I got my Christmas potatoes in on Thursday ... well that's what the information that came with them said, if I planted them now I would have potatoes in time for Christmas!!
We'll have to wait and see as I've never actually managed it before, even when I had the poly and net tunnels something always went wrong and the Christmas potatoes always ended up being bought from the shop.
They went into my new posh large potato buckets, and I am pleased I got them as they look much neater in this small space than the Aldi Bags for Life did ... gosh I'm getting snobby 😆
I put one variety in each bucket and used the labels and the net bags themselves to label the buckets carefully.
The compost that came with them was completely dried out for transportation purposes so it got a good soaking with the watering can straight after planting.
In fact I've noticed that my plants are doing better than usual as I am recycling all my grey-water onto the garden and all of a sudden the planters with my Lavender and trees in and the herbs in my tin bath at the front door have really shot up and bushed out, and the Courgettes in this photo have almost doubled in size over night. It's made me feel a little guilty as obviously I have not been giving them enough water before.
Only me would have healthier plants during a drought!!
Thank you for all the brilliant suggestions for the lone sausage on the last post. They made me want to cook up another box full and try them all out, in fact I'm thinking of doing exactly that to have as one of my weekly Bases in future.
In the end I settled for chopping the leftover sausage into small pieces and stirring it into some freshly made Cous Cous that I had made up with some vegetable stock for added flavour. It went really well with some homemade Coleslaw and a sliced up beetroot and made for a nice light, and extremely flavourful lunch on a hot day.
Here's a bit of Weekend Watching ... just for you if you are hiding indoors and staying out of the sun like I am.
A lovely couple who just decided to change tack quite recently and live onboard a narrowboat. The videos are short, the boat and dog are gorgeous and the music is so relaxing.
Possibly THE best tiny home conversion I have ever seen. Sympathetically taking an old building and making it very liveable for one or two people.
The Happy Pear at Vegan Camp Out 2022
And to finish off yet another narrowboat channel that I love and subscribe to ... can you tell how much I enjoyed our narrowboat holiday. https://youtu.be/dlqT3PxW2B4
In this episode Joanna and Vic answer lots of viewers questions ... including the one that I asked!!
I hope you have a great weekend and manage top stay as cool as you possibly can, in whatever way to can find to stay cool. I'm finding sitting watching television with my feet in a bucket of cold water works very well to cool me down before bedtime, then the water goes on those lucky plants ... of course. 😎
Sue xx
The potatoes look great in their smart buckets, I'll look forward to seeing the harvest in December
ReplyDeleteThere is something very attractive about narrow boating - I've mentioned before we lived that life for a while - had all sorts of mini adventures and learned lots about ourselves and others! It's certainly a great way to be able to jump off the hamster wheel for a while but .......... it's not a cheap way of life that's for sure
Alison in Wales x
I guess it depends whether you live in a marina or are continuous cruisers, and if you are continuous cruisers how far you actually travel now that red diesel rules have changed in some places. The initial outlay is quite high for sure even if you do a lot of the work yourselves. Most of the narrowboat owners that I speak to on our canal or follow on YouTube, work from their boats and say that the cost of living and lifestyle is so much lower than having a house.
DeleteThe lad did a good job on that wee barn. I wonder what it cost him?
ReplyDeleteHe made another video about the costs of everything a while after the first one, he seems to be very open about everything.
Deletehttps://youtu.be/IidpYq2V208
I have never grown Christmas potatoes and will be interested to see if it works for you. Every drop of washing up water goes out on my pots of flowers and they are very happy.
ReplyDeleteIt will be interesting to see if it works out for me, it never has before!
DeleteI am afraid we would never be able to grow "Christmas" potatoes. They would be under at least a foot of snow by that time and frozen into the ground.
ReplyDeleteGod bless.
Haha ... yes that would make it a bit difficult!!
DeleteMy sister and brother-in-law did container potatoes, and the production was astounding. I loved the stone house renovation. Thanks for that link.
ReplyDeleteIt really works well growing potatoes in containers and of course harvesting them is so easy when you can just tip them out and none of them are spiked by a fork or spade.
DeleteGood luck with the Christmas p[potatoes. I love the idea of them. xx
ReplyDeleteI've always loved the idea of them, I've just never managed to get them to grow for me. We'll see with these three different varieties how well they do, it should be interesting.
DeleteYour plants are doing great Sue. You have really utilised your garden space well and I am very envious of your beautiful wooden planters. I don't have any room for veggies in my garden but one day I may treat myself to some of those planters. I love narrowboats and am going to have a look at the ones you have been watching. They look just my cup of tea. I follow a couple of boating Vlogs. You might want to give them a go as I really enjoy them. Narrowboat Life Unlocked with Paul and Anthony is a breath of fresh air and they do beautiful weekly Vlogs. Also Fran and Rich from Floating Our Boat really is a must. I highly recommend them and hope that you enjoy them as well.
ReplyDeleteThey were quite expensive but I thing that they were a good investment for our new garden and they should outlast us!
DeleteYes, I've watched a few of the Floating Our Boat videos, but I will have to go and check out Narrowboat Life Unlocked as that is a new one to me, thanks.
Oh, thank you for those links to new (to me) YouTube accounts. I know what I shall be doing later when it is too hot to sit outside even though I will be in shade.
ReplyDeleteI did potatoes for Christmas one year, but moved the tubs into the greenhouse about November to give a bit of protection and they grew really well. I hope yours are as successful, xx
I've been watching a lot of YouTube during this hot spell, it's too hot to even hold a book. I've been fanning myself with the concertinaed pages of the Radio Times cover and watching the TV instead.
DeleteHopefully as they are in a nice sheltered position at the end of the annexe they should do well. Fingers crossed.
Yes, I'm hiding indoors too during the main part of the day whilst it's so hot. Thank you for sharing the You Tube videos. I LOVE George and his tiny house videos! He comes across as a kind, gentle, intelligent soul. The canal boat videos of the young couple with the baby is great too, I'm already subscribed to both. Must check out the others... :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for the info regarding Christmas potatoes it will be interesting to see what happens with them. It just shows how lack of water affects everything in the garden, doesn't it and I worry about crop failures for the farming community with actual drought being declared in lots of areas. It will certainly affect both availability and prices in the shops.
Stay cool !
Yes, George, Joanna and Victor (and baby William) are all lovely people aren't they.
DeleteI think prices are going to continue to rise due to lots of different reasons now, and once up they never go back down do they!
That's funny about your plants flourishing - we use grey water, too but everything's still looking a bit limp and bedraggled - still, I'm happy to trade that for 37°C heat...I can't get enough! xxx
ReplyDeleteAlan is the same as you, he loves the heat and is usually found basking in it on the patio whenever he gets a break from his desk. Meanwhile lurking in the cool of the annexe is little old me, chasing breezes and icecubes.
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