Chitting Seeds
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albert onglebod
- Living the good life
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- Location: Kent UK
I've got thin pieces of wire about 14" long,that I push into the ground beside things,to keep the cats off. Our cat likes to have dust baths so when I sowed rocket last year ,I stuck the wires in criss cross all along the row (Whcih I marked with thin string first). None of the rocket was disturbed.
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ina
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- Location: Kincardineshire, Scotland
I can't imagine that Shirley's tomatoes are outdoors, either - we still have snow and minus temperatures regularly! So did the cat get at the pots?
Even if I had them outdoors ( I tried that one year), they'd be in a pot, so that they could be moved into shelter in bad weather. My tiny plantlets are on the windowsill just now, and not covered. Must say, so far the cat has been very good about my plants; she only uses one particular part of the windowsill, which I always keep free for her. She's not been on the table yet, either - and that is full of trays, pots etc!
Even if I had them outdoors ( I tried that one year), they'd be in a pot, so that they could be moved into shelter in bad weather. My tiny plantlets are on the windowsill just now, and not covered. Must say, so far the cat has been very good about my plants; she only uses one particular part of the windowsill, which I always keep free for her. She's not been on the table yet, either - and that is full of trays, pots etc!
Ina
I'm a size 10, really; I wear a 20 for comfort. (Gina Yashere)
I'm a size 10, really; I wear a 20 for comfort. (Gina Yashere)
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Millymollymandy
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- Location: Brittany, France
Woops, I meant Shirlz not Ina! 
In the past I've used sticks to keep the cats off my outdoor veggies - but the trouble is that the forsythia/willow trimmings would just start growing! Then I started using fence wire bent into shapes to cover the rows when they were starting off. These days I've got my nice tall fence which keeps them out. So I can hoe whereas I had a problem keeping down weeds before.
In the past I've used sticks to keep the cats off my outdoor veggies - but the trouble is that the forsythia/willow trimmings would just start growing! Then I started using fence wire bent into shapes to cover the rows when they were starting off. These days I've got my nice tall fence which keeps them out. So I can hoe whereas I had a problem keeping down weeds before.
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hedgewizard
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Holly cuttings for cats, works indoors and out.
Wulf, you sound like me. I've got this big list of things to do that gets split into high, medium and low priorities... (I'm time-poor) or NOW! SOON! and LATER! lists if you like. It doesn't look too bad, but of course new stuff is coming on all the time (like "put the fence back up") and stuff keeps crawling up the list from SOON to NOW (like sowing the green manures). And of course x can't happen until you've done y, which is waiting for z to be moved from where it's sitting, etc etc.
Seeds - depends on which ones. Pre-germination is handy for high-value seeds, whereas beans are best started off in a module if you want to sow early, but straight into the ground if not. Some stuff needs warmth to get going, so I bought a little propagator for that.
Salad stuff goes into lengths of old guttering and stays up high to keep it safe from slugs until it has a few decent leaves, then the whole length of compost gets pushed out into a trench in the ground and firmed in. Works well if you have a lot of slugs!
Wulf, you sound like me. I've got this big list of things to do that gets split into high, medium and low priorities... (I'm time-poor) or NOW! SOON! and LATER! lists if you like. It doesn't look too bad, but of course new stuff is coming on all the time (like "put the fence back up") and stuff keeps crawling up the list from SOON to NOW (like sowing the green manures). And of course x can't happen until you've done y, which is waiting for z to be moved from where it's sitting, etc etc.
Seeds - depends on which ones. Pre-germination is handy for high-value seeds, whereas beans are best started off in a module if you want to sow early, but straight into the ground if not. Some stuff needs warmth to get going, so I bought a little propagator for that.
Salad stuff goes into lengths of old guttering and stays up high to keep it safe from slugs until it has a few decent leaves, then the whole length of compost gets pushed out into a trench in the ground and firmed in. Works well if you have a lot of slugs!
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ina
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- Location: Kincardineshire, Scotland
Now that is a brilliant idea! I've got a great big holly, which I rather dislike (to put it politely), they always tend to grow so huge and shade out everything else. I cut it back massively last year, but unfortunately the goats don't like it much (they had a nibble...). It still needs a go with a hand saw, so this time I'll stick them in the garden. Once it's warm enough and I can take the duvet off. (Bought another 10m of fleece yesterday...)hedgewizard wrote:Holly cuttings for cats, works indoors and out.
Ina
I'm a size 10, really; I wear a 20 for comfort. (Gina Yashere)
I'm a size 10, really; I wear a 20 for comfort. (Gina Yashere)
Ah yes, I've heard of doing this and thought how fabulously simple but effective...but I'd forgotten all about it. Thanks for the reminder, I shall give it a go with the next salad crop.hedgewizard wrote:Salad stuff goes into lengths of old guttering and stays up high to keep it safe from slugs until it has a few decent leaves, then the whole length of compost gets pushed out into a trench in the ground and firmed in. Works well if you have a lot of slugs!
Alcina