Gardening 70s Style

Not great gardening weather here this weekend and I'm still recovering from a cold, so thought I'd do something useful indoors.

I decided to start 'de-cluttering' and sorted through some old stuff I've been hoarding for years (and I mean years), to Mrs Trunky's great delight.

Among the stuff I turned out were two old binders containing one of those weekly publications popular in days gone by, called Grow Your Own, described as 'The step by step guide to successful vegetable and fruit growing'.

I remember buying this as an enthusiastic 17 year old apprentice, just embarking on a career in horticulture in the hope that it would broaden my knowledge. Published in 1977, it does contain plenty of useful growing advice which still holds true today.

It also sometimes shows how things have changed over the years. Here are a few gems I picked out while having a nostalgic browse through some of the volumes:


An article entitled 'Dealing with Weeds' contains a guide to garden herbicides, most of which are now banned. The list rates each herbicide on its toxicity to man and the entry for Paraquat reads 'Moderate, avoid inhaling fine spray'.

In 'Ralph Whitlock's Gardening Diary', sage advice is delivered each week on the appropriate tasks for the time of year. In June, apparently Ralph would be busy making his own liquid manure; "Living in the country as I do, I keep a bath of water laced with sheep manure and a little soot going all the summer".

An item on spraying gives mostly sensible advice on the use of sprays and sprayers, but the final paragraph, titled 'Disposing of Unwanted Chemicals' contains this little gem of advice; '...either flush the chemical down the WC or pour it down an outside sink drain; this may sound dangerous, but the chemical will be diluted until it is harmless'.

Organic gardening does get a mention in one edition, where we are advised that a safe nicotine based insecticide can be produced by collecting 4oz (120g) of filter-tip cigarette ends, simmering them in water for 15 minutes, straining the solution and mixing it with a soft soap solution.

Those were the days.

 

Guess they got put into the "Keep" pile again then

Sounds as though you had a very enjoyable time of it browsing through those old binders; thank you for sharing those nuggets of '70s "wisdom"

 

Anyone remember Cyril Fletcher's Gardening Hints on Capital Radio in the 70's?

Cant remember a single hint now

 

Others use rancid polecat juice

 

Love the lawn mower in the picture. Not only because I have a similar one here for restoration, but also because its just so, so English.

 

Keeps my skin nice and scaly.

 

Nope. I tried to be fairly ruthless, so they went in the 'out' pile.

They served their purpose when I was still quite new to this gardening lark, but I haven't looked at them for years. 40 years on, most of what I need to know is stored in my head now.

...and for those things I don't know, there's all my knowledgeable friends here on GC.