Hello

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lemonstar

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Hello
« on: March 13, 2018, 00:16 »
My wife can hardly take in the fact that about 18 months ago I started to get really interested in gardening. She has always been the one dead-heading, weeding and complaining about her bad back and knees and moaning that everything she planted is in the wrong place. I got myself involved by digging up and moving things for her - it dawned on me that a lot of things that were holding her up were to do with the physical effort required to do the things she wanted to do so I've been happily doing whatever she asked me to do . I dug out 9 leylandii and a couple of other half-dead or unwanted trees, roots and all, cut some new beds in the back garden and moved quite a few shrubs - all of which survived and are flourishing in better positions. It was moving an acer about 16 months ago - in November - it had been in for 7 years and struggled. Between us we worked out that the topmost leaves were catching the early morning sun and the dew on them, acting like tiny lenses, were causing the leaves to burn - it was not a happy tree. I moved it and by late March it started to flourish in away we had never seen before - it was watching this tree transform over the summer that really converted me into someone with an interest in gardening (I made a short video showing how the tree faired over a period of 6 months - I took pictures of it regularly - the video will be updated as I have many more pictures I took of the tree to add to the video since this was posted - it's here on youtube - search for lemonstar and acer - zxyQDuVNhV4). I've planted another half-dozen trees now and my wife has told me that we can't realistically have any more so I put my name down for an allotment and, perhaps a few months later than I would have liked, I've been given one and tbh - it looks quite tidy, someone has clearly been using it. I'm just waiting to get a key for the gate. Over the last month or so I've seen other allotment holders barrowing heaps of well rotted manure onto their patches and I'm wondering of it's too late for me to do the same - as soon as I can get in on my own I'm going to turn over some of the soil to see what it looks like. From a couple of visits down to the plot with the site manager the ground looks like it's been dug over and weeded - really - it looks fine - (a couple of serious gardeners who wanted a 1/4 sized plot instead of this 1/8 sized plot have been allocated one so were happy to move) there are fragments of brick and glass I can pull out and a corner which needs the weeds and grass squaring off and some miscellaneous rubbish on the path that needs to be got rid of. I'm just planing on some basic crops - potatoes, onions, courgette, beans - things that we eat all the time and some long stemmed flowers for cutting. I can't afford a greenhouse down there and don't have one at home. I'm lucky, I work from home and plan to go down most days even for a short while just to get some fresh air, exercise and chat with the locals - anyway I'm reading all of JH's books - I though best to stick with one writer so that I get to see joined up thinking - not everyone agrees on the best or right way to do certain things. Although my wife was encouraging me to get out more during the day because I injured my shoulder from too much swimming and haven't been able to exercise as much as I have been - she a bit negative about the allotment atm - saying I mustn't spend to much time or money on it! I hope to win her over and get her involved - I went into gardening also partly because it meant we could be doing something that she likes together - it's always been me saying - come running, come swimming,, etc. Again I think it's just the physicality aspects that over-awe her a little but her mum was/is a keen gardener and she used to grow plenty of fruit and veg - that's where she inherited her liking for gardening and she knows or remembers a lot about what her mum used to do - I don't have that background to draw on - I'm just a book reader who likes to teach myself things.
« Last Edit: March 13, 2018, 00:40 by lemonstar »
The rest of you... keep banging the rocks together.

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New shoot

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Re: Hello
« Reply #1 on: March 13, 2018, 07:59 »
Hi and welcome to the forum.  It sounds like you have been lucky to get a plot in pretty good condition  :)

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sunshineband

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Re: Hello
« Reply #2 on: March 13, 2018, 08:33 »
Welcome to the forum lemonstar, it sounds like your new plot is good to go really. I expect your wife will be easily won around with lots of tasty fresh fruit & vegetables throughout the year
Wisdom is knowing what to ignore - be comfortable in your own skin.
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Eblana

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Re: Hello
« Reply #3 on: March 13, 2018, 08:35 »
Hi and Welcome. 


 

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