Gardening, the simple metaller's simple pleasure

[Kurt Cocaine]

We've had our scallions and rocket already. Very tasty.....
The tomatoes and lettuces are coming along nicely. They're going to be huge so need to get trimming the tomato plants...

[Bigmac]

Cheers all!

Yeah I'm really happy with it so far. It finally feels like I've a handle on things this year, other ones have been pretty chaotic.

For anyone doing similar, I found taking an hour or two at the start of the year to fill in a calendar with sowing dates, harvest dates, various jobs etc really helped.  You can see what's coming up at a quick glance.

I enjoy the fact that there's no key to whether you're taking that photo from upstairs or if everything  is 30% smaller than normal and you're 6ft 4" tall

Ha ha it's just from the top of the shed roof to get a decent view of it all.

[Bigmac]

We've had our scallions and rocket already. Very tasty.....
The tomatoes and lettuces are coming along nicely. They're going to be huge so need to get trimming the tomato plants...

Yeah I've really kept on top of the tomato pruning and they are looking great. Loads of fruit trusses setting already, and the tunnel is so much neater without all that unnecessary leafy growth filling it up.

[Trev]

Was my first year trying to grow a bit so only put two veg boxes down with a bit of a mix of stuff to see what worked. Looked out this morning and saw the poxy neighbours dog going mad digging them up, and then dropped a giant shit just for good measure. Fucking fuming

[Bigmac]

Yeah I had a big problem with local cats and foxes digging at mine and shitting in the beds.

Came out one morning to find a cat having a shit and just staring me out of it. It takes a special kind of evil to look you dead in the eyes while it shits on something you love.

I got a couple of ultrasonic motion detectors from Lidl, a motion sensor light, and made up my own repellent made from mint, cayenne, and garlic to spray at the entrances and it seems to have done the job.

[mugz]

Yeah I had a big problem with local cats and foxes digging at mine and shitting in the beds.

Came out one morning to find a cat having a shit and just staring me out of it. It takes a special kind of evil to look you dead in the eyes while it shits on something you love.

I got a couple of ultrasonic motion detectors from Lidl, a motion sensor light, and made up my own repellent made from mint, cayenne, and garlic to spray at the entrances and it seems to have done the job.

that's one of the downsides- you can catch a fuckload of bad things from earth/plants/veg where things have been extra fertilised by foxes dogs cats etc

[astfgyl]

Should have got the cat laser. 3 green circles in Turrican would bust any cat

[mugz]

Should have got the cat laser. 3 green circles in Turrican would bust any cat

ugh that turrican reference hit my nostalgia gland hard

[ochoill]

Should have got the cat laser. 3 green circles in Turrican would bust any cat

Lol only the one in Turrican 2 though, the one in 1 was still good and all but in 2 sure it was nearly as good as firing off the spacebar yoke

[astfgyl]

Should have got the cat laser. 3 green circles in Turrican would bust any cat

ugh that turrican reference hit my nostalgia gland hard

I'm going to get out the emulator and have a game of it this evening.

Should have got the cat laser. 3 green circles in Turrican would bust any cat

Lol only the one in Turrican 2 though, the one in 1 was still good and all but in 2 sure it was nearly as good as firing off the spacebar yoke

It's Turrican 2 I'm going to hop off actually.

Swinging things back on topic, it's a grand day for a bit of work in the garden now that it isn't scorchio

[mugz]

Should have got the cat laser. 3 green circles in Turrican would bust any cat

ugh that turrican reference hit my nostalgia gland hard

I'm going to get out the emulator and have a game of it this evening.

Should have got the cat laser. 3 green circles in Turrican would bust any cat

Lol only the one in Turrican 2 though, the one in 1 was still good and all but in 2 sure it was nearly as good as firing off the spacebar yoke

It's Turrican 2 I'm going to hop off actually.

Swinging things back on topic, it's a grand day for a bit of work in the garden now that it isn't scorchio

I like it best to garden in the intense dry heat, and let things settle in the wet days

[astfgyl]

There are 2 issues around that for me. When I go out to do the gardening on a roasting hot day, cans magically appear in my hand one after another and I get fuck all done and also any digging or lifting or whatnot is twice as hard as it needs to be when compared to doing it on a dull day. The first issue feeds right into the second as well

[mugz]

There are 2 issues around that for me. When I go out to do the gardening on a roasting hot day, cans magically appear in my hand one after another and I get fuck all done and also any digging or lifting or whatnot is twice as hard as it needs to be when compared to doing it on a dull day. The first issue feeds right into the second as well

I find it easier to zone out in the heat, working without thinking, working up a sweat, polish off some  tapwater, then on a cloudy day or a wet day you can do some sweeping or pruning.  Actually with age, I enjoy any excuse to do some pottering in the garden.

[Emphyrio]

Over the last 2 weekends got the patio done, put sleepers around the garden with plants and flowers potted n all that jazz. I was never much a fella for gardening, in fact I'm still not, but cans out the back would be nicer, I think, with something nice to be looking at. With the weather, sadly, they've been indoor cans thus far.

Tell me, are herbs easy to grow? Better indoors or out? Which ones are fairly hardy and won't suffer from occasional forgetfulness on my part? Not looking to go hardcore like some of ye, just a coupla small bits.

[mugz]

Over the last 2 weekends got the patio done, put sleepers around the garden with plants and flowers potted n all that jazz. I was never much a fella for gardening, in fact I'm still not, but cans out the back would be nicer, I think, with something nice to be looking at. With the weather, sadly, they've been indoor cans thus far.

Tell me, are herbs easy to grow? Better indoors or out? Which ones are fairly hardy and won't suffer from occasional forgetfulness on my part? Not looking to go hardcore like some of ye, just a coupla small bits.

herbs is a broad church. Lavender is piss easy and has a large range of variants, sage is a bit wilty in the Irish climate and 2 lots I grew have unfortunately started to drop off, garlic is dead easy to grow and smells/tastes incredible, rosemary is quite hardy and does ok in this climate, and coriander grows real well too.

curry plants are great too.