Buy Cheap, Pay Twice

Training the dog up not to walk on the veggie beds.

I don’t know why my eyes are drawn to cheap products in the euro shops. It’s probably the thought that one day I will actually buy something at a really low price that doesn’t break within a day. My thirst for a bargain isn’t relegated to euro shops either. I was in Band Q the other day and bought a staple gun for a small job.( I’m putting up a bamboo screen near to the wheelie bins and needed to secure it to the fence to get a level. ) After a bit of simple maths I worked out that the staple gun and staples worked out cheaper than just buying the staples on their own.  Within half a pack of staples the gun was broken.  Luckily I had an identical and amazingly unbroken gun from a euro shop that I bought last year, so I finished the job with that one using the rest of the B and Q staples. The following day I went back to B and Q with the staples gun and got my money back.

I’m still not sure if I got a good deal, the petrol taken to get to the shop probably cost more than the product. I eventually got the job done though and I do have a few of the staples that didn’t go back in the box just in case I need them.  

Invention of the week

I’ve been really inventive this week. I have put the fence and gate up around the tunnel to keep the dogs out, but our Springer somehow managed to turn herself into water and slide underneath the gate. I’m still not sure how she does it; I think it’s something to do with turning sideways and deflating herself until she is all but flat like a puddle. I don’t mind the dogs in the tunnel when I am there as I am training them up to not walk on the beds or use them as toilets. It’s when I am not there they do the damage. So I’ve put a plank of wood on the bottom of the gate with two hinges (bought cheap and now starting to rust) which fold up when I open the gate. It’s a bit like a one way cat/dog flap so if they were inside they could get out. It’ll be a while yet until I can say this is going to work as the dogs are very good at overcoming barriers.

Unwelcome guest

I’ve had other unsupervised and unwelcome guest in the tunnel this week too.  There was a rogue snail wandering around and ate most of my F1 tomatoes. I only got eight seeds in the packet and they were tiny so the snail got a very expensive snack. It was last seen flying through the air into woodland. I’m not sure how it got in; maybe it was on a pot or crawled under the gate flap.

Nip them in the bud

I’ve been planting out beetroot, spinach, pick and come again lettuce, spring onions, wild rocket and broad beans. It’s still a bit early to put the runner beans out but they need to go out soon as the biodegradable cardboard pots are bursting at the seams as the roots grow daily. I’ve realised I haven’t many flowers, we have sunflowers, nasturtiums and night scented stock coming on and I also have taken a few cuttings from some hardy hanging basket plants. I think I’d like to get some surfinias for the pots and baskets. They are very expensive so I might get away with buying one then taking cuttings. I used to be able to get about twenty cuttings from one young plant. I’m not brave enough to nip the tips from plants on council displays or from garden centres so I might just have to befriend people with baskets and tubs to get cuttings.

Making comparisons

It’s been another week of soil sieving, this time under cover in the tunnel. I’m making simple rectangular beds with small foot wide paths in between into which the tomatoes (newly bought and planted to replace the ones eaten) and sweetcorn will go. I’ll no doubt be planting more salad crops and I’m going to try the spinach in the tunnel too. It doesn’t really need the protection but I think large leafy plants such as these will give bumper crops under protection. I’ll try a couple of kale and broccoli too as an experiment and compare them to the outdoor grown ones. Such fun.