Hardy Tropicals UK

Tom2006 wrote:Quality effort Joel!! All credit to you! How hard was it to get the grants?

Easier than you might think Tom. All grant donors have their own application and award processes and usually a panel decides how money is granted. With charitable grants it's critical that your project serves the better good and isn't too exclusive. Presenting a rigid schedule of how the money will be spent is always difficult but I had no problems as long as I sought permission first before any variations were paid for. I found both my grant donors quite mistrustful and I had to attend regular meetings and answer a lot of questions but they did everything properly and so did I.

I hope im not trying to teach granny to suck eggs or so the saying goes but I have always found the best way to sow onions is around now in 60 plug cell trays, three seeds to a tray in slightly moist compost then when they are well germinated thin to one seed. Keep slightly moist and then plant out at correct spacing when well developed when soil has warmed up a bit. I normally germinate them in my unheated greenhouse but a windowsill or cold frame or anythind to keep of elements or pests will do even one of the see through plastic cell covers with a couple of stones on to stop the wind blowing it off will do. Or just buy some onion sets which are very easy and not very expensive.

I made the mistake of pricking and transplanting my onion seedlings. Most didn't survive lol! Sown another packet in modular cells so fingers crossed.

here is a good mothly sowing guide on 'The real seed company'

some interesting varieties (heritage seeds .... i.e. non-genetically modified/non hybrid seeds)

http://www.realseeds.co.uk/Monthlysowing.html

here is a page discussing hybrid/genetically modified veg/herb varieties:

http://www.realseeds.co.uk/why.html

I think if I had a allotment it would soon turn in to an exstention of my garden, full of tree ferns

Depends how far away it is... We had an half hour walk to ours.

Yes theft is a big problem if its an unsecured alottment. We were lucky on that but some got vandalised regular. Greenhouse get broken into as well depending..

You can get tiny battery operated CCTV cameras with an SD card. It wouldn't stop things from happening, well, the first time, but you would have video evidence of who was responsible.

Dave Brown wrote:You can get tiny battery operated CCTV cameras with an SD card. It wouldn't stop things from happening, well, the first time, but you would have video evidence of who was responsible.

I was thinking along such lines if the need arose. 1 camera could probably watch over quite an area unless that got nicked as well One lady claimed her strawberries had been stolen in the summer and just lately she found a hole where her lavendar used to be but thankfully nothing serious to date. I have seen some bloody big rabbits down there!!

JoelR wrote:I have seen some bloody big rabbits down there!!

Aren't they called Hares lol!

Did she have here strawberries completely covered over with netting when they start fruiting because if not it would be blackbirds that ate them all. My dad used to grow them when he was alive and never netted them but still managed to get a few but I have been growing them for nearly 10 years now and if I don't completely cover them and I mean completely then every single ripe one will get eaten and even if there is just a little gap or hole in the netting they will still get in. One year when I was away for the summer and they never got covered I lost an entire crop and someone who was watering my plants kept looking for some but only ever found half eaten ones were the blackbirds had eaten the half ripe ones and just left the green bits. I always grow 36 plants in rows so that is some amount of strawberries they ate. The lavender I can not help you with.

Dave Brown wrote:

JoelR wrote:I have seen some bloody big rabbits down there!!

Aren't they called Hares lol!

JBALLY wrote:Did she have here strawberries completely covered over with netting when they start fruiting because if not it would be blackbirds that ate them all. My dad used to grow them when he was alive and never netted them but still managed to get a few but I have been growing them for nearly 10 years now and if I don't completely cover them and I mean completely then every single ripe one will get eaten and even if there is just a little gap or hole in the netting they will still get in. One year when I was away for the summer and they never got covered I lost an entire crop and someone who was watering my plants kept looking for some but only ever found half eaten ones were the blackbirds had eaten the half ripe ones and just left the green bits. I always grow 36 plants in rows so that is some amount of strawberries they ate. The lavender I can not help you with.

I doubt if the strawberries were covered and Blackbirds do seem likely culprits. Another possible would seem to be people taking small children along and then leaving them to run amok!