I'd forgotten about Anne Swithenbank, l always enjoyed her segments. Pippa Greenwood's enthusiasm for "creepy crawlies" was ahead of her time.
I finally caught up with Friday's episode yesterday lunchtime and enjoyed it. I do like Frances' garden, it is a green oasis, but oh dear, that lawn. I wonder if she'll get rid of it ?
The garden in London was pretty impressive, and also the Wakefield community one. Rekha's enthusiasm for her new garden was nice to see.
... BTW, I reached my target not to generate any waste in my garden this year. The last and only bag with rubbish went into the bin in March. This includes the purchase of new plants which come in hairy pots only. Yes, they are more expensive but the pots end in my compost instead of the landfill.
That's interesting @Sim@Simone_in_Wiltshire. Does that include nothing in the council garden waste bin?
I put very little rubbish from the garden in my black bin (general waste), and that's mostly other people's litter picked up off the garden. A few old labels if they won't scrub clean (eg from plants that weren't a success and that I'm not going to try again, otherwise I save them), broken pots that aren't fit to re-use, scraps of plastic from eg cutting a hanging basket liner from an old compost bag, that sort of thing. Coloured/coated cardboard boxes and plastic bottles from fertiliser etc. go in the blue bin (recycling), and plant waste that won't compost well on a domestic scale goes in the green bin.
Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
@JennyJ I have hardly green waste. Much of it comes into the compost, and I go twice a year to the tip and give around 4 bags to the green container. My soil bags are years old and the last bags I bought was in March for the tomato bed, but even here, I changed my opinion. The biggest problem with growing veggies is that they turn up as too many at the same time, and I'm forced to the same over weeks. Therefore, I decided no longer to grow veggies, and will give tomatoes next year a very last try. If they fail again, then I will buy them at our weekly shopping, and will turn the existing bed into a wildflower bed. You know that with the peat-free compost, we no longer can have proper soil for our hobby veggies. Even worse, peat-free compost made of landfill and a look on the bag this year told me "30% recycled plastic". OMG, it was even worse. I have enough. We are lucky to be surrounded by green-friendly businesses. WFH keeps us at home Mondays to Fridays, and we enjoy our Saturdays' tour to Cirencester. The Market Garden sells everything without packaging, and they have heritage tomatoes. Opposite on the way to Burford is an organic farm shop that works fully sustainable. I buy all the green stuff and other things there. This year, I bought plants in Spring time from them, but they want to have the wooden carrier box and plastic pots back. In other words, it can't go better. We get all our food from sustainable resources. The garden centre at Bampton sells many plants in hairy pots, and in order to meet my criteria, I don't look for the nicest plants and accept that they come in a plastic pot, but if I buy plants choosing from the hairy pots. The plant labels at Bampton are made of cardboard and wooden sticks, see the picture below. I use these sticks for the cloches which I also bought some years ago and which should last some time. Westland sells much of the fertiliser in cardboard. Since last year, I changed my planting to a sustainable. I only grow plants which add as compost later on.
I still have plastic labels bought in 2019 when we bought the second hand greenhouse. I use hob cleaner to get them free from old names. If they are too long, I cut them in 2. But since 2021, I collect all kinds of wooden sticks and they work well for me. Fork and Knife last 1 season.
...Carol Klein, ...is too old to be
there for the next ...
20 odd years
How old was Geoff Hamilton when he died? For how long was he in GW?
With MD, I always have a ... saying in mind... (about people who don't practise what they preach) I mentioned ...several times his extensive use of freezers and storing fancy plants in a heated greenhouses.
I never heard him say don't use freezers; or don't support your plants in winter. Mercifully, this is still a "free" country (just!), not a dictatorship.
As you can see, I rather disagree. Terribly sorry, Simone.
Hello @Sam 37 , I have no problem if you disagree with me On the contrary, I like it to be challenged.
I stressed the contradiction that MD is bending our ears for years about climate change, but he didn't hesitate to use freezers and heated greenhouses.
