Thought I'd keep name the same so I don't get myself confused.

Riga is the name our house had when we moved here, a 3 acre semi-detached small holding. It used to be fairly peaceful surrounded by dairy farms but becoming more industrialised now - fewer farms but bigger machinery and big sheds for the cows. So we only have organic dairy products. Cheddar cheese was the hardest to find but Waitrose do it as a last resort with the current restrictions but I prefer to buy from an organic cheese farm from Lancashire (Leagram's) stocked where I get my eggs from in High Leigh.

In my current GH each border has some very old seeping hose/tube buried about 6 inches deep beneath the soil fed from a 150L water butt say 12" above ground level.  I acquired the old hose from a neighbour  and it is made of a white permeable synthetic fabric with a black plastic strip reinforcement along its length.   I've not found anything like it on sale today and would like to find an alternative.   I have tried several different sorts of the black recycled rubber seeping hose, recommended  for use with butts,  with no success whatsoever,  I assume because of the lack of water pressure.

Has anyone  got any bright ideas or experience of an irrigation system fed from a water butt for my new GH, preferably a seepy hose buried rather than drip taps on the soil surface (which I may end up with).

In the great scheme of things everything needs water obviously. But here in the south we've not had rain for ages and aren't likely to for some weeks.  Apart from greenhouse plants, and newly planted stuff, what do you consider the most important  things to water, and what can be left to it's own devices.?

Just to kick this area off, some pictures of crops from past seasons

Cauliflower - All Year Round
   

Garlic - Solent White
   

Parsnip - Gladiator
   

Onion - Autumn Gold
   

How do you protect your plants from pests I came across a reference about a homemade garlic spray has anyone tried making a garlic spray and if so how good is it and what does it protect your brassicas from

I wasn’t going to do the diary thing until I got my hands on my new garden. But thanks to covid I get to spend one last year in this garden that I love and has been my life for the last 6-7 years. It’s also done wonders for my mental health. 
So I thought it only fair to give it a little space in the diary.

When we moved in it looked like this.


   


Today it looks like this.

   

Fang is my old girl. One day she’ll start acting like it.

   

   

Badger. She has the same attitude as a badger !

   

I'm not much of TV viewer but I saw a review of a new programme that might be worth a look at - 
"Grow your own at home with Alan Titchmarsh" 
Filmed in the gardener's own homes during lockdown so may be a bit more realistic than some of the Gardening programmes. 

https://www.itv.com/hub/grow-your-own-at...a0153a0001

Morning Folks
 
Any hints, tips on what you feed your plants and frequency.
 
My understanding is the tomato feeds are used once a week and can also be applied to cucumbers, chilli’s/peppers, strawberries?
 
What about other veg, beans, onions, courgettes, etc….A general purpose feed???


*** Mods, feel free to move this to a more suitable board if necessary ***

Ok so I know the French get iffy about calling this Champagne but, it’s been historically called this for a long time so well tough.

I’ve converted a number of the street to home brewing and 5 of us will be making this delightful little number, over the next few weeks. I’ve dished out some of the tasks, deheading, sugar and lemon shopping. So I can concentrate on the bits I enjoy, the gathering and the brewing. The burping and the refrigerating will be shared. We are limited only by the number of bottles I have, 39 x 2 litres, as the others are Complete novices but 78 litres between 5 is still a reasonable number. 

Hopefully it will be the first of many, I did hear that back in the 70’s there was a unused cesspit that was dug out and converted into a brewing chamber in our cul de sac so we are essentially reviving an old tradition.

By the way V, what was the name of the wine made with the grape trimmings? I’ve been racking my brain all day and it’s defeated me. Ignore me, I’ve just remembered, Folly.