Does anyone know anything about gardening?

How far apart are your wires? Your circuit is two loops, each connected to a terminal on the battery right?

I can only see one loop.

Just one at the mo. Is there a particular reason for having two?

Tbh I think the battery is now dead anyway.

Getting into the gardening thing now we have a large garden.

Previous rental place, grew stuff like lettuce, tomatoes, peas in gro-bags and pots.

Now having bought a house, we have a raised bed veg patch which we planted last summer (New Zealand) with lots different things to see what grew well and how big they got: sugar snap peas, different lettuces, asian greens, corn, carrots, leeks, spring onions, broccoli, cauliflower, brussels, courgettes, cucumber, kale, rhubarb, radishes. Had potatoes in a half-barrel, tomatoes in long planters, have limes, lemons & blackcurrants in pots, lot of herbs in pots.

We also have a peach tree which is pretty cool!

The lawn was very poor when we bought the house from dogs pissing and digging but is now pretty lush after over-seeding.

The old couple next door have been growing veg for their extended family for years and years so lots of tips and help. They pass on any unwanted produce and seedlings as well.

This year, we will be a bit more conservative with our planting and put more effort into timing. Last year we planted everything at once and then had shit loads of veg to eat all at the same time! Lots of blanching and freezing helped but we need to spread it out over the year. Currently (it's getting towards winter here) the veg plot is being dug over thoroughly, down to a depth of 2 feet with plenty of rotted donkey manure and sawdust going in. The soil was a bit clay-ey and compacted (see carrot...) and the previous owners did not really use it.

I will try to find more photos from last year, it was pretty full, probably overfull but was certainly our healthiest summer ever!

Some photos from FB

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Looks amazing and nice to see the cat paying an interest, I just stagger my planting (seeds) and this can help with having lots at once, also some small plastic tunnels can help extend some plants to grow further into the season,

Looks great!

If you're looking for a good source of knowledge I would highly recommend "Grow your own vegetables" by Joy Larkom. It looks a bit underwhelming - being an old-school paperback without any glossy pictures - but it's packed full of pretty much everything you might need to know. And it's only a tenner.

Tertifying carrot experiment is terrifying. For your sake, I hope it never gains sentience.

Big thanks to @littleK for the toms and cucs today. Was good to see your allotment!
Quick trip to Homebase yielded a couple of peppers and chillis, some compost and seeds(carrots, pak choi and onions), seed trays. Have finally started.
Want some long planter grow bag things for when we plant the seeds out.

Looks great.

How do you post multiple pictures?

@littleK We will try seeds this year - last year the garden centre had a sale on seedlings and as we were new to the whole thing, we thought they would be easier and went with those which meant everything grew pretty much at the same rate. They also came in packs of six and of course, we could not throw any away, so we had a serious overload! Gave lots away at work and to neighbours. It's great having neighbours who also overproduce as you get different things back. Although the old couple next door left us a whole load of silverbeet on the doorstep and I didn't have the heart to tell them we were already drowning in the stuff.

@boristrump Thanks for the book recommendation. The couple next door are great; every time we speak to them they have some tips: "it's time for xyz, you must thin them out, don't do that..."

@Aroogah We had a number like that. They were supposed to be globe carrots but the compacted soil and lack of thinning resulted in these orange nightmares. Tasted OK though and we took more care with the long ones which turned out great - planted them in really loose compost/soil mix in a barrel, resulting in some quite girthy 8-inchers.

@hugo7 Thanks- it is quite a rewarding pastime. Re: photos, I just selected multiple files when uploading from files on my PC.

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Made a start. 4 varieties of pepper, some chillis. Samphire, strawbs and chives in the window pots. Pink blueberry bush and toms and cucs.
Got salad seeds to plant when windowsill boxes arrive.
Balcony faces south but hella windy.
Pics won't upload right now, grr.

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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-devon-29301803

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So how far does 'grown in good faith' extend? That sounds like one hell of a loophole.

They basically mean it's not in the public interest to prosecute someone who failed to kill a plant that grew in the garden (they didn't plant it) that just happened to be illegal, without any knowledge of what it was.
I imagine if they were selling joints from the garden gate it would be a different story.

Yeah but sounds like one could get away growing for curiosity if plausible deniability works.
Obviously goes out the window if they find lights, tent, fans and a bunch of shifty looking yoots.

'Sorry officer I have no idea how that F1 mega skunk x blueberry cheese popped up among the hydrangeas.'

Someone I went to school with started his own gardening business. He used to plant cannabis plants in amongst the other foliage of unsuspecting clients, then harvest them when he was next in there doing 'maintenance'.

If challenged he would claim it was an African marigold, and maybe the seeds had been contaminated.

Online seed sales? Looks like that's still legal based on 20secs of Google fu. Not that you'd want that stuff on your bank statement tho :/

Guerrilla gardening.

used to ?

Is 2 chilli/ pepper plants about right for a 40cm pot?

Yeah, ample. My chilli plants have just graduated to their final positions in 8" pots in my conservatory. I water them every two to three days though.

Does that suction window planter thing seem secure?

Dunno yet. It's an ikea towel rail with some of their 50p utensil pots hooked over. I wasn't planning on having them too heavy.
That said we have the same suction cups in the bathroom for mouthwash/toothpaste/brushes and have been known to fail. I took time to polish the glass at least and it feels firm at the mo.
Have just ordered a fruit cage to cover the whole balcony, it needed cat-proofing anyway.

Nice meeting you Ed hope the plants do their thing, forgot to say I use comfrey to feed later when theres fruit so your very welcome to some when needed, it can stink a bit so would just make a small amount or bottle it,