Simple Pleasures

[John Kimble]

Can't believe I'm discussing gardening on a metal forum but, hey, I suppose I'm only a year off my forties. McLove, can I please talk you out of the decking? Ours came with the house and we got rid of it. It's a bollocks to maintain in the Irish climate, there's just too much rain. I'd go for paving slabs instead, it prob works out cheaper too and little or no maintenance.

[Eoin McLove]

I hear you regarding the upkeep but the decking is integral to my plan so I'll just have to roll up the sleeves and make sure to keep it in good condition.

[Bigmac]

Have to echo the pleasures of gardening.

Took to the idea a few years back that I wanted to start growing some of my own food. Currently have 5 raised beds and a poly tunnel with a nice assortment of veg coming along.

The quintessential Irish gardening experience is planting your spuds on St . Patrick's  Day while having a Guinness.

[Pedrito]

Out of interest, and fair play to you, but I've often wondered how much actual food people get from their gardens? My grandfather had a farm and we would plant spuds, but they were whole fields needed for a decent quantity. Just wondering, not a criticism, I actually think it's a great idea

[Bigmac]

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.

[Pedrito]

Sounds great.

Bra wearing seems to have become pasé amongst many of the young ladies that are walking around the Madrid university where I work and to top it all off, tight see through tshirts are all the rage. Having grown up in repressed, Catholic, single sex education Ireland, I need to pinch myself and wonder if I am not living in some sort of new world utopia. Heavenly nipples everywhere

[Kurt Cocaine]

Sounds great.

Bra wearing seems to have become pasé amongst many of the young ladies that are walking around the Madrid university where I work and to top it all off, tight see through tshirts are all the rage. Having grown up in repressed, Catholic, single sex education Ireland, I need to pinch myself and wonder if I am not living in some sort of new world utopia. Heavenly nipples everywhere

I visit Spain a few times a year and I can definitely vouch that Spanish chicks are the hottest in Europe.
Enjoy my dear friend.... me encanta XXxX

[ochoill]

Great to see everyone getting on well with the gardens, mad to do a bit with mine too but at this rate have to wait until next year.  Currently it holds an old kitchen and a fuckin ton of stuff for a skip so that has to be sorted first.

It's only a small concrete yard, L shaped with each part being about 3m long each and 1.5m wide at the best, with high walls.  City house so not a huge space.  Once it's cleaned, can consider what to do with it, thinking of some small raised beds for the back wall just to grow something out there.  There's a few badly looked after bushes from the old owner that can be tidied.  Can any of ye recommend any decent online resources for ideas?

[StoutAndAle]

Can't believe I'm discussing gardening on a metal forum but, hey, I suppose I'm only a year off my forties. McLove, can I please talk you out of the decking? Ours came with the house and we got rid of it. It's a bollocks to maintain in the Irish climate, there's just too much rain. I'd go for paving slabs instead, it prob works out cheaper too and little or no maintenance.

I reckon that most of us listen metal while doing the yard work, I think that this gives us license to discuss it here.   

Echo that. My neighbours (those mentioned in the Nectar of The Gods thread) have a deck out their back yard. The lady who owned the house before them religiously treated the timber every spring. Within 2 years of her going the thing has fallen to a rotten condition.

Timber decks are also a haven for vermin apparently.

This all said, I'd doing a deck in my yard after I get a bit of building work done. However, I'm getting slabs that look like traditional timber but it's made from concrete. Powerhose the fucker and you're done.

https://www.ballygarvanstonecraft.ie/product/263/paving-slabs/precast-sleeper

[StoutAndAle]

Great to see everyone getting on well with the gardens, mad to do a bit with mine too but at this rate have to wait until next year.  Currently it holds an old kitchen and a fuckin ton of stuff for a skip so that has to be sorted first.

It's only a small concrete yard, L shaped with each part being about 3m long each and 1.5m wide at the best, with high walls.  City house so not a huge space.  Once it's cleaned, can consider what to do with it, thinking of some small raised beds for the back wall just to grow something out there.  There's a few badly looked after bushes from the old owner that can be tidied.  Can any of ye recommend any decent online resources for ideas?

This is a decent website for ordering a starting kit - https://giy.ie/

You begin with the stuff in boxes indoors and then move them outside.

[blessed1]

As has been said already decking is a waste of time in Ireland. It just goes to shit. No metal music for me out in the garden. I usually start with a small joint then whack on classical music. Come to think of it I actually listen to more classical than metal music these days.

[Pedrito]

Sounds great.

Bra wearing seems to have become pasé amongst many of the young ladies that are walking around the Madrid university where I work and to top it all off, tight see through tshirts are all the rage. Having grown up in repressed, Catholic, single sex education Ireland, I need to pinch myself and wonder if I am not living in some sort of new world utopia. Heavenly nipples everywhere

I visit Spain a few times a year and I can definitely vouch that Spanish chicks are the hottest in Europe.
Enjoy my dear friend.... me encanta XXxX

hehe...add the huge influx from Latin America, North Africa, it´s like a catwalk in the metro. A long way from grey uniforms and Christian brothers I tell ye.

[Nebula]

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.

[Nebula]

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.

[Bigmac]

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!