I just posted on another thread about using a hoe and realised that it's one of my main garden tools as I can cover a lot of ground using it, reaching areas without having to step on the beds also weeding in between plants that might be difficult to reach and most important better to lean against than a spade when having a rest. So what's your essential garden tools?

I thought this was some kind of Vetch - but my neighbour doesn't think so. I've looked online and I think the leaves aren't right. So it's really bugging me.
We go for dog walks at the fields behind us ( my neighbour has always taken ours when he does his dog walk as he no longer has a dog)  so a win win for ours as they get double walks
Anyway there's a crop field that has been thickly edged with this? 
What do you think?

   

My tulips have got big fat seed heads. Is it worth saving the seeds? How long do tulips take from seed to flower? 
Will they flower?  Will they come true? 
As you can tell I know nothing   .

I was thinking of buying some debris netting to cover some of the garden but there are various colours to pick from so is there a best colour for this or is it simply the best price or best blending in that you go for

I don't spend huge amounts on garden stuff but I love visiting gardens and will always come home with plants.
The Lockdown has meant I couldn't do that - I'm not complaining because I've loved every minute of having to stay home.
But my garden is full - maybe I've had more time to plant stuff in, or the weather has brought more plants on faster? 
I bought 10 dahlia tubers in jan ...about £24.00
I also bought 3 packets of flower seed approx £7.00
3 bags of compost - £10.00

Then I splashed out on 10 clematis - £110.00 
So a total of £141.00 ( but the clematis was an investment) 

How much have you spent?

Some of you may remember that the VC Calendar has 3 seasons :-
Season No 1 = March - June
Season No 2 = July - October
Season No 3 = November - February

The summer Equinox was yesterday and we are moving into No 2 - or, as I think of it, the Second Spring.  Its the time when I resow the quick maturing seeds I sowed in March - courgettes, beans, peas and some early tomatoes;  salad leaves, carrots, beetroot, radish and spring onions, kale and  cabbage. In fact most veg apart from those that need to be in the ground for a looooooooooooong time.

Don't want to upset you but, with the daylight hours decreasing, July is also the time to plant Spinach, Fennel and many Oriental veggies that are prone to bolting if sown to early.

Any recommendations for suppliers of 'cheap' debris netting for greenhouse shading?   I got some last year off Ebay  very reasonably but the prices seem to have gone up since.  It's for new GH, so I'm undecided what width.  I chose 1m x 10m for existing  GH and drape it around the roof and down the front, like a shawl, back is already in shade, but might consider a wider width to drape over like a tent.  Either way my 1m x 10m was under £7 incl p&p, every thing on Ebay at the moment is almost twice that.  Maybe I just got lucky last year, or I'm looking in the wrong place.  Not an urgent requirement as GH not even delivered yet.

I'm growing calendula Lemon Daisy (I think), they're yellow (DUH naturally)  and dwarf. They are so easy, but how do you stop them getting powdery mildew and starting to look really tatty.  BTW I will prob have seeds of this for the seed swap if anyone wa ts them.

One mystery I believe is solved. I’m 99% Sure My accidental overwintered chilli is sugar rush peach.

   

The other 3 are still a mystery.
The 2 big ones, I found as seedlings in the compost I saved from last years chilli pots. 
So they will definitely be offspring of a named variety I grew last year. Don’t know if they’ll come true Or be crossed. 
Probably crossed.

The little one I found coming up in the raised bed in the first tunnel. Last year had my mystery chillies (never did identify any of them) in there. I only kept it because it had purple seed leaves. 

Only time will tell if any of them will be any good.

   

Hello Folks

I'm getting about 5 bags of clippings a week from a friend and want to store them for later use.

If I leave them in the bag they are steamy and hot within about 2 days, if I spread them out they dry in clumps in about the same period.

Obviously I could put them in the compost heaps but I wondered if there were any other ways to store them to eventually use as layers for the future raised beds?

The only other thing I thought of was to initially mark the beds out then cover with cardboard / grass and install the wooden sides as and when I get them? (I think this will be Vinny's view)