As I said before, freezers take most of the energy you pay monthly. If you are realistic, you need to add that money to the bill, which leaves you paying double and triple if not more the longer you store food without eating it. If you see an offer, "Beans £1" and think, let's buy 4 packages but put them in a freezer, after 3 month, they cost you already £12 and are more expensive then buying when you need them. Of course, this is everybody's choice and we are in a democracy, but strange enough, many people complain about climate change but do things that cause a climate change.
Going further that road, it requires a change in product use, product expectation, product offering. The UK like Germany buy 70% of their daily used products from supermarkets. They are the leading nations in Europe. Other countries have a rate of 45 to 35%. Supermarkets outside London are rarely locally in a short foot mile, but often require a car. One aspect is that people buy more in order to freeze it. Around 30% of the energy we use in the UK is used by private households. 40% of that is used by freezers. If we didn't use freezers at all, we would save around 7% overall energy. That doesn't sound much. Other countries in Europe have a much higher share in local shops where people buy their daily stuff from. There have been a lot of studies about people (in towns) ignored the car and only bought locally using a bike and on foot. The result was that they bought less in advance with the result the waste and the use of a freezer went down.
If you stress now democracy, this is not a choice of dictatorship vs. democracy, it's a choice of what is more comfortable for people . They didn't ask the democracy in question when local shops closed in the 70's because supermarket chains took over.
Hamilton was 59 when he died, Carol Klein is 78. I love to see Carol, but looking into the future, we need somebody who reflects change and speaking out of experience, taking over such position needs to be prepared and requires time to practise. It's btw one of the biggest problems companies have ... but this is another story...
"Monty replants his bearded iris in the Dry Garden, clears the greenhouse ready for winter salad crops and harvests quince. As part of his big Cottage Garden revamp, he transplants a shrub to the orchard and shows how to save money by collecting and storing seed from plants around the garden.
Arit Anderson explores some of the arguments, both for and against artificial grass. And Toby Buckland discovers a rich and tranquil Japanese-themed garden deep in the beautiful Welsh countryside.
There's a look at the garden of Andrew Clifton, who repurposes and recycles a whole variety of materials to create a beautiful ‘secret garden’ in Nottingham. And gardeners Steve Edney and Louise Dowle have created a whole border of plants whose structure and forms not only create a striking winter scene but from which they harvest new seed every year.
Steve Edney is a lovely bloke, him and his partner run No Name Nursery and their own garden is a fabulous tropical garden growing some very rare plants.
How can you lie there and think of England When you don't even know who's in the team
MD is bending our ears for years about climate change, but he didn't hesitate to use freezers and heated greenhouses.
I use 2 freezers. As I don't live above a shop or next door to a supermarket, using my car daily for my family needs, or a delivery service, would be far more expensive for me and polluting to the environment. Walking to the shops, would not be an option for me. I would, thus, never give up a freezer in favour of a daily trip to the shops for my peas ...
A smart meter clearly shows that the freezers aren't the most costly part of our bills.
I trust you have no doubt that Monty is intelligent enough to place his freezers not in the sunniest part of his property.
Monty grows a lot of food and he needs to preserve it. He knows what is more economical and better for the environment than, I think, you imagine.
A greenhouse to a professional gardener, surely is a must. I don't have one, so I can't comment on its heating costs.
Hamilton was 59 when he died, Carol Klein is 78.
Ι'm sorry for my clumsy attempt at a semi-rhetorical question. My intention was to imply that being younger than somebody else doesn't mean you will outlive them. We never know how long anyone will live. Apologies.
we need somebody who reflects change
and speaking out of experience
What kind of change? Care to expand and expound, please? Unless you mean not Monty because you don't like him for your own reasons...
Monty, as we all, perhaps, know, is hugely experienced and, probably, the best communicator on GW. Not to mention, any other programmes.
Of course, he will retire sooner or later; I have learned a lot about gardening from him and I know I will miss him, and the dogs, hugely. I do hope Frances takes over from him but, I think, she needs a decent-sized garden and also to develop the ability of presenting with real confidence and presence.
Posts
Pippa Greenwood's enthusiasm for "creepy crawlies" was ahead of her time.
