Today
I took a bus ride to the garden center just outside Dundee, it's mid
February and time to start my 2010 'gardening'. I decided a while ago to
try some veggie growing this year. Nothing too ambitious to start with,
but I figured if I start now, maybe in a couple of years when I hope
to retire, I could be growing a lot of my own food. I have grown food
before but my life was very different then. Back then, I didn't have to
go to work, I was younger, a lot fitter, and I had a huge garden. Now my
time, my garden and my abilities are all limited, the whole thing needs
new thinking and a different approach. I came across this very basic
little book, it was pretty cheap so I bought it.
Then I found a couple of packets of seeds that can be sown in mid February. I also bought some new fish for the tank today, but that's another story.
Alongside my drive to grow more food, is a desire to create less waste. Once you start thinking about what you throw away, you need to start thinking about what you buy in the first place. I compost and recycle what I can but there still seems to be far too much going in to general waste. Have you tried buying fruit and veg without also buying miles of plastic food wrap?? its a virtual impossibility. And plastic bread wrappers, no one sells bread with out them any more, so I bought bread making flour today. I've been saving the plastic trays you buy tomatoes and peppers in, I thought they would make good seed trays.
I've also ordered a yogurt maker because, when I actually looked to see what I was throwing out, yogurt pots and margarine pots were pretty high on the list (apparently they are the 'wrong' sort of plastic to recycle).
So................I have the seeds, I have the plastic trays, all I need now is some compost and food production starts for the year. All advice welcome. I thought this song was appropriate, the film is very old and poor quality but the sound is good.
22 Comments
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hedgewitch9 wrote on Feb 14, '10
Brilliant, you have been busy!
I have started buying seeds and am going to buy a small greenhouse as soon as I can, need to get going soon and also need to cut back raspberry canes etc. Am thinking of creating a pond in the little field and having ducks' wings clipped, getting them a shelter for the day time and putting them in field with the greenhouse too, so i won;t need to fence off the herbs/flowers/fruit that grows in my garden! Best get my butt into gear! lol Can;t wait to see the photos of your crops :D |
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We
can't count on any tomatoes growing outside other than in a very
exceptional year. I have only visited southwest England and saw them
there in greenhouses, planted straight into the bag of medium. So I
don't know about up in Scotland. Maybe there is a local gardening club?
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or give to charming ladies who request them. 
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Lettuces
and spinach can be planted now in sheltered containers outdoors. I have
even used study cardboard boxes - they give out about the same time the
lettuce bolts. Or, you can plant them in your yogurt cups and carefully
plant them outside in a month or so. If you have even a bit of a knack
with hammer and saw, you can make a cold frame:
http://www.woodworkersworkshop.com/resources/index.php?cat=388 Many nurseries around here have black plastic containers about a foot in diameter that they throw out or give to charming ladies who request them. |
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forgetmenot525 wrote on Feb 14, '10
Sorry
if I didn't make it clear here, I can plant seeds indoors but its far
to cold to plant outside just yest. That's why this whole thing needed
thinking about and planning. I need to know what I can plant indoors
this early to get early crops. Also, I've just been told that tomatoes
are really hard to grow here, last time i grew tomatoes it was on the
south coast of england.
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forgetmenot525 wrote on Feb 14, '10
Oh
kathy that is exactly how i feel. I'm going to start these seeds off
indoors on windowsills but i'm not at all sure about planting them out, I
just can't do the digging any more so I guess i'll be looking for big
cheap containers..............ANY SUGGESTIONS FOR ANY ONE WELCOME
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kathyinozarks wrote on Feb 14, '10
sounds
like a new adventure starting, you will love your yogurt maker, I have a
couple from the 70s and they still work great. I have alot of pain
issues now too, so can't garden like I would love to, but the big pots
worked great, anything climbing is great, even in hanging baskets, or
perhaps if someone could build you a couple raised beds would be good
too-have fun!
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greenwytch wrote on Feb 14, '10
oh, how fun! i know you will enjoy growing veg again. perfect song choice! happy gardening.
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It's
odd, when I was younger and actually had a garden, I wasn't really all
that interested. Now I'm older, and unfortunately without a garden, I
actually miss it and wish I had one!!
I think you've got some splendid recycling ideas there that will also help with your horticultural efforts. I really do think that supermarkets need to start thinking seriously about how much packaging they use for fresh produce.Trying to get people to use less carrier bags is a start, but it's just the tip of the iceberg (excuse the lettuce joke there!!!). They need to address the wider issue. I wish you well in your veg-growing attempt :-)) |
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brendainmad wrote on Feb 14, '10
Last
summer one of my sisters had tomatoes growing everywhere, but not in a
proper garden. Some of the tomato plants were in boxes on the deck that
they had built on their pond - very convenient for watering. I'd never
seen so many tomatoes growing weedless. And you know from experience,
how much better homegrown is. Can't wait to see the fruit of your 2010
garden!
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All sounds good to me. :-)
I save the yogurt containers for potting up seedlings. The tomatoes need bigger ones, so I save the pots from cream and fresh cheese. These last quite a long time. We can buy individual fruits and vegetables, but they get put in a plastic bag for weighing. I reuse each bag once (the clean ones with no holes) for putting my bread in the freezer, because I fill the oven to be economical with the gas and then put 2 or 3 loaves in the freezer. I don't know how it all adds up in the end, but we live out in the country (by European standards) and don't want to drive somewhere everyday for bread. I will probably start some tomatoes next week. |
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since daughter and grandson moved out
honeybee and i have cut our trash to the curb four bags are now one we reuse allot of stuff like bread wrappers for homemade bread and cookies we bought reusable water bottles some trash pickup days i am scrounging for stuff to go out :) |
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initiativestain wrote on Feb 13, '10
Your
all prepared there as here there is still time to go as far as when it
comes to anything of the like here Loretta. Usually here just around
April is the time that we start to plant, meanwhile it's shopping and
getting the right vegitables. I have never tried this way of doing this,
I most usually just go to the grocery store and buy all the vegitables
and everything else. However it seems like a great idea. Yet time to do
these things as I myself have only done some planting back two years ago
and now I guess I am a tad lazy as I just enjoy food done by way of the
grocery store.
There is something to be said about this way of doing it. It's natural and probably much more healthy. By the way as a friend I wish you a very Happy Valentines Day there... |
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Oh
how I envy your ability to start a garden in February. In Michigan the
ground is snow-covered until late March. And the soil is so cold, seed
will rot unless chemically treated. But you are right, most of the
plastic waste I find myself with comes from vegetable trays and yogurt
containers. I have tasted home-made yogurt; it tastes much better.
And, of course, so does home-made bread. I will follow your garden's
progress eagerly.
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