This week in your Kitchen Garden.

[nicksonic]

poor hedgie

i feel i'll have achieved something when i (a) have a garden, and (b) that garden attracts hedgehogs.

 

[Biddlybee]

I'd like some too, so when you find someone with a big bush, rob some for me please.

I did spot that there's loads outside the sun & doves (I'm pretty sure that's all rosemary)... I might just ask them

 

[gentlegreen]

poor hedgie

i feel i'll have achieved something when i (a) have a garden, and (b) that garden attracts hedgehogs.

I haven't seen one for quite a few years - in spite of letting my garden turn into a jungle. I'll make sure I leave plenty of wildlife-friendly nooks and crannies.

I'm pretty sure I even had slow-worms 20-odd years ago ...

(never let one poo on your carpet by the way ! )

 

[nicksonic]

there was a double dose of hedgehogs on bbc 2 last night; simon king was explaining how to make your garden more hedgehog friendly and monty halls was catching them in the hebrides

 

[foamy]

i feel i'll have achieved something when i (a) have a garden

me too! We're trying to move to a house with one but everything is conspiring against us.

So for now my garden is in the kitchen, lounge and spare bedroom window sills
I have 5 courgette plants, 4 pots of chillis (2 -4 plants in each pot) 10 tomato plants and a window box of rocket.

The tomatoes are flowering but no fruit yet. Does anyone know if the courgettes will grow ok in pots? (roughly 20cm squared)

 

[nicksonic]

i realised last night that instead of growing herbs from seeds i could just get a pot of each from sainsbury's or wherever and plant those. i suppose that would be cheating in a sense, no doubt the herbs grown from seeds will taste even better (and more virtuous)...

 

[Biddlybee]

You'd be better off getting them from a garden centre/plant stall than sainsbury's I reckon

 

[nicksonic]

You'd be better off getting them from a garden centre/plant stall than sainsbury's I reckon

well yes, but i've planted the seeds anyway so i'll do it the correct way rather than take a short cut

 

[gentlegreen]

I bought a selection from Aldi that were actually intended for planting out and they've taken well ..

I realise now that it wasn't the transplanting that my basil seedlings were objecting to - so much as the loam-based compost. I've planted them into B&Q MP and I could swear they've bucked-up overnight.
.. whereas the parsley seeds I sowed in B&Q indoors are sulking a bit - I reckon they might prefer loam-based compost and cooler conditions ...

 

[Melinda]

Hello thread I see everyone is growing splendidly!

We've been away for a few days and now we're back, the sun is here! Happy Days!

Stuck the sprinkler on early this morning and fed the main garden.

Seedlings are all doing well. I have vague plans to weave willow obelisks/ plant supports this weekend.

 

[ooo]

My one green pepper is still growing, but the leaves are starting to turn white!
I know the pot is too small and the soil is lacking nutrient.
I should have migrated it outside in the garden, on the ground. But I was afraid the birds would get it.
I hope it isn't too late to move it this weekend.

 

[gentlegreen]

My one green pepper is still growing, but the leaves are starting to turn white!
I know the pot is too small and the soil is lacking nutrient.
I should have migrated it outside in the garden, on the ground. But I was afraid the birds would get it.
I hope it isn't too late to move it this weekend.

It's good to get practised in repotting.

I had my fingers crossed because my I was short on space and my own greenhouse crops got a bit potbound, the aubergines are a bit borderline, but the peppers don't seem to have been checked.

I'm starting serious gardening again after 8 years and I'm questioning everything. My tomatoes are getting potted up steadily, rather than going straight from small pots to final ones.

Repotting encourages efficient root development as well as making best use of limited space. My greenhouse is too full of ornamentals at the moment to have my tomatoes and peppers in their final positions. Plus I have a raised bed to build and fill ...

 

[gentlegreen]

Lots more potato tips in the latest Beechgrove programme.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00sj75b/Beechgrove_Garden_2010_Episode_7/

Scottish-based, so a few weeks behind us soft southerners.

 

[free spirit]

(((((free spirit))))) (((((hedgehog)))))

How did he get his snout in a jar ?

Surely mildly alcoholic slugs wouldn't harm a hedgehog ?
I expect he died of natural causes.

Anyway if the jar needs to be raised to protect beetles, perhaps a perforated lid would keep hedgehogs out ?

hmm, possibly, but it's unlikely, I'm sure hedgehogs dying from natural causes usually do it in the winter, not in the spring when food is plentiful etc.

and the fact I'd found some upturned beer traps minus slugs pretty much gave the game away, plus he just looked like he was properly out of it...

what's all this about jars anyway, am I meant to use jars as beer traps? I was just using little open containers. Tell me more please...

 

[nicksonic]

and the fact I'd found some upturned beer traps minus slugs pretty much gave the game away, plus he just looked like he was properly out of it...

you can tell when a hedgehog's pissed when he/she starts singing

 

[gentlegreen]

what's all this about jars anyway, am I meant to use jars as beer traps? I was just using little open containers. Tell me more please...

Jar buried with the top inch showing - otherwise ground beetles (slug predators) will follow the slugs into the traps.

I'm now thinking you should put on a perforated lid so the slugs can get in, but not the hedgehogs.

Done right you can also stop the rain diluting the beer ..

 

[gentlegreen]

I heard or read somewhere yesterday that there are always lots of juvenile slugs around whose development is held up by the presence of slug trails - so you kill off a load and another lot appear.

 

[felixthecat]

I'm pretty sure I even had slow-worms 20-odd years ago ...

I found one of those having a nice nap in my compost bin in December - gave me a bit of a start, I can tell you.

 

[tarannau]

On the herb thing, isn't parsley renown for preferring richer, moister soil than many others? Sandy/poor soil works better for Thyme, rosemary and the like with basil, oregano and the like somewhere in the middle

I got Thai Basil from the farmers market and the 'herb balcony' is almost complete. Would like some Holy Basil and Celery Leaf, but I'm upto around 30 varieties of herbs stuffed into lots of containers already

 

[ShiftyBagLady]

This morning I discovered that something has chopped all of my bean plants down. I know not how or what but they are all gone.

 

[nicksonic]

This morning I discovered that something has chopped all of my bean plants down. I know not how or what but they are all gone.

you mean the ones you started off in the container?

 

[ShiftyBagLady]

In a seed tray thing yeah.

 

[nicksonic]

In a seed tray thing yeah.

i was wondering how they were doing when i did some planting yesterday. that's a shame...

do you have any leads?

 

[ShiftyBagLady]

Yeah, my boy was right pissed off when he saw it because half of them were his
I am blaming the neighbourhood's anti-social squirrels

 

[nicksonic]

I am blaming the neighbourhood's anti-social squirrels

cctv followed up with on-the-spot fines?

 

[fogbat]

They're already selling the beans at the market, to buy crack

 

[nicksonic]

They're already selling the beans at the market, to buy crack

do they not understand they're just contributing to a neverending cycle?

 

[fogbat]

Well, you know what squirrels are like?

 

[Yuwipi Woman]

Yeah, my boy was right pissed off when he saw it because half of them were his
I am blaming the neighbourhood's anti-social squirrels

We have some red squirresl and some black squirrels. They have little squirrel race wars. What is the world coming to when even the squirrels are wearing gang colors?

 

[nicksonic]

returning to chillies, i'm currently watering the cell tray seedlings daily and keeping the compost moist. when i transfer to 10cm pots should i do the same, i.e. make sure the compost is slightly damp and not dry...?