Does anyone know anything about gardening?

Thanks dude. I've found a load of seeds left over from last year and I've got some beans, bought compost yesterday to get started.

I just read something about germinating seeds that need a bit higher tempratures -
lacking a heating mat the guy just put the seeds (wrapped in moist kitchen roll, stuffed in a little plastic bag) on his router - which gives constant ~28°C throughout.
: ]

Now's the time to start getting seeds sown indoors, with a view to having seedlings to harden off as the weather warms in late March. Our broad beans are hardened off and ready to go into the allotment in the next few days, with some other seedlings developing indoors.

Can't buy the chillies that I want to grow around here

I actually went a bit nuts, bought some artificial lighting and even more seeds..
Let's see how much of these will germinate properly!
: ]

I usually just use a heated propagator on a sunny windowsill, going to sow them this weekend

Good plan, a bit of artificial light until early summer helps them from getting too leggy. Sowed mine on Saturday. Could do a few seedling swaps if they work out... there's some hot ones there ^^

i am up for a few swaps, too. i have had a bastard of a couple of years, chilli-wise (what a sentence!!).

I've not really haunted this thread much but have been an avid veg grower for a few years now. This year will be the first spring in a garden all of our own and we've just had it all tarted up. The guys who put in the new wall/steps/patio/path and laid the new lawn said the soil is great. It looks good. Very dark, loamy and fine. The clay doesn't start till about 2ft down. Hopeful that will help offset the fact that we're north facing. Looking forward to getting veggy with it till Autumn.

For a moment there I thought these were all chocolate bars flavoured with different chillies. :)

Can anyone recommend a landscaper for SW London? It's to pull up some paving and decking, replace with new paving, astroturf a raised flower bed and remove a tree stump.

Thanks

Can anyone ID this please?

We have a few growing in our wildflower turf that was laid in July. I thought they were sorrel but they definitely aren't.

To my untrained eye it looks like a lettuce!

Looks like a cabbage

Agreed.

I very much doubt that such an un-hipster plant would grow in Lower Clapton. :)

Lacinato or GTFO...

It looks like a greyhound cabbage thats gone feral, they normally get picked before they get to this stage.

Once they've gone feral they can go for you.

Thanks all. Did a post mortem on one that had gone a bit rotten at the bottom and fallen over.

Definitely a cabbage isn't it? The only question now is why did our wildflower turf have cabbages in it?!

@littleK we didn't pick them earlier because we didn't know if they were good to eat. So I guess we'll pick 'em now and eat 'em?

Definitely a cabbage isn't it?

No, that's a lettuce.

#pievscrumble

why did our wildflower turf have cabbages in it?!

Often wildflower mixes are full of random seeds and odds and ends that ultimately increase biodiversity (and help to bulk out the mix). I've planted some at my parents before that had pumpkin seeds in... which was quite a suprise when it popped up

ramsaye - how is the lawn ? has the water subsided ?

first cut today in the sun
good helping of chicken manure pellets
might give it a good forking

Had a soakaway put in at the end of last year so no more flooding. Gave it a first cut on Saturday, hopefully I'll be able to give it a second lower cut this weekend before dropping down to the proper setting by the ends of the month so it can start growing with vigour.
Not tried the chicken shit, let me know how they taste and if they give you enough energy to fork the lawn.

I've got a huge (15 foot-ish high) spiky hedge along the bottom of my garden, not sure what it is but it has on average 1-2cm thick branches absolutely sheathed in spikes.

It was getting out of hand when we moved in this time last year, it's now confirmed out of hand and want to cut it back before it grows/leaves again.

Next door has a petrol hedge trimmer thing with an extension (hedge goes along their side as well) but saw him using it last year and it wasn't very effective or speedy.

What's the best tool for the job? Cheaper is better than expensive. Quicker is better than slower. (It's about 35 feet across so lots of trimming to do)

Wondering if high quality shears and a ladder would be best bet. Would prefer a powered and less energy intensive method though.