Good morning!

First topic message reminder :

Not a nice morning but better than scotland with -20 temperatures.

I have to go to the surgery again this morn. No too far but on untreated roads.

I'd like to go to the library but think it is not the day for driving more thn one has to.

Ialso need to walk to keep my leg mobile but will have to use the rowing machine and hope that will do.

Did you eat yours Janie? I thought they tasted very nice even though there weren't many! I will try harder next year..the courgettes grew SO well, they were amazing and so easy.

It is my 40th birthday this year and you get a big joint present from the family when it is so I am hoping for a greenhouse so that I can grow tomatoes and all sorts..we grew our own salad this year and that was very very successful and very cheap, definitely a must, saved us a fortune as we can get through a £1.50 bag of salad per meal and a £2 packet of cut and come again seeds gave us probably about 20 meals worth, maybe more.

We did Hetty and the ones we had were really nice but not a very good size.....they were main crop varieties Maris Piper & Desiree but were the size of new potatoes if you know what I mean ?....we followed all the instructions to the letter too..lol..oh well...courgettes were lovely still eating those, and I'm cooking my first butternut squash this coming weekend. Down the road from us we have a whole field of allotments..these have been there donkey's years, I remember my uncle had one when he first moved here in 1949, they were owned then by the council, and you could rent a plot for something silly like 2/6d a week.....then in the 70's 80's 90's they went out of fashion and the whole allotment site was bought by the remaining holders.....lots of the site was left to overgrow...now though it's thriving, and somebody told me they have a 6 month waiting list for just a single plot !!!..Also when you are growing things like potatoes, root vegetables etc..you have to think of the storage, otherwise there will be a load of waste.

If you did have a big crop you could store them quite successfully in hessian sacks in a cool dry dark place.

But, going on my efforts you're not going to need to LOL

Our potatoes were:

Charlotte (meant to be the earlies, got hardly any), Red Magic, Blue Belle and Lady Christl 9all of which were better, but still not loads).

You can grow sweet potatoes the same way - they are so yum..we had cottage pie (made with turkey mince which has a wonderful light, sweet flavour) topped with them the other day, delicious..so thats something I am going to try next year.

We also grew peas and mangetout which were dead easy and gave a really good crop - we just ate them fresh and raw off the plant.

Our strawberries did well and tasted SO much better than shop bought, even though they were a variety not meant to have much taste..something about really letting them get the sun makes a huge difference..we also have brambles growing but no fruit and rasps which are just starting to produce fruit..I plan to make much more of an effort with them next year.

Our garden is only small but it's amazing what you can grow in a pot or an old bread bin in my case.

You are really making me want to try all this, I have never ever attempted to do this, but i'm sick of tasteless food, I do have plenty of ground that I can use, when is the best time to start planting the like of potatoes and cabbage and strawberries we do have lots and lots of black berries that grow wild on our drive way up to the house infact our neighbour usually ask if she can get some to make jam, but i really think I will give this a go, it's just knowing when to start

Anne there's loads of information you can find online, whole sites dedicated to growing your own vegetables, in fact the BBC have one and that's pretty good. Just type *grow your own vegetables* into Google, it'll bring loads up.
This year was very much *trial and error* but next year we will know exactly what we want to do....Anne your place would be perfect for having a little vegetable plot, you have loads of space, and I think it's something your Joe would make a great success of and give him an interest.
BTW wanted to say yesterday...love the puppies !!! I would so love another little dog....Ronnie's not so keen though....what I'd like ideally would be another springer spaniel although they are a bit loopy, but loveable....failing that I'd love a little West Highland Terrier. xx

Hello [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

I had my MRI date through, it's at Derby on the 5th October.
It'll be a bit of a trek on the bus, so I'm hoping my back will be ok enough to pop to the Westfield centre there before I come home.
It seems a shame to go to Derby & not do the shops [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Anne, I'm not sure but I think you would plant your potatoes after the risk of frost has passed, which would be earlier for you than for me up here..BUT..they need to be chitted before you plant them - this means you put them ina an egg box, right side up (I forget how to tell you which is the right side) and you leave them in a cool light place for sprouts to develop (like they do if you leave them unused in your veg container).

The strawberries would be the same - that is plant after risk of frost has passed.. strawberries can withstand frost (my plants will be cut back and left out all winter) but if there are any flowers on them and there is a frost the resulatant strawberries will be bad (it's called blackeye I think)..I got my strawberries from Lidl - £2.99 for 6 - but the good thing is that they produce runners (long shoots that eventually root to form new plants) so you get lots of new plants every year and should never have to buy another one..I got about 12 new plants this year..could have had LOADS more but ran out of pots!

