Advice for a hopeless gardener

Food, Nutrition and Agriculture
GillyBee
Posts: 1047
Joined: Tue Apr 07, 2020 6:46 am

Re: Advice for a hopeless gardener

Post by GillyBee »

DH wont pee in my compost for me - but will go downstairs in the dark and "scent mark" anywhere the foxes are annoying us.....
jennyjj01
Posts: 3429
Joined: Sun Jun 04, 2017 11:09 pm

Re: Advice for a hopeless gardener

Post by jennyjj01 »

jansman wrote: Wed Apr 06, 2022 4:53 am Dear god...you really don't have fellas standing in the garden doing that? I thought it was obvious to pee into a bucket and take it there :?
GillyBee wrote: Wed Apr 06, 2022 4:52 pm DH wont pee in my compost for me - but will go downstairs in the dark and "scent mark" anywhere the foxes are annoying us.....
lol. Be clear that I was embarrassed about suggesting that OH would physically pee on the compost for just a few seconds. Frankly I find the idea of a frequently rinsed pee bucket in the house as more distasteful than him flopping it out at night.. So long as he washes his hands. He doesn't need much of an excuse at the best of times. :D .
Blame/credit it on my upbringing .
Also be assured that I respect any who are more civilised than us. Yes. OH is licenced to flop it out and pee into the composter. That said, the composter is in a very discreet position at the end of a path down the side of the house. His chances of getting seen are slim, but if he were he would say 'hello. Caught me. She made me do it.'. We would laugh and the neighbours would take it or leave it. They've seen worse exhibitions and we are still on good terms. :o :o :o
Graceful Degradation! Prepping's objective summed up in two words. Turning Disaster into Mild Inconvenience by the power of fore-thought

Not Feeling Optimistic. Let me be wrong
Arzosah
Posts: 6323
Joined: Fri Jun 22, 2012 4:20 pm

Re: Advice for a hopeless gardener

Post by Arzosah »

jennyjj01 wrote: Wed Apr 06, 2022 5:19 pmFrankly I find the idea of a frequently rinsed pee bucket in the house as more distasteful than him flopping it out at night.. So long as he washes his hands.
Well, it's more work to rinse a pee bucket than for oh to wash his hands as he normally would, so I'm voting for peeing directly onto the compost :lol:
jennyjj01
Posts: 3429
Joined: Sun Jun 04, 2017 11:09 pm

Re: Advice for a hopeless gardener

Post by jennyjj01 »

Arzosah wrote: Wed Apr 06, 2022 6:30 pm
jennyjj01 wrote: Wed Apr 06, 2022 5:19 pmFrankly I find the idea of a frequently rinsed pee bucket in the house as more distasteful than him flopping it out at night.. So long as he washes his hands.
Well, it's more work to rinse a pee bucket than for oh to wash his hands as he normally would, so I'm voting for peeing directly onto the compost :lol:
Phew thank God it's not just me.. :)
No offense to anyone. This is a funny side topic. 🤣
Graceful Degradation! Prepping's objective summed up in two words. Turning Disaster into Mild Inconvenience by the power of fore-thought

Not Feeling Optimistic. Let me be wrong
ForgeCorvus
Posts: 3035
Joined: Fri Feb 08, 2013 11:32 pm

Re: Advice for a hopeless gardener

Post by ForgeCorvus »

jennyjj01 wrote: Wed Apr 06, 2022 5:19 pm
jansman wrote: Wed Apr 06, 2022 4:53 am Dear god...you really don't have fellas standing in the garden doing that? I thought it was obvious to pee into a bucket and take it there :?
GillyBee wrote: Wed Apr 06, 2022 4:52 pm DH wont pee in my compost for me - but will go downstairs in the dark and "scent mark" anywhere the foxes are annoying us.....
lol. Be clear that I was embarrassed about suggesting that OH would physically pee on the compost for just a few seconds. Frankly I find the idea of a frequently rinsed pee bucket in the house as more distasteful than him flopping it out at night.. So long as he washes his hands. He doesn't need much of an excuse at the best of times. :D .
Blame/credit it on my upbringing .
Also be assured that I respect any who are more civilised than us. Yes. OH is licenced to flop it out and pee into the composter. That said, the composter is in a very discreet position at the end of a path down the side of the house. His chances of getting seen are slim, but if he were he would say 'hello. Caught me. She made me do it.'. We would laugh and the neighbours would take it or leave it. They've seen worse exhibitions and we are still on good terms. :o :o :o
"Honey, if you loved me you'd pee on my compost" :lol:
jennyjj01 wrote:"I'm not in the least bit worried because I'm prepared: Are you?"
Londonpreppy wrote: At its core all prepping is, is making sure you're not down to your last sheet of loo roll when you really need a poo.
"All Things Strive" Gd Tak 'Gar
jennyjj01
Posts: 3429
Joined: Sun Jun 04, 2017 11:09 pm

Re: Advice for a hopeless gardener

Post by jennyjj01 »

jansman wrote: Tue Apr 05, 2022 1:46 pm Your seeds are germinating because this is the correct time to sow them. You can’t beat nature. :D
Joyous times. Seedling update:-

Everything in pots and trays is in the kitchen window. I'm not risking them in the cloche.

Now it may have been a mistake, but I just moved Curtis and Caz Courgette to their own pots. Curtis was the biggest at 8cm and caz was the smallest at 2cm. Both had only got their 'baby leaves'. This was a slightly heartless experiment to see which tolerated the move best. Besides, in the shared tray, they had very little soil to root in and I could envisage them getting pot bound. Like I say: Possibly too soon.

