Near Miss

[jenkinsbrynmair]

If it wasn't for the lock down I'd send 'er indoors round to give some instructions to SWMBO as she's clearly failing in the hen run weeding department ! Good luck with the new chooks .. I love it when they arrive and they don't know what grass is ...doesn't take them long to get the hang of it though.

It didn't take them long, after an hour or two of checking out the coop (and finding out those funny pellet things taste just like layer's mash) they had a peek outside and decided to sort out the weeds I think it helps that they're ex commercial free rangers.

 

[pargyle]

They look in pretty fine order ... compared to our last lot of supposedly ex-free rangers - they are a really good looking lot.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

They look in pretty fine order ... compared to our last lot of supposedly ex-free rangers - they are a really good looking lot.

They're not bad - a bit bare around the crop and breast, but they are very settled and biddable, I can pick them up/move them whatever with no chasing and no fuss. Already made inroads in to the weeds and even left a downpayment on the rent!!

 

[pargyle]

Spent much of today at the allotment - had a load of autumn raspberries for my lunch. I grow Joan J's and they are so good ..straight from the cane - big, sweet and juicy. I don't know why I bother growing summer ones ... they pale into the distance compared to the Autumn fruiting ones. Good for jam and the freezer I suppose.

My sweet potato top growth is extraordinary ... it even leaves bindweed standing in terms of how fast and how dense it grows. I've no idea whether there are any tubers in the tubs - I'm going to leave them as long as possible and hope for the best.

I do have a question. The garlic I planted (and had given up on as it just didn't come up) has now started to grow ... and it's in totally the wrong place - right in the middle of my autumn digging. It is, obviously, going to overwinter and it will now be ready to harvest about June time next year. What I would like to do is lift them (carefully and with as much soil around them as possible) and transplant them somewhere that they will be fine to stay and grow until next summer. Anyone got any ideas about whether this is safe to do ... I will be planting more garlic again this autumn and hopefully it will take off better than this year's crop - no idea why it did not grow. Mild winter ? Warm spring ? Who knows ..

 

[Erichalfbee]

Spent much of today at the allotment - had a load of autumn raspberries for my lunch. I grow Joan J's and they are so good ..straight from the cane - big, sweet and juicy. I don't know why I bother growing summer ones ... they pale into the distance compared to the Autumn fruiting ones. Good for jam and the freezer I suppose.

My sweet potato top growth is extraordinary ... it even leaves bindweed standing in terms of how fast and how dense it grows. I've no idea whether there are any tubers in the tubs - I'm going to leave them as long as possible and hope for the best.

I do have a question. The garlic I planted (and had given up on as it just didn't come up) has now started to grow ... and it's in totally the wrong place - right in the middle of my autumn digging. It is, obviously, going to overwinter and it will now be ready to harvest about June time next year. What I would like to do is lift them (carefully and with as much soil around them as possible) and transplant them somewhere that they will be fine to stay and grow until next summer. Anyone got any ideas about whether this is safe to do ... I will be planting more garlic again this autumn and hopefully it will take off better than this year's crop - no idea why it did not grow. Mild winter ? Warm spring ? Who knows ..

Garlic has short roots so you should be ok. I shall be joining you in the sweet potato competition. Looking forward to seeing what we both have.
Ours have been left to sprawl over the poly tunnel floor.

 

[pargyle]

Garlic has short roots so you should be ok. I shall be joining you in the sweet potato competition. Looking forward to seeing what we both have.
Ours have been left to sprawl over the poly tunnel floor.

This reecnt wet weather has been incredible for my parnsips ... reckon they will be about two feet long by the tiem first frosts arrive ...

 

[Erichalfbee]

This reecnt wet weather has been incredible for my parnsips ... reckon they will be about two feet long by the tiem first frosts arrive ...

Mine....sown the way you described are massive and all top!

