Vegetable Plot - gardening for beginners

Greenhouse 2008

2009-05-21T16:25:00.000+01:00

On the basis that a picture is worth a thousand words . . . or something like that, here are some photos of last year's greenhouse.

Greenhouse . . . just the job but over budget!

2009-05-21T14:55:00.000+01:00

This is exactly what I wanted as a greenhouse. Had one back in the 70s and I grew some great plants as well as it withstanding the weather (that was in Wales).

I think I would need the 6'6" (1.98m) x 10' (3.05m) model but at £269 that is way beyond my current budget, especially having wasted £80 on the one that got wrecked by wind. I couldn't see anything about delivery charges either which might mean additional cost. There is also a "15 Working Days delivery" clause which means it could be mid-June before I could get one . . . far too late for tomato plants.

Something to think about for next year perhaps! (The recession might have disappeared by then and money will be easier . . . I can always hope!)

If you are interested you will find the Polytunnels on this web site:

www.citadelpolytunnels.com

Thanks to Peter Hamblin for finding the information for me. (Peter, together with his wife Mary, runs Hollins House B&B in Harrogate - www.hollinshouse.co.uk)

The Greenhouse is down!

2009-05-21T10:03:00.000+01:00

The garden suffered a major set back last week with the destruction of my new greenhouse by the wind. Plants were scattered everywhere and now there is nowhere for them to grow. Also very disheartening.

There were no instructions with the greenhouse and no way of securing it to the ground. I had hoped it was aerodynamically designed (should have known better from shape) as there was nothing to secure it with. Within two days of putting it up the wind lifted it up and over. Not a problem I thought - I went out and bought tent pegs to hold the frame down with (4 to each side).

I could see the pegs were doing the job when after a couple of days it was still in place but then one morning there was a tap on the door. It was my neighbour asking did I know my greenhouse was blowing around the garden!

I rushed out into the garden to find the greenhouse upside down, as it had been the first time it got blown over, but this time some of the supporting frame had been buckled and snapped in several places. Obviously the frame was not strong enough to be held down and withstand the pressure of the wind.

WHAT A LOAD OF RUBBISH!

Once again the saying "You get what you pay for" holds true. It had cost me (including P&P) just under £80 on eBay.

This was the image on eBay:

Not sure what to do now. Obviously no point buying another one as the same thing will happen again. Anything more substantial is outside my budget but I need somewhere to at least grow my tomatoes. May have to get another small one (like I had last year) from B&Q. I didn't want to go that route as that was so flimsy that some of the supports snapped when putting it together last year. Hence the new one!

Will have to do something this weekend as I am now late with everything.

The Greenhouse is up!

2009-05-10T17:18:00.001+01:00

I finally got the greenhouse up yesterday and mighty fine it is too!

I can't believe how big it is compared to what I had last year. Will try and get some photos later.

For the time being this is an image of what I have got:

http://ebay.grow-up-uk.com/gh002_bin-gallery.jpg

Went out this morning and bought 12 tomato plants and some chili and cucumber plants. Will have to get my beans sown in pots this week. Must also remember to take advantage of Thompson & Morgan's 50% off offer on vegetable seeds.

Is this really Marco?

2009-04-24T14:48:00.001+01:00

I find it hard to believe that Knorr have selected this image of Marco for their banner advert appearing at the top of the www.itv.com Hell's Kitchen page.

Comments on a postcard.

Spring has arrived!

2009-04-22T10:57:00.001+01:00

Can't praise them highly enough! I have finally got a new spring for my twice-used lawnmower.

The manufacturer was messing around, and in fact their parts catalogue was listing the wrong part. Sproughton Garden Machinery went that extra mile for me by working out the part needed and sourcing the right spring for me. Bear in mind that I didn't buy the mower from them and that the total cost was £3.07 . . . how much profit did that earn them after several phone calls and the use of valuable business time?

Another example of why we should ignore the big stores like B & Q (where I bought the mower) in favour of local suppliers who provide real customer service.

If you are local to Ipswich Suffolk these are the contact details:

Sproughton Garden Machinery
77-79 Cullingham Road
IPSWICH
IP1 2EG

Tel: 01473 251526
Fax: 01473 219858

Web site: www.mowerpro.co.uk/portal/index.php?bran_ID=259

Lawnmower problems continue

2009-04-21T12:19:00.000+01:00

It is now three weeks since I ordered the small spring needed for my Homelite lawn mower (which is actually manufactured by Mountfield for rebranding). The part was ordered direct from Mountfield.

