Recommended Gardening Books

[Berr]

I'm glad to hear you save substantial money growing your own, Nick. I suppose I'm ill-qualified to speculate since I'm only about to start serious GYO.
I'll be interested to see how it pans out for us. Healthy food and exercise would even justify running at a loss anyway, I'd think.

[Jaxom]

Something wrong with your arithmetic here, Jax, surely? A pound of carrots might have cost £10 in Moscow but never in Manchester, not in the last half-century anyway, I think!

Berr . I kid you not. 1976 was an awful year for many things. The time I mention was when my cousin and I were trailing round the shops to find a Cauliflower or cabbage for my aunt. She had given is a pound note with strict instructions not to pay over 75p. That was 30 years ago when most people were living on a lot less than they do today. Then there was no minimum wage. Here in Wales we saw women fighting over bags of sugar in shops and also families queuing up for hours to buy a loaf of bread. This may sound like war time stories but it was only thirty years ago. I think I will have to go and have a google for the bread shortage in Wales, as I do believe that one was exclusive to only small parts of Wales.
Jax

[Jaxom]

the only info on google came up with
Bread shortage due to strike of bakery workers—long queues at private bakers' shops and bakehouses. 1976. under "Items of Interest from the Years 1976-77" http://www.btinternet.com/~strawson....interest76.htm

1973 15th December. Miners strike causes food rationing, power cuts and fuel shortages. http://81.97.41.90/Utilities/TimeLine/TimeLine.htm

In 1974, there was a sugar shortage.This picture shows Glasgow shoppers queuing for sugar at an Argyle Street grocers. It had just become available after the shortage of August 1974.
http://www.rls.org.uk/database/recor...-000-001-239-L

As Max Boyce used to sing on those rugby records in the 70's "I was there!"
Jax

[Jaxom]

More on 1976. Inflation peaked at 23.7%, although by September it had dropped to 14.5%.
In 1976, the average weekly wage for a man was around £70 a week - for women it was £45.30. This compares to £453.30 a week for men today, and £337.60 for women. info from the BBC. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1168149.stm

[Nicos]

Was a student in Cardiff in '76. Probably too drunk to notice the food shortages, but remember well the water shortage- just had to get stuck into the Brains instead! Recall a couple of winters of heavy snow too(3ft ?)There was one around '82 when there were no eggs, milk or bread even to the city (emergency rations to CRI and St Davids Hospitals)for at least 3 days. You do get extremes of weather there don't you? At least in those days students got grants!

[Lesley Jay]

Jaxom I don't know where the BBC get their figures from for the weekly wage but they are miles out. I remember food shortages and power cuts but the food shortages carried on into the 80's. (If my memory serves me right.) I can remember one year when potatoes were so expensive that my Mother couldn't afford to buy them and she made little round pancake type things to go on the dinner plate to replace the potatoes. I don't know what year it was end of the 70's early 80's I guess.

[Jaxom]

Lesley. I know what you mean. My mother lived off a fraction of what the BBC clam was an average wage then. Today I wish I got what they consider to be an average wage
Jax

[Berr]

Chill penury.

Now I'm getting depressed. All this talk of bread queues and stuff-which I can't remember- are making me feel like Marie Antoinette, for heaven's sake. But I DO remember rationing during the war! The effect lingers to this day: I'm more impressed by somebody in front of me in the queue buying a big bag FULL of Mars bars than by yon bloke's new X5. TWO DOZEN MARS!!- that's what I call decadence!

[nick the grief]

It's not just the 70's Jax. My daughter and I witnessed abrawl over the last pork pie in our local supermarket three days before Christmas!!!

What would these folks do in a real shortage, Grow their Own, I think not!

[Jaxom]

Ah!!!! Christmas the season of good will to all men. nothing like a pork pie to bring out tho love in people,
Jax

[Jaxom]

"The Worm Book"

In another part of the Vine I have mentioned that I made a Wormery and now play Zookeeper to a few worms. I must admit that I cobbled together the information from various parts of the Internet before delving into my existing compost bin to get my worms for setting up my wormery.
Normally I read a book before starting most things in the garden. This time, however I approached things in the opposite manner. A month or so ago I finally decided to part with a little money and bought a book to confirm or not if I had done every thing correctly.
The book I chose was not too surprisingly called “The Worm Book”. It is an American book by authors Loren Nancarrow and Janet Hogan Taylor. I wasn’t quite sure why all books on worms came from the United States, until I started to read the book. I found out that during the last Ice Age all worms in the Americas were wiped out and now only to be found in the rock strata with other fossils. Worms in the USA are a modern novelty, introduced by Europeans. The worms were first travelled to the US in the pots of earth that the settlers used to transport plants and herbs they had known, grown and used in their old homelands.
Farmers and Gardeners noticed that for some reason plants seemed to thrive better in the city gardens surrounding ports and docks. Investigation found that worms were only to be found in these places. Soon worms were being introduced to other parts of the US in an attempt to improve crop production. Still to this day a lot of America does not have any worm populations. When the term Black Gold was coined for vermicompost they were not far from the truth.
Here in the UK we take worms for granted as they normally are found in abundance. As Children we come across worms at an early age. Most mothers do their best to stop their children from eating them.
“The Worm Book” explains in very simple terms the biology and other scientific information regarding soil improvement when using worms to do all the work. The Authors tell you how to build a wormery, how worm composting works and how to use the vermicompost (Poo) that is your end product. For all those folk who wonder what the worms taste like the authors also include resources and recipes on how to cook with worms.
Worms will turn your kitchen waste into the richest and finest compost you could ever hope to get your hands on. Every day worms eat half their body weight in kitchen scraps. Vermicompost is an organic long-term fertiliser and soil improper that you can’t afford to miss out on. Vermicompost can be used in your garden and for pot plants in your home.
All in all I found the book to be a fun and educational book that is well worth buying if you are thinking about starting your own wormery. The book details can be found at http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/...951932-7027063
If you get the worm book I hope you enjoy. Happy zoo keeping
Jax

[Berr]

Jaxom,

I recall:

Toity poiple boidies sittin' on de coib;
Toity poiple boidies eatin' doity woims.

So they have them in New York! Thanks for interesting post. The worm book has come straight in at third place on my wish list ( behind- needless to say- The Sopranos Series 5 and The Anatomy of the Zulu Army).

[Nicos]

well thats an interesting combination..ever tried rhubarb schnapps????....

[nick the grief]

How is it we give the Yanks useful stuff like worms and all they give us is Grey squirrels & crayfish that kill our native species, Obviously some thing in the make up over the pond

[nick the grief]

"We" even invented the Internet and now they claim that