Over the last few years I have become more and more interested in the division and cuttings/propagation of perennials and shrubs. The veg plot is no longer the main focus of my gardening.
Of course we still grow vegetables like early spudatoes, onions, cabbages, tomatoes, cucumbers, celery, swedes, lettuces...? But since the arrival of the polytunnel six years ago and Lidl arriving in Bantry. We can manage with half a veg plot. You can't beat leeks for forty nine Cents can you?
Yes I know they could have been sprayed with weedkillers and grown with chemical fertilizers. Yes our veg have never seen any chemicals and they are fresh when we pick them. I just feel a bit defeatist when I realise that the cheap vegetables save a lot of work and the world is not perfect. Never was never will be.
I don't think there is anything more quintessentially English than a cottage garden with its patchwork quilt approach to informal planting. Nature doesn't have a spirit level does it?
So what will I do with all my surplus plants? I will sell them on carboot sales and perhaps a few shops will sell some for me? If anybody in Cork or Kerry wants any perennials or shrubs. Please leave a comment. Has anybody ever started a plant nursery? Have you thought of growing things and selling them?
Of course we still grow vegetables like early spudatoes, onions, cabbages, tomatoes, cucumbers, celery, swedes, lettuces...? But since the arrival of the polytunnel six years ago and Lidl arriving in Bantry. We can manage with half a veg plot. You can't beat leeks for forty nine Cents can you?
Yes I know they could have been sprayed with weedkillers and grown with chemical fertilizers. Yes our veg have never seen any chemicals and they are fresh when we pick them. I just feel a bit defeatist when I realise that the cheap vegetables save a lot of work and the world is not perfect. Never was never will be.
I don't think there is anything more quintessentially English than a cottage garden with its patchwork quilt approach to informal planting. Nature doesn't have a spirit level does it?
So what will I do with all my surplus plants? I will sell them on carboot sales and perhaps a few shops will sell some for me? If anybody in Cork or Kerry wants any perennials or shrubs. Please leave a comment. Has anybody ever started a plant nursery? Have you thought of growing things and selling them?
Yes! It is still our hope that we shall be able to have some sort of nursery here, but not until Lester stops working full time.
ReplyDeleteI also seem to be suffering from an urge to take cuttings and grow them on, so tend to view all plantings everywhere as a possible source of cutting, or two....or three........etc....I like your style of gardening, and aim to get some sort of garden plan going here, but am wrestling with Lester's urge to use all potential garden space close to the house as a dump ground for farm related stuff!
Good luck with your nursery plans Vera. I love diving perennials and making new plants and potting them up. I also find it a challenge to make cuttings of shrubs..?
ReplyDeleteThe polytunnel was our best ever investment. Even a wet day or week or month of rain. You can still garden inside and pot up plants and make cuttings and sow seeds. Thanks!
People around here sell surplus at the farm/garden gate. Possibly get more passing traffic than you do where you live though.
ReplyDeleteHi Rachel. Yes I have seen honesty boxes in different parts of England and Ireland. I think my rural location is ideal for raising plant stock but I need to go further a field to sell them. Thanks for your comment I always appreciate them.
ReplyDeleteWish I were there. I have a friend in Glanmire who once had a phenomenal garden. I do not know if she has a small one now.
ReplyDeleteHi Susan. I love visiting gardens open to the public. Muckross House in Killarney is one of my favourites in Ireland. Thanks for your comment.
ReplyDeleteas you may remember 2 houses ago, I took 40 hydrangea cutting from a bush that the builders destroyed by accident and they all struck. I was expecting 10. I sold the extra at the end of the drove for £5 a go! ha ha I am going to take loads of cuttings back from my parents garden when I leave later this week. Do you think they will be ok if I wrap them in damp loo paper and in plastic bags, it will take about 10 hours to drive? what do you think? yay or nay?
ReplyDeleteHi Sol. That's what I call a cash crop. You sound like you have got a cottag industry in the making there. Could you not take one of your parents plants with you or are they too big? I am sure your damp loo paper will work or even a polythene bag. You could make a cuttings propagation box out of one of those large square clear plastic storage boxes. Just drill some drainage holes in the bottom and use it like a propagator. Are there any garden clubs near you? Thanks!
DeleteI'm not growing tomatoes anymore. Last years were a flop. Continually watering them was a hassle and the tomatoes at our farmers market were cheap and juicy. I'm not too good on cuttings but you have given me a few ideas. Must get pumpkin seeds in the ground. They are the only thing in the summer which are worth watering. I always get some sort of crop and now I've been given some nz seeds, plus I have seeds from last years crop.
ReplyDeleteThanks Linda. We had a great crop of cucumbers and tomatoes in the tunnel last summer. I fed them with our homemade nettle and cow dung tea.
DeleteIf I was you I would buy a plastic propagator and put some gravel in the bottom to retain the moisture and then place your plant pots full of compost and your cuttings in it. Then place the lid on it and it will retain the moisture. It works for me. I love making cuttings and dividing perennials. Even the Phormiums or New Zealand Flax. Good luck!
I am a dead loss when it comes to growing things but it wasn't always so. When I was younger I had a go at simple things and they worked ... but then we moved and everything changed. I think my gardening keenness stayed in the old house. Now, though, the body resists anything that needs exercise! Love reading what you are up to, though.
ReplyDeleteThanks Valerie. You can grow all sorts of flowers and vegetables in a plant pot or in a tray in the kitchen window. I think growing things makes us happy and I find cuttings a challenge. Thanks!
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