Well done you and I agree totally with your outlook on life....however, being in my mid 70s, I am inclined to accept help with the heavier jobs that need doing in my garden. Surely that’s acceptable?
I'm with you Tizzie, I will do all the work if I have to but never refuse help if it's available. Apart from anything else, two of you doing it will get it done faster and as B3 says, it can be a brief opportunity with clay. I use a blended manure/compost and also bark chips - the manure mix on the borders where I'm planting smaller plants and bulbs, etc, the bark chips on the sections that are mostly shrubs (especially the acid lovers - bark chips being less likely to contain any lime than compost and manure).
Gardening on the edge of Exmoor, in Devon
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
Ah now, that read like you were going to get your partner to do it so you didn’t have to and you know it.
I‘m not joking about that spade, it’s a groundbreaker and does all the work for you so your size and strength really means nowt. I‘ve been fighting the clay round here for 10 years and using that for the first time was a game changer. You just stand on it and it simply slices down under you. Other spades of that design available but only that and the bulldog premium stainless steel one has the smaller shaft length.
Thank you Learningcurve for your spade recommendation, very useful. You are obviously a serious and dedicated gardener. I think perhaps my approach to keeping my plot tidy and attractive is a little more laid back. Raisingirl makes perfect sense to me.
I'd check with your local council for whether they sell back compost from the recycled green waste. I know some people are concerned with this but if not in a veg patch it should be fine. I'm in Wiltshire and have used lots of recycled compost both in bags from tip and ordered as a builder's bag. I just lie it on top of the clay and let the worms do the work. I have very healthy soil. Also, it will keep it more uniform-looking than if you dig it in, which is what your original purpose is.
I simply dislike the implication, intentional or not, that hard graft is “man’s work” and that men will be better than women at anything apart from going to the toilet standing up. It is an archaic 1950s attitude that keeps other women down. My mother is your generation and she would be shocked if she burned her best bra for nothing.
I’m normally a very jolly person but any hint of boys are better than girls will immediately drain all my sense of humour, make me twitch, and randomly grab my 14 year old daughter and start ranting/lecturing at her about equality.
never ever dreamt that a lighthearted comment would result in such a bitter tirade. Really believed that this forum was gardeners in general, including those who just wanted a chat, or even a chuckle!
Anyway, enough is enough.
i would like to thank all those who have offered advice about my garden and not offered a lecture on equality!
never ever dreamt that a lighthearted comment would result in such a bitter tirade. Really believed that this forum was gardeners in general, including those who just wanted a chat, or even a chuckle!
Anyway, enough is enough.
i would like to thank all those who have offered advice about my garden and not offered a lecture on equality!
I agree Tizzie44. There are people around who seem determined to take offence at any and every comment no matter how trivial or light hearted it's intended to be. Nobody was suggesting that a woman is incapable of hard work in the garden, indeed my own grandmother did her own veg garden until she had a stroke in her mid 80's.
If I suggested to my wife that she should do the heavy digging her reply wouldn't simply be "That's your job", it would be unprintable.
Posts
Well done you and I agree totally with your outlook on life....however, being in my mid 70s, I am inclined to accept help with the heavier jobs that need doing in my garden. Surely that’s acceptable?
I'm with you Tizzie, I will do all the work if I have to but never refuse help if it's available. Apart from anything else, two of you doing it will get it done faster and as B3 says, it can be a brief opportunity with clay. I use a blended manure/compost and also bark chips - the manure mix on the borders where I'm planting smaller plants and bulbs, etc, the bark chips on the sections that are mostly shrubs (especially the acid lovers - bark chips being less likely to contain any lime than compost and manure).
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
Ah now, that read like you were going to get your partner to do it so you didn’t have to and you know it.
I‘m not joking about that spade, it’s a groundbreaker and does all the work for you so your size and strength really means nowt. I‘ve been fighting the clay round here for 10 years and using that for the first time was a game changer. You just stand on it and it simply slices down under you. Other spades of that design available but only that and the bulldog premium stainless steel one has the smaller shaft length.
Thank you Learningcurve for your spade recommendation, very useful. You are obviously a serious and dedicated gardener. I think perhaps my approach to keeping my plot tidy and attractive is a little more laid back. Raisingirl makes perfect sense to me.
I'd check with your local council for whether they sell back compost from the recycled green waste. I know some people are concerned with this but if not in a veg patch it should be fine. I'm in Wiltshire and have used lots of recycled compost both in bags from tip and ordered as a builder's bag. I just lie it on top of the clay and let the worms do the work. I have very healthy soil. Also, it will keep it more uniform-looking than if you dig it in, which is what your original purpose is.
That’s exactly what I will do,, at the risk of upsetting Learningcurve I will let the worms do the work. Got lots of those!! Thank you Watery.
I simply dislike the implication, intentional or not, that hard graft is “man’s work” and that men will be better than women at anything apart from going to the toilet standing up. It is an archaic 1950s attitude that keeps other women down. My mother is your generation and she would be shocked if she burned her best bra for nothing.
I’m normally a very jolly person but any hint of boys are better than girls will immediately drain all my sense of humour, make me twitch, and randomly grab my 14 year old daughter and start ranting/lecturing at her about equality.
Good morning Learnincurve
never ever dreamt that a lighthearted comment would result in such a bitter tirade. Really believed that this forum was gardeners in general, including those who just wanted a chat, or even a chuckle!
Anyway, enough is enough.
i would like to thank all those who have offered advice about my garden and not offered a lecture on equality!
I agree Tizzie44. There are people around who seem determined to take offence at any and every comment no matter how trivial or light hearted it's intended to be. Nobody was suggesting that a woman is incapable of hard work in the garden, indeed my own grandmother did her own veg garden until she had a stroke in her mid 80's.
If I suggested to my wife that she should do the heavy digging her reply wouldn't simply be "That's your job", it would be unprintable.