A little thread of calm?

[flying haggis]

very clever people out there

https://youtu.be/8KPbJ0-DxTc

 

[Bm101]

I used to eat nettles all the time. Pick only the newest tips when the plants are young otherwise they are overbearing. Better to pick lots of young leaves and dry them. By the time they flower you don't want to be eating them at all . As a early spring delicacy in soup with goats cheese or similar they are beautiful. Spinach but a little stronger. Lovely. Free is even better.
Most wild food is similar in that it needs cooking gently.
Richard Mabey wrote the original book if people are interested. Doubtless there are untold newer books.
Met a family of east Europeans over here for the crop picking last autumn in the woods. They were a bit suspicious and no shared language other than signing and basic words. Once I'd signalled I was interested in the mushrooms not their right to forage they became effusive and friendly. Good people. I believe mushroom harvesting is a major social occasion in some countries. We seem to have lost touch here or see it as esoteric or such. Shame that in a generation or two hedgerow food that was common to our grandparents has become so alien.
:|
Ideal time to start. Spring is blooming.
:wink:

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Not wild, but nearly so in some cases - later in the year, nasturtiums. The leaves, seeds and flowers are edible. The leaves are quite peppery and go nicely in egg mayo sandwiches.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/All-Good-Thing ... 0030572967

Is a brilliant book if anyone's seriously interested.

 

[Tris]

I'll be picking some nettles for cordial at the weekend, lovely flavour and great colour. It has a flavour that's hard to describe, part melon, part sherbet.

Lime tree leaves are good in a salad too.
If you have dandelions in your garden do what the French do and put a plate over them to make them less bitter, especially useful after flowering when the leaves toughen.
If you like rocket in salad then try hairy bittercress, the leaves are tiny but really pack a punch and make a great pesto.

Good excuse to get out for a walk at least.
Tris

 

[Andy Kev.]

I used to eat nettles all the time. Pick only the newest tips when the plants are young otherwise they are overbearing. Better to pick lots of young leaves and dry them. By the time they flower you don't want to be eating them at all . As a early spring delicacy in soup with goats cheese or similar they are beautiful. Spinach but a little stronger. Lovely. Free is even better.
Most wild food is similar in that it needs cooking gently.
Richard Mabey wrote the original book if people are interested. Doubtless there are untold newer books.
Met a family of east Europeans over here for the crop picking last autumn in the woods. They were a bit suspicious and no shared language other than signing and basic words. Once I'd signalled I was interested in the mushrooms not their right to forage they became effusive and friendly. Good people. I believe mushroom harvesting is a major social occasion in some countries. We seem to have lost touch here or see it as esoteric or such. Shame that in a generation or two hedgerow food that was common to our grandparents has become so alien.
:|
Ideal time to start. Spring is blooming.
:wink:

Mushroom harvesting is indeed a major social thing in some (particularly eastern European) countries, as presumably are the small number of funerals which the activity gives rise to every year.

 

[Nigel Burden]

I used to eat nettles all the time. Pick only the newest tips when the plants are young otherwise they are overbearing. Better to pick lots of young leaves and dry them. By the time they flower you don't want to be eating them at all . As a early spring delicacy in soup with goats cheese or similar they are beautiful. Spinach but a little stronger. Lovely. Free is even better.
Most wild food is similar in that it needs cooking gently.
Richard Mabey wrote the original book if people are interested. Doubtless there are untold newer books.
Met a family of east Europeans over here for the crop picking last autumn in the woods. They were a bit suspicious and no shared language other than signing and basic words. Once I'd signalled I was interested in the mushrooms not their right to forage they became effusive and friendly. Good people. I believe mushroom harvesting is a major social occasion in some countries. We seem to have lost touch here or see it as esoteric or such. Shame that in a generation or two hedgerow food that was common to our grandparents has become so alien.
:|
Ideal time to start. Spring is blooming.
:wink:

I used to do a lot of mushroom foraging in the 1980-90s. It became very popular due to Antonio Carluccio and Gennaro Contaldo. The situation became so bad at one time due to the high prices achieved in London restaurants, with gangs coming down to the New Forest from London to forage commercially, that the Forestry Commission put a 1 kilo limit in force. It wasn't only in the New Forest though that limits had to be imposed.

Nigel.

 

[Tris]

It seems it's not just mushrooms now Nigel, the woodland Trust put up wildlife cameras at one of their sites only to find a local florist carrying away armfuls of foliage for their shop :shock:

 

[Chris152]

Just discovered this!

Do you think they'll be ready for tea tonight, or best wait til tomorrow?

 

[Chris152]

Tomato seeds arrived...

Does that look about right? I can get about 12 plants into what's currently the dining room/ will become a greenhouse, so after I planted those seeds i put some more in an egg box, and then all in a clear bag on a window sill:

 

[Phil Pascoe]

It's easier to put then in yoghurt pots or even the cardboard tubes out of bog rolls - you just tip them out and stick them in a hole, you don't need to tease them apart.