I finally caught up with Friday's episode yesterday lunchtime and enjoyed it. I do like Frances' garden, it is a green oasis, but oh dear, that lawn. I wonder if she'll get rid of it ?
The garden in London was pretty impressive, and also the Wakefield community one.
Rekha's enthusiasm for her new garden was nice to see.
We are lucky to be surrounded by green-friendly businesses. WFH keeps us at home Mondays to Fridays, and we enjoy our Saturdays' tour to Cirencester. The Market Garden sells everything without packaging, and they have heritage tomatoes. Opposite on the way to Burford is an organic farm shop that works fully sustainable. I buy all the green stuff and other things there. This year, I bought plants in Spring time from them, but they want to have the wooden carrier box and plastic pots back. In other words, it can't go better. We get all our food from sustainable resources.
The garden centre at Bampton sells many plants in hairy pots, and in order to meet my criteria, I don't look for the nicest plants and accept that they come in a plastic pot, but if I buy plants choosing from the hairy pots. The plant labels at Bampton are made of cardboard and wooden sticks, see the picture below. I use these sticks for the cloches which I also bought some years ago and which should last some time.
Westland sells much of the fertiliser in cardboard.
Since last year, I changed my planting to a sustainable. I only grow plants which add as compost later on.
I still have plastic labels bought in 2019 when we bought the second hand greenhouse. I use hob cleaner to get them free from old names. If they are too long, I cut them in 2.
But since 2021, I collect all kinds of wooden sticks and they work well for me. Fork and Knife last 1 season.
I ♥ my garden.
I stressed the contradiction that MD is bending our ears for years about climate change, but he didn't hesitate to use freezers and heated greenhouses.
As I said before, freezers take most of the energy you pay monthly. If you are realistic, you need to add that money to the bill, which leaves you paying double and triple if not more the longer you store food without eating it. If you see an offer, "Beans £1" and think, let's buy 4 packages but put them in a freezer, after 3 month, they cost you already £12 and are more expensive then buying when you need them.
Of course, this is everybody's choice and we are in a democracy, but strange enough, many people complain about climate change but do things that cause a climate change.
Going further that road, it requires a change in product use, product expectation, product offering.
The UK like Germany buy 70% of their daily used products from supermarkets. They are the leading nations in Europe. Other countries have a rate of 45 to 35%.
Supermarkets outside London are rarely locally in a short foot mile, but often require a car. One aspect is that people buy more in order to freeze it.
Around 30% of the energy we use in the UK is used by private households. 40% of that is used by freezers. If we didn't use freezers at all, we would save around 7% overall energy. That doesn't sound much.
Other countries in Europe have a much higher share in local shops where people buy their daily stuff from. There have been a lot of studies about people (in towns) ignored the car and only bought locally using a bike and on foot. The result was that they bought less in advance with the result the waste and the use of a freezer went down.
If you stress now democracy, this is not a choice of dictatorship vs. democracy, it's a choice of what is more comfortable for people
Hamilton was 59 when he died, Carol Klein is 78. I love to see Carol, but looking into the future, we need somebody who reflects change and speaking out of experience, taking over such position needs to be prepared and requires time to practise.
It's btw one of the biggest problems companies have ... but this is another story...
I ♥ my garden.
"Monty replants his bearded iris in the Dry Garden, clears the greenhouse ready for winter salad crops and harvests quince. As part of his big Cottage Garden revamp, he transplants a shrub to the orchard and shows how to save money by collecting and storing seed from plants around the garden.
Arit Anderson explores some of the arguments, both for and against artificial grass. And Toby Buckland discovers a rich and tranquil Japanese-themed garden deep in the beautiful Welsh countryside.
There's a look at the garden of Andrew Clifton, who repurposes and recycles a whole variety of materials to create a beautiful ‘secret garden’ in Nottingham. And gardeners Steve Edney and Louise Dowle have created a whole border of plants whose structure and forms not only create a striking winter scene but from which they harvest new seed every year.
Plus more viewers' films."
I play with plants and soil and sometimes it's successful
When you don't even know who's in the team
S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
I ♥ my garden.