Myths, old-wives' tales, errors repeated through the generations ...
Attempts by those with a little learning to impress their easily influenced colleagues. Sometimes freshly minted "lies". It is a common practice with marketeers, old wives, priests and sharmans.
You can develop your own experience by experimenting. Or starting with a recommendation from a source you respect (but treat with sceptiicism). Scientists have the concept of "peer review".
location: Surrey Hills, England, ex-woodland acidic sand. "Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
Parsnips and carrots are a good example of crops which do best if sown direct, as @StephenSouthwest says, because it's easy to disturb the tap root (which is, after all, the thing you're growing them for) if you transplant them.
I think seed packet instructions can be very misleading. For plants which will be damaged by frost, but need a long growing season, they ought to include the information that you have to be able to grow them on, once they've germinated, in a warm place with plenty of light - not your kitchen windowsill or a cold frame... You get the impression that if the packet instructions allow you to germinate the seeds, their job is done.
Since 2019 I've lived in east Clare, in the west of Ireland.
@Fairygirl and @Desi_in_London thank you both, now I think about it, predators are an issue I’ve had to deal with, though more with smaller plants and squirrels digging them up! But perhaps I’ve also had pigeons preaching at them and didn’t realise.
@Liriodendron thank you but don’t worry, I’m pretty thick skinned 😀
@Liriodendron - this is why I feel G'sWorld [programme] should be doing a regular, short feature which covers the ins and outs properly. It needn't be more than few minutes each week, but it would be so helpful for those starting out on seed sowing. I know others feel it's boring, or unnecessary, but that's fine if you've been doing it for decades. We all had to start out at some point. There's lots of items on the programme that I find boring, or too long, and I FF those, but surely the basics of gardening are always important, and it shouldn't be hard in an hour long show to find a few minutes for it. Equally, the FF button can be used by those who don't like, or need, the info
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
To say the original post was "too long, didn't read" and then recommend the OP to read a beginners' gardening book because our answers would be too involved for him/her to follow, @bédé , is indeed plain rude. The effect of reporting your post is to let the moderators decide if it is appropriate for it to appear on the forum. They don't work weekends so it'll be tomorrow...
Since 2019 I've lived in east Clare, in the west of Ireland.
@Liriodendron I think my post and your second one crossed.
The second part of what you’ve mentioned is exactly the thing I’m trying to understand. As things stand, I don’t have a greenhouse or even a heated propagator so I’m now realising I need to pick and choose what seeds I grow and more importantly when I grow them more carefully.
I’ve seen @Fairygirl say numerous times that she needs to start things much later where she lives. This morning I watched a Charles Dowding video on YouTube and he spoke about, for example, climbing beans and how planting them too early and putting the plants into the ground too early while the ground is still cold will actually hinder the growth sometimes so it’s worth having that extra bit of patience.
re Fairy's comments Gardeners' World has lost its way. tldv. (= too long don't view now). Too left wing, too ethnic, too "communitiy", too much time to vane show-offs. Entertainment perhaps, but little education.
For beginners, there is a more helpful programme: Beechgrove.
location: Surrey Hills, England, ex-woodland acidic sand. "Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
Posts
Attempts by those with a little learning to impress their easily influenced colleagues. Sometimes freshly minted "lies". It is a common practice with marketeers, old wives, priests and sharmans.
You can develop your own experience by experimenting. Or starting with a recommendation from a source you respect (but treat with sceptiicism). Scientists have the concept of "peer review".
"Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
"Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
I think seed packet instructions can be very misleading. For plants which will be damaged by frost, but need a long growing season, they ought to include the information that you have to be able to grow them on, once they've germinated, in a warm place with plenty of light - not your kitchen windowsill or a cold frame... You get the impression that if the packet instructions allow you to germinate the seeds, their job is done.
I know others feel it's boring, or unnecessary, but that's fine if you've been doing it for decades. We all had to start out at some point. There's lots of items on the programme that I find boring, or too long, and I FF those, but surely the basics of gardening are always important, and it shouldn't be hard in an hour long show to find a few minutes for it.
Equally, the FF button can be used by those who don't like, or need, the info
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
When you don't even know who's in the team
S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
For beginners, there is a more helpful programme: Beechgrove.
"Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."