Growing your own to lower food costs - 2023

Gardening to 'grow your own food' from square foot to half an acre !!
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Trev62
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Re: Growing your own to lower food costs - 2023

Post by Trev62 »

lancashire lass wrote: 07 Apr 2023, 09:10 I'm not sure if this is a new trend as a result of climate change or just happens to be part of a cycle, usually influenced by other factors including the El Nino / La Nina effect which has a global affect on drought and rainfall patterns, or a combination of both giving more extreme events (last year's record heatwave temperature and all those wild fires in Europe and North America (worse than usual) is about as extreme as it could get, not to mention seeing the news of dry river beds including the River Danube so low)
Or connected/influenced by the "Cloud seeding" operations currently operated by many countries around the world. Even Bulgaria maintains and uses a pile of rockets every year for this purpose.
"Not all those who wander are lost"
lancashire lass
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Re: Growing your own to lower food costs - Bank Hol bargains

Post by lancashire lass »

Bank holidays in spring are usually a very busy time for gardeners, whether it be in the garden planting out or the warm change in the weather prompt them to go to garden centres to buy seeds or plug plants, trees or flowers.
Now is the time to look for those bargains - whether they are trays of seedlings at the front of a supermarket, in the shops or going online. Many online seed & plant suppliers usually have a discount or free p&p on all orders (postage & packing costs these days can be very expensive so always worth it, particularly when buying items that are heavy - even if it isn't delivered right away but for despatch at a later date, the free p&p still applies for that order)
What about at the garden centre? You might look at the plants on offer and think they are past their best - sometimes they just need repotting as they have outgrown the tiny pots they were planted in when they were sent out for sale, or just need water to pick them up again. If you see leaves that are starting to look yellow but otherwise seem healthy, they are probably starving for a nitrogen boost so just need potting in fresh compost. With any plant that you "rescue", giving them a water containing a seaweed extract will help their recovery (it's full of natural plant hormones which encourage growth)
Tomato plants are usually for sale about now but do watch out - remember, these plants have been grown in greenhouse conditions to get ready for sale so if you plant them outdoors, any wind or frost will quickly damage them - remember to harden them off first (and do be aware of your last frost date before planting out) And beware of tall plants - the stem may break while handling. It's not a total disaster - you could cut the stem at the breakage point and pop into fresh compost (with or without rooting powder - tomato plants are easy to grow) and (fingers crossed), roots will grow from the base fairly quickly, and you'll not only have rescued it, but the main plant itself will be sending out new leaf shoots. Remove any yellow leaves at the base of the plant - they have done their job and removing them also allows air to circulate (to avoid them dying off and going mouldy) When replanting your tomato plants, always plant them deeper than their original soil level - this will encourage more roots to obtain water & nutrients, and also anchor them better in the soil. Most tomato plants will need to be tied to a cane for support
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