The Fence *The Gardening Forum Off Topic and Chat Thread

Sapsorrow

Oh forgot my big news! Dug up my first round of this years spuds yesterday! Can't remember what variety but they came out of the ground perfectly clean and golden it was magic, I swear so few things are as exciting or gratifying as digging potatos, I was just thinking to myself how glad I was I spent so much more time doing things like growing veg than in the pub. I made a gorgeous potato salad with fresh chives and marjoram from the garden, olive oil, balsamic vinegar and toasted hazlenuts, bliss!

Also I was feeling very proud of myself lately because I grew strawberries for the first time this year and have been enjoying them every morning for breakfast. But then I popped into a farm shop in west cork today and they had their own strawberries and they were huge! Mine are so piddly and gnarly in comparrison, anyone have any secrets for me? They're off shots from my mums patch in a well manured (last autumn) cloche. I also have some plants scattered throughout a flower bed that flowered very heavily but they're miles off ready to eat yet.

Polynomial

Cats can be great company when you're gardening - and, unlike dogs, they don't immediately dig up everything you put in.

Stick in a couple of Catnip plants in a corner of your garden. The cats will spend all their time there - they really love the stuff.

Sapsorrow

My cats been missing for 2 days now, I think the fox might have got her, I'm very upset about it

Sapsorrow

Sapsorrow wrote: »

My cats been missing for 2 days now, I think the fox might have got her, I'm very upset about it

I have had them go missing for ages before!
One of mine just came back after two days missing because the neighbors Tom scared the bejesus out of her.
Don't worry too much about her yet. This isn't the one who went playing in the neighbors house?

I'd say it is rare for a fox to attack a cat, they are burrows on my farm. They have attacked chickens, but never my pets.


Poly you have well behaved cats , mine think moss peat is catnip. They are obsessed with the stuff.

Sapsorrow

Moonbaby wrote: »

I have had them go missing for ages before!
One of mine just came back after two days missing because the neighbors Tom scared the bejesus out of her.
Don't worry too much about her yet. This isn't the one who went playing in the neighbors house?

I'd say it is rare for a fox to attack a cat, they are burrows on my farm. They have attacked chickens, but never my pets.


Poly you have well behaved cats , mine think moss peat is catnip. They are obsessed with the stuff.

The reason I reckon it could have been a fox attack is that we have a fine big male fella that comes into the yard and lives in the field behind us, a few people have warned me about foxes killing cats but sure what can you do to protect them? She's only a scrawny tiny little wimp of a thing too. The only other option is there were lads across the road doing work on the roof of the empty house she got locked in before but I've been over a million times and there's no sight or sound of her. They were insulating the roof so I'm a bit scared she could be in the attic and I can't hear her, in this heat she wouldn't last long. I rang the landlady who's son owns it but she lives a good bit away and isn't being very helpful, I'm trying to get the number of the lads who were working there in case she got in their van (another of her bad habits). Hopefully she didn't because they came down from Offaly for the job. God what a bad start to the summer, she's one of my best buddies!

Oh another thing cats love is valerian (little drug addicts that they are) and generally they all love that whereas many are scared of catnip once they get a whiff of it (squares ). I find mine are very terrretorial of the poor valerian and hang out around it a lot so planting some of that in a nice sunny patch of the garden might keep them distracted from the veg patch. mine actually dig up the roots and chew on them it's bizarre.

Not sure if you guys have those big 2euro chain shops where ye are but today all for 2 euro each, 7.5 metre long soaker hoses that water a bed all along their length (have one in each of our 4 cloches now, a major time saver), a packet of various nozzels and connections for the hose, plant food, fleece, wire cages for beans and peas and that black mypexy stuff for keeping the weeds down. Seriously good value in there and a good range of gardening bits and bobs.

Moonbaby you should pop down for a visit again sometime if you're every around Limerick we're not far from there and there's always a spare room going! I'll have plenty of spare veg looking to be shared around in no time too Had our first courgettes yesterday and have been living largely on kale and chard lately.

Sapsorrow

Sapsorrow wrote: »

The reason I reckon it could have been a fox attack is that we have a fine big male fella that comes into the yard and lives in the field behind us, a few people have warned me about foxes killing cats but sure what can you do to protect them? She's only a scrawny tiny little wimp of a thing too. The only other option is there were lads across the road doing work on the roof of the empty house she got locked in before but I've been over a million times and there's no sight or sound of her. They were insulating the roof so I'm a bit scared she could be in the attic and I can't hear her, in this heat she wouldn't last long. I rang the landlady who's son owns it but she lives a good bit away and isn't being very helpful, I'm trying to get the number of the lads who were working there in case she got in their van (another of her bad habits). Hopefully she didn't because they came down from Offaly for the job. God what a bad start to the summer, she's one of my best buddies!

Oh another thing cats love is valerian (little drug addicts that they are) and generally they all love that whereas many are scared of catnip once they get a whiff of it (squares ). I find mine are very terrretorial of the poor valerian and hang out around it a lot so planting some of that in a nice sunny patch of the garden might keep them distracted from the veg patch. mine actually dig up the roots and chew on them it's bizarre.

Not sure if you guys have those big 2euro chain shops where ye are but today all for 2 euro each, 7.5 metre long soaker hoses that water a bed all along their length (have one in each of our 4 cloches now, a major time saver), a packet of various nozzels and connections for the hose, plant food, fleece, wire cages for beans and peas and that black mypexy stuff for keeping the weeds down. Seriously good value in there and a good range of gardening bits and bobs.

Moonbaby you should pop down for a visit again sometime if you're every around Limerick we're not far from there and there's always a spare room going! I'll have plenty of spare veg looking to be shared around in no time too Had our first courgettes yesterday and have been living largely on kale and chard lately.

:S That is mean of your landlady. It is in her interest to check to! I'm sure you would hear her through the roof tiles. But still!
The van scenario is how I ended up with Jacob Black, the veggie patch destroyer. I hope that is what happened to her!
It is heartbreaking to lose them, or see them suffer.

I don't know if we have that exact chain....Gardening stuff is really snapped up around here though.
I'll check in the city at the weekend. Could really do with some watering hoses, just bought a load of summer bedding.

I love these!



I think they are some type of daisy, mesembryanthemum.

I'd love to come down and see you. I might actually be around the week after next.
I'll drop you a line, see if your free.
I saw a lovely recipe for baked baby courgette stuffed with goats cheese.

The Sweeper

Gah, 20th June, one day before the winter solstice here. Still, it was an okay day weather-wise. I got into the garden for the first time in about six weeks, because we've been busy and the weather's been rubbish. Planted the last plants I wanted to make the bed that runs the 53m western side of our garden. Now just have to weed mat and bark mulch over them - matting and mulching a bed down here lasts a lot longer than it would in Ireland. If you mulch even four inches deep straight over the soil, the weeds come up - especially with my soil, where I'm slowly but surely renovating an old paddock.

It's nice to have the plants in. At least I know they'll be able to do something in the spring growth season, even if it takes me a while to fully tidy the beds.

Rousella

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pARTner81

That's corriander up top. Corriander isn't supposed to be limp, and hang over is it? I mean it's almost lying flat on its soil. My girlfriend replanted it into a larger pot the other day, maybe this will sort it out?

tony melia

have four LEYLANDII at end of my garden about 20ft away being overshadowed by them, and neighbours losing patience is there any way of killing them off
ANTO

tony melia

got rid of lailandi trees .Just another question in the area i live most of the palm type trees seem to be losing all or most of their leafs .anyone tell me are they dead or will they grow back again.
ANTO