Tussiemussie's Inbox

How cool is that Ducks wagging Their tails:)

Your Indian Runners bring back fond memories. I used to have them on the farm in PA.

Hi Tussie...good to know, that. Another reason not to use cocoa shell mulch, my friend inherited an earwig infestation from the stuff. (Whether they came in the bags or the cocoa shell was a perfect habitat, I'm not sure.) I've bought peat over here without a second thought as we have some huge peat bogs...we haven't been harvesting it as long as you folks. My subsoil is basically limestone...So peat has been a staple around here as an acidifier or neutralizer. Anyway, composting is a good skill to learn. Thankyou for the interesting read.

You poor things - wrap up well. Keep browsing the GoY photos and think ahead....Spring will soon be here - or there! Hi Tussie - I'm going to plant my seeds any day now, too!

Hi Lori, Well now I don't feel so bad as I have one foot of snow less than you do in my garden here in Massachusetts USA. Will it ever all melt away...

Hi T, How I envy you your flowering daphs... I am gardening in Ontario, Canada. The snow is almost 2 feet deep on my garden... I have to content myself with seed catalogues and gardening books... No bees...just sparrows and squirrels at the feeder. Sigh.
Lori

Hi, Tussie!. I wondered whether you had emigrated! Am about to sow the mallow seeds you kindly sent last autumn, and was concerned coz no reply to last couple
of comms. Your mallow is going to be perfect for our garden next year, btw,

Best Wishes

No I live in Falkirk , right in between Edinburgh and Glasgow , maybe a wee bit far for our bee ? lol

MMMMMMMmmmmmmmmm me&my daughter love this on roast carrots :D

wow do ducks really wag their cute little tails at you like dogs? :D

I saw a Bumblebee today and it was huge as well , did it come over from your garden ? lol

We used Freecycle a lot recently with our hoped for move. There's endless stuff that you need to get rid of that is too good to dump (although there's lots of that too). We've had so many thanks from people that were "just looking for one of those". I'd encourage everyone to participate and save the landfill.

"here's a link":www.freecycle.org/groups/unitedkingdom/

We've been members for over a year now, thanks to our daughter in SW London who told us about it. I was able to take a load of surplus plants round to a lady with an empty plot having just moved in! I was unlucky asking for one lot of terracotta pots, but then got 2 pots and 2 troughs! It's a great way to recycle. I recommend it to anyone. Go to www.freecycle.org and click on your County or area to find your nearest group. We belong to 2, as our nearest only had a few members.

Hi Tussiemussie. I recently joined my local freecycle and you are right... there is all sorts of stuff being given away.

i saw a bumble bee in our garden yesterday, I was very surprised, like you, to see one after we'd had frost. I wonder where they hide themselves.

Thanks Tussie - very useful, I've added it to my Favourites list. What a long, long address! It comes up on my laptop as 'Canadian Poisonous Plants Information System', so maybe there's a quicker way to get there? - not being a techie, I don't know.

Well said Tussie. Remember everyone you can get seed swapping here on Grows on You at http://www.growsonyou.com/plant/exchanges or via the Plants tab. Happy Swapping.

OK risking much laughter now but what are huckleberries? I only know the name in connection to Tom Sawyer ;o)

I love pears and I know my mum has an elderly tree in her garden. It hasnt produced for a long time I wonder if she has had any luck this year.... what are you going to do with them? Do you have any plans for poaching or preserving or just ol' fashioned eating?

My Dad used to grow one of these as a standard, about 3'6" tall, though all the books advised pruning like a blackcurrant. He treated it more like a tall gooseberry standard and had bumper crops every year. I took cuttings from it last year, which are doing well - I plan to grow it in the same way. One of my favourite fruits.
(Thanks for the link from the HDRA forum, Tussie!)

great to see that our corn looks like the real thing (yours). You have an edible paradise,it seems, looking at your photos.

Hi, my toms "black cherry" are still green at the moment and although there are plenty on each plants I'm getting worried they're not going to ripen. I've not grown this type of tom before usually grow gardeners delight as they always do well. I got my seeds off ebay :-)

hHi tussiemussie,i have seen these Gogi berries in the healthfood shop , havnt tried them,but are red in colour good luck .gill

Like Hamish , I bought a cheap pkt of Tomato seeds from Lidl , in fact I get most of my seeds from there they are great , the ones from Lidl are ok the rest are needing to be put out of their misery !! Im gonni stick to the Cherry type from now on they are my favourite anyway

I shaded my greenhouse earlier in the year (HA HA) so the poor tomatoes have simply stayed green. I have also had some grey mould on some leaves, which I've cut off and destroyed. Only one ripe tomato so far, although the ones growing outside have begun to ripen!!! Not as much flavour as previous years, though. I grow 'Gardener's Delight', as we prefer cherry toms.

Much the same problem, thinking of pulling mine up, all otdoors, best ones are some I grew from a cheap packet of seed from Lildl's.Neighbour has had mould in his greenhouse from too humid conditions.will let u know if we manage to eat our own this year or its green tomato chutney once again!!

Hi Tussie, thanks for the reminder - I've just tied mine again as they're getting quite tall. We've had none to eat yet, although the tomatoes right at the bottom of the plant are almost ripe. The plants seem in quite good health but almost all of the fruit are still green. I can't remember when they started to ripen last year.

good ideas, my problem is that soon as I plan a rain garden we will have a heatwave and drought!!!!

Sounds great to have all those fruits, my mouth is watering :o) Yesterday it looked like we may have enough beans for another meal but everything else is a while away yet.

Hi, I have been careful to put just leaves in a bucket and treat like comfrey or nettles, and will be happy to wait a few weeks. Will let you know, and, also, will get that sa.e. to you this week.