Nothing I can do except watch my grass continue to grow. It makes me mad that they design a lawn mower so badly that something simple like this can happen and then don't care enough about customers to make sure parts are available!

I managed to cut my grass twice at the end of last summer before the spring got damaged and it now looks more and more likely that I will have to buy another lawn mower. Grrrrr!

I can't wait much longer as I need to cut back grass so I can clear an area for a new polythene greenhouse.

So what did happen in the Veg Plot in 2008?

2009-04-21T11:46:00.004+01:00

Well, to start with it was not a good year for weeds. That is to say it was a good year if you were a weed but not if you were a gardener trying to get rid of them!

My grandfather had always taught me that the secret to success was meticulous weeding. Do your weeding properly and thoroughly by getting every bit of root out of the ground and life would be easier for the rest of the growing season . . . and more importantly your growing plants wouldn't get choked by competing with growing weeds. The only weeds you would have to contend with would be the surface growing weeds which can easily be dealt with by a quick hoeing on a sunny day.

It was a good year for the weeds because it was such a wet March, April and May which made it almost impossible to get on the ground. This meant it was getting on for the end of May before the ground was ready for any planting. I hadn't realised what hard work digging and weeding the vegetable patch could be . . . but then again perhaps years of inactivity were coming home to roost!

Having cleared, dug and weeded the first thing to go in was a clump of rhubarb which my wife scrounged from someone who was about to throw it out (sacrilege). It has established itself well but I decided not to force it this year and give it another year before we starting picking any.

Under construction . . . sort of!

2009-04-02T21:41:00.001+01:00

I am making changes to the design layout of the Blog so things might look a bit out or colours might be in the wrong place. Slow business trying to work out how someone else has puts something together. Hopefully it will all look better when I have finished . . . as long as I don't get interrupted and have to go and do some gardening!

Lawnmower problems

2009-03-31T15:24:00.001+01:00

Well, after nearly two hours of phoning around, which ended with me being given the same number to call as I started with, I decided to switch my search for a small spring for my lawnmower to Google.

Guess what? I ended up on the manufacturer's web site! That's who I had to ring in the first place! However, there was one benefit . . . they had a different number to call for help. I rang the number and was told that parts were only available through local agents. The good thing was they asked me for my postcode and immediately told me where I could get the part near to where I live.

I have lived in Ipswich (Suffolk UK) for nearly seven years and had never been able to find a business that sold and repaired garden equipment. They were literally five minutes down the road by car. I quickly jumped in the car and within ten minutes the part had been ordered and should be in on Friday.

Now for most of you this information won't be much use but if you live in the Ipswich area the place you need for new garden equipment, spares or repairs is:

Sproughton Garden Machinery
77-79 Cullingham Road
IPSWICH
IP1 2EG

Tel: 01473 251526
Fax: 01473 219858

Web site: www.mowerpro.co.uk/portal/index.php?bran_ID=259

Grass cutting this weekend? Watch this space!

Starting to lose it . . .

2009-03-31T10:45:00.003+01:00

Late last summer I bought a new petrol driven lawn mower (Homelite HL454HP) from B&Q. It was a simple choice - it looked like the one that had packed up after five years' hard use and the price was reasonable. Never thought to check design!

Used the mower twice and then discovered a shrub had caught a spring which regulates the engine speed. A very delicate spring which has been stretched so that it no longer works, and consequently the mower can't be used as the engine now runs too fast. In my opinion it is a design fault that such a flimsy part is so exposed as to be damaged so easily. Be that as it may I resigned myself to getting another spring.

As it was the end of the summer I didn't do anything about it until now. Mistake as I could have gainfully employed my time through all those long dark months chasing a spring.

First port of call was the local B&Q shop who could not help as they do not stock parts. That was to be expected but they were helpful and gave me the number for the manufacturer in the UK. Rang the number and when I elected to speak to Parts I got through to Transport! Transport said they would transfer me to Parts. Don't know who I got through to but they said they don't supply parts!

Then given the number of a business in Northampton . . . they don't do parts for that machine! Given two other numbers to ring! One turns out to be the manufacturer again so full circle. The other does stock parts but he doesn't have a schematic of the model in question so he can't find out the part number for the spring!

