Hello UK

Does anyone in the UK use the forum, only one post this year !!!!

Hi Robert! Marie here. Not UK though... Sorry...

Plantoid posts quite a bit, but not sure if it's in UK section. And I've seen some other folks posting. But, again, it's within whatever section they may be answering.

Tell us about YOUR garden this year! Let's get the UK section going!

Plantoid in Wales is a frequent poster. He just joins in on a post when it is something he is interested in. You can contact him under Members. I think there are enough UK members that you need to start up a thread, like "2018 SFG in the UK".

A question for UK members, do you still have garden allotments?

https://www.learningwithexperts.com/gardening/blog/the-history-of-allotments

Cheers.

ID, Did you ever Private Message Plantoid? Are you thinking of an allotment?

IrishDigger wrote:A question for UK members, do you still have garden allotments?

https://www.learningwithexperts.com/gardening/blog/the-history-of-allotments

Cheers.

I doubt many people have the allotments now as they used to be pretty large. Nowadays more likely to be small plots like our Square Foot gardens that most of us here use.

I do remember being taken by my dad on his bike about a mile down the road from where we lived, and he had an allotment where he produced all the vegetables we needed. He also had a similar sized garden and he also grew his favourite chrysanthemums and dahlias. He also had rabbits and chickens, and my mum used to heat up the food for the chickens so that they could keep warm in the winter.

I think that is where I grew to love gardening as I was given a potato to plant in a hole I had dug, and some time later I dug it up and there was a lovely pile of potatoes that provided for one Sunday Dinner.  Naturally I showed off saying that I had provided the potatoes for that meal and I did get praised. A very positive experience that many years later when I had a house of my own, I always grew something.

On his allotment my Dad had a shed which was my "playhouse". Naturally I had to share with the forks and spades etc, but there was room for me near the door and I had a little window put in..

Nice story, KJ, as usual.

sanderson wrote:Nice story, KJ, as usual.

That was the first six years of my life, with my loving foster family. I will always remember them with love.

sanderson wrote:ID, Did you ever Private Message Plantoid? Are you thinking of an allotment?

Gd'day Sanderson, sorry for the late reply, no I never did PM Plantoid.

I have a fairly large block and so I would not need an allotment, however there are quite a number of community gardens in Australia where the local community become involved in growing veggies etc.

My old back is playing up and I was thinking of getting one of these,

https://www.bunnings.com.au/birdies-2-9m-x-1-5m-x-0-74m-aluzinc-6-in-1-raised-garden-bed_p3320686

This is part of my back garden,

I am supposed to go back to the UK to live this year but I am wondering if I will ever get there.

If I do, I will remain on this board and perhaps get a few others in time.

Irish digger, those tubs look handy , I wonder how long they will last .. ..  " Not long if it is Chinese galvanised rubbish steel if my experiences are any thing to go by .   They could make the internal form for you to put spacers  through holes and temporary bolt on an outer skin of oiled construction ply 5 inches away from the galvanised  wriggly tin then pour a fine grade concrete in between the two skins so you in effect end up with a zinc plated corrugated liner in a concrete tub .

 I too have a few physical challenges ( and mental to    ? )  , I paid someone to build my 29 raised beds in engineering bricks 900 mm 3 inches ) high .

 It was the best thing I've ever done for as I got older ( it was 15 yrs ago ) and now am in my 70th year I would have had to give up any form of gardening in any bed lower than the 900 mm height.   It's also given me something to do now I as a high risk cripple am confined to our property due to the Corona virus reduction laws  that came in place Thursday 26 march 2020 .

Dave

IrishDigger wrote:
My old back is playing up and I was thinking of getting one of these,

https://www.bunnings.com.au/birdies-2-9m-x-1-5m-x-0-74m-aluzinc-6-in-1-raised-garden-bed_p3320686

There is a guy in Australia that has a youtube channel called "SelfSufficientMe" in which he talks a lot about the Birdies raised beds. He seems to really like them.  You might want to check out his channel on these beds.  Here is one of his videos.

Thanks Plantoid (Dave) and OhioGardener for the excellent advice.

Cheers.

ID, The birdies are quite expensive!! Have you considered table top beds? Mine are 2' tall, a little short for planting but perfect for tending and harvesting the plants.

sanderson wrote:ID, The birdies are quite expensive!!  Have you considered table top beds?  Mine are 2' tall, a little short for planting but perfect for tending and harvesting the plants.

In addition to being expensive,  they seem to be way deeper than we need for MM.  My 4x4 cedar beds are 7" deep and sit hip high to me on cinder blocks. After 9 years of use they started to fall apart last summer.    I also had some display tables that I got for free (best price) that I used for cement mixing tubs.  They are a little shy in depth but are great for salad greens and radishes and sat very nicely just outside my back door. Only 2 of the 3 left.  But sitting high like that sure has allowed me to continue gardening.