 

[Bryang]

Spent much of today at the allotment - had a load of autumn raspberries for my lunch. I grow Joan J's and they are so good ..straight from the cane - big, sweet and juicy. I don't know why I bother growing summer ones ... they pale into the distance compared to the Autumn fruiting ones. Good for jam and the freezer I suppose.

My sweet potato top growth is extraordinary ... it even leaves bindweed standing in terms of how fast and how dense it grows. I've no idea whether there are any tubers in the tubs - I'm going to leave them as long as possible and hope for the best.

I do have a question. The garlic I planted (and had given up on as it just didn't come up) has now started to grow ... and it's in totally the wrong place - right in the middle of my autumn digging. It is, obviously, going to overwinter and it will now be ready to harvest about June time next year. What I would like to do is lift them (carefully and with as much soil around them as possible) and transplant them somewhere that they will be fine to stay and grow until next summer. Anyone got any ideas about whether this is safe to do ... I will be planting more garlic again this autumn and hopefully it will take off better than this year's crop - no idea why it did not grow. Mild winter ? Warm spring ? Who knows ..

The garlic plants look like they have grown from seeds....Did you plant seeds or cloves....I now only plant cloves in the Autumn... I did once plant some garlic seeds in the spring, only for them to "fail"...When I contacted the seed supplier they informed me I should have planted them in the Autumn...

 

[pargyle]

The garlic plants look like they have grown from seeds....Did you plant seeds or cloves....I now only plant cloves in the Autumn... I did once plant some garlic seeds in the spring, only for them to "fail"...When I contacted the seed supplier they informed me I should have planted them in the Autumn...

No.. I planted cloves last year ... I normally plant my garlic mid september but for a variety of reasons I didn't get it in until November - it's still very mild down here at that stage so I wasn't too worried - I don't plant my over winter broad beans until quite late and they are fine - but for some reason the garlic never came up. I'd bought good bulbs (Wight Superb) and I was cursing it - it really pains me to have to buy garlic ! - but I didn't dig it up as it wasn't in the way where it was .. I figured i t had had it and would eventually get dug in or dug up. Now -- they have decided to make a start - what you see in the photo is about ten days growth and virtually all that I planted is showing ! Don't you just love nature ?

 

[Bryang]

I have been replanting the cloves of garlic that an old RAF friend of mine sent me over 10 years ago....He lives on the Isle of Wight....I also grow a giant variety of garlic in my poly, They grow to approx 5/6 feet tall, the bulbs are 4/6 inches diameter....Yes nature is a wonderous thing!!....I was stationed at Odiham for 3 years and found the climate very different to my home area. I should add...I never eat garlic. it plays hell with my stomach..

 

[pargyle]

I have been replanting the cloves of garlic that an old RAF friend of mine sent me over 10 years ago....He lives on the Isle of Wight....I also grow a giant variety of garlic in my poly, They grow to approx 5/6 feet tall, the bulbs are 4/6 inches diameter....Yes nature is a wonderous thing!!....I was stationed at Odiham for 3 years and found the climate very different to my home area. I should add...I never eat garlic. it plays hell with my stomach..

I used to drive past RAF Odiham twice a day ...on my way to and from work at Iver in Bucks from Fareham ... in the days before the A3M and the M25 ... blasted Chinooks used to take great delight buzzing me at about 20 feet (or so it seemed) as I passed at 6.30am,

 

[Bryang]

When I was there I was on 72 SQD Wessex MK 2 I also worked on every section there that had aircraft ...There was a section of twin rotor helicopters the "notorious" Belvedere.... They were being flown in the Belvedere Conversion Unit I frequently flew in them as an "observer" or look out in the co-pilots seat..Why notorious? They were renown for losing blades in the primary startup compressor. the engine was started by a cartridge/avpin system which sometimes stuck open, resulting in the blades being melted of the compressor ring....The engine was right behind the pilot and copilot seats...The pilots seat was armour plated..the copilots was not....Sorry gone off topic a bit..