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We've a langer loaf of Raspberries, Currents and Strawberries on the go.

Strawberries spread like weeds. Raspberries need to be contained properly, unlike ours which are literally shooting up all over the lawn and neighbouring beds. 

Onions, Beets, Spinach, Carrots and Courgette are all on the go at the minute.

What are you going to do with all the berries? I've a similar plethora of fruit. There's only so much jam a and smoothies a person can make. I'm thinking of doing wine or some some sort of cider from them..
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Apologies for side-tracking this thread, but I just saw they were back in the studio in March to put the finishing touchs to a new album. Get it ooot ta feck!

Can't wait for this myself!

Yeah I also picked up a copy of Gaia's Garden, in relation to permaculture. Still pretty new to the concept, but that'll hopefully shed a bit of light on it.

The whole food forest idea is fantastic.

Spent a good bit of time watching Charles Dowding, I remember seeing a photo of him with a fuckin epic parsnip ha ha

Bealtaine Cottage looks amazing too.

Yeah the GIY stuff can be a bit expensive, but I find their videos on YouTube to be really handy for the basics. That Claus guy is entertaining to watch.

Ah yeah forgot about that Claus Lederhosen guy... His book is incredible!

Any ideas for a natural weedkiller? Have a load of thistles coming up in the back garden, got rid of most of them last year with roundup, but now the kids are older and will be outside more I don't want to go so severe

I find the only way to kill weeds is digging them up. Strim them /chop em down first and then dig up any roots and runners that may be hiding underground. Then grow something else there straight away to block light and provide competition for any Fuckers that think of growing back.  Its a pain in the ass but if you do it right first you won't have to keep going back in there with roundup or some other carcinogenic and useless weedkiller.

I left work and decided to take a bit more control of our food, tastes better  less plastic waste, double the nutrition, miles cheaper. Ah yeah, I have Grow cook eat, and was a GIYer but I find them to be a bit expensive for the subscription. Though they got me into chard... Which is the king of veg! I'm mad into organics and permaculture. Charles Dowding is a bit of a god so he's worth checking out on youtube. Also Huws Nursery has excellent videos along with Claires allotments. For permaculture and living more off grid, Bealtaine cottage (she composts her own shit) and Mossy Bottom (more philosophical videos) are also great youtube channels!

If anyone has any experience in brewing from berries, and fruit, I'd be interested in any ideas?Got arou 20 blackcurrant bushes, a plum tree, raspberries  gooseberries, sloes and some elder trees.  Also maybe interested in rhubarb champagne or elderflower champagne. 

No major issues really that I can recall. I'll always sow more than I think I'll need, so even if I get a few duds, I tend to still have enough. Have 3 pepper plants, 4 red chilli and 4 jalapenos all doing well now in the poly tunnel.

Since they have such a long growing season, I started them off on the windowsill along with the tomatoes back in February.

I tend to use module trays and sow one seed per module, water them in and wrap a bit of cling film over the tray to keep in a bit of moisture and heat.

The depth at which you sow them can have a bit of an influence too. I think mine usually just go in at a finger nails depth, and I just top it off with a bit more compost. Hope some of that helps anyway!

Cheers. I've done all of the above except I sowed them fairly near the surface. I'll try deeper next year and try a different seed company next yr. Just puddled in my leeks today.  (it's Mairéad BTW) if you're ever in our neck of the woods, pop in and see our set up. We have baby chicks n all!

Yeah it's pretty difficult to become completely self sufficient in food for sure.

I've two beds for potatoes, one early potatoes, and one main crop potatoes. For most of the beds I follow some square foot gardening principles. So one potato plant per square foot in a 3 foot by 5 foot bed, gives me 30 plants between the two beds. I had enough potatoes to munch on for a good few months last year with them.

Same with the carrots, parsnips, and beetroot. You can fit 16 carrots or 16 parsnips in a square foot. So my 1 foot by 5 foot strips in the bed give me 80 carrots and 80 parsnips, dependent on them all successfully germinating. Beetroot on the other hand is 9 per square foot, so a 1 foot by 5 foot strip gives me 45 plants, all of which I pickle.

Other than that I've a bed with around 22 garlic plants, and a rake of onions and red onions, then the final bed is a strip of peas, an an assortment of oriental greens and lettuce.

The poly tunnel then has vine tomatoes, bush tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and a shit load of chillis.

Overall I get quite a lot out of a reasonably small space. Next year I'll try expand to 8 beds, and perhaps look at getting chickens this year.

Far from self sufficient, but it's such a satisfying endeavor.

You any issues with germinating peppers? Ive tried 3 times, both chilli and sweet. The polytunnel gets quite hot. I've tried it in vermicompost and then just peat free compost with vermiculite and still no luck. Everything else germinate for me, tomatoes, squash melons... Even celeriac... Just no luck with the peppers.

I have to say, I wasn't gonna join this forum till I heard there was a gardening discussion! Does anyone brew from what they grow? Have a lot of  blackcurrant, raspberry, gooseberry bushes and a plum tree so I'm planning to . Also elderflower champagne and rhubarb champagne is on the cards...  Have 3 polytunnels and hens too so I live in the garden. . Winterfylleth and Ulver are my gardening bands of late.