Sometimes I wish I could return to England for a summer.  I spent 2 1/2 years at RAF Croughton (Oct 1999-July 2002)  Had the best flower garden every while there.    I really enjoyed my side trips to Wales and Scotland.

Kay

sanderson wrote:ID, The birdies are quite expensive!! Have you considered table top beds? Mine are 2' tall, a little short for planting but perfect for tending and harvesting the plants.

Hmmm, worth a thought, thanks Sanderson.

walshevak wrote:........Sometimes I wish I could return to England for a summer.  I spent 2 1/2 years at RAF Croughton (Oct 1999-July 2002)  Had the best flower garden every while there.    I really enjoyed my side trips to Wales and Scotland.

Kay

Hi Kay, at the risk of being pulled into line for going off topic, my wife and I did a tour of Scotland and thought the scenery was awesome. We went there to see The Edinburgh Military Tattoo and then did a bit of a tour around the highlands.

Were you stationed at RAF Croughton and perhaps living in married quarters; I served a number of years in the RAAF and was based throughout Australia and SE Asia.

@IrishDigger. re reading the thread :-

  I used to be 5 foot 10 & 1/2" but two spinal problems have dropped me down into a hunched 5 foot 7 . One thing I can say about my brick built raised beds is that if they had been any less than (  900 mm ) three foot high from the concrete paths I'd have had to give up gardening of any kind  as anything lower is far too painful to work over if it is lower. 

 Were I to have to re do everything I'd still keep the beds in strings of six beds but I would reduce the widths to three foot  so weeding , cropping & sowing in the middle is going to be a lot easier on my bust spine , wrecked knees &  damaged  shoulder joints .

Hi, IrishDigger!  Welcome back!    I have on the ground variety, but I see some taller beds in the future!

plantoid wrote:@IrishDigger. re reading the thread :-

  I used to be 5 foot 10 & 1/2" but two spinal problems have dropped me down into a hunched 5 foot 7 . One thing I can say about my brick built raised beds is that if they had been any less than (  900 mm ) three foot high from the concrete paths I'd have had to give up gardening of any kind  as anything lower is far too painful to work over if it is lower. 

 Were I to have to re do everything I'd still keep the beds in strings of six beds but I would reduce the widths to three foot  so weeding , cropping & sowing in the middle is going to be a lot easier on my bust spine , wrecked knees &  damaged  shoulder joints .

Plantoid:  A long time ago I reduced my beds to 3 feet wide so that I do not fall into them.

Nice to see a few participants from the UK.  It is some time since I said I was returning to England to live but so far circumstances have foiled my plans, but for the moment they are still on hold.

I have sold my house but for the time being I am living here as a tenant until I can make my way to Essex to live with my brother's family.

Lots to write about, especially what was my garden and what I hope to have on my return to England.  It is getting late for me.

But Sanderson, I must resign from being responsible for the Canadian thread.

My garden is in others' hands now while I still wait to get to England.

The new owners are stripping almost everything and to my sorrow they took down the aging cherry tree that gave wonderful sweet cherries that I canned and am still eating, the one I gave it several layers of wood chips. They have also pruned the aging apple tree but I am not sure if they have done it right. 

Also they burned all the the tree and left just a pile of ashes instead of turning it into wood chips. 

Unfortunately one of the workers   had a seizure today and was taken to hospital and he is an important part of the family that now owns my little house. By the time that they finish the house it will be something that I will never be able to afford as they will be living in it when I depart.

But now I can tell you about the home that I will have when I get to England.

It is located in Essex, one of the so-called Home Counties that surround London.  It is a Grade 11 listed building on two and a half ares of land and almost surrounded by a moat that is four hundred years old,  has loads of ducks, moorhens and others, including in swan that so far has not got a mate and is very tame. The moat is bordered by many trees and has beautiful sunsets.

The listed building is a converted barn and the whole lot is surround by trees. My bother is keen on planting a garden and he has taken my advice about using wood chips as he tells me the ground is hard and full of dirt and stones and he had a job of planting the potatoes. He is not too well at the moment but he has finally tested negative for Covid and needs to recover a bit more before he can feel better. 

My niece's partner has already built several raised beds, compost places, planted 30 fruit trees and had a greenhouse built.  Also a pond to for his carp and koi fish.  There will also be stretches of wild flowers.  I think that is enough for now, but I know I will be able to have my own little patch.

KJ, Your new home sounds delightful! A Grade 11 listed building sounds especially interesting. When you get there, you must delegate your niece or someone to take photos to share with us.

Kelejan wrote:. . . But Sanderson, I must resign from being responsible for the Canadian thread.

I hope you can run the European thread once you have settled in.

sanderson wrote:KJ,  Your new home sounds delightful!  A Grade 11 listed building sounds especially interesting.  When you get there, you must delegate your niece or someone to take photos to share with us.  

My niece is a very good photographer and loves taking pictures and I know she will cooperate with me.