We would love to share stories with anyone who is interested. If we can encourage one family to think about growing their own it would be great. 

Lofty I assume you mean pot to ground. If it was a bare root tree it should be now i.e. in the dormant season but container/pot grown trees can be transplanted any time. I would suggest now is good as you are probably not going to need to spend too much time watering. 

A word of warning for pine trees and conifers.

Lofty’s topical conifer question gets first - when your conifer is at the size you want it, trim it then/shortly after it. If you leave it too long, then cut it back to size, you’ve no longer got any green coverage.

Pine trees, plant at your peril. Given long enough to grow and if not reined in, they just kill off the rats below. Near our office, there were some pine cone seeds brought back from WW2 and planted. They’re now over half-way to the nearest building and the lovely green grass beneath has gone. The farm don’t want to trim it for some reason either ☹️😠

Look forward to reading all about everyone’s adventures.

That sounds great Wil. Can only look on with envy at those exotic fruits. We grew some lovely melons in our polytunnel last year - hoping for a repeat this season. You mention avocado - when I lived in Zambia we had a very large avacado tree in our grounds. It used to have  a fantastic crop every year. Probably helped by copious amounts of water during the rainy season. Getting to the fruit before our Rhodesian ridgeback was another matter. 

My apologies for spelling smart phone fat fingers don't mix.....yes pot to ground...ive had it 2 years and it's a gem..time for it to go nuts......I once had 2 spiralling confiers bought them and planted them 2 ft tall....20 years later they were 20ft tall the bottom spiralling was 15 ft the next 13 the next 12 etc all the way up the the top....I pruned them, shaped them they were staggeringly beautiful...people used to stop outside the house and knock on the door and ask me if I could do the same for them....and Christmas lights were just stupendous on them....when I moved I wanted to take them with me, called in experts to see what could be done.i was told moving them was a high probability I would kill them.....house gone and new owners just chopped them down.....20 years down the pan....of love and care, I just adore trees

thanks for the advice 

will plant my next four days off ...but the weather is changing for snow next week...so should I delay ?

I'm a tree nut, the inverted branches of a tree is a replica of our lungs... we are cousins. 

I would wait for the weather to warm a little after next Thursday I think its forecast. In the right place conifers can be stunning. When we arrived at this house in 2017 we planted two oaks in a small woodland at the bottom of our plot. They are 12-15 foot tall at the moment & are going to be really beautiful.

It's a great buzz seeing your handiwork.....

Yes Lofty - growing something & seeing it thrive is one of life's great pleasures. 

Thanks for the advice appreciated. 

We are currently chitting some first earlies for planting in the polytunnel mid March, crop early June. Any danger of frosts of course is reduced with the polytunnel and we can save the small plants by using a straw cover if needed. 

Just picked up this question which I assume refers to plants outdoors. As we have raised beds we have adapted them to take either thermal covers or insect netting. Thermal covers stop all wind, warm up the bed and keeps any straw contained. 

Ok - our tunnel is 35 foot x 14 foot with a maximum headroom of 10 foot so comfortable to get about in. Double doors at each end which can be closed off in high winds with ventilation supplied through side vent panels. Our tunnel has raised beds so these lend themselves to straw insulation. 

I'd rather chuck mine next door..Nice lush vegetation for them to thrive.

As a follow up Wil yesterday with snow on the ground and a max outside temp of around 3-4C the temp in our tunnel reached 22C. !st early spuds going in on Monday. 

Yes it is carrying on until the end of March. You can ask them to plant one for you or go and pick one up from one of their hubs. 

I had a quick look and the nearest ones are Swansea way or Folly Farm, I'm not going to Folly Farm at this time of year again. There are things I still can't unsee from the last time I went there.

My God GPR. .like a garden centre ..LOL

Sounds impressive !

my friend and I have just invested in a tunnel for our allotment.

Its "national League ", compared with your premier league, but hopefully will do the trick.

a lot of damage with cabbage whites last year and fly damage to carrots.

We are both still min the learning stage of this project..lots of mistakes ATM

Good move Pimp. The dreaded cabbage white. We have learnt to cover our brassicas with an insect stopping fleece until maturity. It stops the butterfly & therefore the caterpillars. The fleece has very small holes to allow watering. 

Onwards & upwards Lofty.

We have had two tunnels. First one in Kent for 6 years and this one here in Rhydcymerau since 2019 - never a problem. I have to say this latest tunnel was superbly engineered ( British). Its quite large 35 foot x 14 foot & has inground anchors every 5 foot, & a bracing structure both horizontally and at each corner angle.

Diane & I installed it & had some fun getting the one piece cover on - any small gust of wind & its back to the start!!!!! If you want any further info on supplier just PM me. 

Since I planted it ...it rained continously more or lessgor 7 days....bloody marvellous. 

Have a feeling I may have played cricket there many years ago. Lovely area of Pembs., Losing our intrepid African correspondent is a blow but welcome home Wil in advance. If you are around the Lampeter/Llandeilo area call in for a coffee and see it first hand. 

But the best cricket team is a just down the road towards Black Tar 

Wash your mouth out 

Would you believe it ??? I'm in that area soon. I'll call in, cheaper thatn buying a coffee. Do you supply biscuits as well ??

You are more than welcome. We can have coffee & biscuits in the polytunnel - heating in the house is off see - bloody expensive.

At the moment we are harvesting autumn planting broccoli, lettuce & spring onions with some cauliflowers ready in a couple of weeks. Our first early potatoes planted last week are starting to show through. Happy days. 

Higher fuel costs are hitting British growers very hard. I guess its going to be veg and salad crops outside their normal seasons which will suffer the most. 

