Grow Your Own Magazine

So here's the deal. I'm helping a chum who is the guardian of a chateau locally (owned by a multi-squillionaire brit business man) put in a potager for organic fruit and veg. Money no object, two greenhouses, raised beds on a huge field, the lot.

So I've been there helping to put the beds together, design the whole plot and more importantly, sowing the seeds and bringing stuff on.

Now my chum is employed as a gardener and he knows what he's doing small scale. Big scale, disasterous. So, he's completely bolloxed the seedlings (greenhouse reached over 80 although I kept turning the thermostat down) overwatered so many of the small things went leggy and some have rotted off.

I told him we needed to start hardening off and he put up some trestles, loads of fleece to cover them etc. But, despite my warnings, he put them against the wall of the house, nice and light but sheltered so plants reaching for the light all the time.

Went there today as he and wife are away in the UK and disaster. Greenhouse was colder and the plants were drying out because I've managed to get that sorted. BUT, the gutter is away from the eaves of the house and the torrential rain has caused havoc, lots of seedlings lost and many of the emerging seeds have been washed away.

I'm actually quietly bloody furious because I told him so!!! But, last week when I was there I managed to retrieve some of the seedlings etc for my place and I've had them gently recovering in my cold frames and even the smaller, more delicate herb seeds are doing well.

So, when he gets back later this week, a serious re-organisation I think. I'm not paid for this work (one day a week) I just get use of the greenhouse for my own stuff plus the buzz of doing it so I think I'll be setting anotjher load of seeds but on my terms this time.

But the work in the pig farm garden is doing brilliantly so that makes life a bit better and the farmer has loads of piles of very well rotted horse manure mixed with straw (some over a year old) that I'll be taking away when things dry out a bit here.!

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TonyF, Dordogne 24220

Not so good mate, bit of a downer after the good news you had. I'm sure you'll be able to make the most of this bad situation.

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Detroitsburg - Where cool cars come

Bet you feel like throttling him! Can't say I would blame you either. Hope you manage to rescue some of them.

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Happy Gardening,
Shirley

http://www.honeyjukes.co.uk

Sh*t Tony! How did your pal get the job in the first place? A bit of blagging?!
Good job it's still fairly early in the season, should be enough time to start again.
Try not to murder him on his return...

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Sarah

“Tell me one last thing,” said Harry. “Is this real? Or has this been happening inside my head?”
“Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?”

Hi there.... think I would want
PAYING for a start,
I know it's hard when you are pals, but you seem to be running the show! and against all odds I might add.
Maybe setting out a written plan for him to follow each week. You dictate HE writes!
It does sound like lots of fun though, I just hope all turns out ok.
can you give us updates please. GOOD LUCK

'Quellllllle con!'(still my fav movie that)


I don't know, perhaps you need to start him of more simply, but to be fair it is quite difficult to raise seedlings, they need constant monitoring. I luckily work from home these days, invested in vents and totally insulated one glasshouse as I used to regularly bake/freeze seedlings

If money is no object definately buy autoventing for glasshouses, make some coldframes, sow what you can direct and buy the rest to set out from a nuseryman! Its early days yet Tony.

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Advertising is the rattling of a stick in a swill bucket. George Orwell
Paul

People need to make mistakes in order to learn. Leave him to it!

On the other hand, maybe he wants you to take over and do all the work, as he is so bad at it? Much like how Mr Sheds makes a huge mess of the washing up, so I don't ask him very often.

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~ What do I think of Western civilisation? I think it would be a very good idea ~ Gandhi

You can't have two bosses in a garden Tony - and when the unpaid help has more nouse than the 'gaffer' it's bound to go - roots up, shall we say - occasionally. We have fairly strick demarcation here. Mr F 'deos' his wild flower bit - strims it once a year! - and I do the rest. He had an allotment years ago with his dad so he can grow veg - but our ideas don't always match. One boss - that's me! (or, as you would say - moi!)

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Earth laughs in flowers. Ralph Waldo Emerson

www.vegheaven.blogspot.com

Updated November 17th - The Big Dig

Oh dear Tony- after all that effort too!
You'll sort it, I'm sure......

Ah Julie, but that a deliberate ploy thats seems to be working, bless him.

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Kindest regards, David.

http://pigletsplots.blogspot.com/
updated - Sunday 19th at 2100hrs

The problem is that he doesn't listen. The greenhouse I use is double glazed, polycarbonate inside the glass and I can't ' yet - get to the vents and louvres and he insists on cranking up the heat - I told him 60 is fine to bring things on slowly but he insists on 70 plus and watering my little darlings to death.

He's back tomorrow so later in the week I'm going to have a serious chat with him. Problem is he's good at the hard landscaping but he's so enthuesiastic, it sorts of trips him up.

His OH has the other, larger, greenhouse which she keeps cool but she wont let him use it because veggies are boring!

Still, I get to use the facilities there so in the absence of money, that sort of offsets my time.

Still bloody frustrating tho because I have to write it all up, keep the records etc - mainly for me I might add - so we know what has been planted - and now lost - and when.

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TonyF, Dordogne 24220

LOL....

Poor Tony, I am so sorry but this does make for fun reading! it's like the Faulty Towers of the plant world! there has to be a comedy program here - it would get good viewings I'm sure!
I can't wait for an up date!
sorry HF being naughty today!

Haha, you are so right Headfry - definitely sounding like the Fawlty towers of the gardening world!!

But on a more serious note, I hope you manage to sort your mate out Tony - get him operating under your terms and harmony will be restored! Think you should have the job tho!!

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Life may not be the party we hoped for but since we're here we might as well dance

Fawlty Chateau? It's got legs!

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Earth laughs in flowers. Ralph Waldo Emerson

www.vegheaven.blogspot.com

Updated November 17th - The Big Dig

Find a really big landscaping job for him to enthuse over! and keep him busy with lots of fenced raised beds and cold frames with paved access, maybe a nice deep pond to dig! Then if he kills the next batch push him in!

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Advertising is the rattling of a stick in a swill bucket. George Orwell
Paul