Their other bedfellows, the Okra babies are looking good. Those are 3 to a card tube sat within a tray of compost, so will be safer to transplant to their forever home. Not YET!

Six survivors out of several dozen murdered Crimson Crush tomatoes looking healthy in individual small pots. One's a bit behind after I dropped him on his head as a tot :)

Over in those ALDI window boxes, a few very tiny Gardeners Delight seedings and one bell pepper, seed saved from a shop bought fruit, have surfaced. Yayyy. Having proper trays with lids is much easier to water correctly.

Meanwhile, and over in the planters outside, the carrots that I pre-germinated have settled in nicely. Better probably than those carrots started in trays and card pots which are showing mixed results. A dozen card tubes of spring onions have all settled in to the planter and look like 1 inch tufts of grass. Buckets of onion and garlic sets looking alive. I had no survivors from onion seeds, but sets worked.

That's the good news.

Meanwhile, I'm getting concerned that none of my Moneymaker* tomatoes from 22March and none of my Aubergines have shown themselves yet. February sown aubergines never did show, either. Too cold, I guess.

Not at all concerned that the Peas, beetroot, chard or parsnips have not germinated yet. They mostly went straight to their beds and buckets and it has been quite cold.

And finally..... Harvested three long neglected and forgotten leeks for last night's dinner. They were a bit skinny and looked more like fat spring onions. They may not have been leeks :)




[STOP THE PRESS!]
Over the course of the morning one Moneymaker seedling has shot out of the compost and is already 15mm tall!
WOW! That first burst of life is explosive.
Graceful Degradation! Prepping's objective summed up in two words. Turning Disaster into Mild Inconvenience by the power of fore-thought

Not Feeling Optimistic. Let me be wrong
jansman
Posts: 13623
Joined: Thu Dec 30, 2010 7:16 pm

Re: Advice for a hopeless gardener

Post by jansman »

Courgettes and squash in general is best sown two to a 3” pot. Keep the strongest,( cut the weakest out) as they don’t really like transplanting- you may be lucky- and put the resulting plant straight from pot to ground. Again,you are probably too early again. I won’t think about sowing my marrows and Winter Squash until the last week of April,probably first in May. Reason? Late frosts.
In three words I can sum up everything I have learned about life: It goes on.

Robert Frost.

Covid 19: After that level of weirdness ,any situation is certainly possible.

Me.
jennyjj01
Posts: 3429
Joined: Sun Jun 04, 2017 11:09 pm

Re: Advice for a hopeless gardener

Post by jennyjj01 »

jansman wrote: Thu Apr 07, 2022 6:13 pm Courgettes and squash in general is best sown two to a 3” pot. Keep the strongest,( cut the weakest out) as they don’t really like transplanting- you may be lucky- and put the resulting plant straight from pot to ground. Again,you are probably too early again. I won’t think about sowing my marrows and Winter Squash until the last week of April,probably first in May. Reason? Late frosts.
Silly question, Jansman, but do you keep up to date with frost warnings and weather forecasts, or do you just monitor temperatures and watch the weather instinctively.
Should I invest in some sort of gardening fleece for my plants?
Graceful Degradation! Prepping's objective summed up in two words. Turning Disaster into Mild Inconvenience by the power of fore-thought

Not Feeling Optimistic. Let me be wrong
GillyBee
Posts: 1047
Joined: Tue Apr 07, 2020 6:46 am

Re: Advice for a hopeless gardener

Post by GillyBee »

You could sign up for frost alerts here: http://frostalertemail.com/ Not that i have seen any alerts from them since last year but we have not really had any hard frosts here all winter.
I did say that Curtis would need his own bedroom within a week! I have not yet sown my courgettes. I simply don't have room on the windowsills for anything more and need things to warm up a bit more so that I can evict to the greenhouse - or sow there in the first place. Courgettes and squash grow so fast that I am not especially worried about being late yet and they will not do well if I have to keep them in a pot for too long because it is cold outside.
jansman
Posts: 13623
Joined: Thu Dec 30, 2010 7:16 pm

Re: Advice for a hopeless gardener

Post by jansman »

jennyjj01 wrote: Thu Apr 07, 2022 6:25 pm
jansman wrote: Thu Apr 07, 2022 6:13 pm Courgettes and squash in general is best sown two to a 3” pot. Keep the strongest,( cut the weakest out) as they don’t really like transplanting- you may be lucky- and put the resulting plant straight from pot to ground. Again,you are probably too early again. I won’t think about sowing my marrows and Winter Squash until the last week of April,probably first in May. Reason? Late frosts.
Silly question, Jansman, but do you keep up to date with frost warnings and weather forecasts, or do you just monitor temperatures and watch the weather instinctively.
Should I invest in some sort of gardening fleece for my plants?
Experience. As an angler and hunting man - and gardener- I live with the weather. My job is dictated by weather . People are SO predictable as to what they eat according to weather.

I monitor weather daily through my smartphone.I even have a little windsock above the workshop to check wind direction,and therefore know the weather coming in.I don’t go so far as my brother,who keeps a weather log. Mind you,he works outside,and he does live off grid. Weather for him can be economic life or death.
In three words I can sum up everything I have learned about life: It goes on.

Robert Frost.

Covid 19: After that level of weirdness ,any situation is certainly possible.

Me.