Grow Your Own Magazine

Oh, and now I've gone and put my two most recently posted Growing Tips on the Let's Grow Veg Growing Tips thread, when I meant to put them on here.
Damn and Bugger....
Still, just in case the same peeps don't read both magazines, perhaps you could use the tips twice when you have A Slow News Month?

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With Love,
Wellie

Give it some....

http://hollycottagegarden.blogspot.com

Updated Sunday 13th:
POCKET ROCKET...

Home grown raspberries are my fave - can't recall the variety I have at the mo- but if you don't have a lot of space in the garden you can grow them in long troughs up against a sunny wall - and they taste like nothing on earth!!! Looking forward to getting the lottie up and running, then I'll be planting lots and lots and lots and... you get the picture!

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How can a woman be expected to be happy with a man who insists on treating her as if she were a perfectly normal human being.”

Sow a few extra seeds and give the plants to Friends and Neighbours or sell a few at work, then you can buy more seeds, or another treat of your choice.

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I play hide and seek with my cat
http://www.guerrillagardening.org/

Use an old potato as a eye protector for the top of canes.

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I play hide and seek with my cat
http://www.guerrillagardening.org/

Use empty, washed out pop bottles or those mini yoghurt drinks as covers for the end of canes, use the very large water containers as mini cloches, use the scoops you get in washing powder boxes as a useful mini scoop when putting compost onto seedlings, use carefully washed out plastic meat or veg trays as trays to put pots etc in the greenhouse, and use the clear plastic food containers as mini cloches for seedlings. Bernie aka Dexterdoglancashire

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Appreciate the little things in life because one day you will realise they are the big things

When planting up baskets and containers, sink a plant pot into the soil as deep as you can without the soil going in over the rim. This is easier to water into and the water goes down deeper, quicker and to the roots where it is most needed.

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God made rainy days so gardeners could get the housework done

You can bury a lot of troubles digging in the dirt

When my kids become wild and unruly, I use a nice, safe playpen. When they're finished, I climb out

You will always be your child's favorite toy

If you have a mole problem, stick loads of canes about 4 or 5 feet long into the ground round your plot, and put large plastic bottles on the top.

When the wind blows they rattle, and apparently the vibrations keep moley away.

I didn't believe it, but my dad is currently trying it on his plot and it seems to be working!

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Veni, Vidi, Velcro.
I came, I saw, I stuck around.

I always thought that the best tasting vegetable was winter purple sprouting broccoli and, although it has a wonderful flavour, I think it has been put into second place by calabrese romanesco. Just like the aforementioned broccoli it takes a long time to reach maurity, but it certainly is well worth the wait - SUPERB.

I wouldn't be without a few home-grown tomatoes (well, in my case, 5 different varieties and at least 4 plants of each). Pretty easy, and in a decent year will grow outside.

There is an old adage which tells you to walk to the sweetcorn plot, then RUN to the cooking pot!

My favourite planting is edible flowers to put into salads. Plants we all know like nasturtium and dandelion (the leaves are better blanched), but also try mallow, marigolds and pansies, not forgetting violets and lavender. My salads are so colourful, tasty too

I agree re. courgettes- they produce loads of tasty food, and are expensive to buy. Gooseberries are great too- a small bush produces lots, they freeze well and are so very delicious!
This year I've planted blue sweetcorn- not sure how it's going to taste but apparently it's good for popping. Might be the heritage variety 'black aztec'

Stick a short bamboo cane in at a 45 degree angle in front of your Courgette plant, and train the plant stem to it, tying it in at intervals. This makes picking your courgettes much easier, you avoid getting scratched by the foliage when you harvest the fruits, and it allows more air to circulate around the plant itself, where powdery mildew is an annual problem.

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With Love,
Wellie

Give it some....

http://hollycottagegarden.blogspot.com

Updated Sunday 13th:
POCKET ROCKET...

My favourite is New Potatoes and the best variety is Epicure taste bloomin marvelous.

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You'll Never Walk Alone.

Doing Nothing is Hard Work Because you Never Know When You've Finished!!!!!

I'm sure this will seem a very basic tip and raise a few eyebrows and perhaps if they're reading the GYO then that's a start.

It's just that I read some of the questions on here and I find myself wondering why when people decide to grow their own vegetable they don't seem to have considered learning the basics first. Surely the first thing to do is buy (or borrow) a basic Gardening Book.

I never start any new hobby or venture without a little research first.

Is it just me? Am I an oddity?

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Off to China

Has it occured to you that asking questions on here could also be classed as doing research?

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Cheers Chris

Its only a chilli if it burns your mouth

When growing tomatoes, put a banana skin at the base just under the soil. tomatoes love it.

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http://www.freewebs.com/notesfromtheplot/

Yes and I do it myself but that doesn't mean it is a complete replacement for a good gardening book and many of us have already started gardening before we even googled our way here

I guess if you're an allotment gardener you'd also have your fellow growers to consult

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Off to China

And still no promised voucher or response to enquiries :-(

Come on grow your own, live up to your promises !

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My Blog is here.../

I received a very nice PM from Sara Cork back in May and was asked to confirm by email that I was happy for my tip to be published, and to provide an address that the voucher could be sent to.

All of which I did, and I had a reply saying look out for my name in the July issue.

Needless to say, I bought the July issue, my tip didn't appear and neither has the promised voucher so I guess the editor had other ideas!!

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Veni, Vidi, Velcro.
I came, I saw, I stuck around.

Mine has got to be garlic as this was the first crop i put into my allotment.

Tip wise ,it's easy to grow and requires no compost or manure to be added , the crop is labour free apart from weeding there is very little watering or crop care.

It grows at a time of year when little else is in the ground so does not take up valuable growing space in the summer.

When harvested it can be used straight away or dried and last along time if kept properly and produces cloves to plant the following year so there is no need to buy any more plants.

The garlic will learn to adapt to your growing conditions and produce a better crop each year , i'm on my second harvest of 80 bulbs from the original bulbs from tesco ( 10 for 1.50 ) from 2 years ago and the bulbs look better this year than last.

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---) CARL (----
ILFRACOMBE
NORTH DEVON

a seed planted today makes a meal tomorrow!

www.freewebs.com/carlseawolf

now in blog form ! UPDATED 01 / 04 / 08

UPDATED TO EAT A LARGE DOSE OF HUMBLE PIE!!!

I knew it. I had the audacity to post what I did above, and guess what arrived on Saturday in the post?????

£10 T&M voucher with a catalogue. Many thanks and apologies to all involved for doubting you!

Now I just need to sort out what to use it on!

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Veni, Vidi, Velcro.
I came, I saw, I stuck around.

For scaring the pigeons. When it is tied up across crops, the tape twists away in the wind and the shiny side of the tape gives off a reflection (similar to CD's) with a rippled movement to confuse the birds. I find quite a few people still have a stack of D90's hiding away in a loft somewhere gathering dust and are happy for you take them off their hands.