Hi Marie here

[Marie2020]

Hello
I'm live in the UK with one old dog a cat that appeared in my garden as a a tiny kitten plus a few chickens.

I only have 3 small garden areas, which is solid clay ground.

There's has been massive changes for us all, it would be good if I can pick up a few extra tips. I've had a little look around here and it looks interesting

 

[Britesea]

People tend to forget that there are regional accents in all countries, too. Here in America, we have Southern, New York, Boston, Western... etc. Same thing in Great Britain, Australia, and so forth. My mother was raised in the Dijon area of France, and she told me how the nuns at the convent where she went to school would punish her because she had a "country" accent and they wanted her to cultivate a "city" accent.

DH told me that one of the funniest things he ever heard was two college kids trying to have a conversation: one was from Appalachia and the other was from the Outback. He ended up acting as translator for them 🤣

 

[Britesea]

I've been gardening with raised beds (framed with 2x12's) for over 20 years now. Expensive to set up, but once they are in place you save on water and whatever fertilizers or supplements you use because you only use them in the beds themselves, and weeding seems to be easier to control. Over time, the soil in those beds has gotten so rich with humus that they can go for much longer between waterings. I tried straw bale and container gardening and I didn't like how much water it took- the straw bales in particular seemed to need constant water. We live in the arid West, and there is almost NO rain throughout the summer, so having to water everything constantly is a chore.

 

[baymule]

Some of the prettiest potatoes I ever grew was in a pile of leaves mixed with horse manure and lime. The lime was to keep scale off the potatoes from the horse manure. My husband thought I was nuts, but what else is new?

I paid the kids next door $20 to rake all the leaves over to our property line (this at our old house in town). I had a HUGE pile, then dragged DH out to our horse pasture to get a half of a pick up load of horse manure that we mixed with the leaves, sprinkled with lime. I watered it all in and let it set for a couple of months. That pile grew the biggest and prettiest potatoes! Who's nuts now?

 

[Chic Rustler]

hello. welcome from Texas.
the single best tip I can give anyone is mulch! I use a version of the back to Eden method of gardening.

 

[flowerbug]

People tend to forget that there are regional accents in all countries, too. Here in America, we have Southern, New York, Boston, Western... etc. Same thing in Great Britain, Australia, and so forth. My mother was raised in the Dijon area of France, and she told me how the nuns at the convent where she went to school would punish her because she had a "country" accent and they wanted her to cultivate a "city" accent.

DH told me that one of the funniest things he ever heard was two college kids trying to have a conversation: one was from Appalachia and the other was from the Outback. He ended up acting as translator for them 🤣

i can hear that.

I lived in the hills of eastern TN for a few years and knew some Aussies from college. now add in that i could translate and put a Yooper accent on it.

 

[Mini Horses]

Welcome from VA.....not just an accent you may have but, some words and phrases will need explanation. 🤔 one that comes to mind is "bonnet" which we call a hood...on a car. 😁. I'm sure we have things to explain, too. It's fun to learn.

As to gardening, have you tried straw bale, container or raised beds?

 

[Lazy Gardener]

Every fall, we drive to a town in the next county to bring back a couple truck loads of bagged leaves. I had a great time last fall, b/c we went before the fall rains and cold weather turned the leaves into a soggy/icy mess. Usually, they don't fall until the weather turns cold and wet... but last fall, we hit it just right. Leaves were nice and dry, crispy. I usually go in stealth mode, when most folks are off working. But, we went on a Saturday, beautiful day, and a lot of folks were out raking their yards. So, every time we stopped at a "good yard", I would hop out of the truck, and have a bit of a visit with the home owners. They were happy to visit, b/c every one is going stir crazy with the covid plandemic foolishness, and they were even more happy to have me take their leaves. We got 2 truck loads and 1 trailer load. More than 40 bags will carry me through till lawn mowing season. After the leaves do their job in chicken coop, duck house, chicken run, they will be somewhat or completely composted, and put to work in the garden. Hopefully, there will be a few bags of unused leaves left for garden mulch.

I love the idea of using leaves mixed with bedding to grow potatoes! My duck bedding would be perfect for that, b/c duck poo is not too hot, and can be used in the garden "as is".

 

[Lazy Gardener]

In a very good year, farmers can get 3 cuttings of hay. I don't think much alfalfa is grown here. Usually a mixed planting for hay crops.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

HI Marie and welcome from Texas!