freebies

[BUFFS]

when i bought 20 raspberry canes the year before last,i didnt know that i only needed halve that amount.as the topsoil is deep(over 3ft),having been worked since 1886,the new shoots/runners have been popping up everywhere around the row,i gave a load away last year and have another 14 sprouting in 8ins pots this year,it must be one of the best value plants going and i do love their magic taste..

[stella]

Well done sounds as if you have a knack with them. I got some last year, they died and had a look today and dead again. Have no idea what I am doing wrong

[FB.]

3ft topsoil and adequate rainfall. Now you're just teasing me.

I have to struggle with just 1ft of sandy loam topsoil sitting on several feet of gravel - and less than half the national average rainfall.

I think that I may also be living on the site of an old nursery, where the soil was depleted and disease-ridden, before the nursery was wound-down as British agriculture became uncompetitive and then the nursery sold for house building.

However, I reckon that my topsoil is deepening by an inch per year (and overall fertility and moisture retention improving) as I gradually work compost into it and apply several half-inch-thick layers of mulch per year.

The blackbirds also love scrabbling around in the mulch for grubs, so I'm glad that my hard work is at least feeding the birds!

[BUFFS]

apparently they need neutral/acid soil (which i have)and as they seem to grow so fast ,they must be gross feeders,i chucked a load of composted material (veg/paper chook poo etc)around mine after planting,not touching though,they sulked for about a month then took off,i planted mine 2/3ins deeper than the marks on the stem showed,they are against a north facing wall,4ft,and we had a good crop last year,only spoiled by the lack of sunlight after mid august (usual problem round here for a few years now)..as they line the side of my veg plot,i do bury all last years compost in what the wife calls "the coffins..3ft wide,3ft deep and 6ft long,plus any old bark chips that the birds have been running round on during the winter,4 builders barrows into each,then cover with soil from next coffin,i do half the veg patch each year,leaving the rest for carrots etc,best parsnip last year went down the 3ft to the stoney subsoil,then went sideways,when i washed it the right angle was there to see,this was one of the reasons we bought this old place,brilliant black loam,first time in 5 moves where we have had good soil..

[el trosset]

can anyone suggest a compact good flavoured raspberry for a sunny spot

[BUFFS]

i have polka as one of my rasps,if you plant it in a pot ,10/12ins deep,as it shows buds,just cut it to a bud 12/15ins high,although an autumn fruiter,this will speed up the fruiting a great deal,we did this last year and got great fruit(primocanes,autumn fruiting, fruit on this years stems)just make sure you cut that stem to the ground come winter,and choose a fresh one to trim to the 12/15ins next spring,works for me....

[rob the roller]

Why not sell the gravel to a road mender/builder and use the money to improve your topsoil?

[rob the roller]

Why not sell the gravel and use the money to improve the topsoil?

3ft topsoil and adequate rainfall. Now you're just teasing me.

I have to struggle with just 1ft of sandy loam topsoil sitting on several feet of gravel - and less than half the national average rainfall.

I think that I may also be living on the site of an old nursery, where the soil was depleted and disease-ridden, before the nursery was wound-down as British agriculture became uncompetitive and then the nursery sold for house building.

However, I reckon that my topsoil is deepening by an inch per year (and overall fertility and moisture retention improving) as I gradually work compost into it and apply several half-inch-thick layers of mulch per year.

The blackbirds also love scrabbling around in the mulch for grubs, so I'm glad that my hard work is at least feeding the birds!

[FB.]

Why not sell the gravel and use the money to improve the topsoil?

My area (just North of Cambridge) is well-known for its sand and gravel quarries.
With villages nearby that have names such as: Landbeach, Waterbeach and Horningsea, I suspect that I live on what was an ancient coastline to the North of Cambridge in medieval times.