SCARY FILM OF YOUR WEATHER IN PARTS OF THE US! ~ ARE YOU ALL OK?

[Hattie the Hen]

Over here in the UK we are watching bits of film (on TV) of your recent snowy weather.

Some of it looks pretty scary. I just hope that everyone (& especially any TEG-ers) are safe & warm & enjoying this holiday time.

Our previous cold snap has relented in the south of the UK & the snow is melting away but there is a forcast for more in the middle of next week. Scoland & the north of England is still deep in snow.

Keep safe & best wishes for a Happy New Year!


:rose Hattie :rose

 

[boggybranch]

Hi Hattie,
I live in the very southeast corner of Alabama and we very seldom have a freeze let alone snow.
I have watched a lot of gardening vidoes on youTube and can't remember ever seeing one from the UK that didn't involve gardenening in raised beds and, if I am remembering right, garden areas being call 'allotments'.....which makes me wonder...... why vegetable gardens over there are not planted without using raised beds (maybe the soil is too rocky) and why are they called allotments.

 

[Hattie the Hen]

Hi boggybranch,

Most of the UK gardeners garden straight into the soil but an increasing number of us are using raised beds to grow our vegetables in because we can get the soil warmed up earlier in the Spring, thus giving us a longer growing season. We often cover the raised beds for extra protection.

As for 'allotments' they are pieces of rented land & they usually belong to the local authority [ an "allotment" of a specific area of land to be used to grow vegetables for personal/family use only]. They are away from the home garden & they often have quite strict rules as to use. They are very popular at the moment as people have started to realise they want to grow their own food. A few years ago they were the province of elderly grumpy old men who wanted to get away from their wives ( who only wanted flowers in their back gardens)......!!

These should give you more info on allotments in the UK:

http://www.allotments-uk.com/

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/6180746/Government-urged-to-create-more-allotments.html

http://www.allotment-diary.co.uk/

http://www.glallotments.btik.com/p_About_Us.ikml

This should entertain you for a while! The lasy link shows you arial views of an allotment site
I hope you enjoy it all.

I love this exchange of information on TEG. I learn a lot every time I come online here!

Happy New Year & Happy Gardening ! :tools :tools :tools

:rose Hattie :rose

 

[digitS']

I'm feeling a little "responsible" for some of our bad US weather, Hattie . . .

Beautiful clear skies here in the interior of the Pacific NorthWest - high pressure way up into Canada. That's the problem for the Midwest. This big dome of air swirling clockwise is creating a big sink of low pressure, clouds and storms swirling counter-clockwise to the east.

My son in Minneapolis is dealing with a lot of snow, freezing rain on the snow, and conditions so slippery he has trouble walking from one side of his street to the other. This morning, he's providing transportation for some folks going to the airport . . .
I was a community gardener for 6 years, Hattie . (Speaking of elderly grumpy old men ) I took it onto myself to try to learn a little about this phenomena which most of the rest of the world seems so well versed on. It was a lot of fun! Remarkably, I learned that Missoula Montana was a nearby "hotbed" of community gardening and even had a bona fide expert on the art & science of it.

We maintained our good relationship with the gov'ment keeping our free land and water and enjoyed each others company over the fences. Unfortunately, some of the oldsters began to drop off and the kids weren't coming along fast enuf to replace them. Then there were the varmi't attacks . . .

Steve

 

[boggybranch]

Great links, Hattie

This is REALLY interesting information. The photos of the progression from TOTALLY overgrown to an "unreal" garden "blew me away".

In my area, many years ago, some privately owned lands were "plotted out" and rented to would-be gardeners.....much like this allotment way, only no gov't involvement......but, as so many things are, here in America (fads), it quickly fell by the wayside as lazy people found out that there was more to gardening than just "planting a few seeds".......BUT the pictures of what's going on in the UK is absolutely spectacular and amazing.

Well, gotta go back to the links and check them out more thoroughly.....Thanks a bunch.

 

[boggybranch]

Hattie....The more I read and see, on these links, the more I want to know.

Is any of the UK gardening magazines available for overseas subscription?

Do any of them (I know, a dumb question) have websites?

Am REALLY enjoying the "monthly diary", pictures and videos on the last 'link'.

 

[boggybranch]

Hattie,

I have seen mentioned, several times, of planting potatoes in "potato bags"......what is this?

I apologize for so many questions, but gardening in the UK is VERY interesting and I'd like to try some of the 'ways' you grow things, there...here where I am......just to see if it will work.

 

[curly_kate]

Hattie,

I have seen mentioned, several times, of planting potatoes in "potato bags"......what is this?

She might be talking about something similar to this: http://www.gardeners.com/Potato-Bin/VegetablePlanters_Cat,36-629,default,cp.html

 

[boggybranch]

Hattie,

I have seen mentioned, several times, of planting potatoes in "potato bags"......what is this?

She might be talking about something similar to this: http://www.gardeners.com/Potato-Bin/VegetablePlanters_Cat,36-629,default,cp.html

I bet that you have 'hit the nail on the head'....that's got to be what they are talking about.
Pretty cool ideal, too.....and not that expensive, either.

THANKS

 

[Hattie the Hen]

boggybranch


Yes. curlykate is right! Sometimes they are a different shape, depending on the company!
I will try to find you examples & other web sites (it is the middle of the night here & my brain is not working in sync with my fingers.....!!

I'm glad you enjoyed the links. There are some interesting vegetable allotment bloggers here & I'll try to find some links to them for you if you are interested?

Here is another huge allotment site I use.

http://www.allotment.org.uk/

I will post more links tomorrow -- I must sleep.......................!!
Goodnight!


Hattie :rose