Well I wasn't going to bore people with my nasturtium preaching, but seeing as you asked Nasturtium is an annual that is very easy to grow from seed. I mean really easy. Kiddy easy. The plant is very pretty to look at, with lovely big round leaves and gorgeous trumpet shaped flowers that look like a dinosaur's head just before they open. They grow in just about any conditions, from poor dry soil, poor moist soil, rich soil, full sun, part shade. They grow very fast, and make excellent ground cover, and can even climb, yet are easy to control as they can't survive a British winter, and their seedlings are very easy to spot if you decide you're sick of them. They are popular with bumblebees, who can also get a good meal even in the rain, thanks to the fact that many of the flowers grow under the leaf canopy where they are sheltered from the rain, so the rain doesn't rinse all the pollen and nectar away, and they also make good decoy plants, as they are attractive to just about every pest, which will often leave other stuff alone in favour of the nasturtium, which grows vigorously enough to withstand a bit of nibbling. The dense leaf canopy also protects the soil for the benefit of other plants by keeping the weather off the soil surface so the sun doesn't dry it out, and weeds struggle to thrive under the shade of nasturtium. When winter wipes it out, it rots very fast indeed, and thus improves the soil structure, but enough about when it dies for now. All parts of the plant are edible, with the leaves popular in salad for their sweet but peppery taste, the flowers equally suitable for salads, and also as garnish to add colour to many dishes, and the thick tendrils go well in soups and stir fries (only for the last literally one minute though, otherwise all the flavour and texture is lost). The seeds are easy to collect, either to sow again the following spring, to pickle as an alternative to capers, or to dry and grind as an alternative to pepper. Or you can just leave them on the plant to be released into the soil ready for next year. I mentioned earlier how they are popular with many garden pests so make a good decoy plant, well the pests usually bother the lower parts of the plant in my experience, which means the upper, visible parts remain intact to either look good, or to harvest for the kitchen. If you choose to take some of the top leaves off, you expose more of the flowers, which is a good thing, but also cutting nasturtium makes it all the more determined to grow, so it actually thrives from being damaged. For anyone with kids, it has another advantage. The nice big easy to handle and easy to germinate seeds make an excellent intro into gardening for kids. In my experience they are far easier to grow than the standard kiddy plant, the sunflower, and take a lot less looking after once they have germinated. Nasturtium is one plant that I actually can't find any negatives with, but I can see many positives. Its all good.
A lot of wisdom amongst all of that. Thank you. And as soon as my books arrive, I will have to look through them to find out what a Nasturtium is. (I assume that it's not a disease) Are you entirely sure that your photo is of a beetroot Zigs ? Ive never seen anything like that. If you started that one when you were 7, you must be an octogenarian now I've just read your Nasturtium post, Clueless. That is impressive. I've saved it to my Desktop. They sound like every gardeners favourite plant.
You won't find a Beetroot like that in the shops He was started in a hot bed in January, entered it at the veg show but it scared the judges Yep, aproaching 60, but don't appear to be speeding yet
In photography, we have a very eminent figure by the name of Ansel Adams. He originates from the days of B&W film and is considered by many to be the 'Father' of photography. Many people now getting into photography won't read his books because he explains (in great detail often) how things are done and why. He was equally interested in the process, as in the result. Many, in the digital age, want only the result. Photoshop, whilst being a wonderful tool (I love it), has a lot to answer for.
You'll forgive me, Jfo, if I say that although I love photography I very rarely nod in the direction of the Icons. Digital photography has proliferated so much globally with the standard of images being displayed to be more than outstanding [along with a load of rubbish!!] and more software methods of post processing being created every day that what were Icons are now becoming more dated and perhaps less relevant. That's true, and part of it is because of the pace of Life nowadays but also partially because of the complexity of digital photography and it's accompanying software. I have CS6 but try not to use it beyond what I have to because it could make you take less care with your shots. But you'll note just by the images in all the threads that we have many able photographers in GC who don't delve too deeply in pp but manage to take some top images. Back to gardening!!
JFo may I suggest that you start a thread in Beginners Corner, posting photos of your garden with details of aspect (eg north facing, south facing) and then we can give suggestions as to what you could grow where. You can then Google images of the suggestions and see whether you like them or not I promise nobody will do any of this Since you have a bent for photography, walk around the neighbourhood and take photos of anything you like in your neighbours' gardens and post pics so we can identify/advise. You'll be an expert in no time PS : Ziggy may be approaching 60, but he's still 16 in his head
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/m...versial-comment-on-bbc-breakfast-8428919.html I was Captain Carrot for a short while
Captain Carrot is a popular character in Terry Pratchett's discworld series, in which Captain Carrot is a ginger haired dwarf. Except that he's over 6ft tall and couldn't work the mines because he kept banging his head. He married a werewolf and is best friends with a troll, a gnome, and a humanoid copper who is of indeterminate species.
How can Captain Carrot be a 6ft dwarf ?? That's like suggesting that there is such a thing as an honest politician or a lawyer