Every mower probably uses the same spring but no point going down that avenue as far too complicated to try and compel him to sell me just any spring. Am given another number. Again it is to the manufacturer but this time it has a different area code and I am told it is a direct line to "Ron" who will be able to tell me the part number which will enable me to go back to the previous person I spoke to so that he can see whether they stock or can order the part.

It's just a spring for heaven's sake!

In the meantime my grass continues to grow and I can't get on with clearing ground for my new greenhouse.

Because the likes of B&Q sell mowers so cheap there are no longer people providing a repair service so that option no longer exists. You can see what is going to happen . . . it is going to be easier and cheaper to buy a new mower!

Testing updating by email

2009-03-29T15:58:00.002+01:00

It obviously works so this could be a big step forward.

Now I need to see how it handles an image or photograph so here are two random inclusions. Adding an image by email didn't work so I have added this one manually

Testing updating by email

2009-03-29T15:54:00.001+01:00

I am looking into posting by email. I can write emails until the cows come home so it might be the way forward to keeping my Blog updated.

David
www.hub-uk.com
www.kitchenskill.com
www.cookingholidays.co.uk
www.sellyourpropertyabroad.com

"I'd like to live as a poor man with lots of money." ~ Pablo Picasso

What happened to 2008?

2009-03-22T10:27:00.003Z

Doesn't life just seem to be a whirlwind at times and the older you get the faster it gets! Those days, as a youngster when I used to moan that I was bored, now are nothing but a distant memory. There is never enough time in a day to do everything never mind having enough energy to get it all done. I did get on with growing last year and had some success and quite a few failures. I took quite a few photographs so will try and dig those out and that will hopefully jog the memory enough to rite a few notes about what went on. The season is all ready racing to meet us and I haven't stepped into the garden yet. First job is to go out and buy an incinerator so I can start clearing back and pruning some overgrown shrubs. Oh and I will need a new long handle pruner as I snapped mine clearing some branches for a builder during the winter - didn't know my own strength!

Things are happening!

2008-05-23T12:25:00.000+01:00

I am pushing ahead with the Veg plot and yes it did get fenced and dug by the end of last summer but more of that as soon as I get five minutes to do some writing and download some photographs!

I think summer may have arrived

2007-08-03T11:26:00.000+01:00

It hasn't rained for several days now and the sun is shining this morning as if it is summer.

I suspect that the weather is now about to get a bit too hot for us hardy types who have been braving the weather over the last few months by wandering around in short sleeve shirts! So it may now become too hot to work in the garden and I will have to resign myself to sitting amongst the weeds sipping something cool.

My poor old vegetable plot, having been dug and looked quite presentable, is now covered in weeds again. I have decided, even if the weather permits, that there is no point digging it again until I have fenced it off. The three Boxer dogs think I have specially created this area as their personal loo!

Some progress has been made towards doing the fencing. There are now five bags of instant (just add water) concrete sitting in our hallway . . . well, you have to keep it dry don't you! And there are posts keeping dry in the garden shed.

As I work for myself (you must have seen my main web site www.hub-uk.com) I seem to have had too much to do lately to have any time to get into the garden . . . the grass will be up to our knees soon! Perhaps I will take some time out this weekend (now it is going to be really hot) and get the fencing done and, if time permits, make a gate to fit in the fencing so that we can get in and out of the vegetable plot.

Watch this space for further imminent developments.

Wouldn't you just know it!

2007-06-27T23:21:00.000+01:00

I'd been watching the weather all day and there had been no rain. As I was preparing the evening meal about 6.00 pm I was contemplating being able to do some more of the first dig which would break the back of the digging.

Guess what . . . a cloud burst! Fifteen minutes of heavy rain and that was the end of digging for another day. And the forecast isn't good!

Mind you what can you expect . . . it is Wimbledon fortnight!

It's not as if I can get on with putting fence posts in either as rain like we are getting would wash all the concrete out of the post holes before it has time to set.

It started raining . . .

2007-06-23T20:52:00.000+01:00

It started raining so that meant the end to digging for the day. Looking at it this evening it looks like it might be to wet to dig tomorrow as well. In fact, the weather report for the next few days is not good.

(That was taken in daylight not at night!)

Mind you I am under no pressure as I have given myself the whole of this summer to get it all ready for planting next Spring so there is plenty of time yet. Might be nice to get some salad stuff in if possible. Will have to wait and see.