The strawberries were lush..hubs who is a fruit maniac was ecstatic about how tasty they were.

Do you get instructions on the pack how best to plant them Hetty and do you think its past the best time to plant them
I was quite surprised they come back up yearly, thats great we all love strawberries but out of Tescos lately they have been so sour and tasteless not like the ones we used to pick years ago when I was young
As for the potatoes i'll have to leave them now until spring I suppose.
I have thought about cabbage and brussel sprouts have you tackled them Hetty?

You can still plant your tatties Anne, they used to say *Plant august bank holiday for Christmas spuds* round here.
The only time I wouldn't recommend is actually winter, but once there's no snow and the ground is soft, they'll be comfy & cozy under the soil even with the odd frost or 2.
Hetty, try using a big bucket and some plant fleece to grow your spuds in colder weather, you can put it in a sheltered spot until the weather picks up.

Elaine wrote:

Hello [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

I had my MRI date through, it's at Derby on the 5th October.
It'll be a bit of a trek on the bus, so I'm hoping my back will be ok enough to pop to the Westfield centre there before I come home.
It seems a shame to go to Derby & not do the shops [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Quite a while yet then Elaine let us know near the time and i can pray for you and thanks for the tattie info

Hope you are all ok today

Four seasons in one day here today, but I'm going to take a chance and hang some washing out.

Have hit a snag with going to the conference, but I knew something like this would happen..have not given up yet, just waiting to see..He will find a way if there is meant to be one..I believe that more than ever.

Lots of knitting still to do, hand still abit sore but not as bad as yesterday..been thinking about how to set me coffee table (yes, that is what they are giving me LOL ) up and make it look pretty..thinking a nice tablecloth and wee sign with Hettys picture on it.

Lots of love to you all, Hetty

I'm sure you will have a great presentation Hetty, let us have a look when its set up if you can. that would be great, it's quite exciting.
The nearest I get to anything like that Hetty is a table top sale we do inside a shopping center for the church fund and we sell all old brick a brack everything from the kitchen sink and not much over a £1 but we end up with sometimes £80 and sometimes round about the £100 I think people are sorry for us LOL
One time a lady came up and emptied her purse and gave £30 she was a catholic lady and we stressed not to give so much but she insisted wasn't that nice

Sorry I've been away for so long; anyway, to everyone!!!!

Hi Dee whats going on over in your part of the world? a lot about the Koran burning is there much about it over there?

Hello Dee, lovely to see you again.

Been to the hossie again today, my bowels are fine, but they're doing a GB scan just in case. I've got more tablets to heal & protect my tum, which means hopefully I'll be able to take PKs properly again soon, including brufen [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Great news Elaine there's nothing worse than feeling poorly, I can't take brufen or anything with aspirin in them my stomache just does not like them and they make me sick.
Apart from that it's a rotten old day here the rain is coming down and it looks like summer is gone, i dread the winter, sometimes I wish I lived in Australia not that I would want to live there but just for the weather ...of to finish my coffee before it gets cold

Morning.

Hope your all well?
Just got back from me hollies, went to Italy for a week, very nice but it rained for 3 days! Caught up with all my family, so that was nice.

Love and blessings to yous all.

Sorry I've not been around much, been too busy knitting and worrying

Will be back soon and make more of an effort to post here, don't go away, please!

Off tomorrow for the big meet up first in 11 years and I will see my grankids for the first time i'm really excited I will have some photos to show you all speak again on Monday...pray for me please xxxxxx

Will pray Anne.
Enjoy every minute of your time with your family. Mwah XXXXXXXXX

Thanks Angel xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
and Hetty good to see you again i thought you had disappeared you must have been busy to keep you from the old WWW

(((Anne))) I hope you have a WONDERFUL time with your family, I know you will have, God is very very good!

I've got a busy week next week, need to catch up with all the housework I've been neglecting, get my hair cut, then got the craft fair thurs/fri and the conference fri/sat/sun.

Will report back when it's all done..please wish me luck, I need a miracle for it all to go okay

(((Anne))) I hope and pray you'll all have a wonderful time [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Really glad to hear that everything went well Anne

I've got loads to try and catch up on today, getting a bit nervous about it all now, best go and get started.

Lots of love to you all