Hi my name is Great a.k.a.Pauline (dont laugh I've only been using this site just over a week and I got fed up trying to pick a user name that no one else had. Everytime I picked a name it had been taken, so I got upset and typed in Great and guess what no one else had it!!.

I grow using raised beds. on a 4 yr rotation system , when I first erected mine I dug over the garden soil to open it up then I used a mixture of garden compost and multi purpose compost. Before the season gets under way I sprinkle some organic fertilizer (Pelleted chicken manure) and away You go. I also grow all of the veg your growing. Hope the weather will be kind to us

Like your story about your avatar name, Great, lol - I ended up with Bamboo by mistake, believe it or not...

I'm still waiting for someone to figure out my avatar name. I'm surprised it's taking so long on a forum so packed with Brits!

Thanks Great....Always wondered about chicken pellets...we have dozens of foxes around here, will they dig my beds if I use them?
Tuqbrethil...I'm completely intrigued about your avatar ....Please enlighten me...

Means nowt to me, Tugbrethil, I'm afraid

1st clue: J. R. R. Tolkien

Yes, Lord of the Rings, still not ringing any bells for me though, I'm afraid...

Oh dear! It's not elvish is it cos I'll never get it if it is......

That cos you're an orc, Gaia01, lol?

To be honest i'm probably more like a hobbit....It's the big hairy feet that do it...LOL ;0)

Yes, it is Elvish (not Elvis). You'll find the parts of the name in a Sindarin-English dictionary.

Yes, it is descriptive. What can I say, I've had too many "second breakfasts" in my youth! : D

Hmm, don't joke about the hairy feet, Gaia - some of us really do have hairy feet, well, toes anyway... its been very expensive over the years keeping them pruned back...;-)

I have foxes to. Last year I put the chicken manure in my beds and the foxes left well alone until the courgettes started to grow and then they ate them!!!
I felt sorry for my dog Magic, as orginally I blamed her for eating the courgettes as the week before I saw her climb into the raised bed and eat my cabbages!!!
Im sure my dog is human! as when I make cakes she sits by the oven door until they come out and then she looks at me with pleading eyes until I give her a cake.

Clever dog!