Fun Quiz!

https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/what-inse...24,40EBX,1

I'm a Dragonfly. 

Barring accidents, I'm assuming the GH might be erected by mid July at the latest.  The border soil is ok but not brilliant and improving it will be a work in progress.  I've more than enough beans, cucumbers, courgettes  and tomatoes.  What bright ideas have you all got for me to sow/plant in July to make me feel the new GH is mildly productive.  I could sow now in modules if necessary but haven't got a potting place (it's full of tomatoes and cucumbers )
I'm thinking maybe some carrots to last into the late autumn.

Have you ever had a Russian Doll - not the flesh and blood ones - but the dolls that nest inside each other getting smaller and smaller until you reach a tiny one in the middle?

Imagine a series of flower pots that do the same.
If you can't, here's a video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GrkvOE6dDhQ

It looks a great way to take lots of cuttings in a small space without the roots getting tangled together.

I'm not ready to make a Cuttings Babushka yet so I'm trying a Salad one from seeds. Red and green Salad Bowl lettuce in the outer ring,  then Spring onions, then radish and Little Gem lettuce in the centre.
Made a couple of bent wire hoops and covered it with a carrier bag.

No photos 'cos I've already done it and bagged it. 

A cuttings one will be next.

Thanks to Covid we've had limits placed on the distance we can travel - 5 miles for most/all of the UK at the start. In Wales, we 're still restricted to 5 miles until 6th July.

 It seems a hardship to us now but our ancestors would have accepted 5 miles as quite normal. If you traveled everywhere on foot, or horseback if you were lucky, 5 miles might have been enough - perhaps you'd reach the next village, then you'd have to walk back carrying whatever you'd bought.

Everything you needed would be locally sourced, unless you lived near a port or market town perhaps. 

There's a map drawing website that lets you draw a radius from your postcode. https://www.freemaptools.com/radius-from...stcode.htm

What if everything we ate and drank was produced within that circle? Some of us would fare better than others. About half of my 5 mile circle is residential - not much growing there - and the other half is hillside, woodland and grazing. There is a farm shop so that would help.

If it was a 10 mile circle, I'd have far more choice, including the organic veg farm and its veg boxes - but, would I walk the 20 mile round trip to pick up a veg box? I doubt it!!

All this had made me realise the importance of providing for yourself, as far as possible. That tub of raspberries I've just picked has saved me a walk to the nearest PYO farm . 

Could you survive within the limits of your circle?

Does anyone grow Kohl rabi and have any advice please?
I have several packets of seed but keep overlooking them in favour of something I recognise. 

From the packet information, they can be sown March - July;  are ready to eat in 7-10 weeks and can be eaten raw as crudites, grated in salad or cooked like turnips.
The leaves are also edible and can be used like kale.

Sounds to be too good to be true!  Do they taste awful?

Does anybody put seaweed on their garden? My son lives on the coast and kelp is always being washed up, so perhaps an abubdant supply.  I should add the local authority are happy for people to take it.

I never do fabulously at cuttings but now is a good time to take some softwood cuttings.

I took half a dozen clematis a couple of weeks back along with some orange blossom cuttings.
Chuffed that 3 of the clematis are looking promising.

I would love to get some black Sambuca cuttings going but I've never had much luck....had anyone tried?

   

Bob came home with 7 of these big bags. Made from the same stuff as my potato bags but twice the size. 
So Potato production will increase next year   .

Anyone grown pomegranate? I’m giving it a go. I didn’t grow it from seed, I got it last week from someone who germinate lots from a shop brought fruit. 

   

So I've always dug up my spuds with a 5 pronged fork, and I always end up stabbing at least a dozen spuds in the process which I can't then put in sand and save for later in the year. I've been looking for historical potato forks to see how they used to do it in the past to avoid stabbing the precious cargo. I wondered if there was a way of attaching round balls like ping pong balls to the end of the fork to see if that would stop the waste.

Any ideas?