bourbon-biscuit

I looked out at my lovely garden today, sun shining, seedlings waggling in the warmth and I felt really proper sad that my sister will never share it with me and her little daughter will never toddle round my garden.

I feel like I've got somewhere so special and wonderful to live and yet the people I want to share it with aren't here

Bo-Jangles

I have got 3 little cucumber sprouts and some signs of coriander shoots. I went to look at seeds today and came home with broad beans, peas, toms and lettuce, so that's my entertainment sorted for the weekend.

Now tell me, does anyone know owt about shallots? Le Warehouse have them 2 packets for $10 and I was quite tempted, until I saw that there were only three 'seeds' in each packet.

Seemed like they would be the most expensive shallots on the planet. If you planted three shallot seeds / sets, do you not end up with three bigger shallots...............or do they make babies and duplicate like flower bulbs?

I'll have to go and do some Googling as I am now wondering why wouldn't you just plant some shallots bought from the supermarket.

Bo-Jangles

All you ever needed to know anout shallots and some more:

http://www.stuff.co.nz/southland-tim...yummy-shallots

I don't suppose even NZ grown organic shallots would be all that expensive, now all I have to do is try and find some.

BEVS

Suns been shining so everything is less sogged.
Plan was to go to our wee vege garden and start getting things 'sorted' !

That was before I saw that the paddock that backs onto our section had turned into a major building site overnight. No warning. No nothin' .

TDC state no resource consent is in. No building plans but it's clear that there is going to be a mega monolith there soon.

Charismatic

Time to plant a screen BEVS. Can you begin earthworks without resource consent?

Charismatic

What a great weekend, I'm going to have a go at tobacco as well though I can't find much information about how to cure it?

BEVS

We got wain for the most part.

Tobacco. Interesting one. Wouldn't you just treat it the way you dry herbs?
They used to grow tobacco bigtime around here. I'll ask a good ole Kiwi boy if I bump into one.

Charismatic

Please do BEVS, apparently the leaf has a lot of ammonia in it that makes it unpleasant to smoke when dried so you cure it to release the ammonia.

For cigars they just have piles of leaves to ferment but it makes the smoke very acidic which is why people don't inhale cigar smoke. I'm growing the Virginia Gold however which is traditionally used in cigarettes. It's an experiment as I don't really smoke much any more, never had the commitment o make it a habit anyway.

Charismatic

Tomatoes are coming along, really starting to take now and the sunflower/pumpkins have started to go out into the garden. I'll just frost cloth 'em if the temperature drops below zero.

A video to inspire you to plant some things:

Charismatic

Cut the bottoms off some pop bottles to protect the plants already out from the frost tonight.

BEVS

I know. It's gotten altogether too cold again.

I haven't forgotten about the tobacco . I was a bit AWOL from certain places this week where I might have had the conversation.

Charismatic

Still cold and growth slow here, we need warmness.

bourbon-biscuit

The biscuit garden is going mental!

Anyone like some pics? I'm dead proud of my garden, I am

bourbon-biscuit

Oh look! I must have written that just a few weeks before deciding to leave!

Charismatic

Fickle.

Anyway my plants are growing fast but not as fast as my weeds, I've given up on pulling and went straight to straying anything which looks weedesque with poison .