 

[Trainee neophyte]

I cheat and buy ready plants rather than seed, but I would put the seeds in individual pots so replanting isn't going to be difficult. I plant out when they are about 6" tall, so have a pot / lavatory roll big enough to cope. The cardboard roll method is really good, btw. Must post a photo of my poor excuse for a veg garden.

 

[Chris152]

Ok, thanks for the heads up fellas. Would you say mine are doomed to fail/ less than likely to succeed? I've had a rummage and can't find loo roll centres nor yogurt pots etc. I found four smaller plant pots, having recently given a load away to someone who wanted - wait for it - to grow vegetables from seeds.
If the trays I've done are likely to fail, could tin cans (regular size) with holes drilled in the bottoms work?

 

[Chris152]

Must post a photo of my poor excuse for a veg garden.

Yes, I'm sure it'd pale to insignificance compared with mine.

 

[Nigel Burden]

Ok, thanks for the heads up fellas. Would you say mine are doomed to fail/ less than likely to succeed? I've had a rummage and can't find loo roll centres nor yogurt pots etc. I found four smaller plant pots, having recently given a load away to someone who wanted - wait for it - to grow vegetables from seeds.
If the trays I've done are likely to fail, could tin cans (regular size) with holes drilled in the bottoms work?

No, they're not doomed to fail.

I sowed mine, four to a four inch pot and pricked them out into four inch pots when the first true leaves developed. They are now between four and six inches high. They alternate between the greenhouse in the day, and a window sill at night. I've done this for years and never had a problem, but sowing individually in cardboard tubes would be better as it would avoid disturbing the roots.

Nigel.

 

[Chris152]

Ok, thanks Nigel! I might try a few in tin cans and the little pots I have to hand, just in case - I can always stick them in the ground outside if I have too many. And anyway, unravelling knotted roots could prove an exciting pass-time during lockdown.

 

[Trainee neophyte]

Must post a photo of my poor excuse for a veg garden.

Yes, I'm sure it'd pale to insignificance compared with mine.

I may plant a of of stuff, but quite often I don't harvest anything at all - it all starts off with the best of intentions, and then I get busy, and forget, and before you know it your veg patch has become virgin forest again. It is quite normal to lose plants completely, and only discover them again when I am ripping everything out to start again. Usually a bit late by then. This year the pressure is on, but we won't have any tourists to distract us so fingers crossed it may work better.

The seedlings will be fine as is - you will just need to transplant sooner, to individual pots. Either way, you are going to need some more pots, or a much bigger pot would work, too. Space at 4"?

I have a rule: plant double what you need, and expect to lose three quarters. I am not a good, or conscientious gardener. I don't actually know why I do it.

(I have learned a really good trick for potatoes: I give a friend a sack of seed spuds, and a sack of fertiliser, and three months later he gives me back about 400kg of his potatoes when we all go and help harvest his field. It's the most successful method yet. Of course this year I will have to socially distance myself, at least until after he has lifted them...)

 

[Nigel Burden]

Ok, thanks Nigel! I might try a few in tin cans and the little pots I have to hand, just in case - I can always stick them in the ground outside if I have too many. And anyway, unravelling knotted roots could prove an exciting pass-time during lockdown.

The roots shouldn't be too tangled if you prick them out when the first true leaves have developed. Mine will go into 10 inch terracotta pots when there's no risk of frost, but they're ok for another three weeks yet . I have put them in old plastic paint buckets with holes drilled in the bottom before now and they've been successful. I grow them in the greenhouse but I have ten plants this year, and as my neighbours don't ever seem to want any surplus I will have to grow some outside in pots as we don't have a vegetable garden.

Nigel.

 

[Tris]

Chris, take a look at a paper Potter. They are easy to turn from odds and ends then you can make your own pots as you need them. I've used one for a few years and the great thing is you plant the whole thing out with no root disturbance.

 

[Chris152]

I did one Tris - does that look right? I put 3 seeds in and covered - do I now put it on a tray and water sparingly (I assume it'd fall apart with too much) and cover with a plastic bag as the others?

I'll do more if that looks right.
edit - excitement got the better of me - i did some smaller ones, watered and now in place on the window sill.

If we have far too many I'll be able to sell them on, together with the pasta plants which are coming along a treat.

 

[Tris]

Those look spot on, I find a broadsheet paper works for deep pots for sweet peas, beans, sweetcorn and so on, tabloids do smaller pots for everything else. I cut the paper into 'quarters' then fold in half lengthways before forming the pot and have found this holds together well even when wet.

Might try an experiment to see if there's any difference in growth according to which paper they are in.

You'll need a deeper pot for the spaghetti