So what do you do in the garden when it's wet? Well you can always head for the DIY stores like me to look at what is available for fencing and how much it is all going to cost.

Why do I need fencing for a plot in my own garden? You might ask. Garden pests that's what! Three of them who love to trample over everything and dig up anything that looks interesting.

I will have to get everything measured, work out how many posts I need and then get started. Concreting the posts in their holes is the biggest nuisance as I don't want to be mixing concrete. There are bags of ready mix available which you just add water to when it is in the hole. The cost is fine for doing one post but when you need six or seven posts . . . Will just have to see as I go along.

Having only a small car I might have to wait until I can persuade my wife to use her car to transport everything. Shame to make a mess of mine anyway. So perhpas I will keep out of the garden tomorrow.

Starting to make progress

2007-06-23T17:23:00.000+01:00

I didn’t decide to set up the Blog until a few days ago so what I am now showing hasn’t just happened over night!

I have pegged out the area roughly and you can see where I have started digging at the top end. The root system from the briers, the ivy and other creepers, not to mention a holly tree and other shrubs is a nightmare. Having said that the soil is very light and breaks up easily.

You will also notice that the Silver Birch and the Weeping Willow have grown since I originally planted them to screen the old garden shed. When I first moved into the property the garden shed was a real eye sore as it was falling down and looked fairly disgusting. I repaired the roof and the front of it a couple of years ago and then gave it a lick of timber coating which made it look a bit more respectable. Unfortunately during one of last winter's storms part of the roofing felt was ripped off so I will have to get that repaired by the Autumn. It is also in need of another coat of timber treatment although we have done the vegetable plot side which you can see in the next photograph.

If you are wondering what happened to the old apple tree, it has gone. It was blown down in the winter so I had to hire a chainsaw last Spring to get it cleared. What a mess! It hadn't done the grass any favours as it was like putting a mulch over it. This is all that remains:

There is nothing worse when clearing a new piece of ground than the green grass clumps so I decided to put my new "organic" weed killer to work. Just look how it has cleared the top growth:

If you are wondering what it is then I will tell you. It's a flame thrower. The gardening tool for all pyromaniacs.

I bought it in the Spring as the garden had become rather overgrown. I had used one many years ago when I helped my father in the garden. That must have been in the late Sixties and the amazing thing is that it is still exactly the same piece of equipment. Obviously they created the perfect design all those years ago. I have never seen one in a shop and got mine via the internet. (Can't remember where at the moment otherwise I would have posted a link - if you really need to know then email me).

One of the problems we are having this year is the regular rainfall. You start digging and it starts raining so you have to wait for everything to dry out.

Making it easier to see what is what!

2007-06-21T14:34:00.000+01:00

The picture I added to my first post does not exactly make clear what you are looking at unless like me you have seen the actual ground. So here are a couple more photographs with labels and red lines to mark out what you are supposed to be looking at:

On the next one there are a couple of trees labelled. The significance of these will become apparent as things develop:

How it started

2007-06-20T23:56:00.001+01:00

I've had the idea for some time. The idea of turning part of the garden into a vegetable plot.

My family home had over an acre of vegetable garden so looking after that with my grandfather meant I learnt quite a lot about how to prepare the soil and grow my own vegetables. Even after I married and left home I grew my own veg for many years. Nothing quite like the taste of vegetables you have grown yourself . . . freshly picked broad beans, some just dug new potatoes and plenty of bacon, with butter melting over the top! Mmmmm! Makes you hungry just thinking about it.

All this self sufficiency came to an end back in 1984 when I moved to work in London. The high powered life and the long working hours meant there was no time for gardening. Now twenty-three years later I have finally come full circle and decided to try growing my own again.

Growing my own veg seemed sort of appropriate as I run one of the leading cooking and recipe sites (www.hub-uk.com). Growing my own veg goes with the concept of eating good food.

And why the Blog? Well gardening is not something I want to feature on Hub-UK but I thought it would be fun to see how I get on clearing a bit of garden that has been neglected over the years. By keeping a record, by means of a Blog, I get to show what I am up to and to hopefully pick up some tips and hints along the way.

My idea is to keep the Blog as a diary of my vegetable plot and post whenever I do something, or possibly even when I fail to do something just because I feel plain lazy. I think this year will be taken up with preparing it for planting next year and when you see the photograph of what it was like you might understand why.