would probably bore you rigid!

 

[Midget Gem]

My PV panels show quite a good sun pattern this year, not much different to other years. I can stick a graph up for you but it would probably bore you rigid!

Graph, please

 

[enrico]

Graph, please

This runs from August to August because that is when I had them installed. It shows the amount of sun shine over the past eight years week by week , each different colour is a different year. I have 32 panels. 16 face SW and 16 face SE and this is the total of both sets. We are on week 33
I have a similar graph of my electricity useage bearing in mind I am all electric with an air source heat pump, and a swimming pool
I am very happy to answer any questions