Next daft question

I don't know about you, obviously, but I have never followed any of the soil rotation plans  - where a specific group of veg move to another area each year - the theory being that each veg benefits from whatever was grown there in the previous year. Don't expect me to explain it  as its beyond me!
I've realised that I always grow beans in the same place - always grow peas in their own place, every year - because that's where the supports are.
Perennial vegetables - leeks, kale etc stay put and seem to thrive. ...............
.........So, why, are we advised to grow annual leeks and brassicas in a different place every year?

You can probably see where I'm going with this........to create permanent "beds" for each veg that I grow. It would have the added benefit that self seeders would be in the right place to grow, year on year.

I was watching an old episode of QI last night and gregarious flowering was mentioned.

A particular species of bamboo will flower at intervals of 10 to 130 years. All examples of that species will flower at the same time no matter where in the world they're growing or under what conditions. A bit of a simplification but nonetheless fascinating. 


https://www.guaduabamboo.com/blog/bamboo...rs%20later.

I have seeds for many different vegetables and many different varieties of most of those vegetables. So I've been wondering how few do I/you really need? 
Let's start with essentials - the veg that you always grow and couldn't do without. For example - tomatoes - but which one?

Let's start with 10 (or less) essential veg, then we'll narrow it down to naming the variety. 
 My essential veg are :-
Tomatoes
Courgettes
Lettuce
Mangetout
Beans
Cucumber
Rocket
Kale

We've had rats coming into our garden since last year. They finally got into the garage early this year, and my husband got into hazmat gear to clean it out and throw loads into a skip. They keep coming into the garden albeit a lot less frequently. Our garden is small, probably 6m at the longest bit and 5 across, but smaller because a garage is in one corner. If that makes sense. I have my blowaway greenhouse out there and I'm really struggling with the idea of them getting in and rummaging around amongst the plants. I'm paranoid about diseases even though I know they must be accessing the allotment along with badgers and foxes and cats who think it's a toilet. 

This is mostly a rant of course, but please give me your advice for keeping them out of the garden and/or not being so worried about disease. We have purchased rolls of rodent mesh that are 40 cm deep which we plan to bury along the fence as much as possible. We have probably useless sonic scarers. We have moved pots and things around back there to make it less hospitable and blocked up the garage access (awaiting new steel door installation). Any other ideas? Please help your neurotic internet acquaintance.

I’m going to use palette collars in my bigger tunnels. Would you stack 2 to make deeper beds. Like this       
Or would you just use them single hight ?

Do you feed the garden birds? 

I’ve just started again. We used to feed them at the old place. Now most of the big noisy work is done. I thought it was about time we started. 

How & what do you feed ? Hanging feeders, bird table, ground.? 

I’ve got 2 hanging feeders, 1 seed, 1 peanuts. 4 fat feeders, 3 different types. Also one homemade feeder with wool in for nesting material. They get one handful of mealworms a day as well. They go on top of the big rock in the garden. 

   

I plan on having a bird table at some point. But it’ll probably be a homemade unique piece. It’s still in the planning stages. 

I buy my seed from here https://www.amazon.co.uk/stores/MaltbysS...BNAZ4QHQD0
I get the 15kg bags . I’ve brought enough half coconuts fat feeders now that I can refill them with homemade fat feed. A mix of seed, mealworms & chopped currants .

What species do you see the most of? Mine is definitely the chaffinches 

Finally how often do you clean your feeders? 
I brush any stuck stuff off every time I refill. Going to try to be good and clean monthly.

When I was a kid, I'd have to keep some clothes "for best" - meaning I could only wear them on Sundays, to parties or Christmastime, Other times, they stayed in the wardrobe (getting damp and dusty!). These habits stayed with me, even when I was working. Best clothes were not for everyday, to be worn to the office, they were for "going out". 
These days, I don't have any "best clothes" - probably because I rarely go anywhere "posh". 
The point of this waffle, is the realisation that these habits have rubbed off into the garden - and I need to break the habit.

For example, I pulled some carrots up this week because they were bolting.  They were big but inedible! If I hadn't been keeping them "for best" and had pulled them up weeks ago they would have been smaller but much nicer. More to the point, I could have eaten them instead of adding to the compost bin. 

Its the same with seeds - I'm a hoarder - not necessarily a buyer, but, an acquirer of seeds at swaps. When I decide to sow a particular seed - let's say courgette for example. I'll sow the oldest seeds first and keep my fingers crossed that they'll germinate. If they don't, I'll sow the next oldest but, I rarely sow the freshest seeds. They go into storage for another year.
Each time I sow and fail, I've wasted time, compost and energy. If I went straight to sowing the freshest seeds, in theory, I should have healthy seedlings from the start. 

Part of the problem is that, some packets of seeds contain far more seeds than any "normal" person needs  - or can sow within a year or two. As you know,I am unable to throw anything away - especially seeds - so part used packets are stored with the unopened - and my next round of sowings will not just be old seeds, but opened packets of old seeds, which may have deteriorated even more than unopened packets of a similar age. So its a double whammy!

I'm going to try to overcome my frugal habits this year - by sowing seeds that are in date and by picking "small and beautiful" crops instead of thinking that I need to win a giant veg competition. 

Is there a support group in G&G that can help me please?

Share your pleasure at picking your first tomato, strawberry or whatever of the year with us. Are they earlier or later than last year? 


Last year (2025) https://gardenandgossip.org/showthread.php?tid=2329
Previous year's threads at https://gardenandgossip.org/showthread.p...d+my+first

In my search for Cut and Come Again (CACA) plants, I found this article about CACA flowers. https://celticrootsfarm.com/14-best-cut-...er-garden/

To save you reading it, the 14 best CACA flowers are:-
Zinnias
Cosmos
Dahlias
Sweet Peas
Strawflowers
Statice
Gomphrena
Amaranth
Phlox
Marigold (Tagetes)
Celosia
Scabiosa
Nasturtium
Cornflower

I rarely cut flowers from the garden as I prefer to see them growing outdoors. Cutting flower heads off seems so ungrateful !! I might cut flowers from a shrub that wouldn't miss a few flowers but otherwise I only pick damaged flowers, like the daffodils that have snapped off in the wind. 
Maybe, if I grow CACA flowers, I could convince myself that I'm not being ungrateful!!

I thought I would try to figure out the identity of some of my random flower seedlings. Join me if you like and win fabulous prizes!*§^

*Prizes not that fabulous. Mostly kudos and seeds saved from seedlings.
§Prizes not at all contingent on winning and quite definitely contingent on actually growing any of these seedlings into successfully flowering plants.
^Prizes also contingent on you wanting to give me your address and grow my no-longer random varieties.

I'll start with the seedlings that I think I have identified.

Lupin
   

Marigold
   

Zinnia