Bit of a red herring in all honesty. I have been exporting to Europe for the last 15 years & whilst the paperwork since Brexit has increased it is no more than a small piece of extra work. I accept food stuffs are more tightly controlled but once the producer and freight company have completed the first shipment the prototype paperwork is then in place & things should run pretty smoothly. 

Of course if a producer in Spain is suffering from poor growing conditions like last Autumn apparently then the reduced amount of products will be shipped closer to home. That is just economics and nothing to do with the demon Brexit. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6c2VGEZwnv4" rel="nofollow - Headless Gardener in the Spring - YouTube

Cheers Burnie. Hope you well on the road to recovery. We have a growing & gardening thread along with a cooking thread. look forward to your contributions. 

Diane is busy checking the tomato plants as we speak. My early spuds are ok so there's hope. 

Most seed sowing is now done with only carrots, parsnip & suede to come in the next 10 days. We have harvested autumn planted spring onions, lettuce & brocolli with autumn planted cauliflowers & broad beans to come within 7-10 days ( benefits of a polytunnel). Our first early potatoes will be ready in a couple of weeks. In addition we have the following herbs ready to use - mint, rosemary, bay leaves, sage, parsley & thyme with French tarragon & marjoram available soon.

Outdoor sowing has started with autumn planted onions, garlic & shallots all doing well - these should be ready to harvest around late June/early July. Leeks will be going out this week having been started in the polytunnel. Mid & Late summer vegetables are all in various stages of growth with tomatoes, cucumber, sweet peppers, beetroot, spring planted broad beans & onions, melons, sweetcorn, peas and french beans all doing well. One of our favourite late summer veg - runner beans will be planted this week. 

Spring is a very busy planting time of the year and from now on its usually the watering which keeps us busy. We are very lucky in that we have over 3000 litres capacity stored throughout our garden in butts. If anyone has any questions regardless of how basic you may think it is feel free to ask. If we can answer we will. Growing our own has contributed wonderfully to our lives over the past 15 years health & well being wise. We can strongly recommend it. 

Between you and me Oracle I still have some supplies of liquid morphine from when I had my knee replacement. Obviously thats between you and me. 

I would keep a bit for next season 

My have to rely in my vino stocks

Well how our climate can change. two weeks ago I was complaining above about how spring had been disappointingly cool. Since then we have had an unbroken run of glorious weather, no rain & a forecast taking us through, at the moment, to 8th June with no prospect of any rain and temperatures rising into the mid 20's. Our reserves of captured water are running low so plan B will soon be introduced - we have a stream running through our property & during prolonged dry periods we pump water from this stream to irrigate our plants. Just off to set it up and crack on.

Pity the ashes hasn't started - I could have had an afternoon watching!!!!!!

Almost ready are some french beans which should carry us through into late July when we can look forward to a crop of runner beans which will see us through August/September. 

Yes massive  problem Gareth , both at our allotment (which has water, apart from butts), and at home, where my outdoor activities, care confined to pots. Continually watering and once a week feed ATM.

Hanging baskets coming on a treat though.

Regarding Ashes..agree, but I am glad I do'nt have sky/btsport( or whatever its on), otherwise I would ge drawn in to continual watching..which is great, except I do'nt have the time.

Have to be content with Test Match Special..LOL 😂 

Yes EO I picked about 30-40 most were with shades of purple. 

Have taken them in to the garage once a week agao, but you cannot keep fiddling, they don't like it.

Outside of the allotment, I have 100% pots at home as our garden.

I am discovering at last what wonderful plants hydrangea's are, in pots or anything else.

such varieties, and flower all summer.. very robust.

I had one large one out the front of the house, last year, and it really thriving.

now added to my collection, with different varieties and colours.

Lupins , hollyhocks and lavender, all disappointing this year.

One other plant I have discovered as a perennial pot plant , is Sea Holly.

Could not purchase locally, so sent off for some specimens, which are doing well.

They need 50/50 composition of sand /grit and compost, otherwise will not do well.

In the allotment rain has been a blessing, but has brought out the slugs which have a a field day with some things, despite my efforts.

One of our favourite summer veg will be ready this weekend - runner beans. They usually last through August well into late September. 

Gardening guru aka Alan Titchmarch

Cooking guru aka Nigella

Wine guru aka Keith Floyd

Travel planning guru aka Judith Chalmers

And  SF Baz Lewis guru aka the legendary Eastern Outpost !

How did you find the time to do your job ?!! 😉

I’m just envious of course 😂

It helps to be semi retired & have a very good gardener/cook wife reesy. Mind when the test match was on with the Open golf I was pushing my luck!!!!!

Just what I was thinking Reesy ..LOL

https://youtu.be/TB7hZ98Hdyw" rel="nofollow - https://youtu.be/TB7hZ98Hdyw

Club wise, how do you think Leicester will fare next season?

Thanks for the good wishes.

Rugby, well where to begin, England won't be ready to do very well in the World Cup, Borthwick and his team just might sort things out for the next WC if the RFU don't interfere, which I think they will.

Tigers, well a new coaching team, some new players and I really don't know how it will go, hoping for top 4 in the league and a go at the final at Twickenham for the pay offs(that's not a spelling mistake).

They, a bit like England, are not ready to challenge in the big boys cup, I don't expect much in Europe this coming year. We have a heap of really good lads coming through from the academy, guys like Martin the two Chessum brothers, Illione have the potential to go a very long way in the game, those who figured in the England U20's should also step up, The Manz brothers, Finn Carnduff, all names you might hear of in the future, we are finally using the product we make ourselves instead of trying to buy a team, which did not work.

Good to see Tiger Burnie back-always fair minded( like all of us on SF 😉)

Now for a confession, during lockdown my daughter treated me to a shot on the Ancestry thing, well I did my family tree and as well as the English/Saxon/Norman stuff I knew about I've Welsh ancestors, it might take a while to get over the shock lol.